Gaining Canadian Citizenship after becoming a US LPR - Success!

[Kai G. Llewellyn 836]

19 minutes ago, Maverick_TO said:

Did you update your address with the IRCC to when you informed them of your US LPR status? Considering that we're LPRs of the US, I'd think having a non-US address on file would be questioned?

 

@Kai G. Llewellyn  Please feel free to chime in on this

I advised them that my principal residence was in the US and provided that address, but I also maintain a secondary address in Canada and asked them to send my certificate to my Canadian address.

 

LPR's are allowed to have secondary foreign residences, they just must make their primary home in the US. Trust me, there are plenty of wealthy LPR's in the US who have homes all over the planet.

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Kai G. Llewellyn

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

7 hours ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

I advised them that my principal residence was in the US and provided that address, but I also maintain a secondary address in Canada and asked them to send my certificate to my Canadian address.

 

LPR's are allowed to have secondary foreign residences, they just must make their primary home in the US. Trust me, there are plenty of wealthy LPR's in the US who have homes all over the planet.

 

@Maverick_TO 

 

Agreed with @Kai G. Llewellyn, but just adding - 

 

I don’t maintain a Canadian address anymore and when I let IRCC know I am moving to the US, I gave them my US address for any communication they may want to send. IRCC is able to send communication to both Canadian or US addresses, so they are ok with you not maintaining a Canadian address. I confirmed this by calling IRCC. 

Edited July 14, 2022 by From_CAN_2_US

[jpfashizzle 9]

On 7/12/2022 at 8:20 PM, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

When did you apply? Language Skills, Prohibitions and Physical Presence usually are marked as complete together and that's effectively your 'Decision Made'. If you have extensive travel history, Physical Presence may take 1 or 2 months more to complete once Lang and Prohibs are done.

 

You can request for expedited processing of your application, if you can demonstrate an emergent need for it to IRCC (and no, living outside of Canada doesn't count).

 

Once your application is approved, you will be invited to an Oath Ceremony. There you will also sign a paper Oath of Citizenship (as well as verbally taking the oath), you send a scan of the paper oath to an IRCC mailbox. When emailing that mailbox, you you can request that they expedite the dispatch of your citizenship certificate. FYI it took about 2.5 weeks for my certificate to be delivered after my ceremony.

Thanks @Kai G. Llewellyn!!! OK so it seems I need to request for expediting after my Oath Ceremony.

 

I applied Sep 16, 2020 and passed my Citizenship Test on May 30, 2022 - So yes, I expect all 3 of the remaining statuses to be marked complete together!

[jpfashizzle 9]

@Kai G. Llewellyn @waterlooengineer I finally got my US Immigrant Visa!

 

That being said, I am now in a huge conundrum of when to travel/immigrate to the US. I still have my IRCC Background Check, Prohibitions, and Physical Presence 'In Progress' and no Oath Ceremony date set. 

 

Am I a "US LPR" from the date of my Immigrant Visa stamp, or is it from the date that I physically immigrate to the US? I ask because I believe @Kai G. Llewellyn you suggested to inform IRCC of my US LPR status when I get it. 

 

I am seriously contemplating immigrating to the US by the end of this month and just come back to Canada when my Oath Ceremony is scheduled (I'll use my US Immigrant Visa Stamp to get back into the US). 

 

Any thoughts?...

[Kai G. Llewellyn 836]

6 minutes ago, jpfashizzle said:

@Kai G. Llewellyn @waterlooengineer I finally got my US Immigrant Visa!

 

That being said, I am now in a huge conundrum of when to travel/immigrate to the US. I still have my IRCC Background Check, Prohibitions, and Physical Presence 'In Progress' and no Oath Ceremony date set. 

 

Am I a "US LPR" from the date of my Immigrant Visa stamp, or is it from the date that I physically immigrate to the US? I ask because I believe @Kai G. Llewellyn you suggested to inform IRCC of my US LPR status when I get it. 

 

I am seriously contemplating immigrating to the US by the end of this month and just come back to Canada when my Oath Ceremony is scheduled (I'll use my US Immigrant Visa Stamp to get back into the US). 

 

Any thoughts?...

Heyo!

 

You are a US LPR the moment you are admitted to the US as an immigrant. In layman's terms, that is when you activate your visa and the CBP officer stamps 'ADMITTED' by your immigrant visa. That stamp will have a date and that will be your 'Resident Since' date.

 

Prior to activating your visa, you have no status in the US. You just happen to hold an immigrant visa which allows you to request admission for permanent residence.

 

You can immigrate to the US at any time of your choosing, so long as your IV is valid. Do note that once you do that, the common opinion on VJ is that your provincial residency immediately ceases, so you don't have provincial healthcare anymore.

 

However, your Canadian citizenship application will be unaffected. So long as you maintain your Canadian PR (by being physically present in Canada for 2 years out of a rolling 5 year period), you application can be processed while outside of Canada and you can return for your citizenship ceremony. Good luck!

[EternalWait 77]

 

7 hours ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

Heyo!

 

You are a US LPR the moment you are admitted to the US as an immigrant. In layman's terms, that is when you activate your visa and the CBP officer stamps 'ADMITTED' by your immigrant visa. That stamp will have a date and that will be your 'Resident Since' date.

 

Prior to activating your visa, you have no status in the US. You just happen to hold an immigrant visa which allows you to request admission for permanent residence.

 

You can immigrate to the US at any time of your choosing, so long as your IV is valid. Do note that once you do that, the common opinion on VJ is that your provincial residency immediately ceases, so you don't have provincial healthcare anymore.

 

However, your Canadian citizenship application will be unaffected. So long as you maintain your Canadian PR (by being physically present in Canada for 2 years out of a rolling 5 year period), you application can be processed while outside of Canada and you can return for your citizenship ceremony. Good luck!

I have found the information here incredibly useful  So thanks a lot @Kai G. Llewellyn ! I will be ending up in a situation like this eventually. But with one difference : My immigrant visa will be EB2 . Is that also multiple entry and can it be used for traveling as long as I don't have my greencard issued? What if it gets issued and I am still outside the US ? 😕 

Edited August 3, 2022 by immishok

[Kai G. Llewellyn 836]

4 hours ago, immishok said:

 

I have found the information here incredibly useful  So thanks a lot @Kai G. Llewellyn ! I will be ending up in a situation like this eventually. But with one difference : My immigrant visa will be EB2 . Is that also multiple entry and can it be used for traveling as long as I don't have my greencard issued? What if it gets issued and I am still outside the US ? 😕 

EB-2 and CR-1 are treated the same as far as an endorsed visa being good for travel for one year.

 

Your Green Card can be issued while you are outside of the US, but must be mailed to a US address. Your 1 year Visa endorsement is good for travel regardless of whether a green card has been issued.

 

Edited August 3, 2022 by Kai G. Llewellyn

[EternalWait 77]

6 hours ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

EB-2 and CR-1 are treated the same as far as an endorsed visa being good for travel for one year.

 

Your Green Card can be issued while you are outside of the US, but must be mailed to a US address. Your 1 year Visa endorsement is good for travel regardless of whether a green card has been issued.

 

Interesting, but what if my EB2 visa is EB2-NIW (self-petitioned without sponsor)? Sorry I should have specified that.

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

6 minutes ago, immishok said:

Interesting, but what if my EB2 visa is EB2-NIW (self-petitioned without sponsor)? Sorry I should have specified that.

It’s the same for all immigrant visas.

 

Your visa stamp gets endorsed the first time you cross into the country. That endorsement allows you to travel in and out of the country for a year from time of endorsement. You don’t need a physical green card to enter US during that one year.

[VIR CHAMP 25]

On 7/14/2022 at 1:16 AM, From_CAN_2_US said:

@Maverick_TO 

 

Agreed with @Kai G. Llewellyn, but just adding - 

 

I don’t maintain a Canadian address anymore and when I let IRCC know I am moving to the US, I gave them my US address for any communication they may want to send. IRCC is able to send communication to both Canadian or US addresses, so they are ok with you not maintaining a Canadian address. I confirmed this by calling IRCC. 

I am in the same boat. Living in USA on Green card status since May 2021. I have my Canadian Citizenship oath coming up next week.

I have updated IRCC about my address in USA and Green Card status.

My oath is online so I was wondering to drive to Niagara falls,ON,  complete the ceremony and come back to USA.

 

1. Would I be able to receive my Citizenship Certificate on USA address and using that apply for a Passport?
 

@Kai G. Llewellyn why did you recommend having Canadian Citizenship Certificate to be delivered in Canada?

2.  Do we have to inform USCIS?

If yes, do we do at the border or we wait for certificate?

If yes, would that change anything with out Green card or any issue at the time of US citizenship application?

[VIR CHAMP 25]

On 7/13/2022 at 6:03 PM, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

I advised them that my principal residence was in the US and provided that address, but I also maintain a secondary address in Canada and asked them to send my certificate to my Canadian address.

 

LPR's are allowed to have secondary foreign residences, they just must make their primary home in the US. Trust me, there are plenty of wealthy LPR's in the US who have homes all over the planet.

 

Did you stay in Canada until the certificate arrived or have it delivered at close family/friend address?

[Kai G. Llewellyn 836]

I was under the impression that IRCC would only mail to addresses in Canada. That might not be the case. Regardless, it is faster to have it delivered to a Canadian address. It seems that it takes 2.5 weeks for it to show up after the Ceremony. You can certainly ask IRCC if they would mail the certificate to a US address.

 

I didn't stay in Canada waiting for it to arrive, but I had a second home in Canada which I had the certificate sent to. I was able to re-enter Canada using my GC and NEXUS card without issue.

 

I have still yet to apply for a Canadian passport as I'm waiting for the mess at the passport offices to clear up. I don't have the time to queue outside Service Canada for hours. xD

 

I don't believe there is an obligation to report a new citizenship to USCIS, but I did so anyway for the sake of transparency and to basically cover my backside. I just sent them a message in myUSCIS. I did that a few days after the ceremony.

 

As mentioned before, you must attend the Ceremony physically in Canada, even though it's online. If you attend it while in the US, you won't be properly naturalized and it may be subject to revocation.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Kai G. Llewellyn

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

2 minutes ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

I was under the impression that IRCC would only mail to addresses in Canada. That might not be the case. Regardless, it is faster to have it delivered to a Canadian address. It seems that it takes 2.5 weeks for it to show up after the Ceremony. You can certainly ask IRCC if they would mail the certificate to a US address.

 

I didn't stay in Canada waiting for it to arrive, but I had a second home in Canada which I had the certificate sent to. I was able to re-enter Canada using my GC and NEXUS card without issue.

 

I have still yet to apply for a Canadian passport as I'm waiting for the mess at the passport offices to clear up. I don't have the time to queue outside Service Canada for hours. xD

@VIR CHAMP refer to following link. They will send your citizenship certificate to US, but like @Kai G. Llewellyn said, it would probably take a whole lot longer.

 

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1560&top=5

 

When the time comes, I intend to get it mailed to the US, as I am in no hurry to obtain a Canadian passport.

[VIR CHAMP 25]

12 minutes ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

I was under the impression that IRCC would only mail to addresses in Canada. That might not be the case. Regardless, it is faster to have it delivered to a Canadian address. It seems that it takes 2.5 weeks for it to show up after the Ceremony. You can certainly ask IRCC if they would mail the certificate to a US address.

 

I didn't stay in Canada waiting for it to arrive, but I had a second home in Canada which I had the certificate sent to. I was able to re-enter Canada using my GC and NEXUS card without issue.

 

I have still yet to apply for a Canadian passport as I'm waiting for the mess at the passport offices to clear up. I don't have the time to queue outside Service Canada for hours. xD

I found this

 

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1560&top=5
 

Agree that it would be much much faster if get it shipped in Canada but I don’t have Nexus. So not sure if I would be able to go to Canada using GC without Citizenship Certificate.

 

Yes, I am going to Canadian side of Niagara falls to complete the oath ceremony.

Edited August 16, 2022 by VIR CHAMP

[VIR CHAMP 25]

9 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

@VIR CHAMP refer to following link. They will send your citizenship certificate to US, but like @Kai G. Llewellyn said, it would probably take a whole lot longer.

 

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1560&top=5

 

When the time comes, I intend to get it mailed to the US, as I am in no hurry to obtain a Canadian passport.

That is what I am planning to. No rush, not going out of USA anytime soon after oath.