Back to Canada for a school term?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Here is my current dilema (many of you know the saga with my 17 yr old daughter already so I won't rehash)

She'd like to return to her old Cdn highschool for a semester (Sept-Mid Jan) to get more courses under her belt then she could here - she is behind in highschool course due to a number of things (again, I won't rehash) and this could be a way to get back on track. She would return for American Thanksgiving and most certainly Christmas - therefore she'd be out of the US for a 3-4 month period....no intention of not coming back here.

To complicate matters - Nov is when we file for Removal of Conditions (2 yr GC's expire on feb 25, 2010) - so at some time during Dec or Jan- we'd have a Biometrics appt to contend with perhaps(having her fly down for it...if she wasn't finished exams yet)

So what is anyone's take on this scenario? I'v read the general rules and it appears that anything up to a year is possibly acceptable - she'd be well within that limit of course

- Should I contact immigration and ask how this is viewed? University students seems to be able to move around mroe freely then a highschool student = technically - she'd have to say she was a resident of ON to be able to go back to school there.

- Under no circumstances do i intend to bend the rules....if it can't be done within the legal rules...then it wouldn't be

Edited June 22, 2009 by Udella&Wiz

[Krikit 1,164]

There are a few people on here who have done/are doing it, so I don't believe it's a problem. Even if it extended beyond a year there is a form to allow for that also. The only thing I have heard is that it may impact the timeline on naturalization, but that's not a big deal. Especially if you don't intend to naturalize. LOL

Definition of a Returning Resident

Can Lawful Permanent Residents Leave the US Multiple Times and Return?

Sounds like you're making progress, Udella. Good luck.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Don't know about progress, but I'll try anything.....i'm sort of viewing it as her ####### eyed plan. but nothing is working here and she basically refuses to go back to school here - the self-pride factor, which I do understand though.

Thanks for the links, I shall read through them this evening - one of these days I may get fired for all the time I spend on vj

[thetreble 19]

Udella, where/who would she stay with? I understand her wanting to go back to ECI. It was such a good school for me and I was very comfortable there.

If it will help, let her do it.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

There's the rub - it would have to be with my parents - who we both know don't live near ECI - but a quick busride which she's familiar with would get her there.

As grown-up...we all know if you can't handle life now, what makes ehr think she's going to handle it any better up there? But she of course imagines that she'll go back and it will be all teh same as when she left - except that lots of her friends are finishing off highschool and she'll still be in gr 10.

Frankly she's avoided speaking to my parents for the last few months since the whole dropping out of school thing occurred because she IS embarassed. So she'd have to renew contact with them before asking to stay at their home.

IMHO - she should go the GED route and move on - but she's a stubborn one, she wants to 'experience' highschool life - unfortunately things may not go her way and she may have to realize that the fantasy highschool life isn't goign to happen - no prom, not school sports, not otehr activities.

She tooka rough route.

[Krikit 1,164]

She tooka rough route.

I know it's difficult to deal with right now.... for both of you. But the nice thing is that the tough roads usually lead to a more stable and developed young adult. It's just really hard to get through right now. The nice thing is that it ends. Hang in there, Udella.

[thetreble 19]

There's the rub - it would have to be with my parents - who we both know don't live near ECI - but a quick busride which she's familiar with would get her there.

As grown-up...we all know if you can't handle life now, what makes ehr think she's going to handle it any better up there? But she of course imagines that she'll go back and it will be all teh same as when she left - except that lots of her friends are finishing off highschool and she'll still be in gr 10.

Frankly she's avoided speaking to my parents for the last few months since the whole dropping out of school thing occurred because she IS embarassed. So she'd have to renew contact with them before asking to stay at their home.

IMHO - she should go the GED route and move on - but she's a stubborn one, she wants to 'experience' highschool life - unfortunately things may not go her way and she may have to realize that the fantasy highschool life isn't goign to happen - no prom, not school sports, not otehr activities.

She tooka rough route.

Being a teenager is tough and from a parent's perspective, such a pain. When I look back at myself now at 16 or 17 years old I realize how much of a stubborn, brat I was. I mean, I was a good kid and I had very strict parents but I was very irrational.

I understand she wants to experience high school but it's very quickly forgotten after you finish it! I don't remember much about it now and I'm just 25. But when we are young, we focus in on an event or a time in our lives and we are unable to see beyond it. She SHOULD get her GED instead. Parents know best. But if she's definitely not going to then at this point,I don't see what other option you have either.

Will your parents let her stay with them?

I will say one thing about ECI...I'm not sure how she was when she was there but there are really two types of crowds. I was enrolled in the arts program there, very studious and the captain of the soccer and volleyball teams. There are a lot of kids at the school that are nothing but trouble because it's one of Kitchener's most urban schools. I just hope she gets in with the right crowd.

[warlord 73]

This seems perfectly acceptable. People will run into issues when they are found to be working outside of the US for a non US company and maintaining residency outside the country. Since her home is going to be where you currently are in the US, that shows she is not abandoning her residency at all.

The general rules are 6 months is point where intention could be viewed as abandoning your status. This doesn't mean they do that, it's just a line where they generally will need you to prove you are abandoning your status, before that they usually have to prove that you might have abandoned it. So 3-4 months with a trip back for thanksgiving and Christmas won't be an issue.

Now with the year thing. Yes people have been ok being out almost a year if they have filed the proper documents in order to preserve their status. And yes people have had their status revoked for being out less then 6 months. School though won't trigger that issue at all.

Now if say she finished school and got a job in Canada, and got her own place etc, then that would be the point where her status would be lost...

[Udella&Wiz 325]

This seems perfectly acceptable. People will run into issues when they are found to be working outside of the US for a non US company and maintaining residency outside the country. Since her home is going to be where you currently are in the US, that shows she is not abandoning her residency at all.

The general rules are 6 months is point where intention could be viewed as abandoning your status. This doesn't mean they do that, it's just a line where they generally will need you to prove you are abandoning your status, before that they usually have to prove that you might have abandoned it. So 3-4 months with a trip back for thanksgiving and Christmas won't be an issue.

Now with the year thing. Yes people have been ok being out almost a year if they have filed the proper documents in order to preserve their status. And yes people have had their status revoked for being out less then 6 months. School though won't trigger that issue at all.

Now if say she finished school and got a job in Canada, and got her own place etc, then that would be the point where her status would be lost...

Yes - at some point, she will have to decide where she really wants to stay permamnently. She'll always have the Cdn citizenship to fall back on, but for the time being it is in her best interest to work towards citizenship here so that she can live either place eventually.

In answer to Treble - I don't actually know if my parents can say yes anymore, my dad is a young 72, but my mum is an old 74 who we believe has the very most beginning signs of Altzheimers sadly - she has started getting confused about some simple things and worrying way too much.

As fae as ECI, she was a sporty/ artsy girl and that was her crowd...many of her friends are very family oriented and enjoy church as well......but I totally know the crowd you're thinking of - up to nothing and no where to do it.

[thetreble 19]

Awww, sorry to hear about your mum. Well I hope it all works out, I really do!