Canadian PR and US Green Card

[masai_chadi]

My parents received their US Green Card about one year ago, and last week they landed in Canada on PR. At the boarder the officer adviced my parents that they should give up their US Green Card. My parents would like to live 6 months with my brother in Settle and 6 months with me in BC.

They currently have 2 years US permit to be out of the US.

Can they maintain both US Green Card and Canadian PR, and how?

 

[Leon]

The only requirement for Canada PR is staying in Canada for 730 days every 5 year period. That is about 5 months a year so if they stay 6 months and 6 months, there is no problem. Immigration officers can say what they want but they can not force them to give up the US green card.

The US green card expects you to be in the US at least every 6 months. They can revoke your US green card if they believe you have made a permanent move to another country. If they stay in the US 6 months a year, I do not suppose anybody can say they permanently moved to Canada.

One issue is health care. Most provinces expect you to stay at least 183 days a year in order to keep Canadian health care.