Landed...and a question on behalf of the delayed immigrants
 

Well, at last I came to Canada to live with my family....we are so much busy with settling down, happy for sure...The only good thing is that things are rolling.

Here is one question....

One of my old friends also acquired his PR card in 2003 and occasionally visited Canada after his landing from the USA. Now more than three years have passed after his landing in Canada and he has not yet maintained his residency here (due to his family issues). Now finally he wants to come here, however he (we) are not sure whether he can still come in Canada using his old PR card (which seems to be still valid (?)) or opportunity has already passed...

What could be his options…Your comments are welcome…as always.
Thanks guys...it is so good to write in this forum after landing.

Re: Landed...and a question on behalf of the delayed immigrants
 

Only real test I guess is to try and enter Canada as a PR and see what they say. If he didn't maintain his PR status and lost it then the only option is to start again with a new application. Once it has gone it has gone.
To maintain PR status you must have been resident in Canada for 2 out of the last 5 years. So if they got their PR status in 2003 they would need to be in Canada for at least two years in the time between 2003 and 2008. Even if they got PR status in December 2003 the longest they could have remained outside Canada to keep PR would have been until December 2006 and then they would have had to stay in Canada until December 2008 without leaving once. You said they visited occasionally, if all of those occasions equal enough time you could still be ok. For example if it was December and all your visits in the last 3 years added up to 6 months then if you moved back tomorrow you could still keep PR status but you'd need to prove to immigration that you were in canada for 6 months in the last 3 years. If you got PR earlier than that then you'd need even more accumulated time, and if it was before June you'd need more than a year which seems unlikely from infrequent visits.
I think it most likely that technically under the law the PR status has been lost. However with a valid PR card and a busy line up at the airport say you might still get readmitted if they don't have a record of you leaving and don't check the dates. However that would be a risky undertaking as at any point if they realise your PR status expired they will likely deport you which would not be a good thing if you had built up a life in Canada because it might be several years down the road. If you deliberately mislead on dates then they could discover much later on, even if you managed to get Citizenship (where they also check dates and residency) they can still revoke and deport if they find out later, even decades later. I wouldn't want to build a life in a country knowing that at any point discovery of previous travel date soutside teh country could get me deported.
Best to find out 100% for sure whether PR status has been lost and if it has then apply again from scratch.

Drew

Re: Landed...and a question on behalf of the delayed immigrants
 

Probably belongs on the immigration forum, but a PR Card only creates a presumption that a person is a PR. It is not PR status itself.

It is possible for a person to have a still valid PR Card and face removal of status for breach of residence obligation. And similarly, lack of a PR Card does not prevent someone being a permanent resident under the law.