What if the maple leaf card expires?

Canadian permanent resident card, commonly known as maple leaf card, is the identity document of Canadian permanent residents and the document required for entry and exit. Maple leaf cards are usually valid for five years from the date of issuance. To maintain Canadian permanent resident status, applicants need to have lived in Canada for two years in the past five years. This paper's Overseas Immigration Network mainly answers the question of how to do when the maple leaf card expires for friends who immigrate to Canada.

Many people will ask, does the expiration of the Maple Leaf Card mean the loss of permanent resident status?

Whether you lose your permanent resident status depends on whether you have fulfilled your residence obligations according to the requirements of the Immigration Bureau and lived for two years within five years, not whether your maple leaf card expires. Even if the maple leaf card expires, if the permanent resident is in Canada, it will not affect the permanent resident status, just renew the maple leaf card. However, when returning to Canada from other countries, if the maple leaf card expires, it will not be able to enter Canada smoothly. Then you need to apply for a permanent Canadian military and civilian travel document at the local Canadian visa center to return to Canada.

Suggestions on the experience of immigration network;

How can we maintain our permanent resident status from the time we get the Maple Leaf Card when we log in to the time when the Maple Leaf Card expires?

Here, for friends in different periods, Overseas Migration Network introduces five ways to save maple leaf cards for reference only.

1. Permanent residents will start preparing maple leaf cards as soon as they land.

When the applicant has just landed in Canada, it is considered to be the wisest choice to be prepared to keep the maple leaf card for the next five years. Because there are still five years before the expiration date of the maple leaf card, the applicant has enough time to prepare for the retention of the maple leaf card in the future. In addition to successfully retaining the maple leaf card, it will also create good conditions for naturalization in this five-year cycle. Permanent residents who have just landed in Canada can start to make residence plans and prepare evidence in advance, so as to provide them to the Canadian Immigration Bureau when necessary in the future as evidence to prove that they have fulfilled their relevant residence obligations in Canada.

2. Permanent residents will keep their maple leaf cards in Canada for two to three years.

When the maple leaf card is still valid for two to three years, the cardholder can consider changing the card at this time. This card replacement method is a relatively safe way to protect the maple leaf card. That is to say, if the maple leaf card is replaced at this time, no matter how long the applicant has lived in Canada in the past two to three years, the applicant still has at least two years to live in Canada, which is enough to meet the legal requirements of the Immigration Bureau for fulfilling his residence obligations within five years. Therefore, for those permanent residents whose maple leaf cards are still valid for two to three years and may leave Canada for a long time in the next two years, it is very necessary to replace them before leaving Canada.

3. Maple leaf cards for permanent residents whose maple leaf cards are about to expire.

The maple leaf card will expire in six months, and it is ready to submit an application for replacing it. You need to prepare the application materials, take photos, pay the government application fee for Maple Leaf Card, fill out the application form for extension of Maple Leaf Card, and then submit the application to the Immigration Bureau. The application for renewal of Maple Leaf Card will enter the Immigration Bureau and wait in line for the approval of Maple Leaf Card. After the application is approved, wait for the Immigration Bureau to issue a notice of collection or wait for the Immigration Bureau to mail a new maple leaf card. The whole process takes nearly six months, and most permanent residents in Canada use maple leaf cards that are about to expire. Although this method is relatively safe, due to the tight time, in the application process, once there are mistakes in some links and the Immigration Bureau requests supplementary materials, the application time of the new maple leaf card will be delayed and the maple leaf card will expire.

4. Express the maple leaf card before the expiration of the permanent resident maple leaf card.

When the validity period of the permanent resident maple leaf card in Canada is less than 3 months, if the application is made in the normal way, the old maple leaf card may have expired while the new maple leaf card is being approved. Once the old maple leaf card expires, the applicant cannot enter Canada to obtain a new maple leaf card in the conventional way. In this case, you can choose to apply for a new maple leaf card in an expedited way, and the expedited application time is about one and a half months. However, the emergency application needs to provide reasons, such as: the need to immediately appear in the mirror to visit a seriously ill parent or friend, and the need to provide a recent air ticket to leave Canada in the application documents. The urgent application must be submitted by registered mail, marked on the envelope, and the urgent documents are included in the application materials. In addition, application materials must be accurate. But usually, the expedited approval of the immigration bureau will be stricter.

5. Maple leaf card expired permanent resident maple leaf card.

Some Canadian permanent residents' maple leaf cards have expired. What should I do? According to the immigration law, Canadian permanent residents must meet the obligation of living for two years within five years before they can renew their new maple leaf cards. Whether the maple leaf card expires is not the focus of an immigration bureau. The focus of attention is whether the applicant has fulfilled the obligation of living for two years in the past five years. The expiration of the Maple Leaf Card does not mean the loss of permanent resident status. If you are in China, you don't need a maple leaf card as long as you don't leave Canada, so even if the maple leaf card expires, you don't need to change it on time. Just replace your expired maple leaf card with a new one before leaving Canada, and you can leave Canada. If you are abroad, don't worry too much. You only need to apply for a Canadian permanent resident travel document at the local Canadian visa center to return to Canada. When you arrive in Canada, you can submit an application for a new maple leaf card.

The residence requirement of maple leaf card is often the most worrying issue for many new immigrants. How to keep the maple leaf card and how to issue a new maple leaf card, there are many matters needing attention in the application process, as well as many technical things. Once some information is provided incompletely or incorrectly, or the form is filled incorrectly, it will lead to the extension of time and even the cancellation of permanent resident status.