This is a major change in Canada's immigration policy in 2014. It will not be easy for new immigrants, especially new immigrants, to survive at this critical juncture, but there is no need to be discouraged. Let’s take a look at the key points to note when replacing your Maple Leaf card! Maybe it will be helpful to fellow new immigrants.

Immigration Department: Replacement of Maple Leaf Card requires Canadian residential address

Starting from May 2012, for permanent residents to renew their Maple Leaf Card (PR Card), it was not necessary to receive the card in person but to mail it instead. However, there are some people who are not in Canada, so they use immigration consultants or relatives and friends as third-party addresses as mailing addresses. To this end, the Immigration Department has specially revised the operating regulations, stipulating that in addition to new immigrants applying for the Maple Leaf Card for the first time, all applicants for Maple Leaf Card renewal must provide their residential address in the country, otherwise it will affect the renewal, and may even affect the permanent resident status.

Regarding the new measures implemented by the Immigration Department, the new card will only be sent to the applicant’s residential address in the country, and PO Boxes numbers cannot be used.

The Ministry of Immigration issued a business notice stating that the new card used in exchange for the Maple Leaf Card can only be mailed to the applicant's place of residence in Canada and cannot be replaced with a third party's address.

What can happen to the new immigrants who apply for the Maple Leaf Card for the first time, also known as the "Phase I Card"? Just because they have just arrived in Canada, probably because there is no permanent residence at the moment, they are allowed to use the address of an immigration consultant or relative or friend as the mailing address of the new card.

The new measures from the Immigration Department are as follows:

1. For those who apply for a Maple Leaf Card for the first time, the centralized processing center will continue to send new cards to the domestic address given by the applicant. However, once it is found that the applicant has stayed briefly or returned after logging in and reported, and the mailing address provided belongs to a third party, the Immigration Department will make a note in the computer system to show that the applicant is overseas.

2. For those who apply to renew their Maple Leaf Card, also known as the "Phase II Card": When applying to use a third party as a mailing address and attaching a "Use of" form, the "Global Case Management System" (GCMS) of the Department of Immigration will only update the applicant's residential address, and the third party's mailing address will be logged in the "Authorized Disclosure" (to) item, and the new card will only be sent to the applicant.

If the applicant uses a third-party address as his or her residential and mailing address, the immigration management department will send a letter telling the applicant to correct it, otherwise the Maple Leaf Card will not be issued.

If the address provided by the applicant belongs to a known or suspected third party, but no form is attached to the application, the case will be handled according to the standard operating procedures for "illegal or hidden consultants" (and).

To exchange for a Maple Leaf Card, tax returns for the last five years must be attached.

In June, the Immigration Department revised the regulations on the renewal of the Maple Leaf Card (PR Card). This regulation requires the attachment of two years of tax returns. This requirement has caused panic among many people who are not tax residents (non for tax). However, what I didn’t expect is that the Immigration Department has recently introduced more stringent regulations. The new regulations require the provision of tax bills for the past five years. Those who are unable to provide such tax bills need to attach a "statutory declaration" ( ) and explain the reasons.

In July this year, it was exclusively revealed that the Immigration Department had revised the Maple Leaf Card renewal regulations in June, requiring applicants to attach two years of personal income tax returns, also known as Taxes, within the past five years to prove that they meet the residency requirements. The new regulations have caused panic among many “non-tax resident” Maple Leaf Card holders who live overseas with their citizen spouses. Why? Because they are not required to file a tax return, they are unable to submit a tax bill and are afraid that it will be returned when they renew their Maple Leaf Card.

At that time, when responding to this newspaper’s inquiry, the Immigration Department expressed an attitude that if those who were unable to submit tax forms only attached a written explanation, the Immigration Department would still accept the situation.

Unexpectedly, just a few months after the incident, the Immigration Department once again revised the regulations for sending documents, and this guy is even more strict. It requires applicants to check and attach all personal income tax forms issued by the department known as the Canada Revenue Agency in the past five years, or a five-year transcript from a recognized tertiary institution, so as to prove that they are indeed living in the country. In addition to this, all children of school age must also submit proof of study in school for the past five years.

For those who cannot provide proof of residence such as tax returns, the new regulations require applicants to submit a signed and dated "statutory declaration" stating the reasons clearly, instead of providing a written explanation as the Immigration Department previously said.

Regarding immigration, the Immigration Department emphasizes on its website that applications without complete information will be rejected. For most applicants, as long as they have lived in the country for more than two years in the past five years, there will not be much of a problem in preparing these documents. However, for those "non-tax residents", since they do not need to file a tax return in Canada, they naturally do not have an income tax bill issued by the tax bureau. When facing the renewal of Maple Leaf Card, the Immigration Bureau suddenly requires a tax bill, otherwise a "statutory declaration" must be attached.

According to the relevant regulations for Maple Leaf Card renewal, permanent residents must live in the country for two years within a five-year period in order to be eligible for renewal. If they live overseas with their citizen spouse, they are not subject to this restriction. Therefore, in many "astronaut" families, after their spouses obtain citizenship, they return to their original place of residence and live with their significant other who holds a Maple Leaf Card to ensure that their immigration status will not be lost. Many of them also apply to become non-tax residents.

Algorithm for living in Maple Leaf Card for 2 years within 5 years

For the situation of living for 2 years within 5 years, the calculation method is not calculated from the time of immigration landing, nor is it calculated from the time of obtaining the Maple Leaf Card. There are two algorithm forms. One is to work backwards from the day when the Maple Leaf Card extension application is submitted, and the resident has lived for 2 years within the 5-year time frame. The second is to start from the time of each entry into Canada and count back 5 years to start the calculation.

In other words, as long as it can be proved that any backward calculation method can meet the requirement of living for 2 years through one of the three living methods mentioned above, it will meet the conditions of living for 2 years within 5 years.

Under such circumstances, a major problem to be faced is that the Immigration Bureau handles the extension of the Maple Leaf Card based on the standard of 5 years and 2 years of residence, but the border office determines whether to grant entry based on the time of entry, which is 5 years and 2 years of residence. According to this situation, even if you hold a valid Maple Leaf Card, there is still the possibility of being refused entry by the border department.

If you have logged in for more than 5 years, it means that you have an extended Maple Leaf Card. In this case, you are very likely to encounter such troubles when entering and exiting. For example, a person who obtained an extension of the Maple Leaf Card in May 2010 will You need to have lived for 2 years in any time period from 2005 to 2010. These 2 years may be 2005 and 2006 consecutively, or they may be 1 year in 2005 and 1 year in 2009. As a result, if the person concerned leaves Canada after receiving the extended new Maple Leaf Card that year, and returns in May this year, the border office will push back 5 years from May 2012. In other words, from May 2007 to May 2012, only those who have lived for two years are eligible to enter the country; otherwise, the border management area has the power to block their entry into the country.

What may cause controversy is that when you enter the country with the first 5-year Maple Leaf Card, even if you accumulate it in the future, it will be difficult to meet the requirement of staying for 2 years. For example, a young lady who landed in Vancouver for a short trip in 2007 had some casual visits during this period. When she re-entered Canada in February this year, she had lived in Canada for less than one year, and there were only 8 months left before the expiration of her Maple Leaf Card. The border officers refused to allow her to enter because she could not live for two years within five years, and a gentleman therefore lost his permanent resident status.

You need to work abroad, and you can’t just register a company to make things clear. In addition to the company having to be registered in Canada, it also has to carry out normal operations in Canada. It must have the ability to generate income, and it must also be able to achieve expected profits.

Documents proving overseas residence

Canadian citizens accompanying overseas must have evidence showing that the person accompanying them is a Canadian citizen, as well as proof of the relationship between the applicant's spouse, common-law partner or children. The documents include: marriage certificate, cohabitation certificate, child's birth certificate, baptismal documents, adoption or guardianship documents, schooling or employment records, passport or other travel documents, these documents indicate the status of the accompanying person.

If a person is employed abroad, then the person must provide the name of the employing company, as well as the nature of the company, as well as the name and position of the formal contract. The required documents cover these: a copy of the company registration and business license in the form of a copy, a partnership agreement or a company The same goes for annual reports, tax assessed financial statements for Canadian corporate income tax, copies of employee transfer agreements or contracts, copies of any employment, customer or business agreements between a Canadian business and a business outside Canada or clients relating to the applicant, and a T4 notice from the Canada Revenue Agency assessing income tax. .

From 2014, Canadian permanent residents must swipe a Maple Leaf Card when crossing the border.

Since 2014, Canadian permanent residents must present their Maple Leaf Card when leaving and entering the Canadian border, and the card must be recorded by customs officers. In this way, the Immigration Department can know the exact length of stay of permanent residents in Canada to combat fraudulent and illegal immigration activities.

How to return to Canada if your Maple Leaf Card expires

For those who are permanent residents of Canada, once their Maple Leaf Card (PR Card) expires, if they want to return to Canada, they can only apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) from an overseas consulate. However, if those permanent residents who are in the country but do not have a Maple Leaf Card need to go abroad, can they apply directly in the country? The answer is no. You can only apply at the nearest U.S. Embassy. If your application is rejected, you don’t need to worry about not being able to return to the country, because the Canada Border Services Agency, also known as CBSA, will provide special accommodations.

If a permanent resident abroad wants to return to his country when his Maple Leaf Card expires, he can only apply for a "Permanent Resident Travel Permit" from the foreign embassy where he is located. However, for some permanent residents who are in the country but do not have a Maple Leaf Card, the situation is different. Some of them had arrived before the Maple Leaf Card was implemented, but had never applied for it. Some are new immigrants who have just registered, but their Maple Leaf Cards have not yet been sent to them. Others have applied for a replacement Maple Leaf Card, but have not yet been approved. If these people need to go abroad for urgent matters, do they know whether they can apply for a "Permanent Resident Travel Permit" in China?

In response to this situation, the answer given by the Ministry of Immigration is "no". The permanent resident travel permit must be applied for "overseas". The reason is that Article 31, paragraph 3 (A31(3)) of the Immigration Law clearly stipulates, "If a permanent resident abroad does not have documents that can prove his or her identity, he or she may be granted a PRTD upon application). The key point is the word "overseas".

The workaround is to go to the closest overseas embassy in the United States, such as New York or Seattle, and handle it in person. Officials emphasized that people do not need to worry about being unable to return to their country when their application is rejected. If the application is rejected, CBSA officials will generally provide accommodations so that they can return to Canada.