Presence Test for Citizenship Hypothetical

[weofikl]

I have a non-Canadian spouse who is American (she's going to get PR soon). What if we lived next to the border in say Point Roberts/New Hampshire were you can just walk across the border into Canada every day. Would this count as physical presence each day entering Canada, or is there a midnight rule like for Schengen? If there is a midnight rule then of course would walk across every day at 11:55 and return a few minutes later.

I know you have to declare all trips abroad, but it's not clear how the IRCC would view this loophole attempt with partial days. Anyone questioned recently by the IRCC for absences?

 

[EscoBlades]

“Either the day the applicant leaves Canada or the day they return is considered an absence, but not both. If the applicant leaves Canada and comes back the same day, it is not considered an absence.”

However, feel free to call IRCC directly to clarify their stance on your hypothetical.

 

[YVR123]

I have a non-Canadian spouse who is American (she's going to get PR soon). What if we lived next to the border in say Point Roberts/New Hampshire were you can just walk across the border into Canada every day. Would this count as physical presence each day entering Canada, or is there a midnight rule like for Schengen? If there is a midnight rule then of course would walk across every day at 11:55 and return a few minutes later.

I know you have to declare all trips abroad, but it's not clear how the IRCC would view this loophole attempt with partial days. Anyone questioned recently by the IRCC for absences?

Yes. Every day partial or full count towards PR/citizenship physical presence day.
Keep a good record (spreadsheet) of the border crossing record to avoid the pain of trying to figure it out years later when she applies for PR card renew/citizenship.

 

[weofikl]

This sounds like a pretty good scam to get the best of both worlds. I am wondering if you even have to go through immigration at all in the peace parks. Technically you can enter Canada without an immigration check. I wonder if this would count. There's a lot of curmudgeons here who might scoff at this 'abuse', but following the law is the opposite of abuse.

You could live in Point Roberts, earn a Vancouver salary, have living expenses 75% less, and drive your polluting American yank tank while rolling coal every day in Canada.

 

[YVR123]

This sounds like a pretty good scam to get the best of both worlds. I am wondering if you even have to go through immigration at all in the peace parks. Technically you can enter Canada without an immigration check. I wonder if this would count. There's a lot of curmudgeons here who might scoff at this 'abuse', but following the law is the opposite of abuse.

You could live in Point Roberts, earn a Vancouver salary, have living expenses 75% less, and drive your polluting American yank tank while rolling coal every day in Canada.

I don't understand your post.

You HAVE to pass through custom/immigration when you cross the border into Point Roberts. And wonder anyone wants to report their illegal crossing to count for their physical present days. (why crossing illegally??)

Your days in Canada will count towards RO but you will likely need a Canadian address. Also with that much time spent in Canada, you will likely be a tax resident of Canada and will need to file Canadian tax.
For someone who live/work across borders, it's unlikely he/she wants to risk the work status by crossing the border illegally as you suggest via un-patrolled park area. And yes, they do monitor those area a lot more since there are more illegally crossing happening.

I did work across the border and did drive across daily for some years and that's a long time ago. BUT I was already a Canadian citizen when it happened. proper work permit is needed and tax needed to file on BOTH sides.

 

[scylla]

I have a non-Canadian spouse who is American (she's going to get PR soon). What if we lived next to the border in say Point Roberts/New Hampshire were you can just walk across the border into Canada every day. Would this count as physical presence each day entering Canada, or is there a midnight rule like for Schengen? If there is a midnight rule then of course would walk across every day at 11:55 and return a few minutes later.

I know you have to declare all trips abroad, but it's not clear how the IRCC would view this loophole attempt with partial days. Anyone questioned recently by the IRCC for absences?

As long as you do it through an actual border crossing where the crossing is recorded, should work. No midnight rule to the best of my knowledge. Completing the citizenship application will be an absolutely colossal PITA. Make sure you keep an Excel spreadsheet of all entities and exists.

 

[scylla]

This sounds like a pretty good scam to get the best of both worlds. I am wondering if you even have to go through immigration at all in the peace parks. Technically you can enter Canada without an immigration check. I wonder if this would count. There's a lot of curmudgeons here who might scoff at this 'abuse', but following the law is the opposite of abuse.

You could live in Point Roberts, earn a Vancouver salary, have living expenses 75% less, and drive your polluting American yank tank while rolling coal every day in Canada.

You would definitely want to go through an immigration check if you plan to do this. Otherwise there won't be evidence you've actually been in Canada. IMO it's a non starter if you don't plan to go through an actual POE.

 

[weofikl]

You would definitely want to go through an immigration check if you plan to do this. Otherwise there won't be evidence you've actually been in Canada. IMO it's a non starter if you don't plan to go through an actual POE.

For sure, it's ambiguous in the law. Not sure how the housing crisis is solved if it's cheaper for Canadians to commute by helicopter (nothing fancy, just a piston Robinson) in some instances from the US than to own a comparable home, but maybe it's a start.

The interesting thing here is they can't have it both ways. If you are clingy for tax reasons, then it wouldn't work the other way if you try to stop people like my wife.

 

[Seym]

if you try to stop people like my wife.

No-one is. Feel free to use your not so fancy helicopter every day. If you do it before midnight, you can even do it every other day and save yourself half the trips...

 

[weofikl]

No-one is. Feel free to use your not so fancy helicopter every day. If you do it before midnight, you can even do it every other day and save yourself half the trips...

Je vais m'assurer de faire deux fois plus de bruit avec mon hélicoptère au-dessus du Québec. Peut-être que je devrais le faire au Vermont pour pouvoir voter moi-même pour la sécession. Out, out, out!

 

[Seym]

Pour le droit de vote, il faut vivre au Québec, impossible depuis le Vermont. Autant venir s'installer avec madame et ne même pas se faire chier avec les aller-retours.