Maintaining count towards Candian PR residency requirement for Citizenship while wokring in US on H1

[ustocanada49]

Hi All,

I want to work for a US company on H1-B and live in Canada. I want to know if it will count towards my residency requirements of 3 out of 5 yrs for Canadian citizenship.

Multiple ways I have thought about that I can do this.
1. Work remotely from Canada and work onsite in the US once in a month for 1 week.
2. Work in the US for a whole week and drive back to Canada for the weekend. (My wife will be living in Canada all the time).
3. Work remotely from Canada and work onsite in the US once in 3 months for 1 month.

There could be other ways I can do this but at the end of the day, I will chose the one that will allow me to have my Candian stay counted towards 3/5 requirement.

Can following any of the above ways (or some other best way) and having a residence in Canada count towards the 3/5 requirement?

My PR is through Express Entry, if that matters.

If anybody is doing this already, their input will be of great help to me . Thanks in advance

 

[DEEPCUR]

2 won't work. 1 or 3 is fine and would be counted.

 

[scylla]

Only time spent physically in Canada will count towards the citizenship residency requirement. So the more time you spent physically in the US - the longer it will take you to qualify for Canadian citizenship.

 

[ImmiToCanada]

Hi DEEPCUR,

Would you mind sharing if you know anyone whose citizenship applications are rejected because of not enough residence days resulting from only driving back to Canada on weekends?

To knowledge, if someone drives back before 12 am on Friday and drive to USA after 12 am on Sunday, 4 residence days will be granted. The official source is https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/redir.do?redir=faq#Q3 'neither the day you leave Canada nor the day you return is considered an absence.' Under C6, if one already lives in Canda for a while as a PR, say 6 months, one is able to get 3 years out of 5 years (60%) since 4 days out of a week is almost 60% (it is 4/7=57%).

Thanks and best regards,
Guohai

2 won't work. 1 or 3 is fine and would be counted.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Hi DEEPCUR,

Would you mind sharing if you know anyone whose citizenship applications are rejected because of not enough residence days resulting from only driving back to Canada on weekends?

To knowledge, if someone drives back before 12 am on Friday and drive to USA after 12 am on Sunday, 4 residence days will be granted. The official source is https://eservices.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/redir.do?redir=faq#Q3 'neither the day you leave Canada nor the day you return is considered an absence.' Under C6, if one already lives in Canda for a while as a PR, say 6 months, one is able to get 3 years out of 5 years (60%) since 4 days out of a week is almost 60% (it is 4/7=57%).

Thanks and best regards,
Guohai

I don't know anyone , but the option seems to be too much hassle. You'll be left with so much burden to prove your in Canada days. Canada neither stamps your passport nor maintains a public database for exits from the country. They might issue something called RQ for the citizenship application and make you submit a lot of proof for your in days.

 

[ImmiToCanada]

Yes RQ for citizenship application should be inevitable if one's number of residence days in Canada only barely exceeds the minimum required number. As to proof of Canada days, getting a Nexus card may be useful. The Nexus card systems contain records of entering Canada and exiting Canada for USA.

I don't know anyone , but the option seems to be too much hassle. You'll be left with so much burden to prove your in Canada days. Canada neither stamps your passport nor maintains a public database for exits from the country. They might issue something called RQ for the citizenship application and make you submit a lot of proof for your in days.

 

[karthik2479]

Yes RQ for citizenship application should be inevitable if one's number of residence days in Canada only barely exceeds the minimum required number. As to proof of Canada days, getting a Nexus card may be useful. The Nexus card systems contain records of entering Canada and exiting Canada for USA.

As per my understanding we cannot get Nexus card as an alien on H1B - you need to be a citizen of Canada to get it. Someone can correct if I am wrong - so onus is on the applicant to prove the stays

 

[scylla]

As per my understanding we cannot get Nexus card as an alien on H1B - you need to be a citizen of Canada to get it. Someone can correct if I am wrong - so onus is on the applicant to prove the stays

No - you don't need to be a Canadian citizen to get a Nexus card. You can qualify as a PR provided you meet the application criteria.

 

[ustocanada49]

Thanks for your input guys