Do they still stamp the passport on arrival

[andriy155]

Yeah. I too have been in Canada for 4 years, and can count the number of times I visited medical doctors with just one hand. I got my OHIP card last October, and have never used it.

I have just been thinking of a way to definitely prove residency (besides having a full-time job with rigid 9-6 schedule), and it seems to me that, every time you swipe your health card, you prove a continuous residency from the last time you entered Canada (since it was recorded), and the time your health card was swiped or used.

That makes sense. As for me, in the last three years I have been a graduate student, which involves taking classes and teaching at a university. Hopefully, it will be convincing to them.

 

[asbereth]

That makes sense. As for me, in the last three years I have been a graduate student, which involves taking classes and teaching at a university. Hopefully, it will be convincing to them.

Taking classes may or may not be convincing, but teaching duties should be proof enough that you are present at the university. While you can always find replacements for two or even three lectures (usually if you have to go to conferences), it would be hard to do so for the whole academic term.

I wonder now, since CBSA pretty much records every entry, with or without passport stamp, pretty much any trace of activities that requires you to be present at one particular time (teaching, dentist appointment, thesis defence, swiping health card, etc), should be a definite proof that you are continuously present in the country between the date of last entry and the date of the said activity. What's the point then, in providing more proof of my residence for any period in between these two dates (unless specifically requested as per the checklist)?

Unless you somehow acquire the ability to teleport to bypass entry check, or someone else has a shapeshifting power, let's say, if you defended your thesis on July 9 2013, and your last entry to Canada was back on July 1 2010, wouldn't that be enough to prove that you have been continuously present in Canada from July 1 2010 to July 9 2013, even if you had not provided any trace of existence or activities in between (of course, you should still prove that you are enrolled in the study program to begin with)?

Can anybody find a hole in this argument? Of course, one can always argue that I can just bribe the whole department to collude, and buy my degree, but I think it would be way too far-fetched.

 

[andriy155]

Taking classes may or may not be convincing, but teaching duties should be proof enough that you are present at the university. While you can always find replacements for two or even three lectures (usually if you have to go to conferences), it would be hard to do so for the whole academic term.

I wonder now, since CBSA pretty much records every entry, with or without passport stamp, pretty much any trace of activities that requires you to be present at one particular time (teaching, dentist appointment, thesis defence, swiping health card, etc), should be a definite proof that you are continuously present in the country between the date of last entry and the date of the said activity. What's the point then, in providing more proof of my residence for any period in between these two dates (unless specifically requested as per the checklist)?

Unless you somehow acquire the ability to teleport to bypass entry check, or someone else has a shapeshifting power, let's say, if you defended your thesis on July 9 2013, and your last entry to Canada was back on July 1 2010, wouldn't that be enough to prove that you have been continuously present in Canada from July 1 2010 to July 9 2013, even if you had not provided any trace of existence or activities in between (of course, you should still prove that you are enrolled in the study program to begin with)?

Can anybody find a hole in this argument? Of course, one can always argue that I can just bribe the whole department to collude, and buy my degree, but I think it would be way too far-fetched.

In the case of a doctorate degree, universities typically require that you satisfy certain residency requirement: you have to be physically present at the university, attend department seminars and department meetings. Absences every once in a while are fine but in general you are expected to be physically there for the first three years (except for field trips for research). But I agree, teaching assistantship is a lot more convincing. Though, in my case, I can only indicate that I am a student, not an instructor. If they issue an RQ, I will be happy to provide them with my teaching contracts on a semester-by-semester basis.

As to your argument, I find it convincing with one caveat. Exits from Canada had not always been properly recorded up till July 1st. As of July 1st, US and Canada have been exchanging such information for the "third nationalities". Before that, it was working as a pilot project for certain border crossings. I guess, if they really wanted, they could check all the possible manifests (airline, bus, amtrak) to see if your name shows up; however, there would be no complete guarantee that you had not left the country earlier than you claim. I would personally prefer for CBSA to swipe my PR card at every entry and exit just like my native Ukraine or other European countries do, but alas...