Working in US on Indian passport, and also getting the Canadian citizenship?

[nick1899]

Hello experts
I am in a situation where I will be working in US on L1 on Indian passport, and few months down the line will be getting the Canadian passport. So in this case if I surrender my Indian passport I will lose my L1 and the employer will have to re issue a new one.
Is there a way I can keep using my Indian passport for 2 or 3 years and also keep the Canadian passport?
I know the rule is to surrender Indian passport within 3 months and some penalty under 3 years.

Any suggestions.

Is there a way where my employer can avoid re issuing a new L1 on Canadian passport?

 

[sydcarton]

Hello experts
I am in a situation where I will be working in US on L1 on Indian passport, and few months down the line will be getting the Canadian passport. So in this case if I surrender my Indian passport I will lose my L1 and the employer will have to re issue a new one.
Is there a way I can keep using my Indian passport for 2 or 3 years and also keep the Canadian passport?
I know the rule is to surrender Indian passport within 3 months and some penalty under 3 years.

Any suggestions.

Is there a way where my employer can avoid re issuing a new L1 on Canadian passport?

Only way out is to delay applying for your Canadian citizenship. The penalty for continuing to use an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship is quite high. https://www.cgitoronto.gov.in/eoi.php?id=surrender_certificate
Is there any reason why your employer may not want to re-issue an L1?

 

[issteven]

Hello experts
I am in a situation where I will be working in US on L1 on Indian passport, and few months down the line will be getting the Canadian passport. So in this case if I surrender my Indian passport I will lose my L1 and the employer will have to re issue a new one.
Is there a way I can keep using my Indian passport for 2 or 3 years and also keep the Canadian passport?
I know the rule is to surrender Indian passport within 3 months and some penalty under 3 years.

Any suggestions.

Is there a way where my employer can avoid re issuing a new L1 on Canadian passport?

just keep your citizenship certificate and don't apply for passport. apply for Canadian passport after 2 or 3 years

 

[paul2587]

just keep your citizenship certificate and don't apply for passport. apply for Canadian passport after 2 or 3 years

@nick1899 just be aware that if you do this and continue to travel on your Indian passport (including to/from the USA) after receiving your Canadian citizenship certificate, it is technically illegal under Indian law (Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 & Indian Passport Act, 1967) and if you are ever caught using your Indian passport while possessing Canadian citizenship (even without a Canadian passport) you will face fines/penalties and you might have issues with registering as an OCI later on. I do not agree with issteven; it is very clear that under Indian law, you have 12 weeks after you receive your Canadian citizenship certificate to surrender your Indian passport and after that you are breaking the law. The Indian government may or may not find out but it's a risk you take because it is illegal.

You should either delay your US work until you can get the visa in a Canadian passport, get your employer to help you with getting a new one or delay getting Canadian citizenship.

 

[nick1899]

Only way out is to delay applying for your Canadian citizenship. The penalty for continuing to use an Indian passport after acquiring foreign citizenship is quite high. https://www.cgitoronto.gov.in/eoi.php?id=surrender_certificate
Is there any reason why your employer may not want to re-issue an L1?

thanks!

I haven't asked my employer about the re-issue, so can't comment on that.

 

[nick1899]

o

just keep your citizenship certificate and don't apply for passport. apply for Canadian passport after 2 or 3 years

Ok, thanks for the response issteven!

 

[nick1899]

@nick1899 just be aware that if you do this and continue to travel on your Indian passport (including to/from the USA) after receiving your Canadian citizenship certificate, it is technically illegal under Indian law (Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 & Indian Passport Act, 1967) and if you are ever caught using your Indian passport while possessing Canadian citizenship (even without a Canadian passport) you will face fines/penalties and you might have issues with registering as an OCI later on. I do not agree with issteven; it is very clear that under Indian law, you have 12 weeks after you receive your Canadian citizenship certificate to surrender your Indian passport and after that you are breaking the law. The Indian government may or may not find out but it's a risk you take because it is illegal.

You should either delay your US work until you can get the visa in a Canadian passport, get your employer to help you with getting a new one or delay getting Canadian citizenship.

thanks for the suggestion, paul2587.

One more Q- Do you think it is easy/feasible for the employer to get me a new L1 on the Canadian passport? I believe its an additional cost, but anything apart from that. Also, I understand they tend to get blanket L1s from the US immigration.

 

[paul2587]

thanks for the suggestion, paul2587.

One more Q- Do you think it is easy/feasible for the employer to get me a new L1 on the Canadian passport? I believe its an additional cost, but anything apart from that. Also, I understand they tend to get blanket L1s from the US immigration.

This is a question best answered by your employer, not anyone on this forum. Your employer obviously has experience with the visa process and could tell you whether it would be an issue on their end from financial and logistical perspectives. If you're tempted to do what issteven recommended, just remember that you will be breaking Indian law and if you're caught it could have negative long term administrative (OCI) and financial consequences for you. It's seriously an extremely bad idea to continue to use your Indian passport after the 12-week grace period that you get when you get foreign citizenship. I can't emphasize this enough. Either get your employer to re-issue it for your new Canadian passport or delay getting Canadian citizenship but don't get it and then break Indian law by continuing to use your Indian passport.