New Citizenship Rule and Residency Obigation

[longman]

Hi There Leon, Scylla and other experienced folk. Could you please advise me on following:

We have not met 2 years of residency and have 22 months left in my, my wife's and my elder son's PR cards. I have USA green card as well as my wife and elder son, my younger son is US citizen, but does not have Canadian PR, even though I have submitted application for sponsoring him in September 2014, with 27 months left on my PR card at that time. So questions I would request you answer:

1. What will happen in the border crossing if we come all four and a) show Canadian PR cards and US citizenship for my younger son?, b) all show US documents, we green cards, younger son passport? Do we have a chance to go through without being reported?

2. If we happen to go through, unreported beause say we showed US document and stated that we are visitors, what are our chances to extend PR cards, since we are not in compliance with residency requirements at least for few months? This question is different from Q4, because here we still have about 20-22 months left in our PR card. In Q4 scenario we will have only 4-5 months left in our PR cards.

3. With new citizenship rules in place, how long we need to live before applying for citizenship, 3 or 4 years, which law will apply to us, old one or new one?

4. In 1 year we are eligible for US citizenship, application and procedures will take another half year I guess, so in the end when we get our citizenship we theoretically might have about 4-5 months left in our Canadian PR. Is it better for US to play safe, get US citizenship and then take a risk of coming to Canada and hoping that we will live there unnoticed for 2 years with expired PR cards and then apply for extension, is this rule of last two years before appliation still valid under new immigration law and how risky it is?

5. How long it usually takes from application to actually getting Canadian citizenship, I mean processing period.

Thanks a lot!
Longman

 

[scylla]

1) If you have 22 months left on your PR cards you should have absolutely no issues re-entering Canada.
2) You can't apply to renew your PR cards until you meet the residency obligation. If you apply with less than 730 days of physical residency in Canada in the last 5 years, your application will be refused and you can expect to lose your PR status.
3) You will fall under the new rules. You will need to live in Canada for 4 out of the last 6 years before you will be able to apply for citizenship.
4) I can't tell you what to do. However the longer you are outside of Canada and the fewer days you have remaining on your PR card, the greater the chance you may be reported at the border for failing to meet RO. If you are able to enter Canada without being reported and remain in Canada without leaving until you meet RO, you will be able to renew your PR status.
5) This is a very difficult question to answer since it depends whether your application is routine or not. It can take anywhere from 6 months to several years.

 

[longman]

Thanks a lot Scylla!