What if we decided to do the reverse?

[trailmix 77]

OhNOeS, now that you all know, there won't be room for MY spouse : P

So this begs the question, is there any reason why someone who is living in the U.S. cannot sponsor their spouse as a PR and then the fact that they live together, although perhaps have never lived in Canada, would suffice for the American to maintain their Canadian residency for PR purposes.

KnJ, do you know where you found the information or who you talked to that gave you this information?

trailmix -- apparently yes

bertiemae -- a friend, who for a living helps people with immigration to Canada. Not a lawyer, but someone who works with the system and reads about the process all the time.

The information about accompanying a Canadian citizen or PR outside the country and having that time be considered as 'residency' is here.

Residency obligation

Calculating days present in Canada

To meet the residency obligation, you must have been physically present in Canada for a minimum of 730 days within the past five years. If this is not the case, you may also count the days you spent outside of Canada in the following circumstances:

A. Accompanying a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident outside Canada

Accompanying a Canadian citizen

Each day that you are accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada is considered a day for which you satisfy the residency obligation provided that the person you are accompanying is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 22 years of age).

The total number of days that you spend accompanying a Canadian citizen may be added to the total number of days for which you otherwise satisfy the residency obligation.

Edited October 10, 2009 by trailmix

[redBlue 1]

OhNOeS, now that you all know, there won't be room for MY spouse : P

So this begs the question, is there any reason why someone who is living in the U.S. cannot sponsor their spouse as a PR and then the fact that they live together, although perhaps have never lived in Canada, would suffice for the American to maintain their Canadian residency for PR purposes.

KnJ, do you know where you found the information or who you talked to that gave you this information?

trailmix -- apparently yes

bertiemae -- a friend, who for a living helps people with immigration to Canada. Not a lawyer, but someone who works with the system and reads about the process all the time.

lets say my husband and I are married for four years.We live in US and apply for his Canadian PR status&citizenship from US.Since we've been married four years,they will be able to count those four years for his CDN citizenship so that he will be a CDN citizen automatically by being married to a CDN for four years...

is that right?

The information about accompanying a Canadian citizen or PR outside the country and having that time be considered as 'residency' is here.

Residency obligation

Calculating days present in Canada

To meet the residency obligation, you must have been physically present in Canada for a minimum of 730 days within the past five years. If this is not the case, you may also count the days you spent outside of Canada in the following circumstances:

A. Accompanying a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident outside Canada

Accompanying a Canadian citizen

Each day that you are accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada is considered a day for which you satisfy the residency obligation provided that the person you are accompanying is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 22 years of age).

The total number of days that you spend accompanying a Canadian citizen may be added to the total number of days for which you otherwise satisfy the residency obligation.

[trailmix 77]

lets say my husband and I are married for four years.We live in US and apply for his Canadian PR status&citizenship from US.Since we've been married four years,they will be able to count those four years for his CDN citizenship so that he will be a CDN citizen automatically by being married to a CDN for four years...

is that right?

Hi redblue,

I'm not sure if this is your question, I edited it out of your reply.

Anyway, no that's not correct. "Time married" is not counted - time from the date he becomes a PR can probably be counted (while being married to a Canadian) - at least I think that is what is implied - I am assuming that time spent with your spouse out of the country can be counted towards citizenship - but i'm not really sure.

Edited October 11, 2009 by trailmix

[Maeve 2]

I wish this topic was here a couple years ago!! I still wish I'd gone up there instead of him coming down here :/

But I guess it shouldn't be too difficult for me to apply down the road? I wanted to get started on applying for Canadian citizenship, especially if we decide to move there in future, but I didn't know if I had to live in Canada first or what...it's all so complicated.

[rae_and_scott 1]

I don't know about your friends, but in my case, immigrating to Canada was extremely quick. From start to finish, it took six months. Compared to how long it often takes to immigrate to the U.S., I'd say immigrating to Canada is faster. But then again, that's my experience.

Same here. It took 11 months to get Scott's K1 and less than 3 for me to get my visa to go to Canada.

From my past experience working with Canadian immigration and my personal experiences with US immigration and from this website, the Canadian immigration process is faster, better organized, easier to complete and comply with and cheaper. While there is no fiance visa, there is also no conditional PR status and no removal of conditions. All of the fees are paid at once, no nickel and diming you throughout the process with yet another application and more money. You are allowed to visit in Canada and you can apply either in Canada or from outside of Canada - whatever way you go you are not separated for long periods of time like you are in the American process. You can come and go during the process and won't be 'abandoning' your application if you do so. While the Canadian process does have a financial sponsorship aspect, the requirement is 'waived' for spousal applicants so you don't need to have a minimum income level. As well, you can apply for citizenship after 3 years of Permanent Residency but you can also count up to two years of the time before you became a PR as long as you had legal status in Canada towards that citizenship at a rate of 50% - so you can conceivably get your PR status and only need 2 additional years before you can apply for citizenship. The processing time is about the same for the 'first' level of immigration process if you are going to the States - but for Canada, that is also the complete process.

All very good points.