dual permanent residency in US and Canada

[shek 1]

Hello all,

I am a US citizen. My wife is a Canada permanent resident card holder whose US immigration visa was approved earlier this year. She recently submitted the Canadian naturalization application, then passed through POE and moved to US to become a US permanent resident. Our question is if the US PR status will affect her Canadian citizenship application. Which is better when she reenter Canada, Canada PR card or US PR card? Currently there is a US immigration visa on her passport. Will Canadian immigration officer question it when she enter Canada?

Any ideas and suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hello all,

I am a US citizen. My wife is a Canada permanent resident card holder whose US immigration visa was approved earlier this year. She recently submitted the Canadian naturalization application, then passed through POE and moved to US to become a US permanent resident. Our question is if the US PR status will affect her Canadian citizenship application. Which is better when she reenter Canada, Canada PR card or US PR card? Currently there is a US immigration visa on her passport. Will Canadian immigration officer question it when she enter Canada?

Any ideas and suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

Don't know if her US PR status will affect her Canadian citizenship application. However, her Canadian citizenship application can adversely affect her US PR status.

An US PR is required to make his permanent resident in the US. An US PR who asserts a permanent resident outside the US can lose his US PR status because a person can only have one permanent resident. (It's not so permanent if you can have more than one because you can end up with a hundred.)

If your wife asserts Canadian permanent residency to acquire her Canadian citizenship, then she asserts a non-US permanent resident thus causing her to fail to maintain her US PR status. She could lose her US PR status.

---

Also, if your wife lost her Canadian PR status by getting US PR status, you could be putting her in no man's land if she loses both her Canadian PR status and her US status.

Be careful.

You may want to consult immigration and citizenship attorneys on both side of the border.

Edited September 21, 2012 by aaron2020

[CarolinaGirl 2]

It really will depend on how the Canadian government processes her application. If they look into her current residence and see that she's living in the US then likely they would deny her application. I would suggest that she enter Canada with her Canadian PR card, typically at the border they will ask where you live though, so they will likely find out.

I am in a similar situation. I am a USC and have CDN permanent residence. I applied in May for CDN citizenship, but my husbands visa to the US was approved so we will be moving to the US before the citizenship application is finished. Luckily even if my citizenship application is denied I can maintain canadian permanent residence as long as while living outside of canada it is with a canadian citizen. My husband and child are both Canadian citizens so that shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck figuring it all out. I would imagine that your wife will have to at some point choose to either keep the Canadian PR or US PR.

[2Ps 49]

On 9/21/2012 at 3:32 PM, shek said:

Hello all,

I am a US citizen. My wife is a Canada permanent resident card holder whose US immigration visa was approved earlier this year. She recently submitted the Canadian naturalization application, then passed through POE and moved to US to become a US permanent resident. Our question is if the US PR status will affect her Canadian citizenship application. Which is better when she reenter Canada, Canada PR card or US PR card? Currently there is a US immigration visa on her passport. Will Canadian immigration officer question it when she enter Canada?

Any ideas and suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

Hello I am in the same situation as your wife. I am a Canadian Permanent Resident and my husband an American. I had applied for citizenship and was supposed to write my test in April which got cancelled due to COVID. I recently got my UD green card approved in Feb.

1. Did your wife end up having to give up her permanent residency of Canada? Especially when she filed taxes the following year. I read somewhere you have to file departure taxes...
2. Was she able to complete her Canadian citizenship application? Since I am assuming the green card visa was probably in her passport of the country of origin. 

Any suggestion would be very much appreciated. Thank You!

[Kai G. Llewellyn 838]

It is possible to maintain both US and Canadian Permanent Residency. For Canadian PR you must be on Canadian soil for 2 years out of every rolling 5 year period, you do not need to maintain Canadian Residential Ties. An exception to this requirement exists while accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse or common-law partner outside of Canada. To maintain US permanent residency, you must make your principal home in the US, be resident of a US state or territory, file taxes as a resident alien and spend more time in the US than outside.

Therefore it is possible to maintain both, albeit hard to maintain both requirements to keep those statuses.

 

Canada does not require you to be a resident within a province or territory to acquire citizenship as after 2017 the Canadian Government changed the Citizenship Act to remove the requirement to live in Canada after gaining citizenship, you must only continue to maintain your PR status by complying with the 2 out of 5 year requirement. You just need a Canadian address in order to receive mail from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

 

As you do not have to break your US residential ties to acquire Canadian citizenship, this will not negatively impact on your US PR status. I have spoken to a Immigration lawyer (not as strict legal advice) in Blaine who also confirms this position.

 

However, you must ensure that you have solid proof of your US residential ties and it definitely doesn't hurt to be in possession of a re-entry permit as well.

 

She will need to use her Canadian PR card to enter Canada, and use her US PR card to enter the US. She must continuously assert and demonstrate that she is a resident in the US.

Edited March 8, 2021 by CanadaDude

[Kai G. Llewellyn 838]

On 9/21/2012 at 4:31 PM, CarolinaGirl said:

It really will depend on how the Canadian government processes her application. If they look into her current residence and see that she's living in the US then likely they would deny her application. I would suggest that she enter Canada with her Canadian PR card, typically at the border they will ask where you live though, so they will likely find out.

I am in a similar situation. I am a USC and have CDN permanent residence. I applied in May for CDN citizenship, but my husbands visa to the US was approved so we will be moving to the US before the citizenship application is finished. Luckily even if my citizenship application is denied I can maintain canadian permanent residence as long as while living outside of canada it is with a canadian citizen. My husband and child are both Canadian citizens so that shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck figuring it all out. I would imagine that your wife will have to at some point choose to either keep the Canadian PR or US PR.

Hey there, so long as you can continue to maintain your Canadian PR, receive notices from IRCC and return to Canada for your exam, interview and oath ceremony, you shouldn't have too much issue being approved for your citizenship.

[shek 1]

8 hours ago, 2Ps said:

Hello I am in the same situation as your wife. I am a Canadian Permanent Resident and my husband an American. I had applied for citizenship and was supposed to write my test in April which got cancelled due to COVID. I recently got my UD green card approved in Feb.

1. Did your wife end up having to give up her permanent residency of Canada? Especially when she filed taxes the following year. I read somewhere you have to file departure taxes...
2. Was she able to complete her Canadian citizenship application? Since I am assuming the green card visa was probably in her passport of the country of origin. 

Any suggestion would be very much appreciated. Thank You!

Hello, my wife got her Canadian citizenship on June 2014. She didn't get questioned about her US PR. 

[204 59]

On 9/21/2012 at 5:32 PM, shek said:

Hello all,

I am a US citizen. My wife is a Canada permanent resident card holder whose US immigration visa was approved earlier this year. She recently submitted the Canadian naturalization application, then passed through POE and moved to US to become a US permanent resident. Our question is if the US PR status will affect her Canadian citizenship application. Which is better when she reenter Canada, Canada PR card or US PR card? Currently there is a US immigration visa on her passport. Will Canadian immigration officer question it when she enter Canada?

Any ideas and suggestions would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

Canada passed a bill couple years ago which indicate to become a Canadian citizen, you don't need to show ties to Canada. Basically, You can just apply and go wherever you want. Below are requirements from IRCC website; as long as you meet below requirements, you'll be just fine. 

 

As for U.S. Green Card Holders, all you need is to show your domicile/ presence in the U.S. and, most importantly, don't leave the country for more than six months.

 

To become a Canadian citizen, most applicants must

• be a permanent resident
• have lived in Canada for at least 3 out of the last 5 years (1,095 days)
• have filed your taxes, if you need to
• pass a citizenship test
• prove your language skills in English or French

Cheers,

Edited March 8, 2021 by andy@wpg

[Ontarkie 14,236]

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