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GA Snowbird

Newbie
Sep 22, 2012
6
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I hope I can get some feedback on this. My husband, a Canadian citizen, and I plan on retiring in New Brunswick in the Summer of 2014, when I retire from my school job. We've been married 4 years, both of us in our 60's and in good health. I understand that there is quite a bit of paperwork involved on my part, as I am a US citizen (I do not intend to apply for Canadian citizenship). My husband is already retired with his pension from Canada and I will have mine from here- which gives us a sufficient amount for us to live on in NB. We're looking forward to moving there, so I hope there will not be any glitches that will hold up our move.
Is there anything we need to begin doing right now, or should we wait until closer to my retirement date to begin the process? I like to have my "ducks in a row" and not let the unforeseen take me by surprise! :o
 
You should plan on it requiring around 12-15 months to process your permanent residency application (you cannot even qualify for citizenship until you are a permanent resident - this is the equivalent to having a "green card" in the US.)

Your husband would sponsor you to be a permanent resident. You would have to document that your relationship is genuine and he would need to explain and document the plan on returning to Canada. Having a clear and definite date, such as you do will certainly help in doing that. He does not need to show any particular amount of income, but the CIC officer must be convinced you will not require social assistance ("welfare"). None of this sounds like an issue based upon what you have described.

There are documents you must gather up, notably: a copy of the marriage certificate, your birth certificate, a current clearance letter from the FBI - current as of the date you file the application, and a receipt of your completed medical examination (IMM 1017). Provided there are no public health issues (e.g., active TB) you cannot be denied on the basis of health. It is a paperwork intensive process that most people with straight-forward applications complete on their own, but you can engage the services of an attorney. In my experience, attorneys don't do any of the hard work because it is mostly personal information, but they will review the application and represent you.

The entire application is sent to Mississauga, ON. Your husband's sponsorship eligibility is evaluated there and once he has been approved, your application will be sent to the appropriate visa office - this recently changed, and as far as anyone can tell, it means your application is reviewed in Ottawa and then when ready for approval it is forwarded to Los Angeles, CA.

Once you have been approved, they will issue you a "Confirmation of Permanent Residency". That document has a limited validity period, during which you must present yourself at a Canadian border crossing offering immigration services. At that point your legal status in Canada will change from being a "foreign national" to being a "permanent resident". You do not need to remain in Canada at that point and it is quite common for people to "land" and then go back home to settle their affairs.

Note that as a US citizen, you will continue to be required to file US tax returns, report your foreign financial accounts each year, etc. You may continue to vote in the US in the last electoral location in which you voted as well. As a permanent resident, you will qualify for health care in Canada (and you continue to qualify for US Medicare once you become 65 years of age.)

After 1095 days living in Canada in any four year period you will be eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship. Note that you do not lose your US citizenship by doing this, but you do gain a few additional rights in Canada including the right to vote.

Good luck!
 
Thank you so much for your response! It is very helpful! I am hoping we can coordinate the move and the receipt of documents necessary to about the same time frame!
 
If your husband is living with you in the US now, as a Canadian citizen, he is allowed to sponsor a spouse while living outside Canada but would have the added burden of proof that you intend to move to Canada when you get your PR. For younger applicants, that can be a job offer or acceptance to college and/or having arranged housing. For you, I guess that leaves housing. As you are not retiring until 2014, you could apply maybe a year early in the hopes that your processing will be done before you want to move.

What you could do now is start to prepare your forms. They want addresses, jobs etc. from your past. it can be a lot of info to get together.

The medical is only good for 1 year so you don't want to do that until shortly before you apply. Your PR visa is only valid as long as the medicals. Police clearances must be less than 3 months old when you apply but they can also take some time to get. When I applied, the FBI clearance only took a month but I heard recently that they take more like 4 now.

If you get the PR visa long before you are ready to go and it is expiring before that too, you can make a quick trip to Canada to land and come back to the US again. If you do not have it yet before you want to move, you can go with your husband to NB as a visitor and wait it out there. You can not however officially move until you get your PR so if anybody asks, you are just visiting.
 
Thank you for your reply. That's information that is also very good to know. We are hoping to obtain housing in a retirement community, so I don't see a lot of problems with that-we are not buying a house, but will be renting.
We've decided to go ahead and get started on the forms that we can start with-of course waiting for the medical until right before we go-however, it is great to know that if it comes down to it, I can be a visitor until my PR comes through!
 
GA Snowbird said:
Thank you for your reply. That's information that is also very good to know. We are hoping to obtain housing in a retirement community, so I don't see a lot of problems with that-we are not buying a house, but will be renting.
We've decided to go ahead and get started on the forms that we can start with-of course waiting for the medical until right before we go-however, it is great to know that if it comes down to it, I can be a visitor until my PR comes through!

I would think that if you point to the fact you are retiring in 2014 and that you are discussing accommodations with retirement communities there, that you won't have a major problem convincing them of intent to relocate there.

One reason to do it earlier rather than later is that as a visitor you do not qualify for health care, while as a PR you do.
 
My husband and I have discussed it and we're going to go ahead and get the paperwork started now. I have an appointment with my retirement counselor at work in a couple of weeks, so that will clear up a lot of questions regarding my health insurance with my provider here-whether or not it will cover me until/after we make the move to NB. I realize that if it does, it will be at the "out of area" rate, but hopefully there will be no reason to have to use it!
We are also hoping that the community we're looking into will have accommodations available for us a the time we need them, but if not, we would make other arrangements until they did. I don't think it will be a problem convincing them either.
 
I have one other question regarding the process. About how much will we be spending, overall, to get this processed? Cost of the FBI report, The Medical and processing in Canada. I'd like some idea so that we can plan ahead.

Thanks!
 
Hi


GA Snowbird said:
I have one other question regarding the process. About how much will we be spending, overall, to get this processed? Cost of the FBI report, The Medical and processing in Canada. I'd like some idea so that we can plan ahead.

Thanks!

1. Application and RPRF $1040.00
2. Medical, $300-$400
3. FBI $18.00
 
GA Snowbird said:
I have one other question regarding the process. About how much will we be spending, overall, to get this processed? Cost of the FBI report, The Medical and processing in Canada. I'd like some idea so that we can plan ahead.

Application Fee: $550 ($75 sponsor, $475)
Right of Permanent Residence Fee: $490

Medical: varies by doctor, approximately $350-400 in the US typically, cheaper in Canada.
FBI: $18 + finger print costs ($30) and mailing costs (as cheap as a postage stamp, or more if you use a courier)
Pictures: $50-100. They want a lot of pictures and by the time you're done it will be more than you thought possible.

Courier fee to send to Mississauga: $75 (don't mail it. Send it via FedEx or UPS so you get a signature confirmation)

Copy fees: $50. You want to make a complete copy of EVERYTHING that you send to CIC. I spent more than this because I had multiple copies made (spiral bound with tab dividers between each section) but that's overboard. An electronic copy of everything is fine too, and then you won't spend as much.

PPR Mailing costs: $50. That is for a courier envelope there and back with your passport.


So if you budget $2,000 you should be more than fine and it will likely come in at a bit less.