Britsimon
Super Moderator
No issues with that plan - totally understandable and normal.
DV 2015 winners from Europe
- Thread starter Flori_ALB_NY
- Start date
No issues with that plan - totally understandable and normal.
Britsimon
Super Moderator
If you activate PR status in Canada after the US LPR status, you are creating evidence which could be used to support a case that you have abandoned your LPR status. It isn't "illegal" per se, but unwise.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
It's not "illegal" - these are not police states that dictate where you can or can't live.
Because of Canada's lax regulations you can probably do it the way you state above. But as mom said, if you do it the other way round you risk losing your green card, for the reasons she mentioned. And for the same reason, should the US authorities find out you got Canadian PR after your green card, they may deem you to have abandoned residence anyway.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
yes, you can even spend longer in Canada finalising things before you make the permanent move - many people do it this way when activating green card (myself included!)
lucky2015winner
Member
thanks britsimon,
is it good to go at USCIS office in person in US and ask them before going in Can
lucky2015winner
Member
dear sussie two issues pls,
what do you mean " if you do it the other way rouns"
and also, how may they deem, I am going there just for few days, and if they ask, I can say that I didnt know,I am living in US, it doesnt say at uscis that you cant have another residency, its says that you kind of must live in
uS, .... so hard to understand
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
I mean, if you live in Canada and not the US (other way round) even if you visit regularly. First question they always ask green card holder at the border: how long have you been out of the US for?
Ignorance ("I didn't know") is never going to be an excuse. You will be assumed to have familiarized yourself with the rights and responsibilities of a green card holder when you get your welcome pack. To get another permanent residence after your green card is a big sign that you intend to not fulfil the residence conditions as per mom's post. If your Canadian residence is a stamp in your passport (I don't know if it is or not, the UK one is, the U.S. isn't) then a CBP officer flipping through your passport pages on entry will see it... If that happens - the first time, you will probably be ok and just get a warning about residence requirements but it will mean there is a 'flag' on you that will come up at your next entry that you have already been warned on this... And yes it doesn't specifically say you can't have another residency, it doesn't spell out in detail every little thing you can or can't do to capture every permutation out there...
lucky2015winner
Member
thanks Sussie, thanks a lot,
with "I dont know", I was thinking not how long have you been outside, but I dont know that we cant have another permanent residency.
be sure that I would go in Canada just once, just to enter and make my PErmanent Residency 'ON'. and go back to States and have time up to 3 years to decide weather to remain US resident or Move to Canada and make Canada my permanent home.
thanks a lot
with "I dont know", I was thinking not how long have you been outside, but I dont know that we cant have another permanent residency.
be sure that I would go in Canada just once, just to enter and make my PErmanent Residency 'ON'. and go back to States and have time up to 3 years to decide weather to remain US resident or Move to Canada and make Canada my permanent home.
thanks a lot
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
"I didn't know that it was a problem in California to not fix a water pipe leak immediately"
"Well, here's a fine anyway"
..."I didn't know" is not an excuse, no matter what "I didn't know" ....
You don't need to convince me of anything.... it's USCIS who you need to feel comfortable with.
They are not dragons. Be honest with them, explain as above if they see you have Canadian PR, they will almost certainly not try take away your green card immediately - but you will get The Lecture. And once you have The Lecture, "I didn't know" just doesn't work anymore....
Sorry for not going back to check, but as you are posting in the Europe forum, are you living in Canada at the moment? (And if not how do you know whether you would prefer it to the US after only living in the US?)
"Well, here's a fine anyway"
..."I didn't know" is not an excuse, no matter what "I didn't know" ....
You don't need to convince me of anything.... it's USCIS who you need to feel comfortable with.
They are not dragons. Be honest with them, explain as above if they see you have Canadian PR, they will almost certainly not try take away your green card immediately - but you will get The Lecture. And once you have The Lecture, "I didn't know" just doesn't work anymore....
Sorry for not going back to check, but as you are posting in the Europe forum, are you living in Canada at the moment? (And if not how do you know whether you would prefer it to the US after only living in the US?)
lucky2015winner
Member
yes,
I am still in Europe, will land in US soon.
I think US has more opportunities to CA. So because of strict residency requirements, I will choose US and then let CAN as a backup
I am still in Europe, will land in US soon.
I think US has more opportunities to CA. So because of strict residency requirements, I will choose US and then let CAN as a backup
lucky2015winner
Member
if they give a warning or lecture, do they put on the system that you have been warned
lucky2015winner
Member
@TiberiusEU
you have canadian residency as well, why do you want to go in US, give us some lessons pls. We are almost in the same situation, it was anotherone in the forum, who had Canadian PR and Obtained Green Card, she was staying in Montreal
you have canadian residency as well, why do you want to go in US, give us some lessons pls. We are almost in the same situation, it was anotherone in the forum, who had Canadian PR and Obtained Green Card, she was staying in Montreal
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
It's noted in your passport, I've seen photos of that on the net
I suspect something is flagged on their systems too....when you enter, they scan your green card and check the screen before asking anything...I haven't seen what is on the screen though...
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
Canada issues a plastic card to their PRs just like the US.
TiberiusEU
Member
Hi SusieQQQ, Simon, thanks again for your answers! May I rely on your expertise one more time:
Lucky2015winner: I don't have PR in Canada yet, but I'm in the middle of applying for it, the application is being processed. As I said before, a major factor in my decision to apply was that I didn't expect to become a DV selectee in the first place.
I'm relieved to hear that this shouldn't be an issue during my interview, and yet I'm a little uneasy about it because at the moment I am here in Canada on "implied status". That means that my work permit expired recently, but I can still continue to stay and work in Canada because my application for PR was received before the work permit expired, and I have since also applied for an extension of my work permit. To make a long story short, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my current status in Canada (confirmed by an immigration lawyer). I just don't like the fact that in my passport I only have an expired work permit, which will probably raise questions during my interview at the American consulate.
Though I do have confirmation of my application for permanent residence in Canada, which gives me implied status, which in turn means that there aren't any legal issues with my current status in Canada. I guess that's ok, though I don't feel 100% comfortable about this. What do you think?
Lucky2015winner: I don't have PR in Canada yet, but I'm in the middle of applying for it, the application is being processed. As I said before, a major factor in my decision to apply was that I didn't expect to become a DV selectee in the first place.
I'm relieved to hear that this shouldn't be an issue during my interview, and yet I'm a little uneasy about it because at the moment I am here in Canada on "implied status". That means that my work permit expired recently, but I can still continue to stay and work in Canada because my application for PR was received before the work permit expired, and I have since also applied for an extension of my work permit. To make a long story short, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my current status in Canada (confirmed by an immigration lawyer). I just don't like the fact that in my passport I only have an expired work permit, which will probably raise questions during my interview at the American consulate.
Though I do have confirmation of my application for permanent residence in Canada, which gives me implied status, which in turn means that there aren't any legal issues with my current status in Canada. I guess that's ok, though I don't feel 100% comfortable about this. What do you think?
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
As long as you have the official acceptance notification which was issued/dated prior to the expiration of your work permit, you should be fine. The "implied status" otherwise referred to as status pending in U.S. immigration will not be a strange one to the embassy.
TiberiusEU
Member
Hi Simon, please bear with me when I go on a short tangent about the Canadian regulations here, but the 2 relevant paragraphs from the CANADIAN "Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations" regarding my current status in Canada are
186 (u):
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-80.html#docCont
and
201:
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-87.html#docCont
My personal timeline:
I applied for PR in Canada 4 months before my work permit expired, and for a work permit extension 1 day before my work permit expired. Through my immigration lawyer I received a letter from Immigration Canada only one week after my work permit expired that my application for PR in Canada has been received, and is now being processed. @Simon: please note that this means that unlike what you recommended in your previous post, I got the first official acknowledgement from Immigrations Canada only about 7 days AFTER my work permit expired.
Nevertheless, according to the paragraphs cited above (and my Canadian immigration lawyer shares this view), I am allowed to continue working in Canada at the moment because:
- I applied for a work permit extension (201) before my work permit expired. I waited until the last day at the recommendation of my lawyer in the hope that we would receive acknowledgement of the PR application before the work permit expired
- I became eligible to apply for this work permit extension in the first place because I submitted an application for PR before my work permit expired
It may also be worth noting that processing times by Canada immigration have been significantly slower than usual for the past 6-9 months because they changed their internal processing systems on 01/01/2015.
Anyway, this means that I'm legally allowed to continue working in Canada, even though all I have to show for it at the moment is an expired work permit, and an email acknowledgement (similar in design to the 2nl letter in fact) that my PR application is being processed. I am relieved to hear that the officer at the American consulate should be familiar with the "status pending" idea.
So yes, I guess technically everything is fine regarding my status in Canada, but I'd feel much better if I had a valid work permit in my passport. Best case scenario is that my work permit extension is approved and the new permit arrives in the few weeks between now and my interview at the American consulate.
If that doesn't happen, I will explain what I explained here to the American officer.
SusieQQQ
Well-Known Member
Do the americans even care about your status in Canada? Unlike the Brits - who want to know of any visa violation ever anywhere - the questions USCIS ask seem limited to US violations. I don't know if they will even bother to check your status in Canada...I've certainly never seen a report of a third country interview where status in the interviewing country was even mentioned?
Sm1smom
Super Moderator
Okay, first of all I was the one wrote about how the US immigration views or interprets "pending status" as pertained to US immigration, and it was that same post of mine that you quoted with your follow up post; I am however not Simon.
Since a Canadian immigration lawyer reassured you about your immigration status, I really don't think there's any need to be worried about it then in that case. I doubt the US embassy will be closely scrutinizing your status or trying to determine if you're still in status or not, plus I expect they will also have a good understanding of what constitutes in or out of status as pertained to Canadian immigration.
Hey guys,
I need your opinion regarding police certificate. My wife and I will have our interview in April (Frankfurt, germany). She has a russian passport and lived there until 7 years ago.
Now we have a police certificate from Russia but from last October, will that be sufficient to show during the interview? Or do the require a more recent one?
The police certificate from germany will be from this month...
I need your opinion regarding police certificate. My wife and I will have our interview in April (Frankfurt, germany). She has a russian passport and lived there until 7 years ago.
Now we have a police certificate from Russia but from last October, will that be sufficient to show during the interview? Or do the require a more recent one?
The police certificate from germany will be from this month...