My purpose in posting is to reach out and gain insight on behalf of my parents who are in their late 60's, are U.S. citizens, and have lived in Alberta since December, 2011. When they relocated to Alberta, my father was recommended by his employer to obtain a visitor visa after accepting a clergy job offer. According to my father, his employer last applied for an annual extension of his visitor visa in November, 2014. He says that for some reason, his visa extension was approved through November, 2016 (versus annual one year extensions that were previously granted).
The primary reason my parents moved to Canada was in hopes of gaining Canadian citizenship to be close to my brother who married a Canadian citizen and has established a family and permanent residency in Alberta. My parents' understanding was that my father having the visitor visa status as a clergy person would offer them a good chance of obtaining permanent residency. Although they applied for permanent residency in 2014, the application was not processed/finalized until 2015. The residency application was denied and it is their understanding it is because a new law became effective January 1, 2015 that precluded individuals with a visitor visa from being eligible for permanent residency.
My questions are the following:
1) If my parents cannot be sponsored because it is not financially feasible for my brother to do so, do they have an alternate pathway to citizenship in their situation that has a reasonable shot of being approved? If so, what are the best steps to accomplish this?
2) Assuming my father plans to retire in November, 2018, is it possible to apply for a two year extension of the visitor visa next year or was the previously granted two year (instead of one year) extension a fluke?
3) If my father cannot extend his visitor visa through his employer, is there an alternate way to maximize how long they can stay, even if it is only temporary?
4) Is there a provision for grandparents of Canadian citizens to have their visa extension granted based on their “grandparent” status? If so, would it apply in their scenario?
5) When my father retires, assuming he cannot get permanent residency, how soon after his retirement date would he and my mother be required to leave Canada?
I greatly appreciate any feedback offered . Thank you!
The primary reason my parents moved to Canada was in hopes of gaining Canadian citizenship to be close to my brother who married a Canadian citizen and has established a family and permanent residency in Alberta. My parents' understanding was that my father having the visitor visa status as a clergy person would offer them a good chance of obtaining permanent residency. Although they applied for permanent residency in 2014, the application was not processed/finalized until 2015. The residency application was denied and it is their understanding it is because a new law became effective January 1, 2015 that precluded individuals with a visitor visa from being eligible for permanent residency.
My questions are the following:
1) If my parents cannot be sponsored because it is not financially feasible for my brother to do so, do they have an alternate pathway to citizenship in their situation that has a reasonable shot of being approved? If so, what are the best steps to accomplish this?
2) Assuming my father plans to retire in November, 2018, is it possible to apply for a two year extension of the visitor visa next year or was the previously granted two year (instead of one year) extension a fluke?
3) If my father cannot extend his visitor visa through his employer, is there an alternate way to maximize how long they can stay, even if it is only temporary?
4) Is there a provision for grandparents of Canadian citizens to have their visa extension granted based on their “grandparent” status? If so, would it apply in their scenario?
5) When my father retires, assuming he cannot get permanent residency, how soon after his retirement date would he and my mother be required to leave Canada?
I greatly appreciate any feedback offered . Thank you!