Proving domicile when not living in the U.S.

[Michelle_VM 84]

Ok... those documents are exactly what I was instructed to do to help prove intent. My options are limited as I am a full time mom and as such have not been required to pay u.s. taxes. I was required to hand in my u.s. driver's license to get car insurance in Canada. I don't have kids in school yet. I thought the letter was futile as well, but that's all I could do. 

 

Could anyone offer any advice? That would be helpful, thank you! 

 

 

[canadavisa22 202]

27 minutes ago, Michelle_VM said:

I (U.S. citizen) have lived in Canada with my husband and our 3 kids for almost 7 years. All of our documents to prove intent to re-establish domicile were approved at the NVC. They included: 

A signed letter from me

A signed letter from family member 

A signed letter from realtor 

Opening u.s. bank account 

*we will bring a lease agreement to the interview

 

Is there a chance it still will not be sufficient at the interview? I do not see moving ahead of my husband as an option as our children all very young, but if I needed to, how many months in advance would it need to be? 

There is a chance it's not sufficient, yes. The only way to be 100% sure is to move to the US ahead of your spouse and get additional items that show domicile - like a driver's license, voter registration card, and bills in your name (cell, utilities etc).

 

However, you also have the option of going to the interview with the lease agreement and seeing what happens. Worst case they say you haven't proved domicile and then you move there and send in the documents that are necessary. This approach might take longer but assuming you still have a house there are ways to re-establish domicile in the US and not be apart from your family for very long.

 

The last 4-5 pages of this thread are a good read with lots of advice. 

Edited February 19, 2020 by canadavisa22

[Michelle_VM 84]

2 minutes ago, canadavisa22 said:

There is a chance it's not sufficient, yes. The only way to be 100% sure is to move to the US ahead of your spouse and get additional items that show domicile - like a driver's license, voter registration card, and bills in your name (cell, utilities etc).

 

However, you also have the option of going to the interview with the lease agreement and seeing what happens. Worst case they say you haven't proved domicile and then you move there and send in the documents that are necessary. This approach might take longer but assuming you still have a house there are ways to re-establish domicile in the US and not be apart from your family for very long.

 

The last 4-5 pages of this thread are a good read with lots of advice. 

Thank you very much 🙂

[gad33 47]

7 hours ago, Michelle_VM said:

I (U.S. citizen) have lived in Canada with my husband and our 3 kids for almost 7 years. All of our documents to prove intent to re-establish domicile were approved at the NVC. They included: 

A signed letter from me

A signed letter from family member 

A signed letter from realtor 

Opening u.s. bank account 

*we will bring a lease agreement to the interview

 

Is there a chance it still will not be sufficient at the interview? I do not see moving ahead of my husband as an option as our children all very young, but if I needed to, how many months in advance would it need to be? 

One of the problems with Montreal is that what is accepted at NVC and other countries is not acceptable to them, hence this long thread.  A lease agreement could be acceptable (without one there's no chance) as I assume you are not working now and either have savings or a joint sponsor.

 

Make sure you take it and copies to the interview. And make sure you give it to the officer doing the interview and say  - here is my lease agreement starting on such and such a date.

[Michelle_VM 84]

6 minutes ago, gad33 said:

One of the problems with Montreal is that what is accepted at NVC and other countries is not acceptable to them, hence this long thread.  A lease agreement could be acceptable (without one there's no chance) as I assume you are not working now and either have savings or a joint sponsor.

 

Make sure you take it and copies to the interview. And make sure you give it to the officer doing the interview and say  - here is my lease agreement starting on such and such a date.

I see, thank you for the useful information! 🙂

[NikLR 13,227]

Well your spouse takes it. Petitioners are no longer allowed in the consulate for interviews. 

[Michelle_VM 84]

As a U.S. citizen, does anyone know if any formal steps need to he taken to "renounce" my Canadian permanent residency in order to return to the U.S? By the time we move (assumingJuly/August) I will only have 2 months left before it "expires". 

[mellybear 2]

36 minutes ago, Michelle_VM said:

As a U.S. citizen, does anyone know if any formal steps need to he taken to "renounce" my Canadian permanent residency in order to return to the U.S? By the time we move (assumingJuly/August) I will only have 2 months left before it "expires". 

Permanent residency doesn't "expire", only your permanent resident card (which is basically a travel document and proof of your status in Canada) expires.   And, as far as I know, you don't have to formally "renounce" your Canadian permanent residency in order to return to the US....as a US citizen you're able to return to the US at anytime of your choosing. Even if you had gotten Canadian citizenship while living in Canada you wouldn't have to renounce it before returning to the US.  The only issue would've been if you had at any time formally renounced your US citizenship which I'm assuming from your posts you never did.

[Michelle_VM 84]

34 minutes ago, mellybear said:

Permanent residency doesn't "expire", only your permanent resident card (which is basically a travel document and proof of your status in Canada) expires.   And, as far as I know, you don't have to formally "renounce" your Canadian permanent residency in order to return to the US....as a US citizen you're able to return to the US at anytime of your choosing. Even if you had gotten Canadian citizenship while living in Canada you wouldn't have to renounce it before returning to the US.  The only issue would've been if you had at any time formally renounced your US citizenship which I'm assuming from your posts you never did.

Thank you! No, I have not formally renounced U.S. citizenship, it has always been our intention to move back to the U.S. 

I am concerned that trying to prove domicle in the u.s. ahead of my husbands interview may be an issue since I can't claim residency in 2 countries at once. 

[NikLR 13,227]

1 minute ago, Michelle_VM said:

Thank you! No, I have not formally renounced U.S. citizenship, it has always been our intention to move back to the U.S. 

I am concerned that trying to prove domicle in the u.s. ahead of my husbands interview may be an issue since I can't claim residency in 2 countries at once. 

residency has more to do with living somewhere than it does with a status. 

If you're living in Canada and do not have a home or job in the USA, you will not have residency or domicile in the USA regardless of your Canadian permanent residency status. 

[Michelle_VM 84]

6 minutes ago, NikLR said:

residency has more to do with living somewhere than it does with a status. 

If you're living in Canada and do not have a home or job in the USA, you will not have residency or domicile in the USA regardless of your Canadian permanent residency status. 

We will be purchasing a home in the U.S. before moving. It sounds like the U.S. wont care about my Canadian status, but I might run into trouble each time I visit Canada as they try to figure out if I am a PR or not. May be held up at the border or something. Thanks for the info. 

[Boiler 45,467]

There are so many different definitions of residency and domicile, residency is used in many many different ways, resident for Health Insurance, for a Drivers License, for Student Fees, the list goes on and on.

 

The chances of the US and Canada or any other Country sharing a common definition sounds remote, I can quite envisage circumstances where you are resident in both or neither.

[NikLR 13,227]

1 hour ago, Michelle_VM said:

We will be purchasing a home in the U.S. before moving. It sounds like the U.S. wont care about my Canadian status, but I might run into trouble each time I visit Canada as they try to figure out if I am a PR or not. May be held up at the border or something. Thanks for the info. 

Then you may want to inquire with Canadian immigration how they would like you proceed with your PR status. 

[mellybear 2]

1 hour ago, Michelle_VM said:

We will be purchasing a home in the U.S. before moving. It sounds like the U.S. wont care about my Canadian status, but I might run into trouble each time I visit Canada as they try to figure out if I am a PR or not. May be held up at the border or something. Thanks for the info. 

Once you're established in the US, that's the best time to make the decision of whether or not to voluntarily renounce your Canadian permanent residence - but like NikLR I highly recommend that you contact Canadian Border Services and/or Citizenship & Immigration Canada to explain your situation and inquire what the best course of action is. Basically see what possible complications NOT renouncing your PR status could cause if/when you visit Canada.

But, as I said, if it were me I wouldn't make any decisions about giving up your Canadian PR status until you and your family are settled in the US....and you're 100% sure that you will not end up deciding to move back to Canada. 

[Ontarkie 14,218]

On 2/25/2020 at 11:41 AM, Michelle_VM said:

As a U.S. citizen, does anyone know if any formal steps need to he taken to "renounce" my Canadian permanent residency in order to return to the U.S? By the time we move (assumingJuly/August) I will only have 2 months left before it "expires". 

As you will be living with you husband (Canadian) you can maintain your Canadian PR status while living in the US. I have not heard of this changing. I don't remember for how long but Canada does count this as maintaining your CPR. 

 

Now this is just my guess but I bet this is why Montreal is so hard with proving US domicile. Not many other countries allow their PR's to keep their PR status when they leave.