need advise

[chrissy1]

Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone would know how the residency laws were in the 1960.
I was born in the UK but lived as a child in Burnaby Vancouver with my family from 1965 till 1971 and would like to know if my parents  would have had some kind of residency to stay for that lenght of time as they owned there own property. If so, would myself and brothers have the same status  to come back to live with my family as a resident . I can`t find out any info about this so can anyone help.

[Leon]

The only claim you would have to go back is if you all had gained Canadian citizenship but if you had, I suppose you would have known about it.  If you think your parents might have had citizenship at that time and never mentioned it to you, you can apply for a search of citizenship records for yourself, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/search.asp

Having had permanent residency will not help you because even if you did, 40 years of not living in Canada, you have surely lost your PR status some decades ago.

[chrissy1]

Thank you for that advice, but i dont know if my parents were citizens at the time, would that make a difference to permit residency, as i was a small child and i cant ask them as there are not around anymore, but i would love to move to canada sometime soon , i know it was graping at straws but it is worth going down that avenue.

[Leon]

If your parents had applied for citizenship, they would surely have applied for the children as well.  If you were a small child, you would not have needed to do anything to get citizenship on your parents application.  I find it unlikely that they would have gotten citizenship and never told you about it but who knows.  You can use the link I gave you in my last reply to ask for them to look for citizenship records for yourself as you may have become a citizen if your parents had applied for it which you don't know.  If any of your siblings were born in Canada, they would be citizens but it will not help you to have a citizen sibling unless they live in Manitoba or Saskatchewan and are willing to sponsor you through PNP family stream.

1. It is possible that your parents became citizens and applied for citizenship for their children as well.  If that is the case, you would still be a Canadian citizen and once you clear up the paperwork, you can live in Canada and sponsor your husband and minor children for PR.

2. It is possible that your parents applied for citizenship but did not include you children on the application.  In that case, you would have no right to anything because you would not be a citizen unless your parents had applied for you or were already citizens when you were born.

3. It is possible that your parents and their children all had permanent residency.  This status is given to people who want to permanently live in Canada without gaining citizenship.  If you don't live in Canada for some time, you lose this status.  Since 2002 or 2003, it has been 2 years in every 5 year period you must live in Canada to keep this status.  Before that, it was 6 months in each 12 month period.  After 40 years outside Canada, you surely would have lost it.

There is a loophole that if you had PR and you have not officially lost it, you could go to Canada and stay for 2 years and then you meet the residency requirements again, can apply for a PR card, sponsor your family etc.   However, it would be very hard for you because you do not even know if you are PR or not.  You do not even have old landing papers or a social insurance number.  You would have problems getting health care activated or legally getting a job.  Did you find any papers in your parents things regarding Canada immigration?  The problem is, if you ask immigration to check if you are a PR, they will see that you have not been living in Canada for 40 years, they will say yes you are but now we revoke your status because you don't meet the residency requirements.

4. It is also possible that your parents were in Canada on a work permit without every getting any permanent status in which case, you also have no rights.

Can you ask an aunt or an uncle if they know anything about your parents status in Canada back then?

[chrissy1]

Hi Leon ,

Thank you for all that info you have provided with , but unfortunatly for me all my old family are gone and there really is know one left to ask .
The only info i have is we live in Deer Lakes, Burnaby .
My father was demobed  from from the Royal Navy in the UK in 1965 and within 6months became a prison officer at Oakolla prison for a short period of time.
You were saying maybe we never had PR or citizenship and came over on a working visa, how long would we have been able to stay in Canada then on a working  visa.

[Leon]

You were saying maybe we never had PR or citizenship and came over on a working visa, how long would we have been able to stay in Canada then on a working  visa.

I don't know how it was back then but they have just recently set some new rules that limit work permits being extended for more time than a maximum of 4 years.  Before that, you could have extended indefinitely as long as the employer had always been able to prove that they found no Canadian for the job.

I think it is likely that they were PR's.  Start by using the link I gave to have them look for your citizenship records.  If they don't find any, then you are not a citizen. 

If you were not a citizen and want to find out if you were a PR, you will need to find if you had an Immigrant Visa and Record of Landing (IMM 1000)/Confirmation of Permanent Residence (IMM 5292), see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5545E.asp  In that case, you would have to contact the Canadian embassy to have them find out about that.  If you knew when you got your PR, you could ask for a copy of this document but you don't even know that so it may be harder for them.  You do however carry the risk that they will find your landing document and say voila, you were a PR but now you are not any more because you have not met the residency requirements and then it will not really help you.  Unless you find your landing document in your parents things, there is no way of knowing that you are a PR without alerting immigration.

If they did send you a copy of your landing document without officially revoking your PR, if you get into Canada with that, you could live quietly for 2 years and then apply for a PR card which they would have to give you because you have made good on the residency requirements for your PR status.  It would however be hard for you because most PR's do not show up in Canada with a 40 year old landing document.  When you apply for a social insurance number, I do not know what they would do.  Without a social insurance number, you would not be able to work and it would be hard to rent an apartment except in a room-mate situation.  I also do not know if you would be able to sponsor your family during this time because then you are drawing attention to yourself again as living in Canada without meeting the residency requirements.   That is, I think it is a very slim chance for that to work.

May I ask, why the sudden infatuation with Canada after 40 years?

[chrissy1]

Hi Leon,

Well i`ve had my family now and have been to visit a few times and loved it, so last year we had a look around lots of farm properties in the Abbotsford area {Bradner } and it wasn`t so different to where we are  living now in the UK similar climate ,but we haven`t got your scare spiders lol.

My husband business finished a few years ago due to the ressesion and we though maybe this would be the right time for a new start in life , so now you can see why iam so interested in what my parents did for PR or not being the case.
We would be looking to buy as soon as if possiable as we know to come over through the right chanels we would have to invest into Canada .will probably be the case.

Do you mind if i ask where in Canada you are and are you canadian.

Thanks

[Leon]

If you or your husband have business experience and something to invest, you can look into applying through a provincial nominee investor program.

I immigrated to Canada in 2002, got citizenship in 2008.