An immigration law term referring to an individual who has acquired special rights from a state less than citizenship but more than a visitor.
For example, Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act defines a permanent resident as an individual who has acquired that status from the Canadian Government and who has not been made the subject of a removal order, who is not a citizen, and who meets with the residency requirements which, as of 2007, are as follows and at 28 of the IRPA:
"A permanent resident complies with the residency obligation with respect to a five-year period if, on each of a total of at least 730 days in that five-year period, they are (i) physically present in Canada, (ii) outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent, (iii) outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province, (iv) outside Canada accompanying a permanent resident who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent and who is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province, or (v) referred to in regulations providing for other means of compliance.
"It is sufficient for a permanent resident to demonstrate at examination (i) if they have been a permanent resident for less than five years, that they will be able to meet the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately after they became a permanent resident; (ii) if they have been a permanent resident for five years or more, that they have met the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately before the examination; and (c) a determination by an officer that humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to a permanent resident, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected by the determination, justify the retention of permanent resident status overcomes any breach of the residency obligation prior to the determination."
Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is Chapter 27 of the Statutes of Canada, 2001 and is published online at laws.justice.gc.ca/en/I-2.5/ or at canlii.com/ca/sta/i-2.5/.