Hi there - i work for the United Nations under a remote consultant contract. I have been working with them since 2019. Earlier I was stationed in NY but once i got my PR i relocated to canada and moved a remote status. The nature of my job requires me to travel outside of canada a lot. On average I am out of the country 3 months.Additonally, i am looking at a work rotation that may requires me to move to east asia (most probably next year). I have almost 1.5 years left on my PR time towards citizenship.
Looking at the rules online. it seems like time abroad can be counted towards PR status, however this is only if you work for a canadian business or govt org. I can't seem to find anything for international organizations.
Would anyone have experience on how to expediate this process or work around it.
Overall: To become a Canadian citizen you will need to meet the 1095 days IN Canada physical presence requirement. To keep your PR status you will need to comply with the PR Residency Obligation with NO credit for days outside Canada employed by a non-Canadian organization, no matter how laudable your service is or how important the organization is.
While Canada is a member of the UN, neither the UN nor its many subsidiary organizations would qualify as an employer for which a PR would get PR RO credit.
Citizenship in Particular: 1095 days actual physical presence IN Canada is a hard and fast requirement to qualify for a grant of citizenship. There is NO workaround.
Generally I would suggest perusing related topics, such as topics about the physical presence requirement in the Citizenship forum here, BUT again this is a hard and fast requirement: 1095 days actual physical presence IN Canada within the five year eligibility period.
This is based on credit for days in Canada as a PR. Days in Canada as a temporary resident within the five year eligibility period will be given half-day credit up a maximum of 365 days.
PR Residency Obligation in Particular: Generally PRs have an obligation to be physically present in Canada at least 730 days within five years. There are exceptions.
One of the exceptions allows credit toward meeting the RO for days outside Canada the PR is working for a Canadian business or employed by a Canadian public service (Canadian government organization). Regardless how laudable, public service employment outside Canada working for non-Canadian entities does NOT get such credit.
Be aware that there are additional criteria that must be met to qualify for the working-abroad RO credit. Once enforcement action is taken, the criteria for this credit is typically strictly applied. Note, for example, to qualify for the credit the employment outside Canada must be a
temporary assignment pursuant to which the PR will RETURN to their job IN Canada at the conclusion of the assignment. Thus, for example, even if the employer meets the Canadian business or Canadian public service criteria, if the PR takes a position for that employer and that position is essentially a job at the location outside Canada (rather than being
temporarily assigned to the work outside Canada), that will
NOT qualify for the credit.
Unlike the strict requirement of physical presence to qualify for a grant of citizenship, in addition to how liberal the RO is itself (despite the purpose of PR, giving individuals PR status so they can PERMANENTLY settle and live IN Canada, the PR RO allows PRs the flexibility of spending well over half their time outside Canada, totally at the individual PR's discretion), enforcement tends to be not so strict if not outright lenient. Thus, for example, there are scores of "
I did XXX and it was OK" anecdotal reports, and this includes numerous reports from PRs who did not have the RO strictly applied to them during Port-of-Entry examinations. As I noted, however, the criteria for the working-abroad credit can be strictly applied and typically is strictly applied attendant PR Travel Document and PR card applications.
Resources:
The statutory provision prescribing exception to IN Canada presence for RO is Section 28(2)(a)(iii) IRPA, which is here:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/page-5.html#h-274598
The applicable regulations, which are set out in subsections 61(1) through 61(3) IRPR, are here:
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-9.html#h-686425
Also see the Appendix regarding the residency obligation in the instructions for a PR card or PR TD application, and "
Situation A. Employment outside Canada" in the section titled "
Time spent outside Canada." These instructions for a PR card application, for example, are here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-5445-applying-permanent-resident-card-card-first-application-replacement-renewal-change-gender-identifier.html#appendixA . . .
reminder: the term "
assigned" has a particular meaning which includes it being
temporary.
The working-abroad credit is discussed at-length, and in-depth, in numerous topics here. For example, see:
