N-400: to apply or not to apply - need expert advice for complex situation

T

tassi

New Member
By End of October I will complete 5 years of green card and thinking of submitting application for US citizenship but
my situation is a bit convoluted (my mistake).
In early 2002 I came to the US on H1 visa after being a permanent resident in Canada (since mid 1999). My family stayed behind in Canada
till I get settled in the US. Mid 2002 I applied for Canada citizenship (although I was working and residing in the US). In early 2003 I got
Canadian citizenship. I was shy by 5 months to meet the 3 years condition for Canadian citizenship but I did not tell Canada immigration about
it (my stupid mistake and I'm not proud of it).

After getting candian citizenship, my family joined in and since then I have been working and living in the US and got GC in Oct. 2006.

Should I apply for US citizenship or should I keep quiet given the situation. I mean if I apply, would USCIS check how I got Canadian
citizenship? If they do and find out about the 5 months (by contacting Canada immigration) what would be the consequences?
- would my application be denied?
- would they alert Canada immigration about it who might revoke Canadian citizenship?
- would I even lose my GC in the process?

My situation with regards to US immigrtion has always been clear and legal. I never used Canadian citizenship in any of my visa
or GC applications. My visa and GC were done under my country of origin citizenship.

Should I consult an immgration lawyer before making a decision?
I know it's kinda complex situation. I appreciate any opinion or advice from forum members.

Thanks.

Tassi
 
tassi said:
By End of October I will complete 5 years of green card and thinking of submitting application for US citizenship but
my situation is a bit convoluted (my mistake).
In early 2002 I came to the US on H1 visa after being a permanent resident in Canada (since mid 1999). My family stayed behind in Canada
till I get settled in the US. Mid 2002 I applied for Canada citizenship (although I was working and residing in the US). In early 2003 I got
Canadian citizenship. I was shy by 5 months to meet the 3 years condition for Canadian citizenship but I did not tell Canada immigration about
it (my stupid mistake and I'm not proud of it).

After getting candian citizenship, my family joined in and since then I have been working and living in the US and got GC in Oct. 2006.

Should I apply for US citizenship or should I keep quiet given the situation. I mean if I apply, would USCIS check how I got Canadian
citizenship? If they do and find out about the 5 months (by contacting Canada immigration) what would be the consequences?
- would my application be denied?
- would they alert Canada immigration about it who might revoke Canadian citizenship?
- would I even lose my GC in the process?

My situation with regards to US immigrtion has always been clear and legal. I never used Canadian citizenship in any of my visa
or GC applications. My visa and GC were done under my country of origin citizenship.

Should I consult an immgration lawyer before making a decision?
I know it's kinda complex situation. I appreciate any opinion or advice from forum members.

Thanks.

Tassi
Click to expand...

The U.S. immigration authorities have nothing to do with enforcing Canadian immigration/nationality laws. The USCIS staff do not have any idea about and could not care less about the rules for getting Canadian citizenship; they are not going to care about how you got the Canadian citizenship and they are not going to inquire with the Canadian immigration authorities about that.
 
If you obtained Canadian citizenship in the past 5 years while being a US permanent resident, that could call your continuous residence for naturalization (US) into question, potentially triggering an investigation to find out if you spent too much time in Canada (including whether you spent more time there than stated on the N-400).

But since you became a Canadian citizen before getting the GC, it would be extremely unlikely for them to contact the Canadian authorities regarding how you got citizenship there. However, if they did so and discovered you committed fraud on the Canadian citizenship application, your Canadian citizenship would be in jeopardy* and your US naturalization could be denied for lack of good moral character, but I don't see any basis for them to deport you from the US.


*unless there is a statute of limitations to revoke fraudulently obtained Canadian citizenship and you are past that
 
You are not the first one to do it and you will surely not be the last one to do it.
USCIS will not investigate and tattle tale to the Canadians about your Canadian citizenship. The only issue will be if you lost the citizenship you held when you actually became a Canadian citizen. I am assuming you are Pakistani. In that case, you are good to do. Apologies if you are not Pakistani.


tassi said:
I was shy by 5 months to meet the 3 years condition for Canadian citizenship but I did not tell Canada immigration about it
Click to expand...
 
Thanks to all three of you guys. Your inputs and comments make sense with regards to my situation.

My concern is that during the interview I'm asked how and when I got Canadian citizenship. The answer would
be early 2003 although my residency and visa records show I'm in the US since middle of 2002.
An over zealous officer might want to check further and inquires from immigration canada about my
citizenship application. (Side question. Would Canada immigration provide details of my application or would that be
protected by some privacy laws?)

As Jackolantern mentionned this might cause me to lose Canadian citizenship (not sure about statute of limitation in that case)
and eventually ground for denying my N-400 application.!


Thanks again. I'll keep searching and try to get the opinion of an immigration attorney.

Tassi
 
tassi said:
Thanks to all three of you guys. Your inputs and comments make sense with regards to my situation.

My concern is that during the interview I'm asked how and when I got Canadian citizenship. The answer would
be early 2003 although my residency and visa records show I'm in the US since middle of 2002.
An over zealous officer might want to check further and inquires from immigration canada about my
citizenship application. (Side question. Would Canada immigration provide details of my application or would that be
protected by some privacy laws?)
Click to expand...

This is an overly paranoid and absurd scenario. The USCIS immigration officer dealing with your N-400 application does not give a rat's *** about when, how and under what circumstances you got your Canadian citizenship. The only possible relevance that issue could have had to your N-400 application if your Canadian citizenship application somehow involved violating U.S. immigration laws (e.g. if you had applied for the Canadian citizenship after getting a U.S. green card, that possibly might be viewed as evidence of abandoning the U.S LPR status). But since you applied for a U.S. green card after getting Canadian citizenship, I don't see how the Canadian citizenship issue could possibly be relevant to your N-400 application.


USCIS has no interest in and no jurisdiction in enforcing Canadian nationality law and the USCIS IO will have no clue about what the rules and regulations for getting Canadian citizenship are; nor will the IO have any interest in it.
 
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