Advice on PR & citizenship

[Namelessone77]

Hi Guys,

Looking for some advice here. We ( my wife and child) landed in June 2009 and got our PR cards. We haven't been able to get jobs in canada and therefore continued to work outside. We got our sin cards and a bank account which has been inactive since we returned.

We definitely want to move to canada in the long term, however in the short term were. Trying to save as much as we can outside so that when we move we can survive long enough till we land jobs.

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My question aee the following:

1 do we have to pay taxes given we don't live in canada or take any of the regular benefits
2 what is the best way to delay going to canada so we can save enough to live off wHile keeping in line with resident Requirements

We are planning to come back just before the 4th year of PR starts so we have 2 continuous years in canada and then stay on another to get our citizenship. Would this work . Or do we have to come back in the 3rd year to get citizenship.

If we have a child born in canada would that allow us to keep our residency outside Canada.

I'm just trying to see what can we do to delay our permanent settlement to canada primarily to save as we don't know if we will get jobs there

Any though.

 

[matthewc]

1. I don't think so, but ask an accountant.

2. You'll need to comply with the residency obligation, 2 years total in Canada before the 5th anniversary of your landing. It doesn't need to be 2 years continuous. Depending on when you left you'll have to come back some time around June 2012. If you stayed in Canada as a PR until December 2009, for example, you could leave it until December 2012 before returning, as you'd already 6 months residency, so you would only need another 1.5 years before June 2012 to make your 5 years total.

Be careful if you cut it close. The exact requirement is 730 days in Canada before the 5th anniversary of your PR landing date.

You can apply for citizenship once you have 3 years in Canada out of the last 4 years. So, you'll most likely have to spend 3 years in Canada at least once you return before being eligible for citizenship.

Having a child born in Canada does not help you keep your residency.

 

[Leon]

What matthewc said plus keep in mind that you do not apply to renew your PR card unless you have at least 730 days in Canada in the previous 5 years on the date you apply. It is ok to let it expire and apply later but do not apply unless you have 730 days or more. If you do, they will take it as an open invitation to send you a residency questionaire and you could lose your PR. Even if the application is delayed enough that you have another year in Canada by the time they get to looking at it, they will only look at the date you applied for renewal.

 

[Namelessone77]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies! It is pretty much what I have read on other posts in this forum .... one thought - if the requirement to maintaian residency PR requries 2 out of 5 years - would I be in breach say, if I move to Canada a few months before expiry (in this case June 2014? say Jan 2014 - and continue to stay there for a period of 3 years stright.

What would be the implications? would they prevent us from entering the country if they see our PR is valid for a few months only?

The thing is we definetly want to go to Canada its just that we want to save to feed off once we're there - I expeirenced the fate of my brother who immigrated to Australia and couldnt find work for over a year before he went back.

I'm just exploring all the legal ways of staying off our final entry..

 

[Leon]

So.. odds are that you will have a problem finding a job when you arrive but why do you think that you will have an easier time finding a job in 2014 than in 2012? I mean, if you want to move to Canada, you have to move sometime.

One risk if you stay outside until 2014 is that you could be caught on entry. Say that they ask you when you were last in Canada and you say 2009, they know you have lost your PR and they will start proceedings to revoke it. If you lie and they register your answer somewhere, then you have become guilty of misrepresentation which could come back to haunt you later as well as if you say for example that you were in Canada a year ago, they might ask you where is the stamp in your passport.

You could also have a problem if your PR card gets lost, stolen or damaged. You would then have to apply for a travel document at the embassy where you are and you would have to list where you have been living and working since you became PR. If you have in that time been outside Canada for more than 3 years since you landed, they will not give you a travel document and you will lose your PR.

Even if it would work for you to arrive in 2014 with an almost expired PR card, you would also have the problem that you can not renew it until you meet the residency requirements again. If you try to renew earlier, you will lose your PR. This means that you are stuck in Canada for 2 years until you meet the residency requirements again and if there is a family emergency you must go back for, you having an expired PR card and in fact having lost your PR status might not be able to get back in.

 

[Namelessone77]

Thanks Leon,

I'm thinking if I don't find a job in Canada, i will enrol in a university to continue my masters or phd, hopefully that would help to land a job if I can get some sort of local experience - which I understand is extremely important.

The logic of delaying entry is that we can possibly save a lot more, my wife and I both are working here and make quite a comfortable living now, and we reckon We actually save more here than what we could earn (after taxes) looking at an equivalent job there. Leaving 2 incomes here is a bit scary, especially since we have two kids, I'dprefer we have enough to live off in the three years it takes to become citizens, hopefully we should be able to settle in before then, if not at least by then we would be able to travel freely to choose elsewhere.

I guess well have to just take a leap when the deadline comes

With regards to family emergency were stuck if we leave in 2012 anyways

 

[Leon]

If you go back to Canada in 2012, you could give yourself an extra month to take care of possible family emergencies and you would still have a valid PR card to get back if that happened so I think that is better. At least it is staying within the rules.

What you can also do is apply from where you are for jobs in Canada, try to set up interview on skype etc. If something is really promising, make a short trip to check it out and hopefully one of you can find a job. Then the one could move to Canada, get settled and prepare for the arrival of the family while the other one is still working where you are now. It sucks for the family to be separated like that but it is the safe way of doing things without losing one income.

 

[Namelessone77]

Thanks leon, were gonna try it.

How's the weather now. We were in missisagua in June and loved it there.

 

[Leon]

You can find the weather at http://ca.weather.yahoo.com/

 

[Namelessone77]

LOL I can find that on the Iphone weather app 2

 

[Leon]

Then why are you asking how the weather is?