shawaz

Hi, after four years of waiting and two sets of medicals my family and I have just been issued with our COPR forms. According to our approval letter we have until the end of this year to enter Canada. We plan on going in October, as the kids are off school for a week. According to what I have read, we need to stay in Canada for at least two years(730 days) within five years to gain our Canadian citizenship. My question is, can we just visit Canada in October for a week, and then perhaps visit again for the same period next year? After which if we really want to move we can then sell the house and go. When we go in October, do we have to stay there continuously for the 730 days or can we come and go? If we can come and go as we like (as long as we stay there for the required period), what is the main purpose of going before the end of the year from an immigration prospective? Many thanks for your help.

AdrianR

Welcome to Canada, eh?

You can come and go as you please, as long as you stay 2 years, cumulatively, in the five years after Landing as PR.

Just be careful in that you may end up in a situation where you are in Canada and unable to leave, even in case of emergency, for fear of not completing the required time.

Siouxie

You need to reside in Canada for 730 days out of each 5 year period beginning on the day you 'land' to retain your PR status. When you land, you activate your PR status - the COPR is what you activate and until you do so you are not PR's - and you must 'land' within the time frame given or your COPR will expire and you would have to reapply and start from scratch again.

Yes, you can 'come and go' providing you meet the minimum requirements to retain your PR status. Be aware though, that you should give yourself at least a month or two leeway over the minimum so as to ensure you can leave in an emergency situation such as a relative being ill.

You will not become Citizens until you have actually resided in Canada for a period of 3 years.

If you really want to move? Did you not decide this already? You are not going to be able to decide based on a week in Canada if you haven't already done so!

magnumpi

As its been said above, just to make sure you are clear, you must be physically in Canada for the two years out of five, not just coming and going for the two years. And yes they will want proof, as in copies of your passport pages.

Don't loose the COPR when you do get your PR card, it's needed forever !!

& Congrats :@)

shawaz

Thank you all for your very quick replies.

Do we want to move? That's a good and a very tough question. We've never been there for sure and both my wife & I have good well jobs here in the Uk. However, we just feel that we need to give our kids an alternative option.

Over the years, we have seen unemployment here go up, a decline in the NHS, and immigration issues, hence we started looking at moving abroad. For these and other reasons we'd like to explore Canada and see what the country has to offer. Perhaps visit it over the next 3 years and then make a firm decision. Everyone we have spoken to loves the place and has said that we would be fools not to move. I guess, we'll take it one step at a time and as we now finally have our COPRs we have at least 3 years to decide.

Just to confirm though, am I correct in interpreting the above i.e. we need to be in Canada for 730 days continuously to be eligible for Canadian Citizenship? Or can we make up the two years in the next 5 by going several times.

Thanks again.

SchnookoLoly

Be careful about leaving it right until the last 2 years... things like holidays, emergencies, etc all count against your 730 days. Maybe think of it more like going in 2 years, and then it gives you 365 days of "leeway" in case anything comes up. You don't want to end up landlocked and completely unable to leav Canada because you haven't allowed enough time.

Not quite. There are two separate things here: Permanent Residency and Citizenship. They are not the same thing.

PR gives you full right to live and work in Canada. You have a card that says you are a PR. You cannot vote or run for office. You are still a citizen of your home country. To maintain your PR, you have to be in Canada for a total of 730 days in a 5-year period. So if you land let's say on 15 December 2013, to maintain your PR you will have to have evidence of at least 730 days in Canada between 15 December 2013 and 14 December 2018. Any 730 days in that time period is fine.

Citizenship happens afterwards. Citizenship is then when you can carry a Canadian passport, and you become a Canadian citizen. To apply for citizenship, you have to be in Canada as a PR for 3 years in a 4 year period. So once you've re-qualified as a PR, you can look at citizenship further down the line.

HTH.

magnumpi

730 days is to keep PR only.....you may come and go within the five years of your COPR start date.

If after five years you have not physically spent 730 days or more on Canadian soil then you loose your PR status.

Citizenship is a longer period and even longer wait !!! (Just think PR for the time being)

shawaz

Thanks again to everyone who has provided advice. It is very much appreciated and has clarified a number of points now.

We booked last night and will be flying out to Toronto in Oct for 10 days - really looking forward to it, but just hope its not too cold!

orly

If it's "normal" it'll likely not be snowing yet and the temps will be single digits. If it's a cold spell it'll be in the minus single digits. Not too bad.

SchnookoLoly

Average temperature for Toronto in October is a high of 14 and a low of 7. http://www.worldweatheronline.com/To...ntario/CA.aspx ... I think orly is giving you a very pessimistic view of the weather...

taylor26

Congrats in gaining PR.

I must say I am confused why you would have gone through the trouble to gain PR if you have never been to Canada.

To come here on a whim to see if you like it is strange.

What stream did you apply under?

shawaz

Hi and thank you.

We applied under the federal skilled worker program a few years back.

I guess the reason behind it was that we just wanted to keep our options open. I know it sounds a little crazy, but we visted an overseas immigration exhibition and it all started from there. Having put in our initial application via a specialist consultant who closed shop, we just carried on with the process and 5 years down the line here we are! I guess we've just kept putting off going until we received our PR status.