If one opts to stay for citizenship, what is the time commitment exactly? What would you do in this case? Job in Canada for €90,000 or move to Europe for €300,000 job but no path to permanent residence? I do not want to return to my home country
Setting aside the time commitment to become a Canadian citizen; considering the
what-to-do question:
There are many questions, many decisions an individual may need to make, which only the individual can answer, decisions only the individual can make. The best a forum like this can do is offer information which might help an individual, like yourself, make a more informed decision.
After all, in terms of weighing priorities, a huge factor is why YOU, you in particular, "
do not want to return to [your] home country," and how important that is to YOU. Another huge factor is what other options YOU, you in particular, might have.
An annual income equivalent to nearly a half million Canadian dollars is, one might reasonably say, for most people anyway, a rather compelling invitation. Something to especially consider for at least a year or two, and then perhaps re-evaluating things before the hard decision has to be made.
An annual income equivalent to 130k in Canadian dollars would be a rather good income for many Canadians, but not so great for others, and it can depend a lot on where one lives in Canada. That's about three times the median in the region where I live, and otherwise enough to maintain a decent even if only modest lifestyle. But I do not live in one of Canada's major metropolitan areas where just the cost of housing alone can challenge the budgets of anyone shy of being among the more affluent.
In the meantime, the PR Residency Obligation is not mere policy. It is fixed by law. There appears to be a significant degree of leniency in how it is being enforced now, in the wake of the global pandemic. But that is not likely to last. I suspect more than a few people find ways to push the envelope, test its limits, but generally someone granted Canadian PR status needs to settle in Canada to stay
within three years of getting PR status. And getting close to three years before coming to settle is
cutting-it-close, at risk for
stuff-happens stuff making it difficult or impossible to actually get here in that time frame.
Time commitment for becoming a Canadian citizen:
Takes more than just spending time in Canada to become a citizen. The current actual physical presence requirement, to be eligible for a grant of citizenship, is three years within a five year time frame. But spending that amount of time here does not guarantee a grant of citizenship.
Over the course of the last six years, there have been three different time-in-Canada eligibility requirements for Canadian citizenship. Seems unlikely to change again in the next few years but compare that to the PR Residency Obligation, for which it has been nearly TWO decades since it last changed.
There seems to be no shortage of immigrants relying on getting Canadian citizenship and relocating elsewhere as soon as possible, with more than a few doing the relocating after they become eligible and make the application, but before they are actually granted citizenship, planning on returning to Canada as necessary to complete the process. Appears to work for many. It is apparent that many others encounter problems.
In any event, the absolute minimum timeline is three years plus long enough to cover absences in the meantime. But again, just being in Canada for three years does not guarantee a grant of citizenship.
