I received my PPR- how can I live in Canada while studying in USA?

[border9999]

I have received my PPR (passport request today). I will go personally to the Canadian embassy to get my visa stamped and land the same day. I have few questions:

1. how to apply for SIN (Social Insurance Number) ? is it when I go to the port of entry for landing or afterwards when I apply for the PR card?

2. Do I have to provide a Canadian address at the port of entry when I land ?

3. After landing what is the procedure to get my PR card? is it like an application form i have to fill out?

4. When they will start counting days of my stay in Canada? after i get my SIN? PR card or when I land?

5. Because I live at the USA/Canada border, can I just rent a place in Canada and be present there for 2 days per week, will they count me as staying there for a week or only two days? or maybe renting is enough, i do not have to stay there, only couple of days in a month? what is the exact policy how they count the my stay in Canada? is there written document or a policy about this issue?

 

[girly1141]

you have a date of when your visa will expire, when they stamp the visa in ur passport they will start counting.
this is only answer i know of ur question
good luck

 

[Leon]

1. You have to go to Service Canada in the town where you are living in Canada after you land and apply for a SIN card. It will be sent to you in the mail.

2. It's better but if you don't know yet, you can tell them you will let them know later. The more you delay giving them an address, the more it will delay your PR card being sent to you.

3. You apply for it when you land and you get it in the mail 30 days later approximately. If you don't give them an address but let them know later where you are living, they say 30 days from the time you give them the address.

4. Your days are counted from when you land.

5. If you are in Canada 2 days out of 7, the will count it as staying for 2 days. Every night you are outside Canada counts as one day outside Canada so daytrips to the US do not count. I read that somewhere at some point, can't find the link anymore.

 

[border9999]

Thank you Girly1141 and Leon for your responses,

Concerning the stay in Canada I found the link Leon


https://services3.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/resCalcStartNew.do?&lang=en

https://services3.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/redir.do;jsessionid=347427FA343740618C48DB6BD3E0C96D?redir=faq#PP

In this link they say that if you travel to USA dayly, then i have to report estimated days beecause it is very hard to keep track. In reality the Canadian borders only know when I enter Canada, but no information when you leave Canada to USA. So it is hard for them to check wheather i was upsent or not?

because say I left today, they will not know if I left or not, correct? if I come back the same they they will know that i entered, but it does not tell me when I left so for them it is not possible to know when I leave hence, they do not know, so i guess it is up to me to report how many days I am present in Canada....

another thing is, that I will be applying for SIN, then for health insurance, then renting a place, I will have contract, and also i will register my car in Canada, that will be a proof that i live there, does this justify my stay in Canada????

 

[Leon]

They may not know when you left but they do share information with the US border control so if you plan to lie about your absences from Canada, there is no guarantee they will not find out. If you get caught lying to immigration about your residency, your PR is likely gone. Even if they don't find out, it takes one friend of yours who knows about this to have a fight with you and report you to CIC and your PR is gone. Even if you had citizenship already, it could be taken away from you if you are caught having lied to immigration in the past.

You can have an apartment, car, health insurance, SIN card etc. without living there. That is not proof. Proof they can't deny is if you are working in Canada or in school. Do you plan to be working in Canada? Plan to file taxes? If you don't, they might want to know what you are living on.

 

[border9999]

Leon, thank you for your resonable answer, i pretty much understand your logic...One thing you mentioned about finding a job...well I am still a student, and maybe I will try to find a flexi job which does not require for me to be there for a long period or every day, because I have studies to do not much time...and most of the time i am at the University studying in USA..so i guess that will be hard? do you have any suggestions?

This way i can file taxes, and that will be a proof? does it matter what type of job i have? ...

 

[Leon]

You could have a job on the weekends but if your passport looks like you are coming to Canada every friday evening and they don't know when you left, most people with half a brain will assume you are only staying in Canada over the weekend and spending the week in the US. Since you are a student, I am assuming you get 3 months off in the summer and 2 weeks for spring break, 2 for xmas? That's 4 months already, enough to meet the residency requirements. If you are also staying in Canada 1 weekend a month over the school time, that gives you another 2 weeks total over the year. Should be enough. Also if you are studying, at some point your course will be finished. As a PR you can be outside Canada for up to 3 years in a 5 year period. Even if you are not in Canada at all for the first 3 years, you can make it up by staying in Canada every day for the next 2.

For you, maybe some kind of mix is better. For now you can live and work in Canada over the summer meaning you will have payslips in case somebody ever asks you to prove you were living there. Then you just have to make sure you manage to live in Canada for a total of 730 days in your first 5 years as a PR.

 

[border9999]

Thank you Leon, i think i want to get the citizenship, so that means i have to live there for 3 years not 2 years out of 5 years. And studying here and working in Canada seems the best way right now, but do not know yet how I will can do that...thank you for your advice, i really appreciate that

 

[border9999]

Leon,

Just a question, I have already landed in Canada, but they told me that i need to provide an address that I live there for PR card? do you think i can give a friend address? how about the SIN number, is it the same thing? or different? do they need an address that I live there or just can be a friend's address?

 

[Leon]

You can give a friends address for both. They will mail it to that address.

 

[border9999]

are you sure about it? because when i mentioned this to the officer in immigration, she told me they never heard about it..i was really surprised, and i read it somewhere else that you can, but could not point it out for her at that time...