IMM 5529 Guide: Applying for a Permanent Resident Travel Document
You may count each day you worked outside Canada if your employment meets these requirements:
- you are an employee of, or under contract to:
- a Canadian business
- the public service of Canada
- a province or territory and
- as a term of your employment or contract, you are assigned on a full-time basis to:
- a position outside Canada
- an affiliated enterprise outside Canada or
- a client of the Canadian business or the public service outside Canada
For this application, a Canadian business is defined as:
- a corporation that is incorporated under the laws of Canada or of a province and that has an ongoing operation in Canada
- an enterprise that:
- has an ongoing operation in Canada
- is able to generate revenue
- is carried out in anticipation of profit
- in which a majority of voting or ownership interests is held by Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or Canadian businesses as defined above or
- an organization or enterprise created by the laws of Canada or a province
Supporting documents:
- You must provide a letter signed by an official of the business that confirms:
- the position and title of the signing official;
- the nature of the business and how it fits the description of a Canadian business (see definition above);
- details of your assignment or contract outside Canada such as:
- length of the assignment;
- confirmation that you are a full-time employee of the “Canadian business” working abroad on a full-time basis as a term of your employment, or that you are on contract working abroad on a full-time basis as a term of your contract; and
- a description or copy of the position profile regarding the assignment or contract abroad;
- that you will continue working for the employer in Canada after your assignment ends; and
- that the business was not created mainly for the purpose of meeting your residency obligation.
- You may also include:
- articles of incorporation and business licences
- partnership agreements or corporate annual reports
- corporate Canadian Income Tax Notices of Assessment or financial statements
- copies of the Employee Assignment Agreement or Contract
- copies of any agreements between the Canadian business and the business or client outside Canada concerning your assignment to that client or business
- pay statements
- Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment for the five years immediately before the application
- T4 slips
- any other proof you want us to consider
Option 3. Accompanying a permanent resident outside Canada
You may count each day you accompanied a permanent resident outside Canada as long as:
- the person you accompanied is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age); and
- the person was employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province or territory during the time you accompanied them.
Proof needed
You must provide supporting documents to prove that:
- The person you are accompanying is a permanent resident;
- You are the spouse, common-law partner or child of that person; and
- The permanent resident you are accompanying meets the residency obligation.
Supporting documents may include:
- Mandatory:
- documents showing the person you are accompanying meets the residency obligation;
- all passports or other travel documents the person you are accompanying used in the five (5) years before the application
- marriage licence or proof of common-law partnership (if you are accompanying a permanent resident spouse or common-law partner);
- child’s birth certificate, baptismal document, or adoption or legal guardianship document (if you are accompanying a permanent resident parent);
- You may also include:
- School or employment records;
- Canadian Income Tax Notice of Assessment;
- association or club memberships;
- any other documents you want us to consider.
Humanitarian and compassionate grounds
If you cannot meet the residency obligation, it may still be possible to keep your status as a permanent resident of Canada. To assess your application on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, you must show that there were exceptional circumstances or factors beyond your control that have kept you living outside Canada.
Factors that might be acceptable are unusual and undeserved, or disproportionate hardships you would face if you lost your permanent resident status.
To have your application considered on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, you must:
- answer question 19 of the application form;
- provide proof that there are compelling humanitarian and compassionate factors in your personal circumstances that justify keeping your permanent resident status;
- describe why you were not able to meet the residency obligation;
- describe the extent of any hardship the loss of residency status would cause to:
- yourself;
- family members who would be directly affected by this decision; and
- the best interests of any child directly affected by this decision, if this applies to you.
While there are no guidelines about the supporting documents to submit, you must provide documents and information on any aspect of your exceptional circumstances that would justify keeping your permanent resident status.
