Dual Citizenship...

[lilykouki 0]

Posted earlier about my situation... thanks for all the information everyone... still loads of questions!

The goal here is to get him here to marry me... live here with a green card, and still be able to work in Canada and for us to spend some time there together also. He works as a french/english interpreter/translator and it really makes sense to work there for that reason.

Right now, he is a permanent resident of Canada and he was born in (hold a passport of) France.

He is going to apply for citizenship in Canada (now that we know it is important; he has lived there for 18 years). I'm understanding that if he is a citizen of Canada and marries me (US citizen) then he can retain his residency in Canada and still be a resident of the US? Is that possible and can it stay like that?

What if he were to become a dual citizen? If it is NOT possible to have residency in Canada and the US for an extended time... would dual citizenship be the answer here?

Sorry to bombard you guys with so many questions... but we were really bummed to hear that we might have to wait as long as 15 months... if we have to we will.. but it's hard to hear... still we want to know what direction we need to go in.

Any ideas on how we can work this out would be greatly appreciated.

[cmartyn 0]

For you to sponsor him, you must live or plan to live in the USA. Its called domicile. You need to be domiciled in the USA to sponsor an immigrant. Then he comes to live with you in the USA.. Maries you and applies for AOS. 3 years after being granted permanent residency he can become a US citizen. Then he can live in Canada or the US or France for that matter. He would be a tri-citizen. But he cant become a Permanent resident of the US unless he lives there. With you!

[lilykouki 0]

but can he apply for Canadian citizenship at the same time that we are applying to marry and have him live here? We just want for him to live here, but to still be able to travel to Canada for conferences.. he can do translations here in the US... we want to keep a small room apartment in Canada for traveling there often for conferences and visits, but we would live here in the house that I already own in the US.

[Reba 2]

I don't think it advisable to have applications current to both countries. Finish one first (Canada) and THEN work on the US stuff. The US could deem that his application is invalid because of the concurrent applications in Canada.

[meauxna 15]

but can he apply for Canadian citizenship at the same time that we are applying to marry and have him live here? We just want for him to live here, but to still be able to travel to Canada for conferences.. he can do translations here in the US... we want to keep a small room apartment in Canada for traveling there often for conferences and visits, but we would live here in the house that I already own in the US.

lilykouki,

He can (and probably should) apply for Can citz asap. He's entitled, and it will make life much easier. Many people do it at the last minute, as they are moving out.

Then you decide how you want him to move here, as a fiance, as a spouse etc. You reviewed the differences before, but remember that a fiance will not have the luxury of immediate work authorization or travel permission, and that will hinder his plan to keep working in Canada. A Permanent Resident will be able to do what you propose.

You need to get over to Canada's immigration site and find out how he can get that underway.

After he has been a permanent resident in the US for 3 years, he can apply for US citizenship as well. With those 3 passports, he can travel and live virtually anywhere you desire .

[gimygirl 0]

as far as i know .... as long as you have AND keep primary domicile (greater than 6 months) in the US he should be good to go!

[neiks 19]

as far as i know .... as long as you have AND keep primary domicile (greater than 6 months) in the US he should be good to go

If his domicile is the US and he does not get his Canadian citizenship, he will be forfeiting his Canadian Perm. Resident status and will not be able to continue to travel to Canada to work. A person can not be a legal resident of both Canada and US at the same time. Both countries require the domicile (physically present and living in that country) not just commuting to work.

As I stated in your previous post - you may be heading for a lot of trouble and heartache at either the Canadian or US border if your fiance is holding both a US greencard and a Canadian perm resident card. He has to choose which country he intends to make his home. Commuting to Canada to work is not making a home in Canada regardless if he rents an apartment there or not. The only way he will have the "absolute right" to commute to Canada to work is with his Canadian citizenship.

[lilykouki 0]

Thanks... I'm glad that you did clear that up for us... we need all the help we can get... but I was asking if it were possible to apply for the Candian citizenship and to go ahead with the getting married whether its the K-1, K-3 or whatever we decide... Is it okay to have those applications going at the same time?

Thanks so much for your help!

Oh, my fiancé ran into an immigration lawyer in a pub last night who told him it was OK to have them going at the same time... still... don't know the guy, would like to know for sure...

Edited March 29, 2006 by lilykouki

[Reba 2]

I don't think it advisable to have applications current to both countries. Finish one first (Canada) and THEN work on the US stuff. The US could deem that his application is invalid because of the concurrent applications in Canada.

hmmmm...

didn't somebody already answer that for you? I believe its also been posted in your other thread.

If you want to get married now, go ahead, that's perfectly legal, you'll have to continue to live in separate countries tho. Until he's got his Canadian citizenship, its probably not advisable to apply to the US for any kind of visa. Having concurrent immigration applications to 2 separate countries could be deemed by either or both of those countries as invalid.

Even *after* he's got Canadian citizenship and then applies for a visa of some sort to the US, if he continues to just go back and forth without taking up permanent residency in the US, they may revoke his Green Card. The purpose of a Green Card is to live permanently, and work, in the US, not commute indefinitely. They can, and do, revoke them.

[meauxna 15]

I don't think it advisable to have applications current to both countries. Finish one first (Canada) and THEN work on the US stuff. The US could deem that his application is invalid because of the concurrent applications in Canada.

hmmmm...

didn't somebody already answer that for you? I believe its also been posted in your other thread.

If you want to get married now, go ahead, that's perfectly legal, you'll have to continue to live in separate countries tho. Until he's got his Canadian citizenship, its probably not advisable to apply to the US for any kind of visa. Having concurrent immigration applications to 2 separate countries could be deemed by either or both of those countries as invalid.

Even *after* he's got Canadian citizenship and then applies for a visa of some sort to the US, if he continues to just go back and forth without taking up permanent residency in the US, they may revoke his Green Card. The purpose of a Green Card is to live permanently, and work, in the US, not commute indefinitely. They can, and do, revoke them.

I think the opposite---applying for Can citizenship does NOT interfere with a US immigration application. I believe that there are 2 people here on VJ doing just that, including one of the DCF filers.

Also, and I don't know anything about it other than the name, there is such a critter as 'commuter status' for the Canadian border. I learned about it from one of immigration lawyers who posts to the other group, and he indicates that it is OK for a US PR to work in Canada but live in the US. This wouild be worth looking into.

Clearly the OP would benefit from finding a lawyer who is familiar with family-based immigration, specific to Canada. She could also ask one of the lawyers at the *Canadian* immigration group at britishexpats.com; they are used to situations like this and can probably give her a more definitive answer, or better leads to follow. I think it's pretty clear that no one at VJ has done what she's asking about, and so we are ill-equipped to give her information.

PS: wanted to add that's it's OK for a PR to have a home in the US and one abroad.. we did it without penalty. The US must be the PR's primary residence, and there are limits to how long you can be out of the US in one go, but it's not prohibited to have a foreign residence like the apartment she describes.

[Reba 2]

well, I recall having read about another Can/Am couple at a different forum who had applications to both countries, and the US deemed the US application void and sent her back to Canada.

*shrug*

[neiks 19]

There should be no problem with the fiance/husband commuting to Canada to work once he becomes a citizen. I see it quite often where the US PR commutes to Canada to work and vice versa a Canadian PR commuting to the US to work. As long as that person has their citizenship in the country their commuting back to work in. The problem that may arise is the PR is not spending a total of 6 months or more in the country they have their PR status in and spending more time in the country they are supppose to be just commuting to.

And once again, I don't have an answer whether or not both applications can be in the process at the same time. That is getting pretty complex and beyond my immigration knowledge. It would be best to contact the Canadian consulate to inquire about applying for citizenship while applying for a US visa. Best of luck to you.

Edited March 30, 2006 by neiks

[lilykouki 0]

yes... we're not planning on spending that much time in Canada... pretty much just conferences and maybe some vacation time... thanks

Still, we may seek the advice of an immigration lawyer... we are still not sure if it's ok to apply for these simultaneously... just want to be really careful and do this perfectly legally....