Express Entry in Quebec applying for Citizenship

[bostonglobe]

Hello,

I'm a new Express Entry PR holder who moved to QC for a job. My company is willing to move me to Toronto/Ottawa soon (no confirmation on the timing yet). In this pretext, I applied for EE since I intend to settle down in Ontario province and thus establish my permanent residence.

My question is whether
1) I would face any problem in case I live in QC for 1-2 years before moving to Ontario when I submit for citizenship
2) I moved to QC right after I obtained PR. Would this affect my citizenship application, or for that matter my PR status going forward.

Kindly help for which I will be eternally grateful to you

Regards

 

[jickson]

Hello,

I'm a new Express Entry PR holder who moved to QC for a job. My company is willing to move me to Toronto/Ottawa soon (no confirmation on the timing yet). In this pretext, I applied for EE since I intend to settle down in Ontario province and thus establish my permanent residence.

My question is whether
1) I would face any problem in case I live in QC for 1-2 years before moving to Ontario when I submit for citizenship
2) I moved to QC right after I obtained PR. Would this affect my citizenship application, or for that matter my PR status going forward.

Kindly help for which I will be eternally grateful to you

Regards

From what I've heard on this forum, it's a perfectly valid reason to move to a different province for employment. It won't cause any issues with your citizenship application. You may be asked a question during interview, but your explanation is more than enough.

Good luck.

 

[muxican]

I moved to Quebec 6 months after getting EE PR landing in BC. I applied for citizenship this year in Montreal after ~1.5 years of living and working here; already got my test and interview done (approved according to the interviewer) and I wasn't questioned about it. I felt the questions were more related to whether I am adapting to the Quebecois society:

- Why did you move to Montreal?
- I got a job I really wanted so I decided to move here.
- Do you speak French?
- Not really.
- Nothing at all?
- A bit, I took some intensive courses back in undergrad but I don't practice it daily since work is 100% in English.
- So when you go to the depanneur, are you able to talk with the cashier?
- Mais oui.
- Alright... I am going to approve your application.

Hope this helps.

 

[kushari]

Once you're a PR you're a PR. They just have these issues BEFORE you become a PR, because they want to separate people applying for PR through Quebec's programs and the Federal Government. I had to prove this while applying for PR. But once you're a PR, doesn't matter, you could move wherever you please. PR is a Canada wide thing, it's not a provincial thing. They might ask you, but it can't hinder your application. You're free to move wherever after becoming a PR.

 

[Stefay]

Hello

What is the minimum length of time, an EE PR has to wait before mooving to Quebec ? Ok, this is not forbidden once you are PR but still, if you settle in QC right After landing, it clearly looks like you tricked IRCC using EE.

 

[Fayce87]

Hello

What is the minimum length of time, an EE PR has to wait before mooving to Quebec ? Ok, this is not forbidden once you are PR but still, if you settle in QC right After landing, it clearly looks like you tricked IRCC using EE.

You demonstrate you never had intention de repect the rules.

 

[Stefay]

You demonstrate you never had intention de repect the rules.

This is an opinion and not a demonstration.
Could you please demonstrate ?

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

You demonstrate you never had intention de repect the rules.

Absolutely not. Things change in life. As long as you initially "intended" to reside outside of Quebec and then after you became a PR, your employment (for instance) led you to Quebec, there is no issue.

Problem comes in when the applicant NEVER intended to stay outside of Quebec when s/he applied for PR. Then, that is misrepresentation.

 

[Fayce87]

Absolutely not. Things change in life. As long as you initially "intended" to reside outside of Quebec and then after you became a PR, your employment (for instance) led you to Quebec, there is no issue.

Problem comes in when the applicant NEVER intended to stay outside of Quebec when s/he applied for PR. Then, that is misrepresentation.

Ok so let's assume I got an immigrant visa through the EE program. I land tomorrow at Montréal POE Airport. I get the PR status. I immediately settle in the QC province.
Isn't this misrepresentation ?

 

[Fayce87]

This is an opinion and not a demonstration.
Could you please demonstrate ?

The rights an immigrant receives with the PR status. No doubt. No need to discuss.
If you do not follow EE rules settling out of Qc, with valid reason such as work opportunity and minimum time spent in the ROC, you clearly tricked IRCC.

The question none replyed : " How long must wait the EE immigrant before moving to Qc ?"

 

[Stefay]

The rights an immigrant receives with the PR status. No doubt. No need to discuss.
If you do not follow EE rules settling out of Qc, with valid reason such as work opportunity and minimum time spent in the ROC, you clearly tricked IRCC.

The question none replyed : " How long must wait the EE immigrant before moving to Qc ?"

Legally speaking : once an immigrant is PR, the Canadian Charter of Rights gives him the right to settle and work everywhere in Canada, Qc included. Even if the immigrant landed 3 days ago, 3h ago or became PR 10 min ago through EE program.

IRCC will never waste blocking a citizenship process for this pupose.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

Ok so let's assume I got an immigrant visa through the EE program. I land tomorrow at Montréal POE Airport. I get the PR status. I immediately settle in the QC province.
Isn't this misrepresentation ?

If you land in Quebec directly after getting a PR visa, I believe the officer will likely question you as to why you are in Quebec right away (unless you have an onward ticket to a place outside Quebec). This is the reason why people who got PR via EE are encouraged NOT to land in Quebec (this must have been posted so many times since 2015). Remember, you are NOT a PR unless you land in Canada and the officer stamps your passport and COPR. If the officer questions your intent before he stamps either and it is determined that you NEVER intended to stay outside Quebec, then that's misrepresentation and you are subject to removal.

What I was talking about is when a person lands in Canada as a PR outside Quebec. This person did not originally intend to move to Quebec. S/he was, for instance, intending to find a job and live in Toronto, Ontario. This person got a survival job in Toronto and has been for working around 5 months (timeline used for reference only). This person has applied for multiple jobs in Toronto that are more aligned to his/her profile but has had no luck whatsoever. Then, an employer from Montreal contacts this person and issues a job offer based on their previous experience back home. This job is more aligned to what the person used to do back home. In this case, there is nothing stopping this person from moving to Quebec and this is NOT misrepresentation.

Bottom-line, if you can show that you sincerely tried to make a residence outside of Quebec but you were not able to and you had to go to Quebec because of better job prospects (or other factors), that is perfectly fine.

 

[rajkamalmohanram]

The rights an immigrant receives with the PR status. No doubt. No need to discuss.
If you do not follow EE rules settling out of Qc, with valid reason such as work opportunity and minimum time spent in the ROC, you clearly tricked IRCC.

The question none replyed : " How long must wait the EE immigrant before moving to Qc ?"

There is no one answer to it. Read my previous response and that will give you an idea as to why there is no one answer. There is no magic number of months or years - Depends on the circumstance.

 

[Stefay]

There is no one answer to it. Read my previous response and that will give you an idea as to why there is no one answer. There is no magic number of months or years - Depends on the circumstance.

Have you ever met any case of PR cancellation for this purpose ? Citizenship refusal for this same reason ?

 

[Fayce87]

If you land in Quebec directly after getting a PR visa, I believe the officer will likely question you as to why you are in Quebec right away (unless you have an onward ticket to a place outside Quebec). This is the reason why people who got PR via EE are encouraged NOT to land in Quebec (this must have been posted so many times since 2015). Remember, you are NOT a PR unless you land in Canada and the officer stamps your passport and COPR. If the officer questions your intent before he stamps either and it is determined that you NEVER intended to stay outside Quebec, then that's misrepresentation and you are subject to removal.

What I was talking about is when a person lands in Canada as a PR outside Quebec. This person did not originally intend to move to Quebec. S/he was, for instance, intending to find a job and live in Toronto, Ontario. This person got a survival job in Toronto and has been for working around 5 months (timeline used for reference only). This person has applied for multiple jobs in Toronto that are more aligned to his/her profile but has had no luck whatsoever. Then, an employer from Montreal contacts this person and issues a job offer based on their previous experience back home. This job is more aligned to what the person used to do back home. In this case, there is nothing stopping this person from moving to Quebec and this is NOT misrepresentation.

Bottom-line, if you can show that you sincerely tried to make a residence outside of Quebec but you were not able to and you had to go to Quebec because of better job prospects (or other factors), that is perfectly fine.

I do not believe that landing in Quebec could lead to the cancellation of the PR status if you do not have the physical means to prove that you will continue towards the ROC.

I personally know 3 EE immigrants who landed at the Montreal airport and continued to Ontario by bus. 1 of them settled finally at Montreal.

The Canada border agency is a federal agency. The immigration officer does not work for any province but for the
Canada. The story of compulsory Landing outside Quebec is an urban legend probably amplified by the stress and anxieties of some EE applicants.

It is also the same story for the provincial nominees who change province. Never seen nor heard any story of denial of citizenship.

Of course, there is a condition linked to the fact that by completing the EE application, you agree to settle outside Quebec, but it remains a moral contract that does not have the force of law. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a legal document greater than any box you thick during the EE application.

Once the PR is validated, do as the Romans in Rome do.