Canadian Citizen Married to US Citizen

[faaz]

Hi,

I have a question, I am a Canadian citizen currently living and working in Canada. I recently (few months ago) got married to a US Citizen. I have submitted Canada Spousal Sponsorship form just recently, so that my wife will become a permanent resident of Canada.

Now my wife is interested more in relocating back to US and file US sponsorship for me. Can we have both Canadian Spousal Sponsorship and US sponsorship applied at the same time, would it cause any issues? Does this cause any issues while crossing border on either side?

 

[Leon]

You could and I am not aware of any rules against it. In order to sponsor your wife for PR in Canada, if you are living outside Canada yourself, you would have to show proof that you intend to move to Canada when she gets her PR. However, you are currently living in Canada so that is not an issue. As for your wife sponsoring you, I have no idea what the requirements are for that.

After your wife gets PR, you need to cohabit for at least 2 years in order to meet condition 51 for sponsored spouses, however, it doesn't have to be in Canada. The US has something similar for the green card. Your wife can keep her Canadian PR without living in Canada for years on end if you are living together (accompanying Canadian citizen spouse). For US Green card, you should not leave the US for more than a year, preferably not for more than 6 months and even if you keep that, they can still take your green card away if they believe you have permanently moved to another country or you stop filing taxes in the US. As for filing taxes in Canada, if you are both living outside Canada and have no assets in Canada, you can ask CRA to declare you as non-residents in which case you don't have to file taxes anymore.

 

[faaz]

Your wife can keep her Canadian PR without living in Canada for years on end if you are living together (accompanying Canadian citizen spouse)

I think your information is old, the rules have changed, this is no longer the case unless you work for Government and you are posted there for your job purposes.

 

[Rigly68]

I think your information is old, the rules have changed, this is no longer the case unless you work for Government and you are posted there for your job purposes.

No the information is correct for maintaining PR status.

What you are thinking of is obtaining citizenship.

 

[Leon]

I think your information is old, the rules have changed, this is no longer the case unless you work for Government and you are posted there for your job purposes.

No the information is correct for maintaining PR status.

What you are thinking of is obtaining citizenship.

Right, days outside Canada can only be counted towards citizenship requirements when accompanying a spouse who works for the govt. or military and is posted outside Canada.

As far as I know, the rules for PR are still as shown on the CIC website here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445ETOC.asp#appendixA

Situation 1. Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada

You may count each day that you accompanied a Canadian citizen outside Canada provided that the person you accompanied is your spouse, common-law partner or parent (if you are a child under 19 years of age).