Giving up US green card once approved?

[MNM2015]

My husband is a US permanent resident (green card holder) and earlier this year I applied to sponsor him. Just wondering if anyone knows once he is approved for his Canadian PR:

-if he has to give up his green card (I assume yes)?
-at what point does he need to do it?

I am wondering because while I was traveling to the States recently a border guard said they would take it away from him as soon as he got the Canadian PR. It sounded like you couldn't have both at the same time. He wasn't very nice and acted like he couldn't understand why someone with US PR would want Canadian PR and my husband even applying was somehow disrespecting his green card and the USA.

I am concerned because it is likely my husband will have to land to meet the expiry of the COPR and then return to the US for a month or two to finish his work and prepare to move to Canada. Based on what this officer said I am concerned that they may take his green card away and deny him entry to the States when he tries to return after landing. Is this possible/probable?

Does anyone have any advice or any green card holders gone through this before? Thanks so much.

 

[Aquakitty]

Oh brother, typical US border guard ;D Yes technically if you no longer intend to reside in the US, you can lose the green card (it's termed as "abandonment"). But there is no reason the US border guards need to know this. He doesn't have to surrender it or anything. If he's not been questioned before about it, I don't see why he would be this time.

I don't think the border guard can actually take away his green card unless he volunteers it, but they could send him to a judge over it.

Source: http://lawandborder.com/risk-abandoning-green-card-abroad-6-months/

 

[TANMEX]

My husband is a US permanent resident (green card holder) and earlier this year I applied to sponsor him. Just wondering if anyone knows once he is approved for his Canadian PR:

-if he has to give up his green card (I assume yes)?
-at what point does he need to do it?

I am wondering because while I was traveling to the States recently a border guard said they would take it away from him as soon as he got the Canadian PR. It sounded like you couldn't have both at the same time. He wasn't very nice and acted like he couldn't understand why someone with US PR would want Canadian PR and my husband even applying was somehow disrespecting his green card and the USA.

I am concerned because it is likely my husband will have to land to meet the expiry of the COPR and then return to the US for a month or two to finish his work and prepare to move to Canada. Based on what this officer said I am concerned that they may take his green card away and deny him entry to the States when he tries to return after landing. Is this possible/probable?

Does anyone have any advice or any green card holders gone through this before? Thanks so much.

I'm concerned that the U.S guard(s) don't appreciate that Canada is a better place than the U.S !
Your husband doesn't need to surrender his U.S Green Card , I know of bunch of people with U.S Green cards and Canadian PRs and live in Canada for so long , go back and forth to the U.S , and recently became U.S Citizens ,Canadian Citizens and they were from South America .

 

[MNM2015]

Thank you both for your replies. Makes me feel much better. So is there nothing in the passport to indicate he is a Canadian PR? I assumed that's how they would know he is a Canadian PR. I thought the COPR was attached to the passport after you have landed. I've also read US PRs are required to send their passports even though they are visa exempt, are they given a visa in their passport to travel on? If so, is it obvious that it's a visa to obtain Canadian PR? To get his US PR my husband got a US visa that is clearly for people becoming PRs.

Yeah the border guard was very hostile towards me, first accusing me of trying to immigrate to the USA. I thought explaining that we had applied for Canadian PR for my husband would help but that just sent him on a tirade about taking his green card away.

 

[Ponga]

It will be difficult (but doable) to keep both, because the U.S. requires him to live in the U.S. for at least 180 days out of every year...unlike the much more relaxed PR RO which requires him to be in Canada for 730 days in each rolling 5 year period (unless you are together abroad, if you are a Canadian citizen).

 

[MNM2015]

It will be difficult (but doable) to keep both, because the U.S. requires him to live in the U.S. for at least 180 days out of every year...unlike the much more relaxed PR RO which requires him to be in Canada for 730 days in each rolling 5 year period (unless you are together abroad, if you are a Canadian citizen).

He doesn't want to or intend to keep both long term. It's just for a couple of months for him to return to the States to finalize everything for his move to Canada. I just want to make sure they won't deny him entry back to the States after landing or getting his PR travel visa (side note: do they actually give travel visas for green card holders? If not, why do they request you to send your passport?).

 

[Ponga]

He doesn't want to or intend to keep both long term. It's just for a couple of months for him to return to the States to finalize everything for his move to Canada. I just want to make sure they won't deny him entry back to the States after landing or getting his PR travel visa (side note: do they actually give travel visas for green card holders? If not, why do they request you to send your passport?).

Well, he won't be officially a PR until he lands to activate his COPR document. The expiry date of the COPR is usually one year after the date of his medical, so...he could just wait until he's ready to see the U S of A, eh, in his rear-view mirror to formally land.

 

[Rob_TO]

It will be difficult (but doable) to keep both, because the U.S. requires him to live in the U.S. for at least 180 days out of every year...unlike the much more relaxed PR RO which requires him to be in Canada for 730 days in each rolling 5 year period (unless you are together abroad, if you are a Canadian citizen).

In the US they can actually start the process to revoke your green card if they simply feel you are no longer residing there, no matter if you return every so often to maintain 6 months of the year there. It's way more strict vs keeping Canadian PR.

 

[MNM2015]

Well, he won't be officially a PR until he lands to activate his COPR document. The expiry date of the COPR is usually one year after the date of his medical, so...he could just wait until he's ready to see the U S of A, eh, in his rear-view mirror to formally land.

If things happen quickly that would be ideal however his application is being processed based on his citizenship and has about a year processing time (Dar Es Salaam office) so that may not work if he quickly needs to land before expiry.

 

[danny87]

You are allowed to be a permanent resident in more than 1 country at the same time

 

[Aquakitty]

You are allowed to be a permanent resident in more than 1 country at the same time

Well, yes, but that would require him to maintain a residence in the US. Just because you are in the right, doesn't mean the border will agree without hassling you or possibly sending you to court to prove it.

 

[CDNPR2014]

You are allowed to be a permanent resident in more than 1 country at the same time

while this is true, both the US and Canada have residency obligations that can make it difficult to meet in both countries. US is a lot stricter than Canada.

 

[MNM2015]

Thanks for all the replies and interesting discussion. In my husband's case he would just be keeping his green card temporarily. Would anyone be able to answer my question from above - is there anything in your passport after you land that shows you are a PR of Canada, like the COPR attached to the passport or is the travel visa given specifically for people traveling to Canada to land as PR? Just want to know if there is even a way for the US border agent to know he has landed when he returns to the States. Thank you.

 

[chandu_rck]

My husband is a US permanent resident (green card holder) and earlier this year I applied to sponsor him. Just wondering if anyone knows once he is approved for his Canadian PR:

-if he has to give up his green card (I assume yes)?
-at what point does he need to do it?

I am wondering because while I was traveling to the States recently a border guard said they would take it away from him as soon as he got the Canadian PR. It sounded like you couldn't have both at the same time. He wasn't very nice and acted like he couldn't understand why someone with US PR would want Canadian PR and my husband even applying was somehow disrespecting his green card and the USA.

I am concerned because it is likely my husband will have to land to meet the expiry of the COPR and then return to the US for a month or two to finish his work and prepare to move to Canada. Based on what this officer said I am concerned that they may take his green card away and deny him entry to the States when he tries to return after landing. Is this possible/probable?

Does anyone have any advice or any green card holders gone through this before? Thanks so much.

hi Did getting Canada pr impacted the green card?

 

[canuck78]

hi Did getting Canada pr impacted the green card?

It becomes very difficult to meet both residency requirements and lead a normal life. It is very difficult to meet RO for PR by coming to Canada on just the weekend while working Monday to Friday in the US. The US becomes more aggravated if you are going between Canada and the US frequently as PR and green card holder and they will comment a lot about withdrawing your PR status if you truly want to live in the US and went through the trouble of applying for a green card.