How long can i stay outside of Canada as a PR AFTER applying for citizenship?

[Phe]

Hi all

I know there have been many posts relating to this question, but i think my case differs a little bit.
I am a PR of Canada but I'm married to a Canadian Citizen. After I apply for my citizenship, both my husband (a canadian citizen) and we would like to leave the country for a long period of time (up to a couple of years).
I know that i could loose my PR if i am not living in Canada for the minimum required amount of time BUT i also read somewhere that as long as im accompanied by a canadian citizen (in this case, my husband), my time away from Canada will not affect my PR status. So hence i was wondering if this would be the same as the affect on my citizenship application which would be pending during my absence.

Any advise/clarification would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Leon]

Right. As long as you are living with a Canadian citizen spouse, you can not lose your PR due to residency requirements. However, you should have gotten your citizenship well before anything would happen with your PR, even if you weren't with a Canadian spouse. Just make sure you either keep an address in Canada or that immigration knows your address overseas so you will know when they call you for the exam. You should be ready to fly back to Canada at the drop of a hat when that happens. You can postpone but that is generally a bad idea. They will not let you pick the dates at your convenience.

 

[afrq]

Hi
I had applied for my citizenship in July 2010. After that I came back to my native country to wrap up some property issues. I have not yet received a citizenship test date. My wife is a Canadian citizens and so is my 3yr old son. They are with me in my native country. Now the problem is that my pr card is expiring next month I.e june. I cannot leave as my wife is pregnant and the baby is due in early June. My residency requirements is complete. My health card expired after my return.
My question is
...If I don't go back before my pr card expires, will I be able to get a travel document easily, on the basis that we are expecting a baby.
...If I go back what documents do I need to send with my renewal application, the only photo id I have is pr card n passport.
Expert advice needed

 

[Leon]

You will not get a travel document based on that you are expecting a baby but you will get it if you meet the residency requirements.

 

[afrq]

I do meet my residency requirement.I have 1100 days in the last 5 yrs

 

[jmac1950]

I have the same question about being accompanied by a Canadian citizen, except I am referring to days abroad BEFORE applying for citizenship. I am a PR and my spouse is a Canadian citizen. We take several trips each year to the U.S. for vacation. If it's true that my days out of country when accompanied by my spouse don't count as days out of country, then I easily qualify for citizenship. I hope someone will answer both our questions ;D

 

[Leon]

I have the same question about being accompanied by a Canadian citizen, except I am referring to days abroad BEFORE applying for citizenship. I am a PR and my spouse is a Canadian citizen. We take several trips each year to the U.S. for vacation. If it's true that my days out of country when accompanied by my spouse don't count as days out of country, then I easily qualify for citizenship. I hope someone will answer both our questions ;D

Days spent with a Canadian citizen spouse only count in order to meet the PR residency requirements, not in order to meet the citizenship requirements.

 

[ajslp]

I have the same question about being accompanied by a Canadian citizen, except I am referring to days abroad BEFORE applying for citizenship. I am a PR and my spouse is a Canadian citizen. We take several trips each year to the U.S. for vacation. If it's true that my days out of country when accompanied by my spouse don't count as days out of country, then I easily qualify for citizenship. I hope someone will answer both our questions ;D

Days spent with a Canadian citizen spouse only count in order to meet the PR residency requirements, not in order to meet the citizenship requirements.

If CIC were to make the citizenship requirements as lenient as PR residency requirements, a person could technically be a Canadian citizen by being in Canadian soil three times (for landing, Citizenship Test and Oath) and never show up again. The idea of rubbing elbows with Canadians in malls, seeing and understanding Canadian lifestyle and culture would be mute.

 

[ashzee]

Days spent with a Canadian citizen spouse only count in order to meet the PR residency requirements, not in order to meet the citizenship requirements.

Hi...i am new to this so dint know how to start a new topic...the above mentioned is my concern..what exactly does it mean...to stay a permenant resident in CA...you have to meet certain requirements..as maintaining your health cards...doctors appointments....bank account...or anything that shows ties with the country....but after doing all this for 1100 days is whats required for citizenship application

now my Qs is...that meeting all the requirements for a PR but spending a couple pf months here and there with ur husband (canadian citizen)living in US...does it affect your PR requirements which will eventually will lead to citizenship application requirements??

and after applying for Canadian citizenship...does it still matter that i live in Canada or i can live with my husband in US maintaining a permanent address in Canada to stay in touch with CIC..

lastly...when i apply for citizenship...can i leave immediately or should wait for couple of weeks or months...before leaving the country?

 

[Leon]

Hi...i am new to this so dint know how to start a new topic...the above mentioned is my concern..what exactly does it mean...to stay a permenant resident in CA...you have to meet certain requirements..as maintaining your health cards...doctors appointments....bank account...or anything that shows ties with the country....but after doing all this for 1100 days is whats required for citizenship application

now my Qs is...that meeting all the requirements for a PR but spending a couple pf months here and there with ur husband (canadian citizen)living in US...does it affect your PR requirements which will eventually will lead to citizenship application requirements??

and after applying for Canadian citizenship...does it still matter that i live in Canada or i can live with my husband in US maintaining a permanent address in Canada to stay in touch with CIC..

lastly...when i apply for citizenship...can i leave immediately or should wait for couple of weeks or months...before leaving the country?

The PR requirements are completely different and unrelated to the citizenship requirements aside from the fact that if you were to apply for citizenship and then lose your PR for not meeting the PR requirements while your citizenship application is still being processed, you would not be able to get citizenship.

The PR requirements are 730 days stayed in Canada in any rolling 5 year period. Time spent outside Canada with a Canadian citizen spouse counts as days in Canada as well.

The citizenship requirements is having spent 1095 days in Canada in the previous 4 years before you apply. Time spent in Canada before gaining PR counts as 1 day for every 2 spent. Time spent outside Canada with a citizen spouse does not count for citizenship unless your spouse is working for the Canadian government or military and is stationed by them in another country. Therefore, if you are trying to qualify for citizeship and your spouse is staying in the US, you can stay with him for 2-3 months a year without a problem but every month you stay with him delays you qualifying for citizenship. You need 1095 days in Canada so 3 years or 36 months. Say if you stay with him for 3 months a year, every year you stay in Canada 9 months so it would take you 4 years to reach 36 months. You can not visit him for more than 3 months a year on average because then you will never qualify.

You can leave Canada after applying for citizenship and you will keep your PR forever if you are living with your Canadian spouse in another country. However, immigration may see it as a red flag when a person stays in Canada the minimum number of days in order to apply for citizenship and then leaves. They may question if you were really staying in Canada as much as you said you were. Therefore, they may take a lot longer on your application to verify that.

The only problem is when immigration decides not to believe that you were really in Canada. This can add months to your application processing time.

 

[Winnipeg-mb]

The PR requirements are completely different and unrelated to the citizenship requirements aside from the fact that if you were to apply for citizenship and then lose your PR for not meeting the PR requirements while your citizenship application is still being processed, you would not be able to get citizenship.

The PR requirements are 730 days stayed in Canada in any rolling 5 year period. Time spent outside Canada with a Canadian citizen spouse counts as days in Canada as well.

The citizenship requirements is having spent 1095 days in Canada in the previous 4 years before you apply. Time spent in Canada before gaining PR counts as 1 day for every 2 spent. Time spent outside Canada with a citizen spouse does not count for citizenship unless your spouse is working for the Canadian government or military and is stationed by them in another country. Therefore, if you are trying to qualify for citizeship and your spouse is staying in the US, you can stay with him for 2-3 months a year without a problem but every month you stay with him delays you qualifying for citizenship. You need 1095 days in Canada so 3 years or 36 months. Say if you stay with him for 3 months a year, every year you stay in Canada 9 months so it would take you 4 years to reach 36 months. You can not visit him for more than 3 months a year on average because then you will never qualify.

You can leave Canada after applying for citizenship and you will keep your PR forever if you are living with your Canadian spouse in another country. However, immigration may see it as a red flag when a person stays in Canada the minimum number of days in order to apply for citizenship and then leaves. They may question if you were really staying in Canada as much as you said you were. Therefore, they may take a lot longer on your application to verify that.

The only problem is when immigration decides not to believe that you were really in Canada. This can add months to your a

Thnaks Leon, Its realy helpful to understand rule/obligation of PR and citizenship.

 

[frege]

If CIC were to make the citizenship requirements as lenient as PR residency requirements, a person could technically be a Canadian citizen by being in Canadian soil three times (for landing, Citizenship Test and Oath) and never show up again. The idea of rubbing elbows with Canadians in malls, seeing and understanding Canadian lifestyle and culture would be mute.

Yes, but if you marry someone who's been hired to work in the Canadian foreign service, you can do this.

 

[helloimmigrationworld]

Hello forum,
Good after noon, here is my time line. But i have a Q because after submitting my citizenship allication, i was away for 7 months for marriage and work purpose. will it affect my application

We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on October 22, 2012.

We sent you a letter acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on October 22, 2012. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.

We started processing your application on February 19th, 2013.

Till now i am waiting for my test date, online status shows In process....

And the damn..stirke made the things more worse....only GOD can speed up the process for us

 

[frege]

Hello forum,
Good after noon, here is my time line. But i have a Q because after submitting my citizenship allication, i was away for 7 months for marriage and work purpose. will it affect my application

We received your application for Canadian citizenship (grant of citizenship) on October 22, 2012.

We sent you a letter acknowledging receipt of your application(s), and a study book called Discover Canada on October 22, 2012. Please consider delays in mail delivery before contacting us.

We started processing your application on February 19th, 2013.

Till now i am waiting for my test date, online status shows In process....

And the damn..stirke made the things more worse....only GOD can speed up the process for us

Legally, it's not supposed to affect your application. However, in these situations CIC treats applicants as more suspicious, which can cause CIC to send them a "residence questionnaire", which requires a bunch of documents and can delay the process considerably.

I can't say for sure whether it will affect you, but I know the chances are much greater if you show up for the test or the oath with stamps in your passport dated less than three months before.

See the following website for more information:

http://residencequestionnaire.wordpress.com/

 

[ashzee]

The PR requirements are completely different and unrelated to the citizenship requirements aside from the fact that if you were to apply for citizenship and then lose your PR for not meeting the PR requirements while your citizenship application is still being processed, you would not be able to get citizenship.

The PR requirements are 730 days stayed in Canada in any rolling 5 year period. Time spent outside Canada with a Canadian citizen spouse counts as days in Canada as well.

The citizenship requirements is having spent 1095 days in Canada in the previous 4 years before you apply. Time spent in Canada before gaining PR counts as 1 day for every 2 spent. Time spent outside Canada with a citizen spouse does not count for citizenship unless your spouse is working for the Canadian government or military and is stationed by them in another country. Therefore, if you are trying to qualify for citizeship and your spouse is staying in the US, you can stay with him for 2-3 months a year without a problem but every month you stay with him delays you qualifying for citizenship. You need 1095 days in Canada so 3 years or 36 months. Say if you stay with him for 3 months a year, every year you stay in Canada 9 months so it would take you 4 years to reach 36 months. You can not visit him for more than 3 months a year on average because then you will never qualify.

You can leave Canada after applying for citizenship and you will keep your PR forever if you are living with your Canadian spouse in another country. However, immigration may see it as a red flag when a person stays in Canada the minimum number of days in order to apply for citizenship and then leaves. They may question if you were really staying in Canada as much as you said you were. Therefore, they may take a lot longer on your application to verify that.

The only problem is when immigration decides not to believe that you were really in Canada. This can add months to your application processing time.

Hi Leon...Thank you so much for explaining the difference...i didn't know about certain PR requirements...but i am still confused about somethings...and want to post more questions...hope can get a prompt reply from you like i did the first time.

your one statement was lil confusing...am aware that i can't stay for more than 3 months outside Canada in a year to qualify...but when u say that if someone does that...will NEVER qualify for citizenship...there r so many ppl who complete their 1095 days in a period of 5 yrs or even 10...coz they keep staying outside and count exact days they were in Canada...so the 'never qualify' thing doesn't apply...or has the law changed about this as well?? please lemme know..becuase i did hear a year back that it was ok before to complete ur days in as many years possible but now they want new immigrants to do it in a period of 4 yrs...and if u don't there will be delays in your application...

My case is a little different...i will explain you the whole scenario so you can weigh all the options and answer accordingly...
i have maintained my status as a resident in Canada by maintaining a permanent address where i lived with my 2 kids...i applied their child tax benefits and did receive them all this time...2 yrs spent at that address during which i made visits to my husband and the last year stayed completely in Canada with my husband as we moved to a border state so that he could be with his family while working in US...in this last year CRA wanted to review our case stating that they want to be sure that i had lived at my previous permanent address for past 2 yrs or not so they can decide whether i was entitled to receive child tax benefits as that is only for a resident of Canada...CRA asked me to provide all the proof to establish that i lived in Canada for every month i received the child tax benefit OR i have to return all what they payed so far.
i provided them with every little detail of my visits to my husband...with entry/exit dates...and all the proof that established that i stayed in Canada...they stopped my kids child tax benefit for 3 months to review my case...and result was in my favour,got convinced and i started receiving the money again...this happened like 5 months ago...so my Q....is this a plus point for my application???

Secondly,as i maintained my resident status in Canada...we filed taxes every year and my husband despite the fact that he wasn't in Canada with us for past 2 yrs... payed taxes which are applied to a resident of Canada...for me...i don't work yet.
does this make my application look better?

last...but not the least...i have done all to show ties with Canada..and to prove my intentions to stay connected with Canada...and also i was told that if i can provide a genuine reason that confirms the necessity of me staying with my husband will be accepted...as in my case is my Son who just turned 2...and was born in US so i had to be with my husband.

Please tell me what it looks like to you now??by end of August 2013 my 3 yrs are completed...
i hope my case and your replies can benefit other people out there who are trying to seek answers to their own unique cases.

Thanking you sincerely !