US Green Card AND Canadian Permanent Resident

[domegirl1978 1]

Thank you again Trailmix for all that new info you posted. I would never be out of the U.S. for more than 6 months out of the year. That would be way too long away from my future husband. And I wouldn't be out of the U.S. for 6 consecutive months either. More like 2 months at a time.

And my apology to TheTreble. I now see how I wrote that may have been confusing.

[thetreble 19]

It's okay

It's a very interesting topic. I'm not really sure how any one could pull off being a resident in both countries because of the amount of days but hey, if you can manage to do it, you go girl!

[trailmix 77]

It's okay

It's a very interesting topic. I'm not really sure how any one could pull off being a resident in both countries because of the amount of days but hey, if you can manage to do it, you go girl!

It's actually easy - if we are just talking about maintaining your permanent residency (as in immigration) status in both countries. My Husband is a PR of both countries. Since he is in the U.S. with me - it is the same as if we are living in Canada - it still counts. As long as you are spending most of your time in the U.S. - no problem.

[sly_wolf 199]

And SapphireDreams, you are totally right as well. I wouldn't be worried about the healthcare in this case if possible because I would retain my Canadian one and be on my future husbands plan from his work in the States. Property taxes also would not be a problem as my future husband already owns our home in Florida.

However, once you become a US resident I don't see how you can "legally" keep Canadian medicare.

Sly

[domegirl1978 1]

I know the law in Quebec is that I have to live here 183 days out of the year to retain my Medicare. If it came down to it, thats would I would do.

Trailmix was right when he said to maintain your permanent resident status in the U.S. you cannot be gone from the States for more than 365 days which would never happen. That would mean I would be living 6 months in Canada and 6 months in the U.S.

[trailmix 77]

And SapphireDreams, you are totally right as well. I wouldn't be worried about the healthcare in this case if possible because I would retain my Canadian one and be on my future husbands plan from his work in the States. Property taxes also would not be a problem as my future husband already owns our home in Florida.

However, once you become a US resident I don't see how you can "legally" keep Canadian medicare.

Sly

Yes, that could be very tough - for instance in Alberta you must be there for 6 months of each year to maintain coverage.

Edited March 12, 2009 by trailmix

[SapphireDreams 71]

I know the law in Quebec is that I have to live here 183 days out of the year to retain my Medicare. If it came down to it, thats would I would do.

Trailmix was right when he said to maintain your permanent resident status in the U.S. you cannot be gone from the States for more than 365 days which would never happen. That would mean I would be living 6 months in Canada and 6 months in the U.S.

If you have health coverage in the U.S., why would you even need Canadian coverage at all?

I see what you want to do, but I just don't see the point. You can work remotely with your business and still "house" it in the U.S. - I've seen lot's of people do this. You can visit Canada as much as you want, not going over the 6 month mark no problem, which is what you want to do, and you can receive medical care in Canada, which would be paid for by your U.S. provider...

So I don't see the point of paying taxes twice... only to reap the benefits half the time.

If you ever decide to come back to Canada permanently, it's easy to get your healthcare back, you would just starting paying taxes to Canada again. By becoming a U.S. citizen, you would avoid any loss of residency there.

[domegirl1978 1]

Really??? I can come back to Canada and have a surgery and have my U.S. health provider pay for that??

How is that possible? If thats the case then that would be great as I do not want to lose my surgeons here in Montreal. We already don't have enough of them here in Quebec and the ones I have I trust with my life.

[sly_wolf 199]

Really??? I can come back to Canada and have a surgery and have my U.S. health provider pay for that??

How is that possible? If thats the case then that would be great as I do not want to lose my surgeons here in Montreal. We already don't have enough of them here in Quebec and the ones I have I trust with my life.

That would fall under out of country insurance and would only be for emergencies.

Sly

I know the law in Quebec is that I have to live here 183 days out of the year to retain my Medicare. If it came down to it, thats would I would do.

Trailmix was right when he said to maintain your permanent resident status in the U.S. you cannot be gone from the States for more than 365 days which would never happen. That would mean I would be living 6 months in Canada and 6 months in the U.S.

I think you would risk getting into issues by being "on the fence" so to speak.

Sly

[domegirl1978 1]

Ah well, still loads of time to figure it out. My NOA2 date is still not going to be sent out til at least July so there is plenty of time to keep hashing out the real plan. Whatever ends up happening, all I know is that I just want to be married already. After 2 years of dating and 17 years of being best friends I'm more than ready to start my life with him.....lol

[SapphireDreams 71]

Really??? I can come back to Canada and have a surgery and have my U.S. health provider pay for that??

How is that possible? If thats the case then that would be great as I do not want to lose my surgeons here in Montreal. We already don't have enough of them here in Quebec and the ones I have I trust with my life.

I meant more along the lines of emergencies. Your main/regular healthcare would stay in the U.S. - but honestly the U.S. medical system is great if you have coverage. They have the best Dr.'s in the world if you can afford it/have coverage. Canada loses amazing Dr.'s to the U.S. everyday I'm sure.

But who knows, maybe your U.S. health coverage provider would pay for an elective type non emergency procedure in Canada - heck it might even work out cheaper for them. You'd just have to check and look into it.

[sly_wolf 199]

Ah well, still loads of time to figure it out. My NOA2 date is still not going to be sent out til at least July so there is plenty of time to keep hashing out the real plan. Whatever ends up happening, all I know is that I just want to be married already. After 2 years of dating and 17 years of being best friends I'm more than ready to start my life with him.....lol

Yes, aside from taxes you need to weigh all the pros and cons of living in one country versus the other. Tax liabilites and tax laws are an animal on there own.

There are many personal and financial aspects to consider for where you really want to live. As you said as long as you are with your soul mate thats the main thing. Just be wary of taking any risks that could jeopardize your plans. Green cards can be revoked and governments will take whatever money they believe is their's to keep.

Sly

[john_and_marlene 162]

Here is an interesting publication from USCIS regarding the need for reentry permits.

According to this publication, if you take up residence in another country even for absences shorter than 1 year, your Permanent Resident Card becomes invalid for re-entry unless you have a reentry permit.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments...oday_Dec_05.pdf

A re-entry permit can help prevent two types of problems: (1) Your Permanent Resident Card becoming technically invalid for re-entry into the United States (U.S.), if you are absent from the U.S. for 1 year or more. (2) Your U.S. permanent residence being considered as abandoned for absences shorter than 1 year, if you take up residence in another country.

[warlord 72]

Wow this was very confusing at first. Had to read through everything to finally figure out what was going on.

To maintain US residency you must prove and show you are maintaing it. Home, taxes, bills paid etc. Just because you are going back and forth you still need to convince the border guards that you have not been abandoning US residency by actually living in Canada.

Don't know what Canada's residency requirements are but in the US you need to maintain a min of 6 months (if you ever plan on getting US citizenship, then this will change and being out of the US more then 6 months a year will break your residency status).

So I think you will continue to have problems crossing over like you are trying to get each others PR status. Do you both own homes and such in both countries?

Remember the INS can revoke your Green Card if they believe you have abandoned it. This is generally by not showing strong enough residency ties to the US.

Best way to do this is to remain in the US and follow all the rules to become eligible for US citizenship (few years down the road at this point), then once you get that, then move to Canada and do the same for your husband. Once you are a citizen you are no longer bound to meet residency requirements that the Green Card has...

[JillA 2]

Really??? I can come back to Canada and have a surgery and have my U.S. health provider pay for that??

How is that possible? If thats the case then that would be great as I do not want to lose my surgeons here in Montreal. We already don't have enough of them here in Quebec and the ones I have I trust with my life.

I meant more along the lines of emergencies. Your main/regular healthcare would stay in the U.S. - but honestly the U.S. medical system is great if you have coverage. They have the best Dr.'s in the world if you can afford it/have coverage. Canada loses amazing Dr.'s to the U.S. everyday I'm sure.

But who knows, maybe your U.S. health coverage provider would pay for an elective type non emergency procedure in Canada - heck it might even work out cheaper for them. You'd just have to check and look into it.

I agree with this. I've already seen so many pluses to the US healthcare system - if you have insurance obviously. But I notice the differences and understand now why so many Canadian docs leave to come here.