Few Urgent Queries

[mis]

Dear All,

I need experts guidance on few of my queries.

I have given landing in August 2014, spend few months in Canada, got our Bank account opened, PR cards received, OHIP applied driving license G1 obtained etc.

now due to some personal family problem we came back to our home country, but we do have plan to migrate to Canada but in a little while not immediately.

now coming on to the queries;

1 - How long can i stay away from canada without informing the authorities. ( i know i have to complete 2 yrs within 5 yrs for PR status but can i stay out of canada for straight 3 yrs ) . .

2 - secondly what is the procedure to inform the authorities about my stay out of canada, what are the requirements and procedure.

3 - lastly, my wife is pregnant so can we have delivery in our home country and then inform the authorities about the baby or do we have to go to canada for delivery. what is the procedure to have baby outside of Canada and then claim for his PR status ?


i know i am demanding quite detailed information but i would highly appreciate if you people could take out some time and respond to my queries.


thanks in advance.

God bless you all.

 

[Leon]

1. You can stay outside Canada for up to 3 years straight, less than one day, that is maximum 1094 days outside. After that, you would have to stay for at least 730 days straight to make up for your long absence.

2. You should inform OHIP before you leave. In order to be eligible for OHIP, you must stay for 5 months out of the first 6 since you arrived and as you can not do that, they will cancel your coverage. If you worked, applied for GST credit or child tax benefit, you need to inform CRA too. If you never filed taxes, worked or applied for anything, you are not yet a tax resident and don't have to file.

3. It is a bit more complicated than just informing the authorities about the baby. PR is not inherited so your child will not gain PR status automatically. You will have to sponsor your baby for PR status. You must be residing in Canada in order to sponsor your child. Your child may be refused a visit visa to come to Canada with you. Worst case scenario, you will have to leave your child and wife back home, settle in Canada alone and sponsor your child. The sponsorship may take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years depending on your luck and visa office.

As for returning to Canada to give birth, keep in mind that you will no longer be covered by health care so you will be paying for the birth out of pocket. This can easily set you back a few thousand $.

One solution if acceptable for you, may be that only you return at this time and your wife stays in Canada alone until the baby is born. She would then continue to be covered by OHIP and the baby would be a Canadian citizen. After getting the baby a passport, she could join you in your home country.

 

[mis]

Boss thanks alot for such detailed response, really appreciated. i am also commenting on your responses pls check and respond.


1. You can stay outside Canada for up to 3 years straight, less than one day, that is maximum 1094 days outside. After that, you would have to stay for at least 730 days straight to make up for your long absence. - - INFORMATION CLEAR

2. You should inform OHIP before you leave. In order to be eligible for OHIP, you must stay for 5 months out of the first 6 since you arrived and as you can not do that, they will cancel your coverage. If you worked, applied for GST credit or child tax benefit, you need to inform CRA too. If you never filed taxes, worked or applied for anything, you are not yet a tax resident and don't have to file. Before i left i have applied for OHIP and the coverage will start from Mid november, now as per my assumption 6 months start from mid november onwards that means i can keep silent till April - May 2015 and after that inform OHIP to block my coverage or if the 6 months counter starts from the date of landing then Feb 2015 would be the last month------Secondly i have applied for Child tax benefit but didnt receive any amount yet, i guess the processing takes time. . i have never earned / worked in canada so i dont belong to tax payer class yet.. . . . pls confirm one more thing if i inform CRA that i am out of country and you may block my benifits will they demand for the payment or benefit they paid me in last six months or will they just simply block my benefits from the date of intimation ?

3. It is a bit more complicated than just informing the authorities about the baby. PR is not inherited so your child will not gain PR status automatically. You will have to sponsor your baby for PR status. You must be residing in Canada in order to sponsor your child. Your child may be refused a visit visa to come to Canada with you. Worst case scenario, you will have to leave your child and wife back home, settle in Canada alone and sponsor your child. The sponsorship may take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years depending on your luck and visa office.

As for returning to Canada to give birth, keep in mind that you will no longer be covered by health care so you will be paying for the birth out of pocket. This can easily set you back a few thousand $.

One solution if acceptable for you, may be that only you return at this time and your wife stays in Canada alone until the baby is born. She would then continue to be covered by OHIP and the baby would be a Canadian citizen. After getting the baby a passport, she could join you in your home country. The baby part is quite complexed as i have 2 school going daughters and we already took 1 month school off this year i would be a problem to again take off and send my wife and kids to canada for delivery but we will evaluate the options


once again thanks alot dear.

 

[meyakanor]

Hi mis,

The baby part would even be more complicated should you decide to deliver back home. As Leon mentioned, PR cannot be passed on to the next generation, so the baby will have to be sponsored.

Since you are not a citizen, you must reside in Canada while sponsoring, so when the time comes that you would like to move for good to Canada, there is a possibility that you may have to live separately from the baby for years (since Pakistan processing times for family class are not the fastest). One possible scenario: the four of you will be in Canada, while the baby will be back-home, awaiting the sponsorship approval (again, this may take years). Or you can have your wife back-home with the baby, and you and your two daughters will be in Canada.

In my opinion, it is better to be separated now for a few months until the baby is born (who will be Canadian citizen by the virtue of its birth), than to be separated later for maybe 2 or 3 years (with you or your wife in Canada, and the baby in Pakistan) and face further future complication (such as, if your wife takes care of the baby back-home, and the process drags for over three years, she may herself face potential loss of her PR status).

 

[Leon]

Before i left i have applied for OHIP and the coverage will start from Mid november, now as per my assumption 6 months start from mid november onwards that means i can keep silent till April - May 2015 and after that inform OHIP to block my coverage or if the 6 months counter starts from the date of landing then Feb 2015 would be the last month------Secondly i have applied for Child tax benefit but didnt receive any amount yet, i guess the processing takes time. . i have never earned / worked in canada so i dont belong to tax payer class yet.. . . . pls confirm one more thing if i inform CRA that i am out of country and you may block my benifits will they demand for the payment or benefit they paid me in last six months or will they just simply block my benefits from the date of intimation ?

OHIP: You should really inform them when you leave, tell them about your situation and let them decide when and if they cancel your coverage. As a newcomer, you are supposed to spend 5 months out of your first 6 in Ontario for your OHIP and if you arrived in August and are leaving now, you will not reach that. If they want to be picky, they could even state that you were never eligible for OHIP in the first place and cancel your coverage retroactively and back charge you for the services you received. Letting them know your situation will make them go easy on you while if you don't inform and they find out, they could have you charged with health care fraud which is a crime in Canada and you could end up paying a hefty fine as well as being back charged for the services you received.

Child tax benefit: Let CRA know when you leave and how long you plan to be outside. Again, let them decide when and if to cancel your benefits. Your duty is to inform. You are not eligible for Child tax benefit if you are not living in Canada with your children.

The baby part is quite complexed as i have 2 school going daughters and we already took 1 month school off this year i would be a problem to again take off and send my wife and kids to canada for delivery but we will evaluate the options

As I said, it might not be an option to just send your wife back to Canada because she may no longer have OHIP if she leaves now. It would be better if she stays in Canada until the birth because then she will keep her OHIP. Did the children not start school in Canada already? If yes, they can stay in school until your wife is ready to return with the baby or if you prefer that they go with you to home country and go to school there, that is an option too.

 

[Rob_TO]

pls confirm one more thing if i inform CRA that i am out of country and you may block my benifits will they demand for the payment or benefit they paid me in last six months or will they just simply block my benefits from the date of intimation ?

If you were receiving benefits when you weren't supposed to and CRA later found out, they would back-charge you for all the payments you got previously that you didn't qualify for.

 

[HHH2000]

Boss thanks alot for such detailed response, really appreciated. i am also commenting on your responses pls check and respond.


1. You can stay outside Canada for up to 3 years straight, less than one day, that is maximum 1094 days outside. After that, you would have to stay for at least 730 days straight to make up for your long absence. - - INFORMATION CLEAR

2. You should inform OHIP before you leave. In order to be eligible for OHIP, you must stay for 5 months out of the first 6 since you arrived and as you can not do that, they will cancel your coverage. If you worked, applied for GST credit or child tax benefit, you need to inform CRA too. If you never filed taxes, worked or applied for anything, you are not yet a tax resident and don't have to file. Before i left i have applied for OHIP and the coverage will start from Mid november, now as per my assumption 6 months start from mid november onwards that means i can keep silent till April - May 2015 and after that inform OHIP to block my coverage or if the 6 months counter starts from the date of landing then Feb 2015 would be the last month------Secondly i have applied for Child tax benefit but didnt receive any amount yet, i guess the processing takes time. . i have never earned / worked in canada so i dont belong to tax payer class yet.. . . . pls confirm one more thing if i inform CRA that i am out of country and you may block my benifits will they demand for the payment or benefit they paid me in last six months or will they just simply block my benefits from the date of intimation ?

3. It is a bit more complicated than just informing the authorities about the baby. PR is not inherited so your child will not gain PR status automatically. You will have to sponsor your baby for PR status. You must be residing in Canada in order to sponsor your child. Your child may be refused a visit visa to come to Canada with you. Worst case scenario, you will have to leave your child and wife back home, settle in Canada alone and sponsor your child. The sponsorship may take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years depending on your luck and visa office.

As for returning to Canada to give birth, keep in mind that you will no longer be covered by health care so you will be paying for the birth out of pocket. This can easily set you back a few thousand $.

One solution if acceptable for you, may be that only you return at this time and your wife stays in Canada alone until the baby is born. She would then continue to be covered by OHIP and the baby would be a Canadian citizen. After getting the baby a passport, she could join you in your home country. The baby part is quite complexed as i have 2 school going daughters and we already took 1 month school off this year i would be a problem to again take off and send my wife and kids to canada for delivery but we will evaluate the options


once again thanks alot dear.

Last but Not least:

Your Baby born outside Canada, you are asking for trouble.
Child Benefit is only for the period your child(ren) live in Canada. You have to return the amount even if you received that for couple of years, very easy to get CB very difficult to return.

 

[mis]

Got the points, very clear and informative. many thanks to all the people who viewed and responded.

God bless you all.

 

[khai_bheb18]

hi,

how can i get the generic form..i cannot access it..thanks..hope to help me soon..