Canadian PR and temporarily working in US

[Roni404]

Hi Everyone,

I have Canadian PR since from June 2016. I am PhD student in a Canadian University. My professor is moving his lab to US and I have to move with him for completion of my research, my degree will be still from same Canadian University. I have to come back and forth in between. Could any one advise how it will affect my citizenship eligibility?

I am also planning to get married in India soon. I am concerned that maybe US moving would make me ineligible to sponsor my spouse. Please help if anyone knows.

 

[BigCastle]

Hi,

I don't know too much about this matter but I ll share with you my thoughts. I believe there is a number of days (years) that you need to be in canada to be eligible for citizenship. So going back and forth to the US might impact the time it would take you to be eligible for citizenship. Because they will only count the days that you are in Canada.

You also mentioned that you are a PR. There is also a number of days you need to be in canada i order to keep your PR status. So make sure that you ll be in canada enough daus to keep ur PR status.

You'll still be able to sponsor your wife but you'll need to show proof that you are based in Canada and the job is only temporary.

Hopefully some of the qexperts here will correct me if I am wrong.

Success!

 

[scylla]

Hi Everyone,

I have Canadian PR since from June 2016. I am PhD student in a Canadian University. My professor is moving his lab to US and I have to move with him for completion of my research, my degree will be still from same Canadian University. I have to come back and forth in between. Could any one advise how it will affect my citizenship eligibility?

I am also planning to get married in India soon. I am concerned that maybe US moving would make me ineligible to sponsor my spouse. Please help if anyone knows.

Moving to the US will in fact make you ineligible to sponsor your spouse. Since you are a PR, you must be physically living in Canada in order to sponsor your spouse both at the time you submit the application and throughout the processing of the application. Only Canadian citizens are allowed to sponsor spouses while living outside of Canada. So the short answer to your question is that you won't be able to sponsor your spouse for PR while living in the US. You will have to wait until you have moved back to Canada.

The time you spend working in the US cannot be counted towards your residency requirement for citizenship. So moving to the US for a period of time will delay your eligibility for Canadian citizenship.

 

[Roni404]

Thanks for replying

I am planning to stay in US only until June 2018. I read somewhere that for citizenship, the rule is not to stay outside for more than 6 months per year in last 4 years before submitting the application. So I was wondering if I travel now (2017 is already more than half gone) and return back next summer. I am getting J1 Visa for 1 year period.

I would be still keeping the Canadian address and can show evidence as a student with Canadian school. I will be still paying Canadian taxes whole time. Can it help for convincing CIC to let me sponsor?

I really need to make decision soon, please help or I need to ask some immigration lawyer

 

[canuck78]

For such a large decision I would suggest you get a consultation with an immigration lawyer because it does seem like you have no choice and will have to work in the US to finish your PhD. I assume your family and fiancee will want more concrete proof that this will delay the sponsorship.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for replying

I am planning to stay in US only until June 2018. I read somewhere that for citizenship, the rule is not to stay outside for more than 6 months per year in last 4 years before submitting the application. So I was wondering if I travel now (2017 is already more than half gone) and return back next summer. I am getting J1 Visa for 1 year period.

I would be still keeping the Canadian address and can show evidence as a student with Canadian school. I will be still paying Canadian taxes whole time. Can it help for convincing CIC to let me sponsor?

I really need to make decision soon, please help or I need to ask some immigration lawyer

You won't meet the requirements to sponsor your spouse once you move to the US. The rule is black and white - you must be physically living in Canada to sponsor her. You can try to fake out CIC - but you should expect there's a high probability they will find out about your true residency and refuse the application. This will also involve lying in an immigration application (i.e. saying you live in Canada when you actually live in the US). That's an extremely risky thing to do and CIC will sometimes ban applicants from Canada for misrepresentation (lying in the application).

 

[Roni404]

What if I come to Canada and submit sponsership application, until they do sponsership evaluation and then go to US.

I can move back and forth, there is some flexibility as I am student not some full time employee

Or last option is I explain everything to CIC at the first place and let them decide.

 

[scylla]

What if I come to Canada and submit sponsership application, until they do sponsership evaluation and then go to US.

We've seen a number of people on this forum refused who tried to do this. Having said that, no one is stopping you from trying. I'm sure some people are successful and sneak past CIC without being noticed. It's really your call.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

What if I come to Canada and submit sponsership application, until they do sponsership evaluation and then go to US.

I can move back and forth, there is some flexibility as I am student not some full time employee

Or last option is I explain everything to CIC at the first place and let them decide.

You need to be physically residing in Canada throughout the sponsorship process until your spouse lands as a PR. Trying to do anything other than that is misrepresentation.

 

[canuck78]

Risking your citizenship and you fiancee's PR and you future in Canada seems a bit ridiculous. Just delay the sponsorship until June 2018. In the grand scheme of things not the end of the world.

 

[Roni404]

Thanks for your feedback

I will see what I can do, how long it takes for approval of spouse sponsorship from the day of application submission? Some folks on this forum are saying 4, 6, 8 months but CIC says 12 months. If the process time is just in months, I can manage to stay in Canada throughout the application process.

 

[canuck78]

That's not how it works. Nobody will be able to give you a good estimation of how long it will take to sponsor and if they due there could be many unexpected delays. If you start the process and think it will take 4 months and so you stay in Canada and start the process what happens if it takes a year? You have already started the process so would you just abandon your PhD work? I also think it's unrealistic to spend months at a time in Canda while working with your PhD supervisor in the US. I would imagine you may be able to spend 7 days out of a month max in Canada. Your professor is expecting you to be there regularly. The real issue is that you have a 1 year J1 Visa which CIC will probably know about. CIC will see you have the visa and probably look at your file more closely.

You clearly want to take the risk but I would recommend you discuss this with your fiancée because you will be putting her visa and your PR at risk by going ahead with the sponsorship while you are in the US. She may not be willing to risk her potential future in Canada to arrive a year earlier.