is it a problem having a green card
- Thread starter hmirzaei
- Start date
landing interview - No!
Applying for citizenship - No, If you meet the physical presence requirements
Applying for citizenship - No, If you meet the physical presence requirements
That's not correct. But agree that it's tricky to maintain both and make it clear at border which of these two is your primary residence.
This is interesting .. a converse question ... if a Canadian PR declares themselves as a non-resident on their Canadian taxes for a year or two, do they get into trouble in Canada? I assumed if you met the physical residence requirement, that was sufficient .. so one could be non-resident for a bit. It seems for US green cards, this is not the case?
Being a permanent resident and a tax resident are different things. You can be PR and not tax resident, and tax resident but not PR.
Answering to your first question, I moved to Canada more than two years after I became a PR and became a resident for tax purposes only when permanently moved in.
Having a US green card may lead to non-routine processing of your Canadian citizenship application or at least at one time it might as it was thought that meeting the requirements to maintain US PR status may conflict with requirements for Canadian citizenship. But maybe it doesn't anymore, its hard to keep track.
I am going to get the GC soon, and on the other hand I am eligible for citizenship application right now,,, so I can have both "theoretically" unless something strange such as a conflict of intent to reside or something similar is going to affect me...
at the moment I am more worried about my wife's PR landing interview. is it really important (to be safe/ not to raise red flags for the interviewer) to have her landing interview before we get the GC or actually they don't care about GC?
at the moment I am more worried about my wife's PR landing interview. is it really important (to be safe/ not to raise red flags for the interviewer) to have her landing interview before we get the GC or actually they don't care about GC?
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What do you mean by "landing Interview"? Do you mean the process of landing as a PR at the port of entry? To the best of my recollection having a US green card really isn't relevant at that point, although it may be an issue down the road for citizenship, but not an issue that cant be overcome depending on the facts.
My family holds both green card and canadian PR. It is completely possible. The border is lax compared to other entry points into the US and they have never asked us any questions about it in either direction in the five years we have had both PR statuses. If you reside in Canada and want to be completely safe, then just apply for a US Re-Entry permit from USCIS. It is a simple application, costs US$600 and good for 2 years. It legally preserves your PR status for absences from US longer than one year. We have had one off and on in the five years just to be safe.
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Thanks for your answers guys.
By landing interview I meant the final letter that my wife has received as follows:
"We are pleased to advise you that your final determination for permanent residence interview has been scheduled for: ... "
It is both landing and an interview... I think they have recently changed it so that you can land inside Vancouver in a CIC office...
By landing interview I meant the final letter that my wife has received as follows:
"We are pleased to advise you that your final determination for permanent residence interview has been scheduled for: ... "
It is both landing and an interview... I think they have recently changed it so that you can land inside Vancouver in a CIC office...