Won US - Green Card lottery as a protected person in Canada

[Mlsoup]

Hi

I had my hearing last September(2017) and had positive decision 3 weeks after the hearing.
On November(2017), i applied for US green card lottery and in May 15th this year learned that I won the right to apply green card. I am planning to apply to it, it doesn't mean that i certainly will have the green card because there is a probability for rejection of my application.

The question is: if it happens to accept my application and issue green card to me, what happens to my protected person status, is it counted as to "obtain protection from another country"? Do i have a obligation to cease or is it OK for me to have green card and continue my protected person status until I have my citizenship.

Thanks

 

[sss12345]

Hi

I had my hearing last September(2017) and had positive decision 3 weeks after the hearing.
On November(2017), i applied for US green card lottery and in May 15th this year learned that I won the right to apply green card. I am planning to apply to it, it doesn't mean that i certainly will have the green card because there is a probability for rejection of my application.

The question is: if it happens to accept my application and issue green card to me, what happens to my protected person status, is it counted as to "obtain protection from another country"? Do i have a obligation to cease or is it OK for me to have green card and continue my protected person status until I have my citizenship.

Thanks

I believe that if you got approved for the green card you won't be eligible for a Canadian PR, even if u were already granted PR status. Because you will be a legal permanent resident of another country which you can live in permanently. Yet again I'm not sure, maybe one of the senior members will confirm the correct answer. Good luck!

 

[Mlsoup]

I want to bring this topic into the table again, my visa interview is approaching and I still don't have certain knowledge about it.
In here it says "the person has acquired new nationality" as a condition to cease refugee status:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/refugee-protection/vacation.html
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/section-108.html

But a green card is not citizenship, it is permanent residency, so it is a bit unclear here whether it is a nationality or not.

According to definitions of IRPA, nationality may be something else than citizenship but still unblurry:
https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/legal-policy/legal-concepts/Pages/RefDef02.aspx

As far as I learned from the US green card process, if I pass the interview they will stamp a visa which says it is an immigrant visa in front of it.
Then we will travel to the US to do the initial landing on the border, what I wonder is:

• Do I have to cease my protected person status?
• Should it be done
  • by myself inside Canada before or after landing to the US?
  • Or when the border officer sees my RTD with US immigrant visa when I got back to Canada, will he/she trigger the process,
  • or should I do it outside of Canada via Consulate?
• In case cessation done in the border as a result of immigrant visa stamp, can I enter to Canada to move our home?

What I will be to Canada after that, any foreigner like nothing happened?
Can I apply for express entry with the help of points I got via my work experience here on a protected person-conventional refugee status?
Can I apply for work permit sponsored by the company I work for after I cease my refugee status?

And if I can't find answers in this forum, where should I direct my questions? IRCC or RPD via email? or any immigration consultant or lawyer?

Thanks for your help

 

[sss12345]

I want to bring this topic into the table again, my visa interview is approaching and I still don't have certain knowledge about it.
In here it says "the person has acquired new nationality" as a condition to cease refugee status:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/refugee-protection/vacation.html
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/section-108.html

But a green card is not citizenship, it is permanent residency, so it is a bit unclear here whether it is a nationality or not.

According to definitions of IRPA, nationality may be something else than citizenship but still unblurry:
https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/legal-policy/legal-concepts/Pages/RefDef02.aspx

As far as I learned from the US green card process, if I pass the interview they will stamp a visa which says it is an immigrant visa in front of it.
Then we will travel to the US to do the initial landing on the border, what I wonder is:

• Do I have to cease my protected person status?
• Should it be done
  • by myself inside Canada before or after landing to the US?
  • Or when the border officer sees my RTD with US immigrant visa when I got back to Canada, will he/she trigger the process,
  • or should I do it outside of Canada via Consulate?
• In case cessation done in the border as a result of immigrant visa stamp, can I enter to Canada to move our home?

What I will be to Canada after that, any foreigner like nothing happened?
Can I apply for express entry with the help of points I got via my work experience here on a protected person-conventional refugee status?
Can I apply for work permit sponsored by the company I work for after I cease my refugee status?

And if I can't find answers in this forum, where should I direct my questions? IRCC or RPD via email? or any immigration consultant or lawyer?

Thanks for your help

Hi Misoup,

I hope all is well. To be honest you are very lucky to get to choose where you want to stay (either Canada or the US). Have you already applied for a PR? If yes then when? If it was around the end of 2017, then IRCC are finalizing these application right now. I won't tell you that Canada is the best and that you should stay here and what not. All I would say is to ask you to act smartly, weigh your options and see where you'll have a better future for you and your kids (whether it was Canada or the US). You can to decide not declare and keep both, and just deal with it when a border officer confronts you (always be truthful with government officials). Or if you decide to go with the US then you can visit Canada by applying for an ETA online because you would be a green card holder (and yes you will be a foreigner if you come in on an ETA, you still have to get an approval for your ETA though not sure if it's easy for convention refugees who moved out). One of the reasons of granting a permanent residence status for a protected person is "to offer safe haven to persons with a well-founded fear of persecution based on Refugee Convention grounds, as well as those at risk of torture or cruel or unusual treatment or punishment [A3(2)(d)];", but if you already have a safe haven (US) and want to live there then I think your status might be forfeited. If you check CANLII database you'll find a few cases where permanent residency have been forfeited because some protected persons move to live in another country and only visit Canada every while. For Express Entry, yes you can apply through express entry if you want and also all your work experience under protected person status should be counted, but why would you do that if you already applied as a protected person in 2017 (unless you want to keep both your Green Card and PR cards, but then you'll have to live half your time in each country to maintain your residency obligations), in the US you'll raise questions if you leave for more than 6 months if you are a green card holder and a border officer might decide to escalate this if there was no good reason behind it. If you haven't applied for permanent residence yet and were approved for your green card, then you will be a US permanent resident once you arrive in the US at the airport, rather than the current approximate processing times (~1.5-2 years) for protected person PR processing. Also, if you applied under express entry then the processing time is around 6 months. But keep in mind that to be eligible for US citizenship you need to have had your green card for 5 years (and of those five years you need to have lived in the US for 2.5 years). While in Canada it's about 2 years after becoming PR (if you have been here for more than 2 years either as a protected person or a temporary resident, every day counts as half towards your citizenship up to a maximum of one year). All in all it'll take about the same time to become a citizen in either countries (unless you're getting your PR soon). Just to confirm this is only my opinion, you have to weigh your options carefully and make a wise decision. For the questions I haven't answered you should get in touch with an immigration lawyer to get into more details. I wish all the best, and good luck on your future endeavors. Cheers!

 

[Mlsoup]

Hi sss12345

Thanks for the answer.
I will check the Database.

 

[lost-in-Canada]

Hi sss12345

Thanks for the answer.
I will check the Database.

Hi,
What you figured out? I am planning to apply for the US based on an advanced degree and I am a protected person. If you have gathered any info, please reply, i will appreciate it. Thanks