Getting Canadian citizenship and US Green Card? Please advice!
A_Tom
I am a Canadian PR and it appears that by the time I will be going
through the process of aquiring Canadian citizenship my US Green Card
venture will come to its logical end (good end, hopefully) too.
Will it be a problem to get the Canadian citizenship after 3 years of
physical presence in Canada if all this time I have been working for
American company in H1 status (I've been working remotely) and had my
US Green Card application pending in the States?
I understand that I can't have both Green Cards at the same time but
what about getting the Canadian citizenship and having US GC pending?
Thanks!
Rich Wales
> Will it be a problem to get Canadian citizenship after 3
> years of physical presence in Canada if all this time I
> have been working for American company in H1 status (I've
> been working remotely) and had my US Green Card application
> pending in the States?
I don't believe you should have any problem. As long as you meet
all the legal requirements for Canadian citizenship (including
having spent enough time in Canada), the fact that you have been
working (legally, albeit remotely) for a US employer, and/or that
you've been applying for permanent residence in the US, should be
totally irrelevant as far as Canadian law is concerned.
> I understand that I can't have both Green Cards at the same
> time . . .
First of all, the term "green card" should not be used to refer
to permanent resident status in any country other than the US. If
you're looking for an informal (slang) expression for a Canadian
permanent resident, the commonly used term is "landed immigrant".
As for whether you can have both US and Canadian permanent residence
(i.e., have a "green card" and be a "landed immigrant") at the same
time, this actually isn't clear, because Canada's current immigration
law does not specifically require an intent to keep one's residence
in Canada in order to retain permanent resident status.
At one time, moving abroad with the intention of abandoning one's
Canadian residence was grounds for immediate loss of Canadian PR
status. However, under the current law, giving up one's Canadian
residence and moving to another country would lead to loss of one's
PR status only when the person has been outside Canada for more
than three out of the preceding five years. And even under Canada's
earlier immigration law, mere intent to move abroad would not have
endangered one's Canadian PR status.
I can't see how your applying for US immigration should make any
difference at all in your case.
Rich Wales ri...@richw.org http://www.richw.org
*NOTE: I've lived in both Canada and the US and have dual citizenship.
*DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, professional immigration consultant,
or consular officer. My comments are for discussion purposes only and
are not intended to be relied upon as legal or professional advice.