Acquiring US citizenship during Canadian PR process

C

cancc

New Member
My background: I am an Indian citizen, and have been a US permanent resident for more than 6 years. Even though I am eligible to apply for citizenship now, I haven't done so yet. In the meantime I applied for Canadian PR in July 2006 and have just received the request for medical exams and FBI records.

As I understand it, if I do the medicals now I will have to land in Canada as a PR by around this time next year (assuming I get the PR visa by then). Although I am eager to move to Canada I am also concerned about losing my US GC as a result and not being able to visit the US without going through visa and other immigration hassles. I suppose the best thing to do would be to apply for citizenship before I move to Canada. That would also be a good fallback if Canada doesn't work out for some reason. My question though is: can I apply for US citizenship now without affecting the Canadian PR process? I supplied my Indian passport information to them during the application process. If I become a US citizen before they ask for my passport for visa stamping, would it be OK to give them my Indian passport? Or do I have to notify them of my new citizenship and give them a US passport? Would that cause problems with the PR process?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
 
cancc said:
My question though is: can I apply for US citizenship now without affecting the Canadian PR process?
Click to expand...

--- Absolutely. Your cdn PR process has just started, it has no impact on your application for US citizenship.

cancc said:
I supplied my Indian passport information to them during the application process. If I become a US citizen before they ask for my passport for visa stamping, would it be OK to give them my Indian passport?
Click to expand...

--- Nope. Because after getting your USC, you are NOT supposed to use your Indian passport - it becomes invalid after getting citizenship of another country.


cancc said:
Or do I have to notify them of my new citizenship and give them a US passport? Would that cause problems with the PR process?
Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
Click to expand...


-- Yes, notify them about your change of status (to US citizen) so that they can update your file and then in the end give them your US passport for the stamping/visa formalities. This is the right thing to do and unlikely to cause any problems.
 
Cancc,
Just to add to what bigboy has already told you, the bottom line is you (the individual) will qualify for Canadian PR, not your citizenship. You can safely acquire US citizenship during the process. Something similar happened when my brother qualified for Canadian PR in 1999. When he started the process he held Pakistani citizenship only. By the time his PR visa came through, he had acquired British citizenship too. He was tempted to get his immigrant visa changed to reflect that. However since Pakistanis do not lose their citizenship upon acquiring another, he immigrated as a Pakistani itself. You on the other hand will need to inform Buffalo as soon as you cease to be an Indian citizen.
Good luck!!!
 
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