Possible Move Back to Canada

[Canucky 4]

Hello,

 

Like many people my wife and I are considering options for our futures.  We are both retired and have been married over 20 years.

I am native born Canadian and now hold US citizenship also.

 

My wife is a US citizen.  She has however had a Canadian permanent resident card - twice before.  The first was acquired shortly after we married in the US and she moved to Canada to be with me.  A couple of years later we moved to the US to help with an illness in her family.  I got my green card for the US with much help from Visajourney folks!  After the illness was resolved we stayed in the US for a few years (4) and when the economy fell apart and I lost my job we ended up getting an offer to move back to Canada.  My wife once again applied for and was granted a Canadian permanent residency card.  Again due to family issues we returned to the US after 2.5 years.  We have been back in the US for 11 years.

 

My questions are regarding how we go about getting her approved for permanent residency in Canada again. 

 

1.  Is there some process other than starting all over again?

 

2. Can we move there and have her apply from Canada or do we have to get approval before she arrives?

 

I am sure I will have other questions but let's start there.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,266]

Country-specific thread is moved from the "Emigrating Outside the US" forum to the Canada regional forum, which is far more active and has a high concentration of knowledgeable respondents.

[Ontarkie 14,218]

Are you sure she lost her Canadian PR, living with a Canadian spouse is one of the ways to keep your Canadian PR. Look into that first.

[Canucky 4]

18 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

Are you sure she lost her Canadian PR, living with a Canadian spouse is one of the ways to keep your Canadian PR. Look into that first.

Hello,

 

Thanks for answering.  As I understand it if the PR moves back to the US because it is required of the spouse's job then each day out is counted as a day in Canada.  I have now been retired 6 years so that is not the case.

 

Thanks though.

[mam521 2,060]

You can apply now from the US for it.  I suspect because you didn't keep it renewed, it's start from scratch.  

[Canucky 4]

On 11/12/2024 at 1:19 PM, mam521 said:

You can apply now from the US for it.  I suspect because you didn't keep it renewed, it's start from scratch.  

Thanks.  I agree.  We are working on it now.

[appleblossom 2,477]

On 11/12/2024 at 12:02 PM, Canucky said:

Hello,

 

Thanks for answering.  As I understand it if the PR moves back to the US because it is required of the spouse's job then each day out is counted as a day in Canada.  I have now been retired 6 years so that is not the case.

 

Thanks though.

 

That's not correct. As you're a Canadian citizen, any time spent outside of Canada with you (regardless of the reason for it) counts as time spent inside Canada for her residency obligations. She has maintained her PR status from what you've said. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/section-28.html

 

 

 

 

[mam521 2,060]

43 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

That's not correct. As you're a Canadian citizen, any time spent outside of Canada with you (regardless of the reason for it) counts as time spent inside Canada for her residency obligations. She has maintained her PR status from what you've said. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/i-2.5/section-28.html

 

 

 

 

You still have to apply to renew the PR to keep it in good standing.  I have a friend in the US that has Canadian PR thanks to his wife and he constantly has to renew.  

[appleblossom 2,477]

2 minutes ago, mam521 said:

You still have to apply to renew the PR to keep it in good standing.  I have a friend in the US that has Canadian PR thanks to his wife and he constantly has to renew.  

 

Only for the PR card, which is just proof of status, not the status itself. The OP's wife has maintained her status so can just apply for a PRTD to travel back to Canada, and then renew her actual card once there. 

[mam521 2,060]

Ah HA...this may apply to the OP!  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-travel-document.html

[appleblossom 2,477]

10 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Ah HA...this may apply to the OP!  https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/pr-travel-document.html

 

Yep, that's the PRTD I mentioned above. Much easier/cheaper/quicker for the OP than a whole new PR application thankfully! 👍

Edited Tuesday at 08:15 PM by appleblossom

[Canucky 4]

44 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

Yep, that's the PRTD I mentioned above. Much easier/cheaper/quicker for the OP than a whole new PR application thankfully! 👍

 

 

Okay folks....you have rocked me to the core!!  Hopefully in a happy way.

 

So here is the detail.

 

We left Canada in 10/2013 so I could take a job in Indiana.  We have been in the US ever since.  I retired from that job and we stayed in the US.  My wife's PR card expired on Mar. 1, 2017  - that is a long time ago.

 

Do you think we re still eligible for this process??  (he asks hopefully)

[appleblossom 2,477]

Just now, Canucky said:

 

 

Okay folks....you have rocked me to the core!!  Hopefully in a happy way.

 

So here is the detail.

 

We left Canada in 10/2013 so I could take a job in Indiana.  We have been in the US ever since.  I retired from that job and we stayed in the US.  My wife's PR card expired on Mar. 1, 2017  - that is a long time ago.

 

Do you think we re still eligible for this process??  (he asks hopefully)

 

Yep, absolutely. Your wife IS still a permanent resident as she's residing with her Canadian citizen spouse - see the link I gave you above. She can live outside of Canada for indefinitely and she'd still keep her PR status as long as she's with you (unless the law changes of course!). 

 

That's the good news. The bad news is that you reapplied needlessly last time, but you can't win them all. 😂

[Canucky 4]

13 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

Yep, absolutely. Your wife IS still a permanent resident as she's residing with her Canadian citizen spouse - see the link I gave you above. She can live outside of Canada for indefinitely and she'd still keep her PR status as long as she's with you (unless the law changes of course!). 

 

That's the good news. The bad news is that you reapplied needlessly last time, but you can't win them all. 😂

 OMG!!

 

I will do some investigating tomorrow and eventually we will have to apply on line.  Should I call them or let sleeping dogs lie???

[appleblossom 2,477]

10 minutes ago, Canucky said:

 OMG!!

 

I will do some investigating tomorrow and eventually we will have to apply on line.  Should I call them or let sleeping dogs lie???

 

Call who?