Hello all members. I am a canadian Citizen, married to a indian Citizen and she never applied for Canadian PR because after i married her, we both started living in the USA on TN and TD visa. i dont have plans to return to Canada, but thinking of filing my wife's PR. My question is once she becomes PR, will her residency obligation will still be complete and apply for canadian citizenship after say 3-4 years? Or does she need to be physically present in Canada on PR to become citien?
Spouse PR
- Thread starter capri_can
- Start date
@scylla is correct about qualifying for citizenship. Current qualifications require three years physical presence IN Canada.
Caution: To sponsor a spouse for PR the sponsor must either be IN Canada or, if a Canadian citizen, they can be outside Canada BUT ONLY IF they have plans to relocate to Canada when a PR visa is granted. Last I looked, the citizen sponsor abroad is required to affirmatively state their plan to move to Canada as part of the sponsorship application.
Many will, well, let's call it fudge this, having at least vague plans to move to Canada. Many have done this, and it went OK . . . OK in the sense that in effect there have NOT YET been any consequences for misrepresentation . . . remember, however, there is no statute of limitations on misrepresentation in the process of becoming a PR, and if prosecuted it is something that can lead to loss of status in Canada for the remainder of the person's life, even decades after they have become a Canadian citizen.
Misrepresentation of intent is difficult to prove, and in this kind of scenario it can be very difficult to prove. And many have gone this way without any apparent detriment, with the uncommon and perhaps rare exception, that is other than in a small number of cases, in which the PR later lost PR status because they were denied the credit toward the Residency Obligation for "accompanying" a Canadian citizen spouse (just living with a Canadian citizen spouse will not always qualify for the credit if it is apparent the PR-spouse did not actually "accompany" the Canadian citizen spouse in going outside Canada). So, despite the relatively low risk involved, at the least you both should be aware of the decision being made.
EDIT with ???? . . . but then, there is this ????
As already suggested you will have to prove that your and your spouse will relocating to Canada during the application process. Because many sponsoring their spouse while both are living abroad never actually relocated to Canada couples applying for PR now must provide quite a bit of concrete proof the you will be relocating to Canada one your spouse has obtained PR. Things like proof of giving notice to your job abroad and obtaining or interviewing for jobs in Canada, giving notice if renting a home or selling your home abroad and seeking a home in Canada, public announcements that you will be relocating to Canada, proof that have either secured movers or are taken steps to organize your move, etc. It can be difficult to provide enough proof especially early on in the process so some receive procedural fairness letters close to the end of processing. If couples truly plan on relocating to Canada most have much more concrete proof of their move at that point which they can provide
To count time accompanying your spouse abroad toward residency requirement for permanent residency you typically have to have spend time establishing yourself in Canada after PR. You would have to wait until you applied renew your PR card before determining whether IRCC has flagged your file. If you have no intention of living in Canada is there a reason behind the desire to secure PR for your spouse? As already specified there is also the risk of a being accused of misrepresentation if you apply to sponsor your spouse but have not intention of move to Canada.
In a nutshell, why would you apply for permanent residency for someone who has no intention of living in that country ?
Secondly, of course a country would put conditions on someone having at LEAST being living in a country for a period before getting citizenship
The United States does it.
FYI- TN is non immigrant intent . From your postings you’re from India . The wait for a GC from India is DECADES. It’s from your birth country, not Canada
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