The Maple Leaf Card is valid for 5 years and needs to be replaced when it expires. To replace the card, you can apply for it by submitting a form 2 months before the expiration date, and the old card must be sent back to the Immigration Bureau. If you need to leave Canada during the waiting period for the application, you must apply for a Canadian permanent resident travel document ( ) at the Canadian embassy or consulate in your country before returning to Canada.

Generally speaking, applicants are required to live in Canada for at least 730 days in the 5 years before applying for a new card, which is 2 years. It is an obligation of permanent residents to reside in Canada for a total of 730 days in any five-year period. If you fail to fulfill this obligation, your permanent resident status may be lost.

There are five exceptions that are used to determine that the number of days of overseas residence can be equivalent to domestic residence, and this is used to maintain permanent resident status:

Some conditions need to be met. First, every day spent abroad can be included in the calculation. Second, the person accompanying you must be a Canadian permanent resident. Third, the permanent resident must be your spouse, common-law partner or parent (provided you are a child under 22 years old). Fourth, the permanent resident spouse must meet the above 2. The requirement for working overseas is that a family member holding permanent residency is posted overseas as a full-time employee by a Canadian company, or is posted overseas as an official Canadian public servant. Fifth, in this case, the family member lives abroad with the family member.

Holders of valid re-entry permits can be included in the calculation every day they are abroad.

If it is impossible to fulfill the residence requirements, even if there are any personal force majeure humanitarian factors, it can still be included in the scope of reasons for consideration of whether to maintain permanent resident status, and the Department of Immigration will notify whether additional review is required. (Immigration officers have great initiative).

The above are exceptions, and you need to provide evidence that you have a close connection with Canada, you also need to provide evidence that you have long-term plans, and you need to show your willingness to live in Canada for a long time, and you even need to show evidence of your willingness to retire in Canada.

The Maple Leaf Card is usually used for five years. During these five years, only if you have actually lived in Canada for two years in total can you retain your permanent resident status and renew your Maple Leaf Card.

Only under special circumstances, such as accompanying Canadian citizens overseas, working overseas for Canadian companies, and other humanitarian reasons, you can still retain your permanent resident status.

Since June 28, 2002, the Canadian Immigration Department will automatically mail you a Maple Leaf Card for all new immigrants arriving in Canada, including children. After January 1, 2004, all permanent immigrants must enter Canada with a Maple Leaf Card.

As you say, for that group of people, once the Canadian Maple Leaf Card expires, it loses its effectiveness. In a certain sense, its essence is that it has lost its immigration status. However, in the Canadian Immigration Act, there is no formal provision that clearly states that the expiration of the Maple Leaf Card is equivalent to the loss of immigration status. The Immigration Act only stipulates that Canadian permanent residents must meet the residency obligation of living for two years within five years before there is the possibility of renewing the Maple Leaf Card.

A spokesman for the Canadian Immigration Department once expressed that even if the Maple Leaf Card has expired, the holder of the card will not lose his permanent resident status due to the expiration of the card. However, it should be noted that according to relevant regulations, every permanent resident must present a Maple Leaf Card to prove his or her identity when arriving in Canada by commercial airliner or cruise ship.

When entering Canada, whether by air, land, or sea, Canada Border Services Agency officials will require sufficient proof of identity, and a valid Maple Leaf Card is the best proof.

Including the following situations, even if the Canadian Maple Leaf Card expires, you can still apply for a one-time Canadian permanent resident travel document to return to Canada:

1. After living for two years within five years, the Maple Leaf Card will expire and become invalid. You can replace it with a new Maple Leaf Card.

Second, within five years, if you have not lived abroad for two years with your Canadian spouse, your Maple Leaf Card will expire and become invalid. However, you can replace it with a new Maple Leaf Card.

3. If the company meets the requirements of the Immigration Bureau for overseas assignment, and the Maple Leaf Card expires, you must replace it with a new Maple Leaf Card.

The procedure for applying for a Canadian permanent resident travel document is the same as that for tourist and family visit visas. Applicants can download the application form and document list from the official website of the Canadian Immigration Bureau. After filling out the application form, just send your passport, two passport photos, and documents that can prove your Canadian permanent resident status, such as landing paper or expired Maple Leaf Card, together with the application fee, to the nearest Canadian Visa Center. Usually it takes 3 to 5 working days to issue the certificate.

List of materials required for Canadian permanent resident travel documents:

1. Passport.

There is a photo, which is a color photo with a white background. Its size is 3.5 x 4.5 cm, and the size from the top of the head to the chin is 3.1 x 3.6 cm.

3. One copy of the front and back of your ID card.

4. Proof of the applicant’s Canadian permanent resident status.

5. If you have been accompanying your spouse who is a Canadian citizen, your spouse who is a permanent resident, your common-law partner, or your parents for a long time, please provide documents proving the identity of the person you are accompanying.

6. If you are employed by a Canadian company outside Canada, you must issue a statement issued by the Canadian employer.

7. Humanitarian and compassionate reasons.

8. Fill out the "Permanent Resident Travel Document Application Form" (IMM 5524) until it is complete.

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