From_CAN_2_US

Thank you! Yes, I enjoyed the ceremony. The room where it was held was rather underwhelming, but like everything about Canada, the people made it special. The judge was an immigrant from Malaysia himself, and spoke a lot about kindness, diversity, inclusion, tolerance, equitability and reconciliation (for First Nations). I appreciated how those were stressed to us as new citizens to be Canadian values. The judge also took the time to exchange a few words with every candidate. He remembered what each one did and made several call outs to us during the ceremony and in his speeches. Made us feel appreciated. He also gave special mentions to the mothers and children. Really felt proud, happy and grateful to be welcomed into the Canadian fraternity in that way. Was a treat for my American husband too. He wore a maple leaf pin and got to sing "O Canada." I heard the US one is very business-like.

I am happy to report that I was successful in becoming a Canadian citizen last week. I attended an in-person oath in Missisauga last week. It may come as a surprise for some, but as I was in communication with the missisauga office, they informed me (without any prompt from my end) that if I wish I could be scheduled for a virtual oath and be able to do that while in the US. Apparently the requirement special permission previously required by IRCC for candidates to take the oath abroad has recently been removed and we are now free to take oath while abroad. Despite this, I personally chose to travel to Canada to attend the oath in person. While in Canada I applied for my passport by mail paying the $260 fee so it can be delivered to me in the US. Thanks @Kai G. Llewellyn for the advice and support along this journey. I am now looking towards next steps of renunciation of Indian citizenship and OCI application and will likely have questions. Hopefully people such as @Maverick_TO would be able to help. I also intend to call Jim Hacking at some point to ask how to inform USCIS of my change of citizenship.

Yeah, I don’t intend to volunteer that I am a PR. I am worried about a situation where they may ask me if I am a Canadian PR specifically. Do I lie? I am a pretty bad liar… not sure I can pull it off. I know people with US passports get waived through, but I have an Indian passport and despite my green card, wondering if that can draw extra scrutiny and lead them to asking more questions.

Thank you

I am a Canadian PR and US Lawful Permanent Resident. I currently live in the US. My PR card is expiring in Aug 2023 but I am sure I have maintained my Residency Obligation. I have travelled many times to Canada by land in the past few months and and been allowed entry and CBSA confirmed I met my Residency Obligation. I want to travel by Air to Canada in Oct 2023 to attend my Canadian citizenship oath ceremony. I know that as an LPR, green card plus non-Canadian passport is accepted to board a commercial plane to Canada. Source - https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1053 I also know that as a PR one must present one-self as a PR to CBSA when at immigration, and despite an expired PR card they will let you enter canada provided you meet Residency Obligations. Considering the above, does anyone see any issues with me flying to Canada given my expired Canadian PR card?

I am hoping someone on this thread may have some insight on my situation. I am a Canadian PR, US LPR living in the US. I have applied for Canadian citizenship, at DM stage and I am in queue for oath. I am expecting oath invite in the next few weeks. For a bunch of reasons which I won’t bore you with, I would like to request an in-person oath in October. The oath would then take place in Missisauga and logistically, it would make sense for me to fly there. So here is my problem. My PR card expires August 23. I was unable to renew my PR card because I do not have a residential address in Canada. I do know that green card holders can board a plane to Canada with their greencard and non-Canadian passport. I have however heard rumours that there might be issues with this if the airline asks you if you are PR. I wanted to verify if this is a real concern with an actual risk of happening. Does anyone here have any experience with this? @Maverick_TO @Kai G. Llewellyn @VIR CHAMP @jpfashizzle

Thanks for the update. Happy that this reached a happy conclusion. Hope the mandamus works quickly and your visa and that of your daughter gets issued soon.

My initial reaction when reading OPs post was the same - that the giideline https://bizlegalservices.com/2023/02/17/recently-revised-cspa-policy-impact-on-consular-processing-cases/#:~:text=Applicability to Consular Processing&text=Generally speaking%2C CSPA provides a,eligible for derivative permanent residence. “As confirmed in the USCIS Policy Manual, CSPA applies to “both noncitizens abroad who are applying for an immigrant visa through the Department of State (DOS) and noncitizens physically present in the United States who are applying for adjustment of status through USCIS.” While Chapter 7 of the Policy Manual primarily focuses on the impact of CSPA on adjustment applicants, USCIS emphasizes that the “same principles generally apply to noncitizens seeking an immigrant visa through DOS.”” The same rules of AOS applies to consular processing as well. Would love to hear an update from @SPP1969 about what they learned from Hacking Immigration. I imagine it might take a few days for the lawyer to get back to them.

My knowledge on IR5s is really limited. But I got very interested when you posted the question and so I did some reading online, and everything I saw also said that your daughter was protected from Aging Out. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was this is a step daughter of a US citizen, but I doubt that makes a difference from a biological child. She is after all a derivative of an immediate relative. I did read that the way this cut off is calculated changed very recently (Feb 14 2023) so perhaps this lawyer is not up to date with the latest regulations. I agree, if you are indeed right, highly inexcusable for a lawyer to be filing out wrong advice with so much confidence. You were considering consulting another lawyer. I suggest you give Jim Hacking a call on his daily show on YouTube. I think he will find your question interesting, and would love to correct a lawyer giving bad advice.

Sorry, but how is renewing Canadian passport in the US a hassle. Curious as it may be relevant to me in the future.

US is not going to care about your country of birth not allowing dual citizenship. I assume you have DQ’d. You go to the visa interview with your home country passport and your Canadian citizenship certificate. Also upload the certificate online (same site as where you uploaded DS-260, don’t remember what it is called) before the interview. At the consulate inform them that you are now a citizen of Canada. At this time (until you renounce your original citizenship), you factually are a dual citizen. They may ask for your Canadian citizenship certificate. During the actual interview let the CO know again so they may update your DS-260 with the info. What is your country of current citizenship? Knowing that, I may be able to advise what you need to take care of on the other country side.

That’s good to know. I wasn’t aware of that, and certainly helps with them caring about me becoming a citizen. Precisely, or they are at the very last stage just waiting for oath. I seem to be the only one with zero progress…which makes me think I am REALLY far behind, and worried that I might be one of those news stories you read about of someone waiting 4 years with no sign of grant of citizenship. Yes, I really wish working for a Canadian business qualifies me to maintain my RO. Reading the wording on the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, Part 5, Division 2, Section 61 (3), “(3) For the purposes of subparagraphs 28(2)(a)(iii) and (iv) of the Act, the expression employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a province means, in relation to a permanent resident, that the permanent resident is an employee of, or under contract to provide services to, a Canadian business or the public service of Canada or of a province, and is assigned on a full-time basis as a term of the employment or contract to (a) a position outside Canada; (b) an affiliated enterprise outside Canada; or (c) a client of the Canadian business or the public service outside Canada” Being “assigned to a position outside Canada,” sounds like the company should need you to be in that country to be able to perform your job….reading some blogs by a law firm on topic also seems to be of the same opinion - that you need to be employed in a branch of the canadian company in the US or to service a client in the US… Regardless, as it stands, you are right, I still have two years of buffer, before I am in real trouble. Trying to keep my chin up. In the meantime, I will wait another 2 weeks for my GCMS notes to show up, and if I don’t get it or see any movement, I will reach out to my MP.

Thanks for the response, Kai. Yes, I am concerned about my RO running out. It is not going to run out anytime soon. I left Canada on Feb 12 2022, and spent most of the 2 years prior to that on Canadian soil (thanks COVID). So I think my RO is intact until around mid January 2025. If IRCC approves my citizenship application by then, I’m good, but any later and it will be very difficult for me to uproot myself once again and move back to canada, now with a husband in tow… Contacting my ex-MP is the only thing I haven’t done so far, mainly because I fear they won’t entertain me, not residing in their riding anymore. I guess it is worth a try…

Woohoo! Can’t say I have nearly as happy to see anyone’s approval as yours… as much as you have been unfairly tortured through this process, I hope it will fade into a distant annoying memory soon as your new life with your wife in the US is filled with happiness and joy. Congratulations!

@Kai G. Llewellyn and others on this thread, looking for some advice. I applied for my Canadian Citizenship online on Oct 31 2021. My CR1 was in process at the time, and it got approved in Dec 2021. I moved to the US to live with my spouse on Feb 12 2022. I informed IRCC of my move to the United States via webform, also in Feb 2022, and they updated my address. I also let them know that I continue to be employed by my Canadian employer. I received my AOR on Jan 27 2022, and since then there has literally been no progress on my tracker. Going into the 16th month now, and I neither have a test invite nor are any of the fields on the tracker complete. I KNOW this is highly unusual. When I call IRCC, they obviously just tell me, it is normal, and the average processing time in 24 months etc. When asked, they informed me my primary office is Sydney, secondary is Scarborough, and my file is still at the primary office. They also told me (and it’s been this way at least since August 2022) my security check is complete, but criminality is yet to complete…. And that’s it. That’s all the info they have to give me. I have requested GCMS notes thrice (earliest filing being August 2022), and have not received them. Multiple emails sent to the ATIP department have gone unanswered. IRCC agent is unable to explain why I haven’t received my GCMS notes claiming it is not their department and advising me to email them despite me saying they haven’t responded to my previous emails for 5 months. I have also sent a webform questioning the delay, and not received anything as a response. I am at a loss as to what more I can do, to move my application along. They have obviously shelved it and just not working on it… I live in the US now and really worried that if they take much longer I might not longer be eligible for Canadian citizenship at all, which really sucks… I don’t know anyone in a situation similar to me, so getting advice about this outside of this forum is very difficult. Do any of you have any ideas on what I can or should do to push things along?

Your case has been so weird. I strongly feel like the consulate somehow really messed up with you…. Like they lost your file or something egregious like that… I wish there was a way to sue them to recover damages caused… But yes, atleast I hope this means they will actively look at your case and resolve it quickly.

Truer words have not been spoken. It was your DS-5535 issuance that lead to the conception of this thread. It is heartbreaking to see people come and go, while you have been kept waiting… I too hope December will bring you your approval and you can reunite with your spouse…

Thankyou! I actually am no Canadian born and don’t yet have a Canadian passport. But I probably will soon, as my Canadian citizenship application is in progress. Yes, I am considering to wait until 5 years to apply for naturalisation to avoid any possible issues.

Exactly. This is why I mentioned it. The requirement to be living in marital union continuously for the three years prior to application of naturalisation. 4 weeks is probably not long enough to cause any issue with the naturalisation, but, if you get the strictest officer, the risk is not 0 unless the spouse travels with you. I am in a similar situation actually. I am away from my husband for 4 months as I am caring for my mother while she is treated for cancer. I maintain US residency, but an officer adjudicating my future naturalisation application may question whether I satisfy the condition of living in continuous marital union. Since 4 months is lot longer than 4 weeks, I will have to think about delaying my naturalisation application. The alternative is not delay, and give it a shot by submitting proof of medical reports justifying my need of being away, and submitting proof continued marital union in the form of messages/ call logs etc etc.

It appears staying for 4 weeks would not make you a tax resident of India. Source: https://www.ey.com/en_in/tax/india-tax-insights/stranded-in-india-due-to-covid-19-know-the-tax-implications-of-working-remotely-from-india

4 weeks is not a long time to be on vacation and outside of the US. You should not have any problems returning to the US. Ideally, your USC spouse travels with you, but even without that, you should not have any issues. I understand you are an Indian citizen, so working remotely from India should not be a problem. As for taxes, I am not sure of the laws with India. But my gut tells me no one is going to bother to demand Indian taxes from you for such a short time. To be sure, you could talk to a tax consultant… No need to justify the 4 weeks by making it “a business trip.” It is a vacation, and no problem in declaring it as such.

Well there you have it. If you go by the words of this officer, Consulate has admitted (at least in some cases) the selection for DS-5535 is random… @MikeBr Really sorry to hear you were Put into this difficult situation… you have come to the right place to get the best advice available though. I hope you get approved soon, and don’t have to resort to a WOM.

Your Indian passport does not get invalidated automatically once acquiring Canadian (or any other) citizenship. An Indian citizen has to voluntary renounce their citizenship and give up their passport. They remain a citizen until that point. The only thing is penalties apply if renouncing after certain time of acquiring the other citizenship and/ or if travel was done using the Indian passport. OP need not worry about this though, because of the grace period you mentioned. The plan is all above board…

Your plan reads to be sound. Saw your correction from US passport to Indian passport. Still a sound plan.

I am not yet to receive oath invitation.