Trish30

You need at least 1095 days (3 years) physical presence in Canada to be eligible for citizenship in the past five years on the date of your application. Two years 8 months is not enough to qualify you for citizenship. You can maintain your PR by being physically present in Canada for 2 years in five as mentioned, but you will almost certainly have to prove that you were there when you renew your PR card in Canada by completing a Residency Questionnaire for CIC.

The RQ looks at your ties to Canada as well as your physical presence. Things like, do you have any of the following in Canada: a bank account, a permanent home, a job, where your car is registered, where your driver's license is, location of family. Being a LPR in the US is not going to help your case with CIC, I'm afraid.

The other thing to bear in mind is that you can't leave the US for more than 6 months without putting your LPR status in the US at serious risk. You can apply for a "returning resident" permit in the US, but you need to be able to demonstrate your intent to return to the US after, say 9 months or a year. They'll be looking for ownership of property, family ties, etc., just like the CIC is looking for with the Residency Questionnaire. It is very difficult to maintain PR status in both countries, although I know of someone who has managed it for 10 years through maintaining a business and residences on both sides of the border.

- Steve's wife.

Thanks a lot Steve's wife, have some serious thinking to do now.

You have to spend a minimum of 2 years out of every 5 in Canada to maintain permanent residency.

Thanks Malrothein, I received mail from Citizenship canada saying that the process will take 12/15 months, so

I don't need to go to Canada right ?

If you are a CDN PR you must remain 'physically' in Canada for 2 out of 5 years, unless you yourself work outside of Canada for the Canadian Government. Or, if you are married to a Canadian citizen you can live anywhere in the world for as long as you would like....and still maintain your residency obligation. I'm guessing though that since you have an IR1 Visa that your spouse is American.

If you applied for your Canadian Citizenship before you left you should be fine since you have been in Canada for 6 years as a PR....which A) qualifies you to apply to become a citz and B) even if you left in November....you can remain outside for a while since they take the past 5 years as of the day they receive application.

Thanks brocku I was traveling most of the time, physically I lived in canada for 2years 8 months, what do you suggest I do now ? do

I need to go back to Canada for sometime to maintain my PR ?

Hi All.

I seriously need some advise., I Lived in Canada for 6 years and am a Permanent Resident , and I moved to the US on IR1 visa around November 2009, applied

for Canadian citizenship before I received my US Visa. Am very much keen on getting Canadian citizenship.

My question is do I have to travel to Canada every 6 months to keep my PR active ??? or is there any other way ???

Any suggestions ?????

igg...... no worries and wish you all the best.

Uh yeah... I think the last batch was December 3rd. They are/should be scheduling as we speak. I would LOVE to hear some good news of that ilk too...

Sorry MissMystery for derailing your happy thread.

Thanks everyone for your wishes, and sorry for not posting my POE experience earlier.

Well I am happy to say that it went very smoothly, no question asked, we sat for like 15/20 mins

while the officer checked the documents in the sealed envelope. After he was done with checking

my documents I was called for fingerprinting that's all.

Finally! Congratulations!

Yes Finally!!!!!!!

Thanks

Awh, congrats Missmystery! Glad to hear you finally have the visa in hand, and may your POE experience and drive go smoothly.

Thanks

I hops so too, will definitely update my experience.

Excellent! Atlanta needs more Canadians!

Where in the ATL are you moving to? We're in Cobb County near Marietta

[/quote

You Bet

I will be moving to Buckhead

Wow, Friday, better get a packing! That's terrific, where are you going to Missmystery? Or is that a mystery

Well let us know how your POE goes and have a wonderful trip

My hubby lives in Atlanta but right now he is on a project in Pittsburg (Pennsylvania), we will be driving, sure will definately

update about my POE experience, hope it goes smooth.

Thanks

Yes, congratulations - that's almost 2 months! Happy to hear you finally have it! When are you moving?

Thanks trailmix yes almost 2 months .. God wat a long wait

I am moving on Friday.

Thanks for your support .

Congrats, Missmystery! Any reason given for the holdup?

Thanks No reasons were given, but I am still happy to get the visa after waiting for more than a month.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you receive it very soon!

oh let me know how it goes... have you contacted DOS or called the Consulate?

Thanks, I hope so too, my hubby got in touch with the congressperson but no updates yet.

Received my Visa today Thank God!!!!! sooooooooooooooooo happpyyyyyy at last can have a normal life

Thanks everyone for your support

Yes my hubby called DOS and they were not helpful all they said was they didnt receive any update so far from the consulate, and there is no operator

service when you call the consulate only recorded. Going crazy dunno what to do.

I got my passport today in the mail... two days after they finally responded to my email. I wrote in the heading... urgent ugent case number urgent... and the responded to me a few hours later. So try and put urgent like 5 times in your email and maybe they will get the point. I am so relieved

Congrats and thanks ... I will do that right now and will update you if i get any feedback from them. thanks again

U r not Eligible to apply for a tourist visa when ur immigration proceedure is pending , so its bettr to hang in with ur CR1 visa and wait for that , Best of luck

From my personal experience NO, my hubby is in the US and I applied for visitors visa and the lady who interviewed me asked me whom are you going to visit,

I replied my hubby, immediately she scribbled something and gave me a pink slip and said sorry you dont qualify for Visitors visa and its meant for people

who plan on comming back, and since you hubby is in the US you have no reason to come back.

its been more than a month now & still no sign of my visa....so frustrated

Sorry to hear that. Hope you receive it very soon!

oh let me know how it goes... have you contacted DOS or called the Consulate?

Thanks, I hope so too, my hubby got in touch with the congressperson but no updates yet.

Yes my hubby called DOS and they were not helpful all they said was they didnt receive any update so far from the consulate, and there is no operator

service when you call the consulate only recorded. Going crazy dunno what to do.

I got my passport today in the mail... two days after they finally responded to my email. I wrote in the heading... urgent ugent case number urgent... and the responded to me a few hours later. So try and put urgent like 5 times in your email and maybe they will get the point. I am so relieved

Congrats and thanks ... I will do that right now and will update you if i get any feedback from them. thanks again

its been more than a month now & still no sign of my visa....so frustrated

Sorry to hear that. Hope you receive it very soon!

oh let me know how it goes... have you contacted DOS or called the Consulate?

Thanks, I hope so too, my hubby got in touch with the congressperson but no updates yet.

Yes my hubby called DOS and they were not helpful all they said was they didnt receive any update so far from the consulate, and there is no operator

service when you call the consulate only recorded. Going crazy dunno what to do.

its been more than a month now & still no sign of my visa....so frustrated

Sorry to hear that. Hope you receive it very soon!

Thanks, I hope so too, my hubby got in touch with the congressperson but no updates yet.

Hi there,

So sorry to hear how long it's taking, but I'm sure everything is okay and it's just a delay on Montreal's end! I have a feeling you will get your Visa today or tomorrow. I know how it feels to worry about it and have problems sleeping and eating, I wish the Consulate and it's employees knew what a toll it takes on us! So, I hope to read your post today or tomorrow with the good news and then you can have a few drinks to celebrate and relax!

Thanks for your message dear, I did track my xpress post but still not posted so no chance of me getting it today.

Still praying for some good news.

Thanks again

I sent my passport back to the Consulate on Dec 1... now the waiting game begins. I wrote them a note when I sent it back and have sent a few emails saying that I have plans to move Dec 27th. I hope it comes soon, I to keep checking Canada Post to see if it has been sent but nothing I know you have been waiting a lot longer but this is torture....

I am so fedup of this waiting game, well as per them i was to receive my visa by nov 20th and accordingly we gave letter to our apt officials

that we will be vacating the apartment by Nov 30th, but lucky for us we were allowed to extend for more 15 days (till dec15th) as someone

already signed up the apartment for renting from 16th dec... I am trying to find a place to move but cant sign a contract as am so unsure

about my situation, so I am planning to rent some furnished place where I can pay weekly or monthly no contracts etc..

Any idea whats the max period they can hold the passport for visa purpose ?

Hope you get yr PP soon so do I.

I don't think there is a max, per se, but we were told that it would take 4-6 weeks for them to process once received. We haven't sent in our additional proof of domicile yet, but we are planning to do it when there is a six week window when we don't need my husband's passport. It is very inconvenient not to have your passport for six weeks, though!

its been more than a month now & still no sign of my visa....so frustrated

Hi there,

So sorry to hear how long it's taking, but I'm sure everything is okay and it's just a delay on Montreal's end! I have a feeling you will get your Visa today or tomorrow. I know how it feels to worry about it and have problems sleeping and eating, I wish the Consulate and it's employees knew what a toll it takes on us! So, I hope to read your post today or tomorrow with the good news and then you can have a few drinks to celebrate and relax!

Thanks for your message dear, I did track my xpress post but still not posted so no chance of me getting it today.

Still praying for some good news.

Thanks again

I sent my passport back to the Consulate on Dec 1... now the waiting game begins. I wrote them a note when I sent it back and have sent a few emails saying that I have plans to move Dec 27th. I hope it comes soon, I to keep checking Canada Post to see if it has been sent but nothing I know you have been waiting a lot longer but this is torture....

I am so fedup of this waiting game, well as per them i was to receive my visa by nov 20th and accordingly we gave letter to our apt officials

that we will be vacating the apartment by Nov 30th, but lucky for us we were allowed to extend for more 15 days (till dec15th) as someone

already signed up the apartment for renting from 16th dec... I am trying to find a place to move but cant sign a contract as am so unsure

about my situation, so I am planning to rent some furnished place where I can pay weekly or monthly no contracts etc..

Any idea whats the max period they can hold the passport for visa purpose ?

Hope you get yr PP soon so do I.

Hi there,

So sorry to hear how long it's taking, but I'm sure everything is okay and it's just a delay on Montreal's end! I have a feeling you will get your Visa today or tomorrow. I know how it feels to worry about it and have problems sleeping and eating, I wish the Consulate and it's employees knew what a toll it takes on us! So, I hope to read your post today or tomorrow with the good news and then you can have a few drinks to celebrate and relax!

Thanks for your message dear, I did track my xpress post but still not posted so no chance of me getting it today.

Still praying for some good news.

Thanks again

I can't offer too much, but I wanted to say that Atlanta is waiting for you! It's a good place to live - we like it at least!

Thanks we so wanted to celebrate christmas in Atlanta and still hoping, rest is up to God.

Well am soooooooooooooooo worried at this point, can't sleep, cant eat just thinking about my visa 24/7 its going to be a month since my

interview and have still not received my visa

Did your Husband get in touch with his congressperson yet Missmystery? If so, you should be getting some sort of response soon.

Trailmix

My Hubby is from Atlanta (GA) currently in California, he can only fly back to atlanta next week.

Hope to get some feedback then.

Is there anything in your application that would lead you to believe that you could be denied? You never mentioned what additional document you had to send to them. They are backed up with cases and they are busy. As some people have mentioned, some have waited at least 4 weeks to get their visa returned.

So the answer to your question is yes, of course, they can deny you after the interview - but if it's not likely in your case, I would not worry about that. I would take Flames advice and contact the congressperson of the U.S. citizen or try sending your email from another address.

Thanks for your reply, after my interview which went just fine they said i would receive my visa in a weeks times and its more than 3 weeks thats why I am worried. Well the additional document asked was my Hubbys previous divorce papers which he faxed to them the very next day of my interview.

My hubby will try to get in touch with the congress person ASAP

Thanks for replying

Well am soooooooooooooooo worried at this point, can't sleep, cant eat just thinking about my visa 24/7 its going to be a month since my

interview and have still not received my visa

Is there anything in your application that would lead you to believe that you could be denied? You never mentioned what additional document you had to send to them. They are backed up with cases and they are busy. As some people have mentioned, some have waited at least 4 weeks to get their visa returned.

So the answer to your question is yes, of course, they can deny you after the interview - but if it's not likely in your case, I would not worry about that. I would take Flames advice and contact the congressperson of the U.S. citizen or try sending your email from another address.

Thanks for your reply, after my interview which went just fine they said i would receive my visa in a weeks times and its more than 3 weeks thats why I am worried. Well the additional document asked was my Hubbys previous divorce papers which he faxed to them the very next day of my interview.

My hubby will try to get in touch with the congress person ASAP

Thanks for replying

Ur options:

1) get the USA citizen to contact their congress person and have them inquire for you. Should be a real easy thing for them to do. And they like easy!!

2) email Mtl daily with ur case # in the subject line!! maybe send it from a different email, ie hotmail, as maybe its getting caught up in the server

Thanks a lot Flames my hubby will try to get in touch with the congress person ASAP

I would not worry too much. When I was waiting for a response I emailed many times and never got a response. Then one day I got a letter in the mail saying I was denied. I'm sure you'll be fine with what you sent in but don't be too concerned if you dont hear anything. It took them 4 weeks to get my letter back.

While I don't believe you can appear in person to inquire, there's no harm in emailing again. Be sure to list your case number in the Subject line, and keep your email short and to the point. Calling could possibly render you an answer too, though I don't know how much the consulate shares info with NVC after the interview stage.

As Inky said, though, it can take a couple of weeks for them to even process the information you fax them, and then time after that to render a decision, then deal with the Post. Montreal is extremely backlogged right now, and it takes awhile to do anything.

But certainly, inquire politely on the status of your case, include your case number, and hopefully you'll hear word soon.

Good luck.

Thanks guys

Well I am really nervous now its more than 3 weeks and I have still not received my visa, send so many emails asking for the update

but no reply am going insane

Thanks for your reply. Can I be denied after getting approved ? my husband faxed the documents and also courriered the same... waiting again.