Benefits to Citizenship VS. Permanent Residence?

[sethday91]

Hi there! I'm American and am in the process of becoming a permanent resident (hopefully soon!) I am thinking ahead and wondering if I should try to become a citizen at some point and what the major benefits/differences are besides not being able to vote. Do you have more security in the country as a citizen as opposed to a PR? My wife who is a citizen is sponsoring me and we will be living in Quebec. I would appreciate any insights! Thank you!

 

[itsmyid]

Hi there! I'm American and am in the process of becoming a permanent resident (hopefully soon!) I am thinking ahead and wondering if I should try to become a citizen at some point and what the major benefits/differences are besides not being able to vote. Do you have more security in the country as a citizen as opposed to a PR? My wife who is a citizen is sponsoring me and we will be living in Quebec. I would appreciate any insights! Thank you!

If you don’t care about voting and don’t intend to get certain government job, and you already have a US passport for international travel, then there isn’t much extra benefit for you to get citizenship

 

[Natan]

Hi there! I'm American and am in the process of becoming a permanent resident (hopefully soon!) I am thinking ahead and wondering if I should try to become a citizen at some point and what the major benefits/differences are besides not being able to vote. Do you have more security in the country as a citizen as opposed to a PR? My wife who is a citizen is sponsoring me and we will be living in Quebec. I would appreciate any insights! Thank you!

Some benefits of becoming a citizen vis-a-vis remaining a permanent resident:

1. You don't have to meet residency obligations (currently 2 out of the last 5 years) in order to remain in Canada.
2. You cannot be deported from Canada.
3. You cannot be denied entry into Canada.
4. You can vote in Canada.
5. You can hold jobs that require Canadian citizenship.
6. Your children (born after you become Canadian) will be dual citizens (US & Canada).
7. You can travel abroad on a Canadian passport (everyone loves Canadians).
8. You can serve on Canadian juries.
9. Canadian politicians will fawn over your vote.

 

[sistemc]

10. You don't need to wait 45 - 60 minutes at the US border office (on a light traffic day) to enter the USA through the land border crossing.
11. You can do web or kiosk checkin when flying to the Canada, and don't need to wait for the checkin counter agent who has no idea how to handle yor PR card, now the ETA is enforced.

 

[HamiltonApplicant]

what the major benefits/differences are besides not being able to vote. Do you have more security in the country as a citizen as opposed to a PR?

PR can be revoked, Citizenship cannot be! Single most crucial difference....

 

[itsmyid]

10. You don't need to wait 45 - 60 minutes at the US border office (on a light traffic day) to enter the USA through the land border crossing.
11. You can do web or kiosk checkin when flying to the Canada, and don't need to wait for the checkin counter agent who has no idea how to handle yor PR card, now the ETA is enforced.

The OP is an American citizen, none of these matters (including some mentioned in the previous post)

 

[TheAwesomeMatt]

As a commonwealth citizen you'd have access to the UK ancestry visa of you have British grandparents.

 

[NewUser2018]

wit PR it's only probational status before full rights as Canadian. Here are scenarios'.

with PR:
1. U can loose it if you drive and convicted of bodily harm traffic accident and serve 1 day in jail, if you are convicted of just DUI even with no one harmed it's same.

2. Combination Minor drug offenses, petty shoplifting, 1 assualt stacked up is automatic deportation, this happened to too many guys I know. Local police enforcements, IRCC & CBSA is beefing to deport these kind of PRs even they were in Canada 1 month old who came with family, couple of guys in GTA and BC with long list of petty mischiefs were deported to England & Netherlands even they were here since as child but not born here with PR.

3.PR Can lose status if you are member of street gang or hang around their clubs or crackhouses and there is bust and u lose. So watch who hang around with or clubs you drink. IRCC, Cbsa and local police enforcements also are cracking down gang bangers with PR status. Recently their is spike of deportations of hells angels, bloods, Crips, Jamaican street gangs, Italian & latin maffia with PR status have been deported, u don't have to commit a crime but just getting arrested at places and u are down the drain.

4.pr just like citizen can lose status if accused and misrepresentation but according to C6 when effective they have chance better chance than PR to proof they did not misrepresent. But PRs have to leave the country within days of conviction and IRCC who handle or PRs case like this are very consistent with rejections and 1 in 10 convicted are deported.

scenario above don't apply to Canadian citizen, u are convicted of crime you do your time.

 

[Natan]

As a commonwealth citizen you'd have access to the UK ancestry visa of you have British grandparents.

Correction: Grandchildren of British citizens are eligible to apply for Leave to Remain in Britain, whether they are Commonwealth citizens or not.

There are few privileges of being a Commonwealth citizen, none of which apply to life in Canada.

 

[2_of_5]

Hi, another American PR here. As others mentioned, deportation is not in play anymore once you become a citizen.

In my case, there is another benefit: the ability to renounce my US citizenship and tell Uncle Scam to take a flying hike at his demands to know the minutia of my life in my new home country.

My wife and I are applying in two weeks, and once I get the oath date set, I'm making my renunciation appointment.

 

[majorsaab]

Hi, all of you did a good job in explaining the benefits of becoming a citizen. But the thing is we did not took permanent residency of this country to become criminals or gang member or drug lords. Most of the permanent residents are hard working, family oriented individuals. We do our best to respect the law of the land. We came here because we saw bright future for ourselves and our children.

True, there are lots of benefits of citizenship over PR. But I believe one single benefit, above all, of becoming a citizen is a sense of belonging. Its a great pride in calling this beautiful place on earth our home and to live and die for this great country.

 

[marcher]

Hi there! I'm American and am in the process of becoming a permanent resident (hopefully soon!) I am thinking ahead and wondering if I should try to become a citizen at some point and what the major benefits/differences are besides not being able to vote. Do you have more security in the country as a citizen as opposed to a PR? My wife who is a citizen is sponsoring me and we will be living in Quebec. I would appreciate any insights! Thank you!

In your case specifically, I would say the biggest benefit would be the ability to renounce your American citizenship is you are settling for good in Canada. The reason? For tax reasons. Holding both nationalities, or even a Canadian PR and American citizenship, gets you taxed by CRA and IRS; they share all your details. Hence, many Americans who settle in Canada renounce their American citizenship.

 

[NewUser2018]

Hi, all of you did a good job in explaining the benefits of becoming a citizen. But the thing is we did not took permanent residency of this country to become criminals or gang member or drug lords. Most of the permanent residents are hard working, family oriented individuals. We do our best to respect the law of the land. We came here because we saw bright future for ourselves and our children.

True, there are lots of benefits of citizenship over PR. But I believe one single benefit, above all, of becoming a citizen is a sense of belonging. Its a great pride in calling this beautiful place on earth our home and to live and die for this great country.

99% of Immigrants who come to Canada or USA wanted better life when they started packing their bags, some of them or their children are caught up in vicious cycle of poverty, unemployment and bad crowd that gets them in trouble.
and stats proof drug den areas like Jane finch, rexdale, regent park and moss park tops crime statistics in GTA i know.

anyone who just law abiding, hardworking and respectful person can survive and make it anywhere in the world.

 

[immipak]

10. You don't need to wait 45 - 60 minutes at the US border office (on a light traffic day) to enter the USA through the land border crossing.
11. You can do web or kiosk checkin when flying to the Canada, and don't need to wait for the checkin counter agent who has no idea how to handle yor PR card, now the ETA is enforced.

Point 11 is not correct for Canadian PR.. With PR you can still use the kiosk without seeing any agent...

 

[keesio]

If you plan on settling in Canada and staying there for the long haul, plan to stay out of trouble, and you don't have much interest in voting and applying for federal jobs, then PR is fine. I know several longtime PR holders (decades) who never bother to get PR and their lives were not really impacted. It's just like how you can live in the US on a greencard for a long time without much trouble (my dad was on a greencard in the US for nearly 40 years before he became a citizen).