Working in USA and travelling back & forth every day

[punk]

If someone got a job in US and is travelling every day to US would those days count against physical presence in Canada ?

 

[TomTony]

No! But expect a long wait when you apply for citizenship!

 

[MiriamT]

No! But expect a long wait when you apply for citizenship!

I agree with TomTony. I'd include FOIA notes from the get-go in this case, but it's just my 2 cents. It may still not be enough for the officer dealing with the case.

 

[punk]

No! But expect a long wait when you apply for citizenship!

Probably due to RQ? My question is if this is counted as physical presence or not. If it is, then it is easy explainable, but if it not then it is obviously a problem

 

[alphazip]

Probably due to RQ? My question is if this is counted as physical presence or not. If it is, then it is easy explainable, but if it not then it is obviously a problem

If you live in Canada and travel daily to the U.S. for work and then return back home again the same day (a very common scenario here in Windsor), those days count toward physical presence in Canada. Unfortunately, though, you're going to have to input a lot of dates when you complete the Residence Calculator!

 

[keesio]

Probably due to RQ?

Yes. CIC is going to be suspicious about your commitment to Canada and they will wonder if you are living in Canada just to maintain your residency obligation for PR and to apply for Citizenship and if you will move to the US after you get citizenship.

 

[punk]

If you live in Canada and travel daily to the U.S. for work and then return back home again the same day (a very common scenario here in Windsor), those days count toward physical presence in Canada. Unfortunately, though, you're going to have to input a lot of dates when you complete the Residence Calculator!

Thanks was just confirming. So did the people in your neighbourhood were successful in getting the citizenship with similar scenario ?

 

[alphazip]

Thanks was just confirming. So did the people in your neighbourhood were successful in getting the citizenship with similar scenario ?

Look at my post, "Windsor Experiences" (http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/windsor-experiences-t340320.0.html). Because of my concern that my spouse might get an RQ over frequent border crossing, we included the CBP report with the application. However, the crossings didn't seem to be an issue.

Also, I know a younger guy (40s) who lives in Windsor and works in Detroit, and he got his citizenship without any problems. That was about 5 years ago, though, and he was also an American.

 

[keesio]

alphazip - note that your spouse's situation (and the others in the thread you mentioned) are in a different boat. They are all US citizens. US citizens get less scrutiny in these cases of frequent travel/work to/in the US.

 

[alphazip]

alphazip - note that your spouse's situation (and the others in the thread you mentioned) are in a different boat. They are all US citizens. US citizens get less scrutiny in these cases of frequent travel/work to/in the US.

That's quite possible. As I wrote in my post: "Was this because they're Americans...because they're over 55....because it's in Windsor (where crossing the border to shop, etc., is very common)...because the citizenship officer was nice? I don't know." I believe there are Americans on this forum, however, whose applications have taken years to process.

 

[thecoolguysam]

I have seen few Americans in this forum who have got CIT0520 requests.

 

[alphazip]

I have seen few Americans in this forum who have got CIT0520 requests.

One example is eileenf, an American who received an RQ. Her application took 3 years to process and she took her oath last year. Listen to her 2013 interview here:

https://soundcloud.com/montrealgazette/cjad-800s-aaron-rand-1?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=mshare&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/montrealgazette/cjad-800s-aaron-rand-1

 

[on-hold]

alphazip - note that your spouse's situation (and the others in the thread you mentioned) are in a different boat. They are all US citizens. US citizens get less scrutiny in these cases of frequent travel/work to/in the US.

I'm curious about this as well, since I went back to the States to work for a year after living in Canada for a year -- it fits in well with a narrative of getting settled in Canada, but it's still a year working abroad.

If this is so, that Americans receive less scrutiny, it's an interesting example of how cultural factors can subvert formal bureaucratic procedures. In this case, it would probably owe to the fairly benign Canadian feeling that any American who is applying for citizenship probably wants to be here, otherwise why bother? It's pretty certain that we're not trying to use Canada as a stepping stone to San Jose.

 

[keesio]

I'm curious about this as well, since I went back to the States to work for a year after living in Canada for a year -- it fits in well with a narrative of getting settled in Canada, but it's still a year working abroad.

If this is so, that Americans receive less scrutiny, it's an interesting example of how cultural factors can subvert formal bureaucratic procedures. In this case, it would probably owe to the fairly benign Canadian feeling that any American who is applying for citizenship probably wants to be here, otherwise why bother? It's pretty certain that we're not trying to use Canada as a stepping stone to San Jose.

Yes, that is the overall sentiment. It's also why for family sponsorship, Canadian/American couples have a low bar to pass (compared to applicants from other countries) in convincing CIC that their marriage is legit since the rate of "Marriage of Conveniences" for such couples is extremely low. The "using Canada as a stepping stone to the USA" thing is something that CIC is on the lookout for when processing Citizenship applications and obviously US citizens are not a risk for that. When I applied for citizenship, I had over 50+ trips (totaling over 250+ days) in the USA in the past 4 years before my application date. People told me I would get an RQ because frequent travel to the US is a known RQ trigger. But I didn't have issue. My reason for all the travels was "visiting family" and it was good enough for CIC.

 

[on-hold]

I also wonder sometimes if there might be a less benign explanation -- that the almost completely shared culture between the States and Canada causes CIC to basically not care that much; a naturalized American in Canada who returns to America is not that much different from a Canadian who does the same . . . Measuring itself against America is something that Canadians do naturally, and in that measurement an American going back to America probably stings less than a Chinese immigrant to Canada who leaves for the States immediately.

I guess if this was the case you could call it racism from insecurity, or something.