Permanent Residency Card Renewal (missing days)

[Jean-Claude]

Hello,

Our Permanent Residency card is about to expire and we are not meeting the number of days required . We are missing about 3 months.

We met 2 lawyers to get some advise and they offered us 2 different options:
1 - The first one is telling us that we must send our renewal form before expiry date and that he will help us with the application and any services if needed after that.
2 - The 2nd one is advising us to wait a few months and to request for PR card renewal once we meet the required days (740 days). He is advising us to still do it with him and of course charge us a big fee.

We definitely prefer the second option. But should we still do it through the lawyer or can we do the renewal on our own ? What value the lawyer will add if we use his services ? If we do it once we have the correct time spent here, does it make a difference if we do it on our own or via a lawyer?

In addition, can you tell us if once our request is in process for renewal, and if we need to travel outside Canada, can we request for a special travel authorization ? And if so, will it affect in any way the card renewal ?

Jean-Claude

 

[John Immanuel]

If your permanent resident (PR) card is expired or will expire in less than 9 months, you can apply for a new card. The new card will have a new expiration date. Most new PR cards are valid for 5 years. To keep your permanent resident status, you must have been in Canada for at least 730 days during the last five years. These 730 days don’t need to be continuous. Some of your time abroad may count towards the 730 days.

You don’t lose your permanent resident status when your PR card expires.
After going through your profile I advise you to wait for few months until you meet the required number of Days, You can submit for PR renewal on your own without the help of any lawyer, A lawyer never adds any value to PR application.