Permanent Residence for two countries

[Sue]

Hi,

We have Green Card application (for United States) initiated via my employer which is very initial stages where PERM itself is not approved. If I wish to apply for permanent residence for Canada, could that hinder in any way with my ongoing Green Card application? 

[pontevecchio]

It will not matter. By the time you become a Permanent Resident, you will be a Canadian Citizen.

[JoeF]

It won't matter while the US GC is pending. When you get US Permanent Residency, they require you to give up other residencies. It won't matter if you have become a Canadian citizen by that time.

 

[pontevecchio]

This is not factually correct. She can become a Canadian Citizen in three years. If she becomes a Permanent resident after that with a Green Card, there is no question of giving up Canadian Citizenship. This is wrong as no Green Card Holder is asked to relinquish his current Citizenship which would effectively render him stateless.

It is only true that you cannot be a permanent resident of 2 countries at the same time. It only takes 3 years to become a citizen in Canada. Residency is not the same as citizenship. Green card is not Citizenship.

[JoeF]

7 hours ago, pontevecchio said:

This is not factually correct. She can become a Canadian Citizen in three years. If she becomes a Permanent resident after that with a Green Card, there is no question of giving up Canadian Citizenship. This is wrong as no Green Card Holder is asked to relinquish his current Citizenship which would effectively render him stateless.

It is only true that you cannot be a permanent resident of 2 countries at the same time. It only takes 3 years to become a citizen in Canada. Residency is not the same as citizenship. Green card is not Citizenship.

Hmm, may I ask where you see me talking about giving up Canadian citizenship?

I was talking only about Canadian Permanent Residency. Giving up other residencies doesn't mean giving up other citizenships. Two orthogonal things.

[Alexander-2017]

I think you will face a practical issue here. If you are a permanent resident of Canada, you must live a minimum number of days there to maintain your residency status (you must be physically present in Canada). If you plan to live there, then what will be your status in the US? If you plan to live/work in US, then you will lose your Canadian residency.

 

Nowadays Canadians are very strict about the physical presence and you can check that in Canadian immigration forums.

[Alexander-2017]

I think you will face a practical issue here. If you are a permanent resident of Canada, you must live a minimum number of days there to maintain your residency status (you must be physically present in Canada). If you plan to live there, then what will be your status in the US? If you plan to live/work in US, then you will lose your Canadian residency.

 

Nowadays Canadians are very strict about the physical presence and you can check that in Canadian immigration forums.

 

Also, if you happen to have permanent residency of both countries (this is quite possible if you are not a national of a retrogressed country), then if you pay a visit to Canada and come back to the USA, then the CBP officer will ask you "Are you a resident of Canada or US?", if you say "Canada", then your American GC will be cancelled on spot. If you say "US" then they will ask you "then why you have a Canadian permanent residency?". 

 

Make sure you think about it carefully and thoroughly before you make any decision.

[Alexander-2017]

By the way, Canada has updated their citizenship rules last year. Now they require as a PR to have lived for at least 4 years out of the 6 years (1,460 days) before applying for citizenship.