Permanent Residency & Interaction with PNP program - some questions

[adey786]

Dear All

Just thinking through a hypothetical scenario where a person has been nominated by province X but after trying to find a job, moved to another province, say Y. For the purpose of computing 730 days, will CIC consider days a person has lived in province X or it will be total period for X & Y?

On the same note, does moving to province Y (as could only find job in Y than the original nominated X), will it affect processing of citizenship applications (again the intention to reside was not fulfilled in the first place).

Lastly, is it allowed to find a work out of nominated province, after a person has tried to find work in X province?

Regards

 

[keesio]

1) For PR RO, it would be X+Y. The PR RO simply counts days in Canada, regardless of the province (even if arrived via PNP)
2) I suppose this is technically possible. However, as long the person didn't leave ASAP to province Y after landing, and instead stayed in province X for a bit and tried to look for jobs (to avoid looking like obvious misrepresentation), it should be fine (see #3)
3) Sure. You are not bound to the nominated province forever. However you don't want to make it seem like misrepresentation (your original intent all along from the start was to move to province Y). So as long as it looks like you tried to find work in X and lived there for a bit before moving to Y, it should be ok. Many many people have successfully moved from their nominated province.

 

[Leon]

Agree with Keesio.

There are plenty of rumours going around with PNP's that you will lose your PR, not get citizenship etc. if you move. Some people have even been told that by immigration officers. However, there are no rules or conditions requiring a minimum time spent in your PNP province. You state in your application that you intend to settle there and this must be true when you apply as well as when you land. Otherwise, they can get you on misrepresentation.

I would suggest spending at least 6 months in your PNP province to show that you made an attempt to settle there as well as to make sure that they don't try to get you on health care fraud. Most provinces require 6/12 months stay in order to be eligible for health care. This is unrelated to the waiting period they have in some provinces. I know of a case in BC where a newcomer did the 3 month waiting period, got health care but did not stay for 6 months and health care cancelled their coverage retroactively and back charged them for what they had covered for them. If you had not used your health care, then no worries.

Also be aware that if you were sponsored by a relative or a friend for PNP, you leaving means that your sponsor will be barred from sponsoring other people.

 

[adey786]

Agree with Keesio.

There are plenty of rumours going around with PNP's that you will lose your PR, not get citizenship etc. if you move. Some people have even been told that by immigration officers. However, there are no rules or conditions requiring a minimum time spent in your PNP province. You state in your application that you intend to settle there and this must be true when you apply as well as when you land. Otherwise, they can get you on misrepresentation.

I would suggest spending at least 6 months in your PNP province to show that you made an attempt to settle there as well as to make sure that they don't try to get you on health care fraud. Most provinces require 6/12 months stay in order to be eligible for health care. This is unrelated to the waiting period they have in some provinces. I know of a case in BC where a newcomer did the 3 month waiting period, got health care but did not stay for 6 months and health care cancelled their coverage retroactively and back charged them for what they had covered for them. If you had not used your health care, then no worries.

Also be aware that if you were sponsored by a relative or a friend for PNP, you leaving means that your sponsor will be barred from sponsoring other people.

Great..Many thanks for replies Leon and Kessio. Really helpful. I think it makes perfect sense to spend 6 months to 1 year in a province to create sufficient evidence that you always intend to settle in the province. As I would have my kid going to school, so naturally I would prefer to spend either 0 month or 1 year (school completion) so staying 1 year creates stronger evidence and intentions to settle, in a worst case scenario.

On question of creating evidence to settle, and i know it is all subjective from here onwards. As finding employment can be the most fundamental proof in case of misrepresentation, how do you guys see emails correspondences/job applications with prospective employers done online before moves physically? I am not creating an excuse for not staying 6 months, but looking at the fact that even if someone is Canada, the emails or online job applications would have been the route..I am already 1 year ahead in terms of moving to the province but have started contacting right people.

On health card, are you saying that if someone completes minimum period for eligibility then health card cant be cancelled and resident can take benefit of health services in other province on the same health card ?

Lastly, so for citizenship purposes, does CIC/IRCC goes back to check if PNP applicant did meet 'intention to reside' or not? I think the current rule is 4 years on residence in Canada, 4 tax returns. So looks like there is no criteria for meeting 'intention'.

Thank you and regards

 

[Leon]

Great..Many thanks for replies Leon and Kessio. Really helpful. I think it makes perfect sense to spend 6 months to 1 year in a province to create sufficient evidence that you always intend to settle in the province. As I would have my kid going to school, so naturally I would prefer to spend either 0 month or 1 year (school completion) so staying 1 year creates stronger evidence and intentions to settle, in a worst case scenario.

On question of creating evidence to settle, and i know it is all subjective from here onwards. As finding employment can be the most fundamental proof in case of misrepresentation, how do you guys see emails correspondences/job applications with prospective employers done online before moves physically? I am not creating an excuse for not staying 6 months, but looking at the fact that even if someone is Canada, the emails or online job applications would have been the route..I am already 1 year ahead in terms of moving to the province but have started contacting right people.

On health card, are you saying that if someone completes minimum period for eligibility then health card cant be cancelled and resident can take benefit of health services in other province on the same health card ?

Lastly, so for citizenship purposes, does CIC/IRCC goes back to check if PNP applicant did meet 'intention to reside' or not? I think the current rule is 4 years on residence in Canada, 4 tax returns. So looks like there is no criteria for meeting 'intention'.

Thank you and regards

Most likely, nobody will ever ask you why you moved or ask you to prove anything. However, if they do, it will look a lot better for you if you can say that you spent a few months and looked for jobs before you decided to go elsewhere.

So it's not like I read all appeal cases on CANLII but for those I have, I have only seen one mention of somebody failing to meet the PNP intention to settle and it was only mentioned as supporting evidence that the PR in question didn't care to follow any rules. They lost their PR but they lost it over misrepresentation as they did not declare a dependent child on their PR application. That person had actually not spent any time at all in their PNP province.

This is however after landing. For those who haven't landed yet, immigration may refuse you to land if they believe that you are not going to settle in your PNP province.

As for health care, the rules are that in order to be eligible for health care in a certain province, you must commit to living in that province for a certain amount of time. For most provinces it's 6/12 months, in some it's 6 months per calendar year, in some it's 5 months per 12 or per year. In one province, it's 5/6 months after you first arrive and after that 5 months per 12. Most provinces actually do not have a waiting time for newcomers. Therefore they do not like it very much if somebody comes to their province, registers for health care, gets it immediately and then moves to another province and starts using his health card there because the health care there will bill the health care in your home province. So in order to be friends with health care, make sure you meet their eligibility requirements for the first year. When you move, tell them that you are moving. All provinces have a 2-3 month waiting period for moves within Canada so your old health card will cover you until you get a new one.