The main reason for issuing permanent residency is to spend living longer amounts of time growing ties to the country. Many PR holders are not aware how much time they can spend outside the country and the consequences. If you hold permanent resident status, there is a time limit for spending outside the country. Exceeding this limit, your permanent resident card may become invalid or revoked automatically. One other consequence with spending too much time outside the country is it may effect your citizenship application which requires uninterrupted residence. Periods of stay outside the country does not affect temporary residence visa holders.
Please make note on the time periods allowed below..
EU permanent residence permit – You could lose long term residence status for absent from EU territory for more than 12 months in a row. You can spend periods shorter than six months in a row abroad, if those periods do not add up to more than ten months in total during the necessary five-year period before you hand in your application. Such periods outside your country of residence will not be considered as interruptions when calculating the duration of your residence.
United States – Green card holders, who are lawful permanent residents this limit is one year outside US. If you intend to stay outside the United States for 1 year or more, you must apply for a re-entry permit (valid for 2 years) with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) prior to leaving the United States.
United Kingdom – You lose your indefinite leave to remain if you’ve been outside the UK for 2 or more continuous years. You may be able to re-enter the UK and get indefinite leave to remain by applying for a Returning Resident visa.
Canada – 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.
Switzerland – C permit is permanent residency status in Switzerland. If holder of a C permit leaves the country for more than 6 months without notifying in advance, the C permit expires after 6 months.
United Arab Emirates – If you spend more than 6 months outside the UAE, your residence visa will be automatically cancelled (golden visa holders and some other categories exempted)
Brazil – Brazilian permanent residency will expire if the holder leaves Brazil for a period of more than two years in a row
Australia – Leave and re-enter Australia as many times as you like in the 5 years from the date your permanent visa was granted. If the visa expires, apply for resident return visa to reenter as permanent resident.
New Zealand – With Permanent Resident Visa (PRV) in your passport, you may return to New Zealand at any time and continue your residence.
Singapore – A valid Re-Entry Permit (REP) is needed each time a permanent resident (PR) travels abroad. The REP allows you to retain your permanent residence while you are outside Singapore. If you leave Singapore or remain overseas without a valid REP, you will lose your permanent residence.
Hong Kong – A Hong Kong permanent resident who is not of Chinese nationality will lose his/her Hong Kong permanent resident status if he/she has been absent from Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 36 months since he/she ceased to have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong.
