Acquiring US citizenship during Canadian PR process

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cancc
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:17 am

Acquiring US citizenship during Canadian PR process

Post by cancc »

My background: I am an Indian citizen, and have been a US permanent resident for more than 6 years. Even though I am eligible to apply for citizenship now, I haven't done so yet. In the meantime I applied for Canadian PR in July 2006 and have just received the request for medical exams and FBI records.

As I understand it, if I do the medicals now I will have to land in Canada as a PR by around this time next year (assuming I get the PR visa by then). Although I am eager to move to Canada I am also concerned about losing my US GC as a result and not being able to visit the US without going through visa and other immigration hassles. I suppose the best thing to do would be to apply for citizenship before I move to Canada. That would also be a good fallback if Canada doesn't work out for some reason. My question though is: can I apply for US citizenship now without affecting the Canadian PR process? I supplied my Indian passport information to them during the application process. If I become a US citizen before they ask for my passport for visa stamping, would it be OK to give them my Indian passport? Or do I have to notify them of my new citizenship and give them a US passport? Would that cause problems with the PR process?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
nelsona
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Post by nelsona »

There is no problem with what you propose. Canada doesn't care about what other citizenships you try to get.

By the wat. landing in Canada is a mere formality, there is no requirement the you establish a residence there for upto 3 years after your landing date, so I would not worry about the time factor in getting US citizenship -- but you should get this started soon.

There is no conflict in persuing both statuses at the same time.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
cancc
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:17 am

Post by cancc »

Nelsona,

Thanks for your reply. From what you said I understand that it is OK to pursue US citizenship in parallel with Canadian PR. What is your opinion about the passport issue though? If I don't get my US citizenship before the Canadian visa stamping, there is no problem. But what if I get it before the stamping? Can I use the old Indian passport or do I have to get a new US passport to send to Canadian immigration?
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

A I said, you will use whatever passport is valid at the time Canada asks for it, canada doesn't care. If your Indian passport remains valid, you may continue to use it. If (and you would know better than me) getting US citizenship (never mind passport) invalidates your Indian citizenship, then you can't very well use that invalidated passport when dealing with Canada, can you?
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
cancc
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:17 am

Post by cancc »

I guess that clears it all up. Thanks for the replies!
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