General question about family class sponsorship.

[skaratso]

I am a United States citizen married to a Canadian. We both live in the United States and have an established life here. My wife recently obtained United States citizenship and is happy here. Neither of us is planning to move to or live in Canada at this point in time. However, if circumstances changed, for instance, if my wife's mother became very ill and needed one or both of us to move to Canada to help take care of her, there is one major issue that would make it difficult for me to work in Canada in my profession as a physician, so I would like to know if my question is a possibility for Canadian permanent residents.

Due to me being an osteopathic physician and having taken the osteopathic medical licensure examination (COMLEX) instead of the USMLE, I cannot just take the MCCQE and get certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. I would also need to complete a medical residency in Canada. The main issue is that it can take years for a foreign medical doctor to get a residency spot in Canada. While I could certainly find work elsewhere outside of direct patient care I would not want my skills to wane while awaiting a spot in a residency program. So my question is this: If we lived in a town on the US/Canada border, say, Windsor, Ontario, for instance, once I were granted permanent residency in Canada as the spouse of a Canadian citizen, would I be able to live in Canada and cross the border to practice medicine as a physician at a clinic or hospital in the United States (like in Detroit) while I would be waiting for acceptance into a residency program in Canada? Of course, once accepted into a residency I would have no need to continue to work in the US.

I know that there are certain classes of US visas that allow Canadian citizens to work across the border and that there are many nurses that do that, for example, but those are people who are already Canadian citizens, and my main concern is that needing to cross into the United States to work for a few years could jeopardize my status as a permanent resident.

Once again, we have no plans or desire to move to Canada, but I have learned that in life it is always best to be prepared for sudden changes and this is something that would be important to consider if we ever needed to move. Thank you in advance to any answers anyone could provide.

 

[armoured]

I know that there are certain classes of US visas that allow Canadian citizens to work across the border and that there are many nurses that do that, for example, but those are people who are already Canadian citizens, and my main concern is that needing to cross into the United States to work for a few years could jeopardize my status as a permanent resident.

If you were to reside in eg Windsor and commute to work, you could do so with not much more than inconvenience of the commute with border crossings.

Requirement is (and has been for years) that PRs must be physically in Canada 730 days in every five years. Every day one is in Canada even a minute counts as being in Canada for that day. So a PR that leaves in the morning and returns every night, never staying overnight, is resident for PR purposes as if they'd not left / not working abroad at all.

Don't know about the medical qualification issues, it's not easy (and osteopathy quite different if I recall correctly).

Important: I am assuming scenario in which you enter in/reside in Canada as a PR, not under some other class. Doing this as a visitor might be feasible for a bit but some complications possible incl overlong issues at border - visitor status is not to be used to live in Canada. On the other hand, doing the sort-of opposite - residing/working in USA and travelling to spouse on weekends - is feasible enough.

 

[skaratso]

If you were to reside in eg Windsor and commute to work, you could do so with not much more than inconvenience of the commute with border crossings.

Requirement is (and has been for years) that PRs must be physically in Canada 730 days in every five years. Every day one is in Canada even a minute counts as being in Canada for that day. So a PR that leaves in the morning and returns every night, never staying overnight, is resident for PR purposes as if they'd not left / not working abroad at all.

Don't know about the medical qualification issues, it's not easy (and osteopathy quite different if I recall correctly).

This is very helpful.

Honestly, there is not that much of a difference between a D.O. and a M.D. degree these days. If anything, a D.O. degree is equivalent to a M.D. with additional courses in osteopathic manipulation.

As long as I could work in the United States as a permanent resident in Canada while managing whatever hoops I would need to jump through to be able to be fully licensed to practice as an Internal Medicine physician in whatever province we chose to live in, I can handle whatever I might need to do.

Thank you very much for your reply.

 

[DimT44]

would I be able to live in Canada and cross the border to practice medicine as a physician at a clinic or hospital in the United States (like in Detroit) while I would be waiting for acceptance into a residency program in Canada? Of course, once accepted into a residency I would have no need to continue to work in the US.

If her mom were to fall ill, I would suggest she moves to Canada to be with her, and you apply for PR as an outland sponsorship applicant. For US citzens it would take 6 months for a routine application. During that time you can visit your wife in Canada while officially residing in the US across the border. It would be a 6 month semi#living separately. But after getting PR you said you want to work in Canada. So travelling back and forth will no longer be an issue, but you can still do day trips as @armoured suggested and not violate your PR.

 

[armoured]

As long as I could work in the United States as a permanent resident in Canada while managing whatever hoops I would need to jump through to be able to be fully licensed to practice as an Internal Medicine physician in whatever province we chose to live in, I can handle whatever I might need to do.

As I said, I dont' claim to know much at all about the licensing issue, nor differences for osteopathy - just recall it's different somehow.

Note, bad forum practice on my part, I added a sentence afterwards at the end that my points above hold if in Canada as a PR sponsored by spouse - doing this as a visitor would be a different matter.

At any rate, sounds somewhat hypothetical at this stage.

 

[DimT44]

There are way too many scenarios in what you suggested. My last reply was only for one of them. But in all honesty as a US citizen I wouldn’t worry if I were you. The options are plenty and flexible, as long as you are not inadmissible or try to work in Canada as a visitor for example, which is not your case because even if you visit during the sponoship application, you will be working in the US until you get your PR.