should I apply for Citizenship ?
- Thread starter Batman1
- Start date
As a PR, you are allowed to stay outside up to 3 years at a time, max 1095 days in any 5 year period.Batman1 said:Q1: If I choose to stay in the US for more than six months? will the Canadian immigration give me hard time upon my return to Canada ?
A) Suppose I stayed in the US for 1 year?
B) Suppose I stayed in the US for 8 months?
C) Is there anything else that would cause issues that will effect my PR or Canadian Citizenship?
Q2: At this point I believe I qualify to apply for my Citizenship?
A) Will staying in the US for more than six months effect my citizenship? even though I have stayed in Canada for more than 4 years consecutively ?
B) Will there be any impacts to my Canadian citizenship?
C) When should I apply for my Canadian citizenship?
Q3: College enrolment in the US
A) If I am enrolled in College and my semester ends in December 2014 will this have any impact on my citizenship? this will make my stay out of Canada for total of 8 months
Q4:Need help and advise on when to apply to my Canadian Citizenship?
A) Can I apply for my Canadian citizen ship in the US ?
B) Can I attest the needed Canadian immigration documents in the US?
C) Can I have anyone that will represent me in Canada to submit my immigration documents for citizenship? will this stay more than 6 months have any impact on my citizenship application?
You must be residing in Canada in order to apply for citizenship.
If you plan on returning to Canada in December, you should apply then as you still qualify.
If you leave Canada for a longer term after having applied for citizenship, it can easily affect your application as immigration frowns upon applications from people who apply and leave. They can however not deny you if you qualify but they can send your application for an RQ which can add years to your processing time. If you stay outside Canada for so long that you lose your PR, you will not be granted citizenship.
If your spouse is a US citizen, I suggest you sponsor her for Canadian PR and both stay in Canada until you get your citizenship. Then she can sponsor you for a green card if you want to live in the US.
And just a quick comment -- you might really want to confirm that you can stay in the U.S. for more than 6 months. You are there on a visitor's visa, right? Even if you are under 6 months, they will not be happy if you are living in the States (visitor's visas are for visiting, not staying with spouses) -- I don't believe marriage changes your visitor's status at all. My wife did this while we were finding a job in Canada -- we drove up to Canada at the end of her 6 months, arranged a place to live, and drove back to the U.S. to get our stuff. We were prepared for her to be turned back; the border agent was kind enough to give us 3 more weeks, entered a complicated note in her file, and warned us that in the future when she tried to enter, she should have good proof of living in Canada.
I also believe that the U.S. is much less forgiving of overstays than Canada is -- if you are assuming you can do this, you're playing with fire.
I also believe that the U.S. is much less forgiving of overstays than Canada is -- if you are assuming you can do this, you're playing with fire.
Leon I really appreciate your feedback. As you know immigration can cause stress on your family and at times get sooooooo complicated that you don't know what to do. If you consult a layer every layer gives you a different story ...
For now I decided to apply for my US adjustment of status. In 4 months I will have my work authorization and travel permit. My next step will be to come back to Canada and apply for my Canadian Citizenship. This strategy will allow me to go back and forth to see my wife and also maintain my Citizenship application in Canada.
Another question how long will it take once I file for Citizenship in Ontario, Kitchener. Any thoughts ? and during the wait time frame can I travel back and forth as it is easy to the US ?
Appreciate your feedback
Batman1
For now I decided to apply for my US adjustment of status. In 4 months I will have my work authorization and travel permit. My next step will be to come back to Canada and apply for my Canadian Citizenship. This strategy will allow me to go back and forth to see my wife and also maintain my Citizenship application in Canada.
Another question how long will it take once I file for Citizenship in Ontario, Kitchener. Any thoughts ? and during the wait time frame can I travel back and forth as it is easy to the US ?
Appreciate your feedback
Batman1
Leon --
Another question that comes to mind. This is in regards to the Canadian Health-card.
Q1- I did receive my health-card in march my question is:
A) I hear if I am in the US and do not use my healthcard for certain time. Lets say more than 6 months will my health-card get cancelled ?
B) what are other ways to keep my healthcard active? and to avoid cancellation?
C) Any other comments and advise ?
Thank you in Advance
Another question that comes to mind. This is in regards to the Canadian Health-card.
Q1- I did receive my health-card in march my question is:
A) I hear if I am in the US and do not use my healthcard for certain time. Lets say more than 6 months will my health-card get cancelled ?
B) what are other ways to keep my healthcard active? and to avoid cancellation?
C) Any other comments and advise ?
Thank you in Advance
Great questions.. Yes if you get married to a US citizen you no longer have to worry about the 6 months stay period on your B2/visitor visa. I confirmed this info with a layer and also did it myself. Now that that 6 months do not apply to us we can apply for adjustment of status and travel authorization. Once travel authorization is granted (usually within 4 months) then we will be able to travel back and forth without any issue. If my wife leaves the US now and try to come to US again the following will happen:on-hold said:And just a quick comment -- you might really want to confirm that you can stay in the U.S. for more than 6 months. You are there on a visitor's visa, right? Even if you are under 6 months, they will not be happy if you are living in the States (visitor's visas are for visiting, not staying with spouses) -- I don't believe marriage changes your visitor's status at all. My wife did this while we were finding a job in Canada -- we drove up to Canada at the end of her 6 months, arranged a place to live, and drove back to the U.S. to get our stuff. We were prepared for her to be turned back; the border agent was kind enough to give us 3 more weeks, entered a complicated note in her file, and warned us that in the future when she tried to enter, she should have good proof of living in Canada.
I also believe that the U.S. is much less forgiving of overstays than Canada is -- if you are assuming you can do this, you're playing with fire.
A) At port of entry she have to say that she got married. Immigration officer will cancel her B2 visa and will ask her to apply for fiancée K Visa. Current wait time for K visa is about 1 year at the minimum
B) This is our approach we will apply for travel authorization in the US and then she can travel back and forth as needed.
Thank you
Most provinces require you to reside there for at least 6 months a year in order to keep your health care coverage. You should check the website of your provinces' health care or phone them to ask to make sure.Batman1 said:Leon --
Another question that comes to mind. This is in regards to the Canadian Health-card.
Q1- I did receive my health-card in march my question is:
A) I hear if I am in the US and do not use my healthcard for certain time. Lets say more than 6 months will my health-card get cancelled ?
B) what are other ways to keep my healthcard active? and to avoid cancellation?
C) Any other comments and advise ?
At http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/become-after.asp it states that if you are planning on leaving Canada for more than 2 weeks at a time while you have a citizenship application in process, you should let them know. If you do not, they will find out no later than at the time you have your test as they will take a look at your passport and see that you have been travelling to the US a lot and that you have a work permit in your passport. This could easily trigger an RQ.
Whether you tell them or not, you should make sure that they always have a mailing address for you where you will actually either get or be notified of any mail right away because when they call you for the exam or oath, they may do it with short notice, sometimes 10 - 15 days so if you are in the US when the letter comes and you don't find out about it until a month later, you will have missed your date and have to reschedule which is quite a hassle.
If you have to reschedule, you would have to give a good reason why you have missed your date and they will then give you a new one but you will not know in advance when. It could be in a few months or it could be a year later and again, you will have short notice to appear.