Permanent Resident Moving Abroad....

[Confused in Toronto]

Hello All!
I am a permanent resident of Canada (13 yrs now), and my Canadian husband has accepted a post at a university abroad. We will be moving with our two (Canadian) children for an indefinite time period. We are selling our house here in Canada, and in order to not have to pay taxes in two countries, we have to file a so-called 'exit return' with the tax authorities, to say that we will not be living and working in Canada. RRSPs and RESPs are being left behind, but everything else is being cleared. I am confused as to what this means for me -- am I effectively giving up my Canadian residency and will have to reapply if/when we return to Canada in the future? Or will I, as an accompanying spouse of a Canadian working abroad, still be considered a a resident in the future?

I would be very appreciative of any information you could offer.

Thank you!
???

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hello All!
I am a permanent resident of Canada (13 yrs now), and my Canadian husband has accepted a post at a university abroad. We will be moving with our two (Canadian) children for an indefinite time period. We are selling our house here in Canada, and in order to not have to pay taxes in two countries, we have to file a so-called 'exit return' with the tax authorities, to say that we will not be living and working in Canada. RRSPs and RESPs are being left behind, but everything else is being cleared. I am confused as to what this means for me -- am I effectively giving up my Canadian residency and will have to reapply if/when we return to Canada in the future? Or will I, as an accompanying spouse of a Canadian working abroad, still be considered a a resident in the future?

I would be very appreciative of any information you could offer.

Thank you!
???

You are fine as an accompanying spouse of a Canadian citizen.

 

[Confused in Toronto]

Thanks PMM. I guess I'm just a bit confused because they keep talking about us 'filing exit returns', paying 'departure taxes' and even 'giving up residency' due to tax implications. Intuitively, I would think I'd be fine once we are ready to return, but the wording of 'giving up residency' sounds ominous....

 

[Leon]

You are giving up being a resident of Canada for tax purposes. You are not giving up your PR.

 

[pecimob]

You are fine since your husband is a Canadian citizen. I think the rule says, one spouse must be a canadian citizen.

 

[toby]

Everyone is correct... except that if you happen upon a sticky Border Guard who doesn't want to accept that your days abroad with Canadian husband count toward your PR quota, then what do you do?

I posted a verbose explanation of this, citing the relevant parts of the Operational Manual that you could quote to such a Border Guard. I cannot remember where; but try . Try searching toby and see if you can find it. If not, PM me and I'll look for the research.

 

[Leon]

Toby, how common is it to happen upon a "sticky" Border Guard? I don't think I've ever heard of a case where a PR spouse was not believed about having accompanied their Canadian citizen spouse overseas. Is this supposedly common or just a remotely possible scenario you have thought of?

 

[toby]

I haven't heard of any cases, Leon, but then I am not in a position to hear of them. There may be a way to find this out, but until then none of us knows.

If one DID encounter such a Border Officer, there would then be a lot of work to prove one's "innocence", whereas being prepared to fend off the appeal process right at the border seems the more prudent course of action -- especially since others have done all the research.

There are those who sail through bureaucratic processes, and others who seem to have a rain cloud over their heads when bureaucrats intervene. Being among the latter, I prefer to be prepared.