Applying for Citizenship in Canada - permanent resident in US

[parpari]

Hi everyone:
I just found this forum and it seems very useful.
I have a case: I am a permanent resident in Canada for about 1 year and a half now and since I was living in Canada for a few years before applying for permanent residence, I will be able to apply for citizenship at around July 2010. Now, at the same time I applied for permanent residence in Canada, I applied for US permanent residence through the DV lottery program and in 2009 I was informed I won! now I hold both Canadian and US permanent residence. I should mention that I want to go to US for a couple of years to attend a school there right after I apply for citizenship. The question is: would this affect my application for citizenship for Canada? I've heard that might cause problem because, although I would fulfilled the required physical residence in July 2010, my residence in Canada would be in doubt since I have US Green Card. Is this true?
Please let me know if you know of a similar case or experience or you know how this legally works.
Thanks a lot,

 

[Leon]

If you fulfill the citizenship residency requirements at the time you apply, you can apply. There is no law that says you still have to live in Canada while your citizenship is processed. There are even instructions on the citizenship part of the CIC website on how to change your address with CIC if you live outside Canada. I don't know if a PR of the US would affect anything though.

 

[parpari]

Hi Leon:
Thank you very much for your comment.
In case having a US PR Card affect the application for Canadian citizenship, do you know at what stage of the process such a decision would be made? I mean would it be after I appear in front of a judge and I could probably explain the situation for the judge, or would it be some where in some office, and then I would receive a rejected application with no rights to appeal?
Thanks,

 

[Leon]

If your application goes through, then you will most likely never see a citizenship judge, just take the test and do the oath. If it were refused based on you having PR in the US, then I think they would give you the right to appeal. You should call CIC and ask. The only thing I know of is that your PR status of Canada can not be in question when you apply for citizenship. If you have received PR of the US and moved there, somebody might say you are not intending to live in Canada anymore, however, the possible reasons they might take your Canadian PR away don't include getting a PR of another country.

According to the rules:

Permanent resident

46. (1) A person loses permanent resident status

(a) when they become a Canadian citizen;

(b) on a final determination of a decision made outside of Canada that they have failed to comply with the residency obligation under section 28;

(c) when a removal order made against them comes into force; or

(d) on a final determination under section 109 to vacate a decision to allow their claim for refugee protection or a final determination under subsection 114(3) to vacate a decision to allow their application for protection.

And section 28:

Residency obligation

28. (1) A permanent resident must comply with a residency obligation with respect to every five-year period.

Application

(2) The following provisions govern the residency obligation under subsection (1):

(a) a permanent resident complies with the residency obligation with respect to a five-year period if, on each of a total of at least 730 days in that five-year period, they are

(i) physically present in Canada,

(ii) outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent,

(iii) outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province,

(iv) outside Canada accompanying a permanent resident who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent and who is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province, or

(v) referred to in regulations providing for other means of compliance;

(b) it is sufficient for a permanent resident to demonstrate at examination

(i) if they have been a permanent resident for less than five years, that they will be able to meet the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately after they became a permanent resident;

(ii) if they have been a permanent resident for five years or more, that they have met the residency obligation in respect of the five-year period immediately before the examination; and

(c) a determination by an officer that humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to a permanent resident, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected by the determination, justify the retention of permanent resident status overcomes any breach of the residency obligation prior to the determination.

You can find those in the immigration and refugee protection act at http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/I-2.5/index.html

 

[Abhatue Osayi Susan]

Dear Sir/Ma.,

I am in Nigeria and I want to become a citizen in canada, Please how do I apply.

 

[Leon]

Dear Sir/Ma.,

I am in Nigeria and I want to become a citizen in canada, Please how do I apply.

You need to find an immigration class you qualify for. Start here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp You have to get permanent residency first and after living in Canada for 3 years as a permanent resident, you can apply for citizenship.

 

[chiragpatel211]

I wrote test in may-2010 at st clair,toronto ans still did not get result.and calling cic does not answer clearly.
i moved to Alberta after my test.how do i know what is happening with my citizenship .and where i can contact to in edmonton.?
if I have to appear for interview then why I did not receive any letter so far?

appreciate any help.

 

[Leon]

I wrote test in may-2010 at st clair,toronto ans still did not get result.and calling cic does not answer clearly.
i moved to Alberta after my test.how do i know what is happening with my citizenship .and where i can contact to in edmonton.?
if I have to appear for interview then why I did not receive any letter so far?

appreciate any help.

Have you changed your address with CIC? Otherwise they might be trying to contact you at the wrong address. You can try going to Canada place downtown Edmonton and talking to CIC there. It is the orange glass building. Just ask information how to get to the CIC office. It is on the 2nd floor.

 

[us2yow]

Leon:

In your Sep 2009 posting about you mention there is nothing that says one has to stay after fully qualifying to apply for citizenship and then applying. You go on to mention the address change option. On such a move out of Canada AFTER one applies for citizenship, is it a good idea to leave if there is a genuine financial and professional need. Lets say - you get a job offer that is amazing overseas and finances were tighter here when as PR you mainly lived off savings (or similar circumstances).

YOu are saying it is fine to pack up and leave - in good faith ? For example, it need not have to be a job in US, lets say its in the Middle East or Asia and maybe or maybe not with a Canadian firm- I guess the right to stay afloat and earn a living is a top consideration for anyone - wherever they find a job.

What is your thinking on this reasoning ?

 

[us2yow]

Leon:

In your Sep 2009 posting about you mention there is nothing that says one has to stay after fully qualifying to apply for citizenship and then applying. You go on to mention the address change option. On such a move out of Canada AFTER one applies for citizenship, is it a good idea to leave if there is a genuine financial and professional need. Lets say - you get a job offer that is amazing overseas and finances were tighter here when as PR you mainly lived off savings (or similar circumstances).

YOu are saying it is fine to pack up and leave - in good faith ? For example, it need not have to be a job in US, lets say its in the Middle East or Asia and maybe or maybe not with a Canadian firm- I guess the right to stay afloat and earn a living is a top consideration for anyone - wherever they find a job.

What is your thinking on this reasoning ?

Leon: Adding to my posting above, I also meant to add this: Is it ok to leave Canada for valid job reasons:

A) Generally After applying for citizenship but before getting the letter to appear for test ?;

B) After taking Test;

As you will see, option A involved continuing in Canada for longer and situation B was much earlier (going by trends a year or so earlier).

I think now I have formulated what I wanted to ask.

 

[Leon]

Leon: Adding to my posting above, I also meant to add this: Is it ok to leave Canada for valid job reasons:

A) Generally After applying for citizenship but before getting the letter to appear for test ?;

B) After taking Test;

As you will see, option A involved continuing in Canada for longer and situation B was much earlier (going by trends a year or so earlier).

I think now I have formulated what I wanted to ask.

You don't have to give any reasons. You are allowed to leave. The only thing you have to make sure of is that either you keep a mailing address in Canada and have somebody checking it so you know asap that you have been called for your test or you make sure they have your updated address in another country, however, keep in mind that letters might take longer to arrive at your address if you are overseas.

When I applied for citizenship, when I got the letter to appear for my exam, I had 2 weeks notice. When I got the letter to appear for oath, it was 10 days. You are given the option to postpone if you can not make it but if you do, they do not allow you to schedule another date that would be better for you. They will pick a date for you and it might be quite delayed, I have heard of a case where the person was not called until a year later. Therefore, it is better to try to make the first date they give you.

Additionally, I would not leave after the test while waiting for the oath. I have heard of cases where it took a while between the test and oath but I was told when I did them that it is usually between 2 and 4 months. For me it was 2 or a bit less.

 

[us2yow]

Thanks Leon. I am just a wee bit confused so let me rephrase what I understood based on your posting. Please comment if I am off or have not understood right.

1) No restrictions on leaving - that is very clear;

2) Leaving after applying for citizenship - "after" here means after mailing out the package when the usual long wait (1yr+) kicks in.

QUESTION for 2: are you saying if you leave then leave at this time or wait all the way until after taking oath ?

3) Leaving after Taking Test but Waiting for Oath Letter

QUESTION for 3: you are NOT saying one should not leave at this stage. Only that if someone left they would have to plan well so that they dont miss the oath letter date.

4) FINALLY -> I think I get a sense you are saying that if one left either under scenario 2 or 3 what is key is to have some reliable address of contact in Canada who can notify you right away so you can make plans to come back up. For sake of arguement, if you originally lived in ON when you sent out Cit. package and the friend whose address you gave lives in say BC or AB then the letter sent to the friend would be from ON CIC asking me to come to ON area - not BC or AB yes ?

 

[Leon]

QUESTION for 2: are you saying if you leave then leave at this time or wait all the way until after taking oath ?

Leave when you want to but be advised that if you wait for 6 months or longer after applying, you will probably be called for test pretty soon so is it worth leaving at that point?

QUESTION for 3: you are NOT saying one should not leave at this stage. Only that if someone left they would have to plan well so that they dont miss the oath letter date.

Right. Leave when you want to but if you are going far like Saudi Arabia or somewhere to work, it is a long and expensive flight if you leave after the test only to come back 2-4 months later to do the oath.

4) FINALLY -> I think I get a sense you are saying that if one left either under scenario 2 or 3 what is key is to have some reliable address of contact in Canada who can notify you right away so you can make plans to come back up. For sake of arguement, if you originally lived in ON when you sent out Cit. package and the friend whose address you gave lives in say BC or AB then the letter sent to the friend would be from ON CIC asking me to come to ON area - not BC or AB yes ?

If you change your address with immigration, I think they would generally assume that is where you live so if you update your address with them to a friend in BC or AB, they would assume you had moved there and would ask you to take the test there. If you didn't change it until after the test, they may still ask you to take the oath in Ontario. You would find out when you get the letter.