US GC & Canadian PR; landing experience

J

JRaj

Registered Users (C)
Hey Guys!
Can anyone with US GC who has landing experience in Canada share their experience. I am told that you are given a choice to keep one PR but not both.

My situation is that I landed in Canada but now I am back in US on H1. I will have my US GC sometime mid next year. I would eventually like to get Canadian citizenship. For this I am planning on moving to Canada after I get my US GC. But I was wondering, If after I get my US GC will it be taken away from me when I enter Canada next year.

Somebody who has experience or knowledge on this topic please reply. Thanks.
 
Similiar situation

I am in a similiar situation. I am thinking to postpone issuance of US GC as long as possible. If everything goes as planned I will get it after I get my Canadian citizenship.
 
1. You can not keep Both PR you have to loose US GC or Canadian PR but you are given option if you are caught and you will be caught sometime, better is to tell the truth if immigration asks you.


JRaj


Hey Guys!
Can anyone with US GC who has landing experience in Canada share their experience. I am told that you are given a choice to keep one PR but not both.

My situation is that I landed in Canada but now I am back in US on H1. I will have my US GC sometime mid next year.
YOU CAN ONLY STAY OUT OF CANADA FOR 3 YERS OUT OF ANY 5 YEARS,TO MAINTAIN YOUR PR, I DO NOT KNOW WHEN YOU LANDED, TIME STARTS FROM THE DATE YOU LANDED
I would eventually like to get Canadian citizenship.
FOR THAT YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN CANADA FOR 4 YEARS
For this I am planning on moving to Canada after I get my US GC.
YOU CAN MOVE TO CANADA AFTER US GC
But I was wondering, If after I get my US GC will it be taken away from me when I enter Canada next year.
NO IT WILL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY IF THEY FIND OUT TELL THE TRUTH AND IF YOU HAVE YOUR CANADA PR VALID STATUS YOU WILL BE ADMITTED, YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEM TO ENTER US FROM CANADA INS can check the computer and find that you are US GC holder at that time if they find that you have also Canada PR from your Passport stamped CANADA IMMIGRATION or from some other sources then you will have to answer to INS and they will give you time to abondon US GC or CAnada PR.
 
3 Year Rule - Question

guys ,
I have a question in the same contest ! I have canadian PR , landed in canda (2000) never went back planing to go back this long week end as per new law i should be in , now if i come back to US after a short visit to Canada , does that mean i can stay away from canada for another 3 years?

Any thoughts!
 
Not a problem

OK Folks,

I am going to surprise many people here by saying that you can keep Canadian Landed status despite moving permanently to US (or elsewhere).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before I go into the details, here is some basic information about my status:

First Visa status in US : H1-B
Landed in Canada : Aug 2000
Moved to Canada : Oct 2000
US Green Card Received : Oct 2001
Moved to US permanently : Dec 2001

Here are my personal experiences in the past year:

Dec 2001 :

When crossing the border at Vancouver on my way to moving back to US permanently, I stopped at the Canadian Immigration checkpost and OFFERED to return my Landing papers because I was moving to US permanently and it seemed like the right thing to do.

It was 6:00am and the lady officer at the post told me that she will not be able to take the papers back unless there was a witness (another officer) present and since she was the only one there at that time, I could either wait for a couple of hours or return it IN PERSON (not by mail) at the Canadian consulate in Los Angeles (I told her that I was moving to California).

Long story short, I had a train to catch from Seattle, so I could not wait a couple of hours at the post and since I live in Northern California I did not get a chance to go to LA to return the papers in person. So I held on to the papers.

FAST - FORWARD - July 2002

I was to visit Toronto on a business trip. I landed in Buffalo and drove across the border (this time during the day).

I figured that this may be the oppertunity to finally return the Landing papers, so I went inside the checkpost.

Once again I told the story to the officer in charge and offered to return the Landing papers, SIN card and BC-Medical coverage card. The officer seemed unsure at first and then after spending nearly 20 minutes, going over stuff on her computer and asking her supervisor, told me, and I paraphrase, "According to the new immigration law we can not take back your Landing papers. I have made a notification in you file that you offered to return your papers, but for now I would say that you keep these documents with you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So as you can see, I COULD NOT return my Landing papers even
when I tried TWICE. I guess, I will always have Canada as a
backup, if I ever need to leave US :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
birdy69 thanks for the info...read on

in my case it has been over 5 months since I left canada to get a job in the USA full time , until then since may 01 till march 02 I was shuttling between toronto and california but then finally decided to move to calif fulll time, so maybe I can give it a shot at visiting canada now that all the rules have changed.
 
Birdy 69

Hi Birdy

many thnaks for the Info & to share with us your experience , I have a similar situation may be you can suggest , May 2000 first time landing in Canada , got my SIN card came back to the US went to cnada in Sep 2000 for a seriuos job attempts , nothing worked out came to the US and never went to canada , what should i do now ? Your experience motivates me to take a chance to go to canada ! pl Advise !
Also ,
- How can get the Medical Card you just mentioned (in Ontario Provience)
- How can i sposor my wife to canada , currently she is on H4 in US.
- I am planning a trip to canada this labor day week end , if they allow me in & i come back to US ina week time & keep visiting canada every 6 months should that be the way to maintain my Landing PR status !

Any thoughts will help !

BTW any one from NJ interested in traveling to Toronto this Labor day Week end !
Let me know!

- Phanesh
 
Some answers

Let me put the disclaimer first :
------------------------------------------------
These are my experiences and opinion only. I am only passing on
what the Canadian immigration officers have told me. It may or
may not be your experience
------------------------------------------------

tt tt : Since you have only been out of Canada for 5 months, you
are even within the technical limit of 6 months. So you should
have no problems anyway.

mercury6 : When I left US for Canada even my Labor had not
been processed. Later on after the Labor cerfitication and
I-140, I went the CP route. BTW, I was relocated by my
company to our Vancouver office, so nothing really changed
for me except the address.

makam : I don't know the rules in Ontario, but in BC I had to wait
for 3 months before I could get the medical card. You will need
to have an ON address for that card.
Sponsoring your wife may not be easy if you don't live in
Canada. Please take advice from an immigration lawyer on that
matter.
You should LIVE in Canada for 6 months in a year to maintain
your residency (that's what the rules say), but practically, since
they hardly ever stamp the passport when entering/leaving
Canada/US, you can say pretty much anything you want.


As an aside, please do not abuse the system which is based on
trust. I know the desperation that we feel when our livelyhood
is at stake because of slow moving INS and Canadian immigration
process, but there is a fine line between bending the rules and
breaking them.

If you live in US, then do not try to hold on to Canadian Landed status. If you think that you may move back to Canada then remember that Canada is just about as expensive as US and without a job, it will be just as hard (if not harder) to make ends meet there.

Good luck everyone.
 
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