Weekly commute (Canada - US) Citizenship Path

[namtoCanada]

I began traveling to Canada every Friday and returning to the US every Monday starting in March 2024. As per the Physical presence calculator, it counts as 4 days in Canada. I got a rental accommodation in Canada while owning a house in the US.

Queries:

1.) If I fulfill the 1095-day requirement according to the physical presence calculator, could I still face rejection for Canadian Citizenship due to weak ties with Canada?

2.) Is it necessary for me to bring my car to Canada, or can I forego this requirement? If it's mandatory, I'm prepared to move my vehicle.

3.) Do I need to obtain a Canadian driver's license, or can I bypass this step? If obtaining one is mandatory, I'm willing to comply.

4.) If anyone has obtained citizenship by commuting weekly, I would appreciate guidance on the process.

Considering I only have a Canadian bank account, a rental lease, and weekend stays in Canada, do you believe this would qualify me for Canadian citizenship? Looking forward to any advice so I can adjust my plans accordingly.

Thank you.

 

[swan0206]

I began traveling to Canada every Friday and returning to the US every Monday starting in March 2024. As per the Physical presence calculator, it counts as 4 days in Canada. I got a rental accommodation in Canada while owning a house in the US.

Queries:

1.) If I fulfill the 1095-day requirement according to the physical presence calculator, could I still face rejection for Canadian Citizenship due to weak ties with Canada?

2.) Is it necessary for me to bring my car to Canada, or can I forego this requirement? If it's mandatory, I'm prepared to move my vehicle.

3.) Do I need to obtain a Canadian driver's license, or can I bypass this step? If obtaining one is mandatory, I'm willing to comply.

4.) If anyone has obtained citizenship by commuting weekly, I would appreciate guidance on the process.

Considering I only have a Canadian bank account, a rental lease, and weekend stays in Canada, do you believe this would qualify me for Canadian citizenship? Looking forward to any advice so I can adjust my plans accordingly.

Thank you.

First thing, how long would you intend to do this? coming on friday and going back on Monday would count to 4days a week and 16days a month and 192 days a year. In that case you gotta do this for almost 6years. Basically the point here is establishing residency in Canada. Im not aware or read on this forum someone who have done this and was able to successfully acquire Citizenship. And also not sure how IRCC would determine if you have established your residency in Canada or not on this basis because while apply for citizenship it asks for your physical presence and you should have filed taxes in the last 3years(alongside many other stuff but are not directly related though). If you wanna take a shot and see you can try. Or if someone could reply on this who have done similar travelling patterns that would be easier for you to discuss and follow accordingly. Otherwise i wouldn't say it cannot be done or not viable as im pretty much not 100% sure.

 

[namtoCanada]

Thanks for your input. Here's my plan:

I'll spend 7 full weeks in Canada each year, including 4 vacation weeks, 1 week for spring break, 1 for the December break, and 1 for Thanksgiving break, totaling roughly 49 days.

I'll also enter Canada every Friday and leave on Monday for 35 weeks of the year (January, February, March, April, May, September, October, November, and December), which adds up to about 140 days.

During the summer months (June, July, August), I'll enter Canada every Wednesday and leave on Monday, making it approximately 10 weeks or 60 days.

In total, I estimate I'll spend around 249 days in Canada each year. This plan should help me reach the 1095-day requirement in about 4 years.

While completing the required days isn't an issue with this plan, I'm more concerned about proving my residency. I have the Candian lease document, a Canadian bank account, and I spend money in Canada during my stays. However, my car is still registered in the US, and my driver's license is also from the US. I will also saving all my entry and exist travel details for record using US i-94 website.

Any advice for this situation? What else I can do to make sure it's not an issue down the line for PR extension and Citizenship?

First thing, how long would you intend to do this? coming on friday and going back on Monday would count to 4days a week and 16days a month and 192 days a year. In that case you gotta do this for almost 6years. Basically the point here is establishing residency in Canada. Im not aware or read on this forum someone who have done this and was able to successfully acquire Citizenship. And also not sure how IRCC would determine if you have established your residency in Canada or not on this basis because while apply for citizenship it asks for your physical presence and you should have filed taxes in the last 3years(alongside many other stuff but are not directly related though). If you wanna take a shot and see you can try. Or if someone could reply on this who have done similar travelling patterns that would be easier for you to discuss and follow accordingly. Otherwise i wouldn't say it cannot be done or not viable as im pretty much not 100% sure.

 

[devcicuser]

your plan will not work and you are technically not commuting to US, rather other ways. you need to live in Canada to be able to apply for citizenship. If you don't transfer your driving license and car plates, you are just visiting Canada over the weekend and not living there. Your lease or bank accounts doesn't mean anything in this context.

You also need to figure out what will you do with tax filing as it is required for filing citizenship. In taxes, you would have to declare yourself as either resident or non resident of Canada, and you will pay more taxes. Your travel pattern will also look suspicious to CBSA over time and they will force you to transfer your plates or you need to lie to them that you don't live in Canada all the time.

Someone whom I know tried something like this for 8 months from Troy and found out the hard way that the days not going to count for citizenship. Imagine you investing 4 years in doing this and only to find out IRCC would not consider the days that you were in Canada for citizenship.

Also, if you are not interested in living in Canada by any means even for couple of years, what will you do with your Canadian passport? You can simply hang to your Indian passport and coast it out right? These days drop box has made life much easier to get visa stamping, you can travel to Europe by applying Schengen visa and go back to India in situations like lay off, visa denial etc.

 

[namtoCanada]

Thanks for the insight. Your message got me thinking about some important stuff. Can you explain more about why you think my plan might not work for getting citizenship? Will just moving my car and updating my driver's license make a difference? I know lots of people travel to the US daily, so I thought my weekly travel plan might be okay. I'm okay with paying resident taxes in Canada as with my plan I will be spending around 250 days in Canada (per Canadian physical presence rule). Also, what exactly counts as proof that I live in Canada, especially with how often I travel? Your story about someone else's experience was interesting—can you tell me more about why their time in Canada didn't count toward citizenship, and how I can avoid that happening to me? Thanks for helping me understand all this better.

your plan will not work and you are technically not commuting to US, rather other ways. you need to live in Canada to be able to apply for citizenship. If you don't transfer your driving license and car plates, you are just visiting Canada over the weekend and not living there. Your lease or bank accounts doesn't mean anything in this context.

You also need to figure out what will you do with tax filing as it is required for filing citizenship. In taxes, you would have to declare yourself as either resident or non resident of Canada, and you will pay more taxes. Your travel pattern will also look suspicious to CBSA over time and they will force you to transfer your plates or you need to lie to them that you don't live in Canada all the time.

Someone whom I know tried something like this for 8 months from Troy and found out the hard way that the days not going to count for citizenship. Imagine you investing 4 years in doing this and only to find out IRCC would not consider the days that you were in Canada for citizenship.

Also, if you are not interested in living in Canada by any means even for couple of years, what will you do with your Canadian passport? You can simply hang to your Indian passport and coast it out right? These days drop box has made life much easier to get visa stamping, you can travel to Europe by applying Schengen visa and go back to India in situations like lay off, visa denial etc.