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Canadian PR pursuing US Immigrant Petition

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ensky28 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 Oct 2014 at 12:35pm
Any thoughts: My Canadian PR card arrived last May and a week ago US National Visa Center just approved my mother's immigrant petition for me and has set an interview appointment next month? Any thoughts on this? 
1. Should I pursue the US immigration path, considering all the efforts and time, or is the US option worth it? 
2. If I did that, should I be worried jeopardizing my Canadian status? 
3. How will I then be able to satisfy the residency requirement of either country when I decide to go for the US path as well?

Thanks a lot friends.   
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ski View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ski Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 2014 at 2:31pm
We live in a very dynamic world with no guarantees (job security, etc.) of any kind.

Just for this reason I would think that it is not wise to drop opportunities.

U.S. and Canada have different requirements for PR maintenance, and I do believe it is possible to maintain both. So in this situation I think you would only benefit if you got the U. S. PR as well and then decided what is better for you when time came.

I can also imagine that you could qualify for Canadian citizenship while still being in compliance with U. S. PR.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dpenabill Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Oct 2014 at 5:28pm


Noting, overall, that I agree, this is probably an opportunity you can and should take advantage of, at least temporarily, since doing so will not jeopardize your Canadian PR status (which you can maintain by merely being present in Canada for two out of five years). That will give you an opportunity, a fair amount of time, to sort out your personal plans for the future, to determine what is right for you.


Beyond that, I will add the following:

-- There are many, many factors to be considered in making these decisions, many of which are very personal, including personal priorities as well as one's practical plans. There are few general rules which will say what is best for any specific person.

The factors include future educational and career aspirations, whether you have plans to become a citizen of Canada or the U.S. What are your personal preferences. Will you be able to go back and forth enough to maintain status in both countries. These are just a few factors to consider among many others.

-- There is a difference between what the respective U.S. and Canadian laws technically prescribe and how they are in practice applied or enforced; in particular, what many have, in the past, essentially been able to, in a sense, get-away-with, is not necessarily compliant with the applicable rules nor even necessarily what people will be able to do in the future.

-- While historically large numbers of people have been able to become PRs in both the U.S. and Canada, and to maintain status in both countries, it is worth noting that the technicalities involved are very likely to be more strictly enforced going forward, as Canada and the U.S. both continue to elevate the scope and intensity of their scrutiny and enforcement. This is especially true relative to monitoring exits and entries: going forward Canada will, for example, have near-complete records of both exits as well as entries (and it appears that it will have, or already has, access to a record of all entries into the U.S. even if that was from a country other than Canada -- was watching an episode of Border Security just last night in which a POE officer observed that the computer would show a traveler's last entry into the U.S., apparently regardless of which U.S. POE was involved, as in including an entry across the U.S./Mexico border).

-- There is some irony in that it is easier for a Canadian PR to obtain a U.S. Green Card and legally maintain status in both countries, than it is going the other way. This is because of the technicalities in the requirements to maintain Green Card status in the U.S., which are more stringent than those in Canada. In particular, Canada merely requires presence in Canda for two out of five years, a very liberal requirement.

That said, if you are interested in eventually becoming a citizen of either country, obtaining and maintaining status in the other country can have an impact on how the citizenship application process goes; in particular, obtaining a Green Card while a Canadian PR can, and actually it is likely to have, a negative impact on a future attempt to become a Canadian citizen unless the U.S. status is relinquished, abandoned, or otherwise in effect not maintained. This is to say, while it is possible to meet residency requirements to maintain Canadian PR status while also maintaining U.S. Green Card status, it is not possible to meet the Canadian citizenship residency requirement while maintaining U.S. Green Card status (well, technically, there may be some narrow avenues to do this, but such exceptions would be very few).

-- None of the above reflects what is required to actually obtain and maintain U.S. Green Card status; I am only indirectly familiar with some of the more general rules governing the U.S. side of this. For example, it is my impression that the U.S. residency requirements are more strict than Canada's. I am not sure, but I believe there is also an intent element in maintaining U.S. status (there is not such a requirement to maintain Canadian PR).


Bureaucracy is what bureaucracy does, or When in doubt, follow the instructions. Otherwise, follow the instructions.



BTW: Not an expert, not a Can. lawyer, never worked in immigration
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