Dual Greencard - US and Canada

[lordofthering]

I have greencard in US an Canada both and living in US for last 6 month.

My question is do i have to return my Canadian Greencard ?. If yes, What is the process of returning Canadian Greencard. I was told at border that I have to return it otherwise I will loose US Greencard since it was acquired after Canadian Greencard. Is there any form I have to fill out ?. Who do I contact. I do not find any info. in this situation. Can you please help

 

[Leon]

Canada does not care if you have a US Green Card as long as you stay in Canada at least 730 days every 5 years but the US can be a little more sensitive about that.

There is no set procedure to return to a Canadian PR card. If you do not meet the residency requirements any more, you can do it by applying for a travel document and stating on the top of it that you really just want to relinquish your PR card. Otherwise, they are kind of at a loss of what to do because it is not that common that people want to give them back. I would suggest you return it in person so you can get some kind of receipt that you have returned it so you can show that to the US immigration if they ask. You can try returning it at the border when you enter or at a Canadian embassy.

 

[lordofthering]

Thanks for Reply. When we are entering to US from Canada, US Immigration officer told us that you have return your canadian GC if you are going to keep US GC. If we do not do within a year, then we could loose what ever later GC (in our case it is US GC) we loose. That time i thought it must a good information and required form to fill out to do official return but I do not see anything. Now, I do not want to drive 8 hours to just return GC. Any hint you can give me how can I finish this process ?

Anyone out there who has been in same situation ?

 

[Leon]

Thanks for Reply. When we are entering to US from Canada, US Immigration officer told us that you have return your canadian GC if you are going to keep US GC. If we do not do within a year, then we could loose what ever later GC (in our case it is US GC) we loose. That time i thought it must a good information and required form to fill out to do official return but I do not see anything. Now, I do not want to drive 8 hours to just return GC. Any hint you can give me how can I finish this process ?

Anyone out there who has been in same situation ?

There was someone here recently who was trying to relinquish his PR and he had problems because the embassy did not really know how to handle it. You can contact the Canadian embassy nearest to where you live and tell them that you have been told by US immigration that you must relinquish your PR status in order to keep your US green card and ask them what the procedure is. See what they tell you.

If you read the manual at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf23-eng.pdf it is even doubtful if you have the right to relinquish your PR status if you still meet the residency requirements unless you are going on a diplomatic mission for some foreign government. If they will not allow you to do it and you get that in writing, then you can show that to US immigration next time they ask you about it.