the hottest immigration tracker |
| Got questions on U.S. immigration? |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
Topic: Citizenship Rules once we enter canada
hi dears,Can any1 share your information about,If any1 landed in canada then immediately he/she goback to other country for employment what will happen to his residential status and citizen ship calculation.thanks for yr reply.regards
vijay
|
To maintain your permanent resident status you will need to spend 2 of every 5 years in Canada. There are some issues with landing in a case where you intend to turn right around and go back, but basically you can take up to 3 years to return to Canada and still be a permanent resident. Every 5 years after you land you will need to renew your permanent resident card.
To apply for Citizenship you need to be a permanent resident and have been physically present in Canada for 3 of the preceding 4 years. (Time counts only 50% if you are in Canada on a work or study permit before permanent residence is granted, after that it's 100%.) This is unrelated to maintaining your permanent residence, that is, you can be a permanent resident forever if you wish.
|
Can i live in Canada and work in USA on H1B visa commuting every week or month to Canada ? would that be considered towards staying in CANADA? I can talk to my employer if there is such priovision...Please advise
|
No, because the requirement is that you be *physically* present in Canada for 730 days of each 5 years. You can find the requirements at:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445EA.asp
These are pretty strictly adhered to, as I understand it. For instance you cannot get away with creating a Canadian company just for you and hiring yourself out to an American firm! And owning property isn't the same as living here either.
As far as I can see, you still have several options though -
1) Take your time, find a good job in Canada while still working in the US. You have almost 3 years, after all.
2) If you have a job that permits it, ask your employer if you can work from home (say, if you're a computer programmer). They might be willing to let you do this; then you can live in Canada, while working for the American company. Even if you had to make frequent trips to the US it wouldn't add up to over 50%, I'm sure. You'll need to hire an accountant to do your taxes, but this will work.
3) If your job is close enough (like, Detroit), live in Canada and commute every morning to the US. You should check on this, I'm not 100% sure it's Ok. You'll need a tax accountant just like option 2) but don't worry, this sort of cross-border tax situation is not *that* uncommon.
|
This is the kind of response i am looking for. I can fly any city in US as my US employer permits and yes , i am in IT. So how does this flying differ from cross the border on Road.
i will buy / rent a house in canada and live there , over the weekdays i work in US and weekends i go back and stay in canada. i could work from home too for sometime each month but not eveysingle as my presense is needed at work place .
so what should i do now.. i dont wanna waste 3 yeasr of staying in US and wasting time on GC incase if it dont get approved. so would like to have both of them running.. Canadia citizen ship and US GC
|
My advice would be to first check with your US immigration lawyer to make sure this is Ok. I don't know much about it, but I do realize that your immigration application is tied to the H1B visa, which in turn is good for a certain job with a certain employer, that's why you want to stay with it. So it's best to check with your lawyer to make sure there are no hidden gotchas there.
Second, if that's ok I think you should also run this idea past a Canadian immigration adviser (does not need to be a lawyer here). As far as I can see you would just need to keep track of the days carefully, and be aware of how partials count (I'm not sure if a travel day would count as a day in Canada or not... this is important since you will have so many). I can't see any reason it would not work, but it never hurts to get a professional opinion. Flying vs. driving should not matter either. But ask an expert, this sort of advice should not even cost you anything.
Just to be clear: the 2 years of every 5 is the requirement to keep your permanent resident status. Citizenship is different, for this you need to be in Canada for 3 of the last 4 years at the time you apply for it. So unless you can work from home mostly, you won't be able to become a citizen so quickly with this plan. (That may not matter anyway, since once you live here you will realize how much better it is, get a job here and forget about US immigration ;)
|
Sir, We are Permenent Resident Card holder since October 2006 and had to return to India, after staying in Canada for one month. At present we are working for a Canadian Citizen for thier project in India. I would like to know if this time period can be considered as our stay in Canada.
|
Are you working for a Canadian COMPANY? If so, yes. of not, no. Working for a Canadian CITIZEN is irrelevant.
Ray
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can i live in Canada and work in USA on H1B visa commuting every week or month to Canada ? would that be considered towards staying in CANADA? I can talk to my employer if there is such priovision...Please advise
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This should be Ok. However you must understand this that you get PR to live (and settle) in Canada. So if you work in US for a long time after your PR - you are ready for this. I mean getting US green card. Dont ever think that Canadians are fool and will allow you to work infinitely in US - what they got by providing you PR then?
|
I am not sure if its ok IndianMunda. Well depends on how you see the question in the post.
If he is saying he will be in the US during the weekday and in Canada during weekends, he is NOT in Canada for 7 days in a week, only 2 days. Hence, only 2 days will be counted in Canada and 5 out of Canada in a week. So in 5 years, he will be in Canada approximately 520 days (52 weeks by 2 days x 5 years). Which is fine to maintain his PR. But he wont be able to apply for citizenship (as he will have lived in Canada for 416 days in 4 years, but needs 1,095 days for that).
Ray
|
Ray,
What I mean to say is that when one apply for Canada PR - the idea is that s/he will remain in Canada. There is no issue if one is working in US but for a Canadian company. What I am trying to say here is that per rules, officers have last say and when they see one (PR guy) going very frequently to US - not sure how they will look at this.....
|
Another thing, if one wants to retain his/her PR they need to be in Canada for atleast 2 years out of 5 years BUT make sure one dont think to repeat this freedom again and again. First 5 years it should be Ok, next 5 years officers may think that you are just trying to retain PR but not wanna stay in Canada. Such incidents are also very insecure for retaining PR....
I dont wanna discourage anyone but then this may be some point of caution :)
|
Hello Ray...
I got PR in Feb,2006. After staying 4 months in Canada, i went to India. I again came back to Canada in Sept,2007. Since then I am in Canada and working as a Software Engineer. I applied for H1 B visa in March, 2008 and i got it.
My H1 B visa employer is in USA but they have office in Ontario,Canada also. So if i go to USA on H1B visa but will get salary in Canada and taxes will cut in Canada and ofcourse offer letter from Canada office then do my working days in USA will count towards my citizenship As I will be working for Canada based company(As my employer has office in Ontario) but i will work in USA for USA client as a contractor.
Best Regards
Simran
|
No, it wont. It may count towards your PR requirements (if the company is a Canadian company), but not citizenship. For citizenship, you must physically stay in Canada for 3 years out of 4. There are exception to this rule, but from the information on your post, you wont qualify for the exception.
Of course, if you work in the US, but return to your Canadian home at the end of each day (assuming the US office is close to the border and you can commute back and forth), then you are physically present in Canada.
Ray
|
Hello Ray
My PR will expired on Feb, 2011. If i complete my 2 years(730 days) stay in Canada by Sept,2009 and then go to USA for 8 months contract and come back to Canada and work here for 6 months. Again after 6 months, i go back to USA and work there for 7-8 months and come back to canada and complete my 6 left months towars my 3 years time period for citizenship. Is it valid.
2) After renwal my PR in 2011 do i need to again start my 3 years time period from scratch to get citizenship or my previous 2 years will count in renewd PR ofcourse if i keep visiting Canada time to time.
3) Is there any other way or law or option or exception that if i work in other country but my citizenship days can be counted in Canada.
Best Regards
|
The calculations are simple:
To maintain your PR, you need to be in Canada for 2 years out of 5. If you are working overseas for a Canadian organization (company, non-profit organization, Canada Federal or provincial government, etc) your time abroad will be counted towards your PR requirements. BUT NOT towards your citizenship requirement (see exceptions below)
To apply for Canadian citizenship you need to be PHYSICALLY present in Canada for 3 years out of 4.
For either of the above the time spend in Canada does not have to be continues as long as it adds to the required number of days.
2) See above. For citizenship, you need to be in Canada for 3 years out of 4. If you were in Canada 4 years ago and left, your time prior to those 4 years will NOT count. It has to be 3 years in the continuous 4 year period.
If you were to take the following example:
January 2000 to December 2000 You were in Canada
January 2001 to December 2001 You were in Canada
January 2002 to December 2002 Out of Canada
January 2003 to December 2003 Out of Canada
January 2004 to December 2004 In Canada
On January 1st 2005, you cannot apply for citizenship, because in the last 4 years (January 1st 2001 to December 31st 2004) you had not resided in Canada for 3 years. Your first year will not count towards the stays as it was before the most recent 4 year period.
3) There are only 2 options:
a) Your Canadian CITIZEN spouse works abroad for either the Canadian Federal or provincial government.
b) You file your application and when rejected appeal to the judge. Immigration judges do have the authority to grant you citizenship and the rule is written in the immigration regulation. However, I have not heard of such an appeal to be successful.
Ray
|
raymasa,
Thanks for all the details.
|
Thanks a lot Ray, for sharing information. Its very usefull.
|
|
|
