can i work in canada and live across border in usa

[jckdry]

will i still maintain my pr and attend citizenship
as i will pay taxes here with canadian address but will be going home to usa every night
please help if anyone has any idea

 

[Leon]

As a PR, you are fine doing that as any part of a day spent in Canada counts as a day spent in Canada. For citizenship, I believe they count the nights instead so if you are gone every night, you might not be able to get citizenship.

 

[AllisonVSC]

As a PR, you are fine doing that as any part of a day spent in Canada counts as a day spent in Canada. For citizenship, I believe they count the nights instead so if you are gone every night, you might not be able to get citizenship.

The little idiosyncrasies in these rules are fascinating and alarming picky!

These are not really serious questions...just musings on the interpretation of the rules.
~How would they know where he spends his nights?
~Does a part of a night count as a night just like a part of a day counts as a day?
~And, what if you left at night, say 11 pm on a Wed, and returned to Canada again at night, say 7 pm on Thurs (within a 24 hour period); does that count as a day for PR but not for citizenship, lol??

Allison

 

[Leon]

~How would they know where he spends his nights?

This is a very common question for anybody who wants to cheat on the residency requirements and lie on their PR renewal or citizenship applications. They want to know if they will get caught. The answer is that nobody knows. The Canada border works with the US border. If the US border has records of your coming and going, Canada might have them too. I do not know how accessible they are, can they pull it up on their computer or do they have to ask for it specifically? Canada border will of course have their own records of your comings and goings to some point. If these records do not match your application, you would have a problem. Of course they will not tell you beforehand what records they have. Some people lie and get away with it. Some get caught.

~Does a part of a night count as a night just like a part of a day counts as a day?
~And, what if you left at night, say 11 pm on a Wed, and returned to Canada again at night, say 7 pm on Thurs (within a 24 hour period); does that count as a day for PR but not for citizenship, lol??

I believe they mean any part of a 24 hour day so in your case, both Wednesday and Thursday will be counted for PR and Wednesday might count for citizenship if you slept in Canada that night but really, when you would have a really complicated crossing history, it could be anybody's guess how they interpret it. You might get a visa officer who'll give you credit for all your days or one that gives you credit for none.

However, if the point is to be residing in Canada, you really are not residing in Canada if you sleep in the US every night and your apartment or house is located in the US. Still, with the rules for the PR with the any part of a day clause, you would get away with it for PR.

 

[AllisonVSC]

You are such an impressive resource for forum members. Thanks for clarifying.
BTW, How in the world do you know all this stuff?

 

[jckdry]

i just have lot of ties in usa and would like to live there but work a full time job in canada
but i dont wanna miss attaining my citizenship of canada which is about 550 days away
thats is a good interpretation of the rule
but as u said it wont count towards my citizenship as nights in usa dont count - my bad luck

ironically if i worked full time in states n spend nights in canada i will still get my citizenship as the nights will count as whole day


wish i could find a way to spend nights in usa and still attain my citizenship provided i work full time in canada and commute daily on weekdays
anyways 550 days to be eligible for citizenship

 

[jckdry]

p.s. - where i work is 10 mins drive from where i wanna stay in usa and where i currently live in canada is 40 mins drive to my work in canada

ps. the rent is really cheap on us home and iw ould save 300 $ per month, also car insurance is 100 $ per month cheaper if i get my car registered there

but if i have to pay taxes at both sides it would end up gettin costlier

 

[Leon]

If you were living in Canada and working in the US, then you are residing in Canada but when you work in Canada and live in the US, you are not. That is the difference.

So ok, you can save money by living in the US but as you are not residing in Canada, you will also have to pay for health care or have insurance. You wouldn't pay double tax because they have a tax treaty but you will definitely pay tax in Canada as the employer has to take care of that and since you are living in the US, I would think that you would also be required to file taxes there and report your foreign income.

Is there no place you can live in Canada that is affordable and closer to your work?

 

[jckdry]

since i work in canada - i will still get healthcare from bc
i have the card and i dont see them canceling it anytime soon - as i would be resident of the bc present everyday here
so if this happening - health would be covered and i am not worried about it

i cant find a cheaper place in canadian side
its like extremely costly to rent or buy a place on this of border
vancouver, white rock, surrey, etc - buying a 4 bed room townhouse starts at 500000 and in blaine-usa it is 200000
renting a basement suite in canadian side is about 1000$ for 3 bedrooms whereas in 700 i can rent a 4 bed room townhouse in us side
not to mentiom groceries and sales taxes on everything is way cheaper

but major concern is citizenship and taxes
so i think compromise money n time till i get citizenship would be best move
unless u can suggest something

 

[Leon]

If you have already checked that BC health would consider you a BC resident if you work there but don't live there, then that is fine although you should probably get that from them in writing to avoid future problems. If you have not asked them about that, you should. In a worst case scenario, you would not be covered and they find out that you are not living in BC and cancel your health care and charge you back payments for services you have used since you moved.

I have no other suggestions on how you can get citizenship while living in the US. You can either postpone the move or postpone the citizenship.

 

[jckdry]

i intend to finish off the remaining days in canada n apply for citizenship before moving to states
renting a costlier place seems to be the option for now and i can save up to buy a place in usa

no i havent talked with bc health provider but i will ask this and get their opinion before speculating
since after i apply for citizenship - when i move to usa - i would need health care from bc or usa

have u seen anyone being back-charged for health services that they were provided - they being deemed non residents at a later day
i thought an active health care card once issued - thats it - until its validity health is covered unless u move permanently to another province in which case it is still valid for first 3 months in that province when u get eligibility for new province

 

[Leon]

have u seen anyone being back-charged for health services that they were provided - they being deemed non residents at a later day

I don't know anybody who has moved across the border and commuted to work and continued to use health care in Canada and gotten caught for it so as a result, I also don't know anyone who was backcharged for that reason. I have no idea if they would. I said worst case scenario that might happen. I know somebody who was in fact living in BC who got a $5,000 bill from BC health because of an operation they did not feel was necessary. His doctor stepped up for him and they withdrew their claim in the end.

i thought an active health care card once issued - thats it - until its validity health is covered unless u move permanently to another province in which case it is still valid for first 3 months in that province when u get eligibility for new province

Well, you are not moving to another province, you are wanting to move to another country. On the BC health website, there are forms to notify them when you move, whether it is within BC or to another province or to another country. You can find a link to this form here: https://www.health.gov.bc.ca/exforms/msp/7063.html where it says: When a person leaves the province to reside outside Canada, coverage will be provided for the balance of the month of departure.

Now, it is possible that they make exceptions for people who are still working in BC, I really do not know but if you for example lived in Alberta and went to BC to work every day, you would be expected to have AB health because that is where you live. I suggest you phone BC health and ask them and then you will know.