I became a Canadian Permanent resident in 2014. In 2021 I also became a US Citizen. Since 2014, I only have visited Canada twice for couple of days. I never applied to voluntarily renounce my permanent resident status. Now I plan to visit to Canada next month on US passport. My question is that what kind of questions I will be asked by Canadian border officials. I know that I still have Canadian PR and I have not voluntarily renounced it, but at the same time I have not fulfilled my residency obligations. What kind of actions will Canadian border officials take? Will this have any impact on my US Citizenship. I will be landing at Toronto Pearson international Airport
PR residency obligations not met
- Thread starter JackHud
- Start date
- There will be no impact on your US citizenship.
- You will be allowed into Canada.
- It's possible CBSA may start the process to revoke your PR status if they determine you haven't met the residency requirement.
Agree with the comments from @scylla.
The best case scenario:
You are allowed in with no questions. It's marginally possible that the CBSA will not know that you are a PR if you present your valid U.S. passport...but I suspect the chance of that to be quite low, because a lot of things have changed in terms of CBSA and CBP policies since 2014 when you were last in Canada.
Next best scenario:
You are found to be a PR that has not met the R.O. to maintain PR status and are warned, lectured, etc., that you are non-compliant and should `fix it' by not leaving Canada for 2 years.
Worst scenario:
Same as above but you are issued a 44(1) report that will possibly lead to your PR status being revoked.
Would add that you are required to tell CBSA that you are a PR and the computer system should flag you as a PR. Given that you haven’t met RO may be much easier to renounce your PR since you can easily visit Canada. If you don’t you can get stuck being questioned about the fact that you haven’t met your RO. Won’t happen before next month but something to consider.
What if I apply for voluntarily renouncing my permanent resident status before going to Canada next month. I know that I won't have the answer by next month but at least I can tell them I have applied for. I can show them the copy of the Revocation documents that I have mailed in. I am just afraid of all the hard questions CBSA might ask
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/card/renouncing-permanent-residence.html
Note this part:
Assessing an application to voluntarily renounce permanent resident status
Required proof of citizenship or valid permanent resident status in another country
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Since you have a valid U.S. Passport, that would certainly `tick' that box.
Note this part:
Assessing an application to voluntarily renounce permanent resident status
Required proof of citizenship or valid permanent resident status in another country
---
Since you have a valid U.S. Passport, that would certainly `tick' that box.
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Wouldn’t worry too much about hard questions that CBSA will ask if you have proof of strong ties in the U.S. like a home and job. You can start the process of renouncing at any point. Proof that you have applied to renounce can add to your strong proof that you are only a visitor. As a PR you are entitled to enter no matter what.
I think you're worrying too much. As a PR, you will be let in. The worst that can happen is they do the report which starts process of revoking your PR status - which has same effect as you renouncing. If you simply say you know you should probably renounce but haven't got around to it, they might just wave you through or just give you the form and tell you to do it in future.
As a US passport holder you will be able to board planes to Canada in future, and if you are well settled in USA, unlikely they'll give you much trouble for future visits. They don't seem to get overly exercised about US citizens in this situation.
Caveat: no guarantees of course. If you'd prefer to renounce before you visit, that's up to you.
Yes.
(From the link that I posted here previously):
Voluntary renunciation received at the port of entry
Officers should be careful about counselling the client (see Applicant status above). While officers should not actively encourage clients to renounce their permanent resident status, it can be presented as an option. If the client is a foreign national, no application to renounce should be accepted and the client should be assessed as a foreign national. If the client is a permanent resident, the application to renounce permanent resident status should be processed.
If the client chooses to proceed with renunciation, they should complete the application form and provide as many supporting documents as possible. The application must be thoroughly and properly assessed, because the applicant cannot file an appeal of the decision to the IAD. If the applicant cannot provide documentary evidence showing they meet the requirements to renounce permanent resident status, the application should be refused.
Officers should take special care to ensure that any applications involving applicants under 18 years of age meet the appropriate requirements (see Requirement for signature of all parents and legal guardians of applicants under 18 years of age above).
If the renunciation is refused for failure to have the required documentation, the applicant should be allowed to enter Canada as a permanent resident. Officers should consult the section on situations where renunciation is refused, but there are concerns with admissibility to Canada (see If the applicant does not meet the requirements to renounce but may be otherwise inadmissible to Canada above). In particular, a negative residency determination should not be made at the port of entry on clients who cannot renounce, even if the client requests it. Instead, the client should be allowed to enter Canada and told to make another application to renounce their permanent residence from within Canada once they have the required documentation.
If the application to renounce is approved and all other requirements for entry as a temporary resident are met, the applicant can be given an entry stamp and admitted to Canada as a temporary resident for a period of six months.
Applicants must be provided with a photocopy of the signed application as well as a decision letter (see Procedures for approving or refusing the application above). Officers must properly document the decision in GCMS (see GCMS instructions below). The signed application should also be sent for microfilming (see Archiving application forms below).
An officer should approve an application to renounce only if the officer is satisfied that the applicant will
- respect the conditions of their temporary resident status (including not working or studying without authorization); and
- leave Canada at the end of the period authorized for their stay.
If the officer is satisfied that the applicant will comply with these conditions, the officer may process the renunciation application in place of the section A44 report.
As per our conversation from November 2022. I did submit my application for voluntarily renunciation of permanent resident status on 3rd January 2023 for myself, my wife and my two children. On my application and my daughter's application I mentioned my email address , but on my wife's application and my son's application I forgot to put down the email address. On 12th January I got an email confirmation of renunciation of permanent resident status for myself and my daughter, but I did not get any email confirmation about my wife and my son. We didn't get any communication in the post also. So, I want to know what's the status of my wife's and son's application. I presume that their status has also been revoked.