Is it safe for sponsor to declare residency first while waiting for my PR?

[seren8]

My wife is Canadian, and I am American, and we're currently living in the U.S. She is sponsoring me under the Family Class. My wife and daughter are both Canadian and U.S. citizens, and their current status in Canada is non-resident.

We will be sending in our application soon. Originally we were thinking we wouldn't move up to Canada until my PR was approved and I found a job, but now I have a potential opportunity for a freelance job with a one year contract (I have a full time job, with benefits, now, but taking this job would have the advantage of letting me move up to Canada while doing the freelance job once I have PR, so I could look for another job up there while living there, which would be much nicer).

My questions are:

1. Can my wife and daughter go up to Canada now to declare themselves as residents, and then come back to the States to live with me while we wait for my PR card, and while they're waiting for OHIP to kick in?

2. Will that mess up/complicate or delay the PR application process (e.g. do they then have to file it as in-land PR process)?

3. If I change my job (either to this contract position or something else) after we have sent in our paperwork, do we have to notify the PR processing center? And would that delay the process?

Thanks in advance!

 

[waitingintz]

Hi Seren

Your wife's residency does not impact your application except that if her primary residence is Canada when you apply then you do not have to prove that she will be moving back with you - so one less thing to prove.

No, where she is living has no impact on whether you apply inland or outland... that is dependent only on where you are living and you always have the right to apply outland (and in your case it would definitely be the better choice).

If you get a new job I supposed you should update that in your file. But it won't make any difference to your application as your employment, income, etc have no bearing on the decision. Once your file was transferred to buffalo you could send them the updated details.

As for your wife claiming to have moved back to Canada to apply for OHIP... clearly the intention is not for residents to claim residency and then go live in the US. I don't know the exact details for Ontario but generally the rule is you that if you are out of the province for more than x amount of time you no longer qualify as a resident. Having said that, I'm sure she wouldn't be the first one to claim to be back as a resident and not actually be. Don't know if there's any way they would ever find out but you would just need to check what documentation you need to submit to re-apply... and then I guess it's just a personal moral decision of whether your wife things it's right to slightly tweak the truth to get medical sooner than she technically should.

In the end - realistically, if your wife is claiming that she is living primarily in Canada and she isn't, that is technically a lie. I don't know how you would get caught out on it but if you did that would definitely affect your application. Maybe look into the definition carefully of what is the minimum requirement to be primarily residing in Ontario and if your wife can actually meet the minimum requirements then you get the medical and you don't risk any deception with OHIP or immigration.

 

[seren8]

Thank you so much Waitingintz for your suggestions and advice. We haven't really thought through the moral implications of the OHIP matter, but just wanted to weigh in on a couple of things to make our transition back to Canada a little easier. You have clarified a lot of things for us and help us to make our decisions much easier. We are grateful for your help.

FYI (actually not so much for you, but perhaps for others who are moving to Ontario):
I did a quick search to find out about the OHIP requirements for the number of days my wife has to be there. Here it is what it says:
* you make your primary place of residence in Ontario;
* you are in Ontario for at least 153 days of the first 183 days immediately following the date you establish residence in Ontario (you cannot be absent for more than 30 days during the first 6 months of residence);
* you are in Ontario for at least 153 days in any 12-month period.