spouse is canadian citizen

M

mycar

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

My spouse is Canadian citizen, and I’m working on H1-B in USA. So far, whatever knowledge I have, I know following things -

[1] I need to have 2 years of presence in Canada out of 5 years to maintain PR.
[2] I need to have 3 years of physical presence in Canada out of last 4 years to eligible for applying for citizenship.

Now if I’m correct in above two matters, I have following question.

Q1 – If we live in USA together (i.e. H1-B and H4+Canadian citizenship for example), do those days count in to 2/5 rule of PR? (As I’m accompanied by Canadian citizen abroad)

Q2 – Similarly, if we live in US, do those days count in to 3/4 rule of citizenship, or do we have to move back to Canada to be eligible?

I hope I was able to clarify my concerns.

Regards.
 
mycar said:
Hi,

My spouse is Canadian citizen, and I’m working on H1-B in USA. So far, whatever knowledge I have, I know following things -

[1] I need to have 2 years of presence in Canada out of 5 years to maintain PR.
[2] I need to have 3 years of physical presence in Canada out of last 4 years to eligible for applying for citizenship.

Now if I’m correct in above two matters, I have following question.

Q1 – If we live in USA together (i.e. H1-B and H4+Canadian citizenship for example), do those days count in to 2/5 rule of PR? (As I’m accompanied by Canadian citizen abroad)
Click to expand...

-- You are correct while mentioning the two points above. Now the answer to your question. The answer is "Yes" - the days spent abroad while accompanying your cdn spouse count towards maintening your PR status (2/5 years rule). But they are vigilant when you take shelter under this rule. For example, in your case - it seems - your cdn spouse is accompanying you instead of you accompanying her!

Q2 – Similarly, if we live in US, do those days count in to 3/4 rule of citizenship, or do we have to move back to Canada to be eligible?
Click to expand...

-- No. You need to have the 3 out of 4 years of physical presence. The days outside of Canada do not count towards citizenship.
 
Triple Citizen said:
Mycar,
I personally think you will be ok for issue#1. My interpretation after reading CIC's website deduces that you should be ok. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5529E2.asp states that you need to accompany a Canadian spouse. It does not state who needs to be the primary bread winner :)
Click to expand...

You are right when you say that they do not mention anything about the bread winner. But this is a grey area and since they do not mention anything about it does not necessarily mean they will not go into this direction. I was just trying to caution the guy. If the CIC buys it, good for him!
 
I agree with you. A little caution would not hurt the OP or any other applicant for that matter. After all we are talking about a government agency and one can never tell which way the cookie will crumble :)

bigboy00 said:
I was just trying to caution the guy. If the CIC buys it, good for him!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks guys for your guidance.
I'm getting clear on 1st question, i appreciate your help!!!

About the second question, i am 'guessing' that to find out if i'm physically in canada for 3 years or not, they would see my passport stamps, right?

In this case, wouldn't it be possible to work in USA and go to canada every 5-6 months to get a new entry-stamp on passport? or is there any 'work-around' so that i can work in USA until i get canadian citizenship?
(i doubt about this, but may be there is any)

is there any benifit of working as a canadian PR in USA over H1-B in terms of tax or savings?

regards.
 
Not neccessarily. Since the US and Canadian agencies share information, it will not be difficult for them to find out if you work/live in the US.

mycar said:
About the second question, i am 'guessing' that to find out if i'm physically in canada for 3 years or not, they would see my passport stamps, right?
Click to expand...

There is no workaround. From your perspective, if you really do not want to live in Canada, why do you want to become a citizen? Now look at it from CIC's perspective, should they grant you citizenship when you have not abided by their requirements?

mycar said:
In this case, wouldn't it be possible to work in USA and go to canada every 5-6 months to get a new entry-stamp on passport? or is there any 'work-around' so that i can work in USA until i get canadian citizenship?
(i doubt about this, but may be there is any)
Click to expand...

A Canadian PR cannot work in the US without some work authorized status in the US, e.g. H-1B, EAD, L-1A/B, etc. Thus, it really makes no difference what your status is with regards to Canada.

mycar said:
is there any benifit of working as a canadian PR in USA over H1-B in terms of tax or savings?
Click to expand...
 
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