bringing Mom back to live in canada

[Melodie]

My Mom was born in America,and lives there presently,but was married to my Dad who is a Canadian for over 20 years.They divorced over ten years ago,and My mom moved back to the U.S.
She told me that she is still a Canadian citizen,but my dad told me she was an immigrant.
Regardless of who's right or wrong(guess this is why they divorced haha) Mom's health went on the decline,and I would like to move her up to BC to live with my spouse and I.
Should I just smuggle her over the border as a visitor and deal with paperwork once she is here or should I apply for citizenship now?
Help!We are planning on having her here for November 2013 so I don;t have a lot of time.
I am going ot pack her house up and moving it all in a uhaul,with her vehicle towed on the back.A friend told me to have her travel up seperately....
Thank you!
Melodie

 

[Rob_TO]

If your mom became a citizen she would have had to take a citizenship test, and gone through the whole citizenship ceremony. This is not something one would forget, and becoming a citizen does not simply happen automatically. If she didn't do this, then she was probably just a PR.

If she was a PR, then by living in the US for 10 years she would have lost her PR status. If this is the case then she now has no status in Canada.

When coming across the border, she would need to come as a visitor and will most likely just get a 6 month visitor visa. She would then need to apply to extend the visa every 6 months, and in case she is not able to extend it she would need to return to the US.

Sponsorship for parents is temporarily suspended right now so this is not an option for you. Plus even when open, this process takes an incredibly long time for processing (like over 5 years).

Your best bet is most likely the supervisa, which i believe can be done in a couple months time. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/supervisa.asp . A supervisa is good for 10 years with renewals every 2 years. Private health insurance is required for parents visiting Canada on supervisas.

However in any case (unless she really is a citizen), your mom will not be covered for BC provincial health care, so with declining health she should have a good private insurance plan or be prepared to spend a small fortune in doctor bills.

It sounds too like you could be in for a rough time in trying to get all her possessions and car to Canada. If she is only a visitor she is not allowed to "move" up here, and if she states to the border officer she intends to "move" or "live" in Canada, there is a good chance she will be rejected entry and turned back to the US. And if you try to move it up yourself and claim it's all your own, immigration will treat everything as if you purchased it so you'll owe duties/taxes on everything. Again though if she is truly a citizen and not expired-PR, then she would be able to move all her stuff to Canada for free. So its very important you confirm this fact.

 

[scylla]

What Rob_TO said. If your mother applied for citizenship and took the citizenship oath while she was still living in Canada years ago with her ex husband - then she is a citizen and can live in Canada (and move all of her stuff up here).

Otherwise her PR status is long gone and she doesn't qualify to apply for citizenship either. The most she can do is visit (note that she won't have access to free health care so you should be prepared to pay for her health care out of pocket which is going to be very expensive). If she's coming as a visitor, she certainly can't come up here with all of her personal belonging. That will be a huge red flag to immigration and could result in a denied entry.

If your mother is not a citizen and you want her to move to Canada permanently, then you should wait until CIC starts accepting parent sponsorship applications again in early 2014. She'll need to pass a medical and you will need to meet the minimum income cut off (you will be financially responsilble for her for 20 years after she lands). As Rob_TO said, expect the processing for this application to take years.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

If she was a PR, then by living in the US for 10 years she would have lost her PR status. If this is the case then she now has no status in Canada.

Correct me if I'm wrong but one doesn't lose PR status unless they formally renounce it or it is revoked by CIC. That would mean if she was a PR, she would still be one, albeit one who doesn't meet the residency requirement.

 

[wowsers]

What Rob_TO said. If your mother applied for citizenship and took the citizenship oath while she was still living in Canada years ago with her ex husband - then she is a citizen and can live in Canada (and move all of her stuff up here).

If your mother is not a citizen and you want her to move to Canada permanently, then you should wait until CIC starts accepting parent sponsorship applications again in early 2014. She'll need to pass a medical and you will need to meet the minimum income cut off (you will be financially responsilble for her for 20 years after she lands). As Rob_TO said, expect the processing for this application to take years.

Bear in mind that if you (Melodie) apply in the future to sponsor your mother as a permanent resident the application may be affected by Regulation 38(1)(c) (refusal on the grounds of excessive demand on health services). It might be wise to read Deol v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration 2002 FCA 271, a judicial review case on appeal. Amongst other things it decided that an undertaking to pay for health services does not overcome the difficulties of Regulation 38(1)(c) because a person cannot waive the right to publicly funded health services. If I remember correctly there is other authority admitting a parent as a PR on compassionate and humanitarian grounds notwithstanding excessive demand, which might apply in your case. However it seems to me that you need advice on the matter from a Canadian lawyer with experience of immigration law. I am not one, but it seems to me that sponsorship of your mother as a PR when it again becomes possible would be fraught with difficulty

 

[Rob_TO]

Correct me if I'm wrong but one doesn't lose PR status unless they formally renounce it or it is revoked by CIC. That would mean if she was a PR, she would still be one, albeit one who doesn't meet the residency requirement.

I'm curious then how border services treats these kinds of cases, where a PR leaves Canada for well over the allowed time to maintain PR.

When they try to enter Canada again, do they enter as a PR with an expired or no PR card, in which case they would need to face a judicial review almost immediately resulting in their PR getting revoked and then being deported? I assume border services would see on their system that they are a PR if the status was not automatically changed, and would not allow them to enter as a visa-exempt visitor?

 

[scylla]

Technically, she MIGHT be able to obtain a new PR card if:

- her PR status hasn't already been revoked
- she manages to enter Canada without being reported by immigration officials
- she manages to remain in Canada for two years straight without leaving and then applies to renew her PR card

One caveat is that she won't be able to obtain free health care during these two years (because she will have no way of proving that she is a PR) and will have to pay for any care out of pocket and purchase insurance to cover any emergencies.

 

[truesmile]

Ooh 'canuck_in_UK' might be onto something here. Were you gonna be driving your Mom across the border? Here's a test of Canadian bureaucracy . . . see if you can drive her across quietly (simply as a US visitor) and see what they say (if anything). And if they say nothing, she stays in Canada for 2 years and then tries to "renew" her PR card. (Assuming she has one and can find it.)

Ah, I see that's kind'a what was just posted . . .

 

[screech339]

I am a little disappointed in the comments on here. If the mom has canadian citizenship, all the better, she can move her stuff to Canada. However if she only had PR status, she lost them due to not meeting her Canadian residency requirement. And I am appalled that you are trying to encourage her to move her mom and wait two years to circumvent the PR rules? She lost it. She cannot get it back. She would have to go through PR sponsorship again as she has no status. There is a reason why PR have a residency requirement. Its call permanent for a reason. It was her mom's choice that she moved back to US. It is obvious that she has no desire to stay tied to Canada. And now that she is sick, she want to go back and take advantage of our medical care?

Sorry that if your mom was a PR, she lost it. She would have to go through sponsorship when it becomes available. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You reap what you sow. Your mom will have to live with the consequences of her choice of abandoning her PR status. I suspects she now regrets making this move as a former PR.

Screech339

 

[truesmile]

Hey, I'm totally with you IF that's what the "rules" say. There however might be validity to the point, "you don't lose PR unless it is specifically revoked by CIC". I don't know, but I'm betting there is (validity). This wouldn't be breaking the rules, it would just be another loophole no worse than a person 'inside Canada' applying outland (which if the loopholes allow it, then good on us for finding it).

Honestly I don't think she knows what she has, let alone having to find that 'PR card' . . .

 

[Rob_TO]

This wouldn't be breaking the rules, it would just be another loophole no worse than a person 'inside Canada' applying outland (which if the loopholes allow it, then good on us for finding it).

Applying outland while being in Canada is not a loophole, since the CIC specifically states in their guide for people to do this where possible.

Trying to sneak someone into Canada as a visitor and hoping nobody notices they are really a PR, in order to renew an 10-yr expired PR card... is being deliberately deceptive.

 

[screech339]

Hey, I'm totally with you IF that's what the "rules" say. There however might be validity to the point, "you don't lose PR unless it is specifically revoked by CIC". I don't know, but I'm betting there is (validity). This wouldn't be breaking the rules, it would just be another loophole no worse than a person 'inside Canada' applying outland (which if the loopholes allow it, then good on us for finding it).

Honestly I don't think she knows what she has, let alone having to find that 'PR card' . . .

Well it is going to be hard to prove that you lived in Canada without filing income tax while you have been filing US taxes with US address for the last 10 years. With Canada now sharing info with US on who are in each other's country, Canada is going to notice that she been out of Canada for 10 years living in US all this time. The onus is on the person to prove to CIC that they have been maintaining legal PR status. With the crackdown on the abuse, I wouldn't be surprised if they will notice that the mom has been out of Canada all this time. Plus without filing Canadian taxes for last 10 years they are going notice that missing piece of information and as a PR supposely be in Canada for 3 years out of 5 years to maintain it. They are likely going to want to see her income tax filings for the last 5 years. When they see that she hasn't filed any, they will not grant her PR status.

Screech339

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I'm curious then how border services treats these kinds of cases, where a PR leaves Canada for well over the allowed time to maintain PR.

When they try to enter Canada again, do they enter as a PR with an expired or no PR card, in which case they would need to face a judicial review almost immediately resulting in their PR getting revoked and then being deported? I assume border services would see on their system that they are a PR if the status was not automatically changed, and would not allow them to enter as a visa-exempt visitor?

Me as well. I would imagine that given the length of time she has been gone, she would be reported at the border, so she would be allowed to enter as a PR but would lose her status at the review 30 days later and have to leave.

Also curious to see what would happen if the OP tries parent sponsorship in Jan 2014 or applies for a supervisa. CIC would see that the mother was a PR but had been out of Canada for 10 years; I'm guessing that they would return the application and start proceedings to revoke the original PR status. Once the original PR status has been revoked, they could apply again.

Or alternatively, the mother could renounce her previous PR status so they could apply again sooner.

Of course, this is all assuming that the mother WAS a PR in the first place, as it seems they don't actually know what her status was.

 

[screech339]

She can apply for a search of record to confirm that her mother is Canadian or PR. It will cost money but at least she will get an answer on her mother's actual status in Canada. Not sure what's the website link is. My brother's mother-in-law had to search for a record of her official landing as her mother lost the documents/proof. This was needed in order to prove she was qualified for canada pension benefits when she plan to retire.

Screech339

 

[Melodie]

Thank you for all your replies.
Some helpful,some just rude.
Mom had personal reasons for moving back to the u.s.
She is not coming back here to milk our healthcare system,which she paid into for over 20 odd years,as it turns out,not a Canadian Citizen.
With that being said,she is better health wise,and just simply wants to move back to Canada to live with me,her youngest daughter.
NOT Take advantage of the healthcare!
I do have a meeting with an immigrant lawyer,and we will be applying for her PR status.
But until then,she is coming over as a visitor.
Not to be racist,but she isn't a refugee from a third world country.
She fell in love and married a Canadian man, had 2 Canadian children and worked her butt off,paid taxes and owned real estate here for over 20 years.
She deserves her CPP and she deserves to live here again.
Sorry,had to get that off my chest!!We are going to be completely legal and open about the whole situation.
Thanx guys!