Maintaining residency status

[Sears123]

Hello

In order to maintain canadian PR , can i count the days towards permenant residency if my wife is employed by a canadian business and we both are physically residing in the US ?
Should this business be related to my line of work ? Can we be an Investor and employee of the same business ?

Are there any issues with this way if we are genuinely working for a company and investing in it remotely?

On the CIC website , i see this :

"It may also count if you are:

• travelling with your spouse or partner who is a permanent resident and works full-time for:
  • a Canadian business, or
  • the public service of Canada or a province,
• a child travelling with his or her father or mother who is a permanent resident and who works full-time for:
  • a Canadian business, or
  • the public service of Canada or a province.
• an employee of (or under contract to) the public service of Canada or a province and you are on a full-time assignment to:
  • a position outside Canada,
  • a partner business outside Canada, or
  • a client of the Canadian business or the public service outside Canada."

 

[scylla]

What's your wife's status in Canada? PR? Citizen? Something else?

 

[Sears123]

She is also a canadian PR .

 

[scylla]

OK - in that case you can count the time outside of Canada towards PR if your wife was first hired by the Canadian company for a role in Canada and then at a later date transferred to a role outside of Canada with that same company. The Canadian company must also have established operations in Canada. If she was hired directly for the role outside of Canada or had the role outside of Canada before getting PR - CIC won't count the time outside of Canada towards PR. Also, if the company is owned by you, there's effectively no chance you'll be able to count the time outside of Canada towards PR. CIC shut this loop hole down years ago. Because it would obviously pretty easy for people to simply create a Canadian company and then transfer themselves outside of Canada.

This is how we've consistently seen CIC apply this rule.

 

[Sears123]

Makes sense .

And this role doesn't have to be in her area of study and can be anything as long as its full time and the organization is genuine , right ?

Can she also accept contract roles which are for certain duration ?

 

[canuck78]

Contract in the US or in Canada?

 

[Sears123]

Contract job with the same employer in canada which later gets transferred to US .

 

[canuck78]

Would be very careful with US contract positions. You seem to want to remain in the US. Your wife can sponsor you at a later point if you don't want to move to Canada. It has to seem like a logical transfer and should really be due to her job change not yours. Very unusual to transfer to another country for your job until you have worked for a few years at the company in that office. Specialized roles usually get offered transfers. Offering a general admin a transfer to another country wouldn't make sense. A company transfer to the US has to make sense or it won't be awarded. Plenty of people on this forum have created their own small Canadian company and then spent the majority of their time outside Canada and have lost their PR. They are usually shocked but it is clear they are creating a scenario so they try to get away with not meeting their RO.

 

[scylla]

Contract job with the same employer in canada which later gets transferred to US .

Based on what we've seen here, it needs to be a permanent role. You'll be rolling a dice. Might work and might not.

 

[Sears123]

Thanks a lot everyone , it is very useful and helpful information that you all have provided .

@canuck78 - As you mentioned that my wife can sponsor me later , does she have to be a citizen in order to sponsor me if my PR gets revoked or can she be a PR ( assuming she fulfills here residency requirements by residing in canada) and still sponsor me ?

 

[scylla]

Thanks a lot everyone , it is very useful and helpful information that you all have provided .

@canuck78 - As you mentioned that my wife can sponsor me later , does she have to be a citizen in order to sponsor me if my PR gets revoked or can she be a PR ( assuming she fulfills here residency requirements by residing in canada) and still sponsor me ?

She can sponsor you as a PR provided she is living in Canada and meets RO.

 

[canuck78]

Assumed your wife was a Canadian citizen. Expect even more scrutiny if your PR spouse is trying to claim time working out of Canada for a Canadian company. The RO is only 2 years out of 5. It is really not that demanding if you have decided to apply for PR. Guessing that you have almost hit the 3 year mark and have been living and working in the US.

She will have to reman in Canada to sponsor you.

 

[IonM]

I have a question on the same topic. I got my PR card back in 2016 and have been working for almost three years in the United States. My visa allows me to stay here two more years, but I worry that I will lose my permanent residence status in case I do not meet the two year residency requirement. What happens if I return to Canada with my PR card, stay fewer than 730 days (don't meet the residency requirement), and then apply for a renewal of the PR card? Are there any chances that it will get renewed? Have you heard of any such cases? Thanks.

 

[Buletruck]

If you apply to renew your PR card without having met the RO, you are pretty much guaranteed that IRCC will investigate and start proceedings to revoke your PR status. Best to avoid renewal until you are in compliance (assuming you don't get reported by CBSA when you return).

 

[IonM]

If you apply to renew your PR card without having met the RO, you are pretty much guaranteed that IRCC will investigate and start proceedings to revoke your PR status. Best to avoid renewal until you are in compliance (assuming you don't get reported by CBSA when you return).

Thanks Buletruck. Given what you've just mentioned, I assume that one cannot work in Canada if his/her PR card has expired (let's say I do not meet the RO, my card expired, and I have a job). Can I work with an expired PR card?

And related to your clarification: does CBSA check your RO when you enter Canada or is that a rather random process? Could they deny you entry in Canada if you have a valid PR card, but you do not meet the RO?

Thanks again.