Pending Canadian citizenship and having Green Card

[smnickkyua 2]

Hi, folks! Me and wife are facing a dilemma. She had submitted her Canadian citizenship application in October, 2011. And as I put in my signature, on December 8th she successfully passed an IR1 visa interview in Montreal.

Of course, she wants to accomplish her Canadian citizenship process and at the same time she needs to activate her GC in the USA. So, initially we had plans for her entering the USA this coming Friday, but today she told me that she had been told about possible Canadian PR lose once she gets her GC in the USA.

Is this so serious? But she had met Canadian citizenship requirements having no other residence at the time of submitting her Canadian application, so, my question is: will having GC after submitting Canadian citizenship application effect her Canadian PR status and citizenship process?

And having Canadian PR status shouldn't effect her POE and further GC obtaining. Right?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Unfortunately, your wife is right - it may cause her problems. While she meets the citizenship requirements as of the time of filing, she would be expected to still meet them by the time of the interview and the oath. Residency requirements allow her to be outside of the country for a specific period of time before her residency is at risk. The IR-1 visa needs to be 'activated' within 6 months. By activating the green card she is basically stating she is now a permanent resident of the US and no longer a resident of Canada. If she claims to still be a resident of Canada then she puts her green card status at risk and it may be revoked. She needs to maintain her permanent resident status eligibility for her Canadian citizenship. Canadian citizenship is currently taking 19 months to process so that means, for an uncomplicated case where no further information is requested, your wife still has another 15 months to go before her interview and exam and she may no longer meet the residency requirements by that date. She does need to file a change of address with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and providing a US address may trigger an investigation of her immigration status in Canada. Her test and exam will also be scheduled at her local CIC office and that is determined by her address on file. This is the same address that any notices will be sent to so she does need to keep a valid address on file with CIC in order to receive any notices of her exam and interview dates.

Being a Canadian PR will not affect her US POE as long as she has the proper visa in her passport nor will it affect her getting her green card. What is at risk is her status in Canada as a Permanent Resident and whether she would still be considered eligible to receive Canadian citizenship if she were no longer residing as a Permanent Resident in Canada.

This is a tricky situation and it would be a good idea if she postpones activating her green card until she has a chance to consult with a knowledgeable cross border lawyer, or gets a ruling on the situation from Citizenship and Immigration Canada http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/index.asp . It wouldn't be a problem if Canadian citizenship applications weren't taking so long to process, but they are, so it is.

http://www.cic.gc.ca...tions/howto.asp

Edited December 28, 2011 by Kathryn41

[smnickkyua 2]

Unfortunately, your wife is right - it may cause her problems. While she meets the citizenship requirements as of the time of filing, she would be expected to still meet them by the time of the interview and the oath. Residency requirements allow her to be outside of the country for a specific period of time before her residency is at risk. The IR-1 visa needs to be 'activated' within 6 months. By activating the green card she is basically stating she is now a permanent resident of the US and no longer a resident of Canada. If she claims to still be a resident of Canada then she puts her green card status at risk and it may be revoked. She needs to maintain her permanent resident status eligibility for her Canadian citizenship. Canadian citizenship is currently taking 19 months to process so that means, for an uncomplicated case where no further information is requested, your wife still has another 15 months to go before her interview and exam and she may no longer meet the residency requirements by that date. She does need to file a change of address with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and providing a US address may trigger an investigation of her immigration status in Canada. Her test and exam will also be scheduled at her local CIC office and that is determined by her address on file. This is the same address that any notices will be sent to so she does need to keep a valid address on file with CIC in order to receive any notices of her exam and interview dates.

Being a Canadian PR will not affect her US POE as long as she has the proper visa in her passport nor will it affect her getting her green card. What is at risk is her status in Canada as a Permanent Resident and whether she would still be considered eligible to receive Canadian citizenship if she were no longer residing as a Permanent Resident in Canada.

This is a tricky situation and it would be a good idea if she postpones activating her green card until she has a chance to consult with a knowledgeable cross border lawyer, or gets a ruling on the situation from Citizenship and Immigration Canada http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/index.asp . It wouldn't be a problem if Canadian citizenship applications weren't taking so long to process, but they are, so it is.

http://www.cic.gc.ca...tions/howto.asp

Really bad news. But, she can still be out the Canada up to 3 years, which covers 19 months. She plans to return to Canada after 6 months.

[smnickkyua 2]

Unfortunately, your wife is right - it may cause her problems. While she meets the citizenship requirements as of the time of filing, she would be expected to still meet them by the time of the interview and the oath. Residency requirements allow her to be outside of the country for a specific period of time before her residency is at risk. The IR-1 visa needs to be 'activated' within 6 months. By activating the green card she is basically stating she is now a permanent resident of the US and no longer a resident of Canada. If she claims to still be a resident of Canada then she puts her green card status at risk and it may be revoked. She needs to maintain her permanent resident status eligibility for her Canadian citizenship. Canadian citizenship is currently taking 19 months to process so that means, for an uncomplicated case where no further information is requested, your wife still has another 15 months to go before her interview and exam and she may no longer meet the residency requirements by that date. She does need to file a change of address with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and providing a US address may trigger an investigation of her immigration status in Canada. Her test and exam will also be scheduled at her local CIC office and that is determined by her address on file. This is the same address that any notices will be sent to so she does need to keep a valid address on file with CIC in order to receive any notices of her exam and interview dates.

Being a Canadian PR will not affect her US POE as long as she has the proper visa in her passport nor will it affect her getting her green card. What is at risk is her status in Canada as a Permanent Resident and whether she would still be considered eligible to receive Canadian citizenship if she were no longer residing as a Permanent Resident in Canada.

This is a tricky situation and it would be a good idea if she postpones activating her green card until she has a chance to consult with a knowledgeable cross border lawyer, or gets a ruling on the situation from Citizenship and Immigration Canada http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/index.asp . It wouldn't be a problem if Canadian citizenship applications weren't taking so long to process, but they are, so it is.

http://www.cic.gc.ca...tions/howto.asp

I did some search on-line and my wife has called the CIC service center and it looks like: the person who initially got her(his) PR status in Canada won't lose it after GC has been obtained and activated, as long as that person meets residence requirements (which is 2 year rule out of 5).