@dpenabill
My partner and I are planning to move to Detroit while we currently live in Windsor. My partner will relocate there for school, and I will be working in Detroit. The plan is for me to move in May next year to start my job, but she won't join me until September, when the school year begins.
The tricky part is that she has yet to be a Canadian citizen but will submit her citizenship application before leaving Canada. However, we don't expect to receive a response by next September. We're concerned about whether I can start to count my residency obligation days towards the 1,090 or 730 days even after she obtains her citizenship status. This seems to be a concern based on your previous post, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Given Detroit and Windsor's proximity, I am also considering commuting frequently. I will have accumulated about 730 days in Canada by next May, and I only need about one more year to reach 1,090 days.
Trying to simplify things some (which I am
not at all good at):
Citizenship Requirements versus PR Residency Obligation:
-- only days actually physically present in Canada will count toward meeting the citizenship presence requirement; there are exceptions pursuant to which a PR can get Residency Obligation credit for days outside Canada
-- -- given the differences, in quantitative terms as well as in regards to what gets credit, in any given discussion it would be better to focus on one or the other, either the PR RO (discussed in this part of the forum) or grant citizenship requirements (better to post queries and discuss these in the part of the forum focused on citizenship)
PR Residency Obligation and Accompanying Canadian Citizen Spouse Credit:
-- I have not noticed much if any activity regarding the RO credit given to a PR for days outside Canada while accompanying a Canadian citizen who is the PR's spouse that suggests any changes . . . except there was a somewhat recent podcast discussion in which a group of lawyers were wondering, one framing it as "speculating," whether IRCC might migrate toward a more strict application of this credit, a discussion arising in the context of how strictly IRCC approaches credit for days outside Canada pursuant to employment with a Canadian business
-- days a PR is outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse are explicitly entitled to RO credit (it is NOT that IRCC only sometimes gives this credit, it is prescribed by statute) AND generally as long as the couple are living together, the PR will be allowed that credit subject to some quite uncommon, isolated exceptions in circumstances where the PR did not actually accompany their Canadian citizen spouse (and typically was not living in Canada before the couple lived outside Canada)
-- -- it warrants emphasizing that those cases in which the so-called "who-accompanied-whom" issue comes up are unusual, that couples living together generally get the credit, NO who accompanied whom questions asked
-- I generally steer way wide of giving advice or even making advice-like comments except fundamentals, the basics, like don't get a DUI and it is a good idea to stay in compliance with the RO. BUT for the situation you describe, if you are living together in the U.S. just across the river, and the two of you somewhat regularly come to Canada, and especially if you spend a couple nights in Canada some of those times, I will say that it is probably very unlikely you would run into CBSA or IRCC challenging the claim for RO credit based on days living together abroad while one is a Canadian citizen
-- -- I do not mean to totally dismiss the rationale underlying
@canuck78's comment about your situation being more complex, but if the two of you fairly often return to Canada traveling together, repeatedly illustrating you are accompanying one another and that you have actual ongoing ties to Canada, there simply should be very little risk, if any, of a
who-accompanied-whom issue arising . . .
BUT this depends on one of you being a Canadian citizen, and it currently appears that is not the situation
-- -- -- the metaphor I like is not-getting-out-over-your-skis, others might caution against counting your chickens before they hatch
-- -- -- in any event, the accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse credit depends on having a spouse who is a Canadian citizen, and while the road there (the road to your spouse becoming a citizen) may be smooth and relatively quick, as it is for many or most, that's a road prone to potholes, detours, and getting stuck in traffic . . . so, again, for more information about that, including how living outside Canada after applying might affect the process, see the citizenship forum
Future Changes:
Lots of rumors of an early election, and there will be one some time next year regardless . . . so what flies today might get grounded if there is an election that results in significant changes. Any PR living outside Canada long term should definitely pay attention to potential changes in the rules governing PRs.
Cross-Border Commuter Option:
As discussed with
@scylla, commuting to work in the U.S. while living in Canada will work to not only accumulate days credit toward meeting the RO, every day partially in Canada will also count toward qualifying for a grant of Canadian citizenship.
The traffic on the Ambassador Bridge suggests many do this. However, many will find the logistics and costs of doing this more challenging than anticipated.
