Can you be a non-resident permanent resident?

I am a Canadian citizen and my wife is a Canadian permanent resident. We are also both American citizens. We are currently living and working in the U.S. We have no physical ties to Canada - we don't maintain a residence, no income, no property, no children living in Canada, etc.

I have a 2 part question.

a. Is it possible to be a non-resident permanent resident of Canada? We have a residence in the U.S., but since I am living with my wife, does our time living in the U.S. still count as time spent as a permanent resident in Canada?

b. If so, do we need to pay Canadian taxes?

If we were non-resident Canadian citizens, I know we would not pay Canadian taxes, but the issue is confused by the permanent resident issue. Above all else, we don't want my wife to lose her permanent residency.

Thanks in advance.

I can't answer your tax questions, because I never have had a brain for them, but as to your wife's legal status in Canada, as long as you two remain married and living together, her status in Canada is good. That is assuming she gained her PR status thru marriage to you, if she gained it some other way, I'm not sure, you'd have to check with CIC.

She will be able to maintain her PR status because she is married to a Canadian citizen, however, PR status is a residential tie for tax purposes and that will subject you both to Canadian taxation. You can't claim the foreign tax credit in Canada because under the terms of the US-Canada tax treaty a claim of permanent residence is a residential tie, so if you claim residence in both countries (which you have to as you are also US citizens resident in the US), there is no way of avoiding dual-taxation.

If you were both working for a Canadian company in the US and you weren't US citizens there would be a way around it, but the only way I can see around it in this situation is for her to obtain Canadian citizenship, assuming she meets the residency requirement for it.

What then would be the residency requirements to apply for citizenship?

She moved up to Canada in 1999 and went to school up here. We were common-law at the time.
We got married in January 2004.
She got her permanent resident card around June 2005.
We lived in Canada from Jan 1999 until Dec 2006, after which we moved to the US.

Although she does not meet the physical presence requirements (of living in Canada 3 out of the 4 years prior to the application being filed), does our time living together in the US still count towards the time needed to apply for citizenship?

Thanks again.

Not for the purposes of the regs, but an immigration judge might look upon it favourably. Given the large amount of time she has spent in Canada I'd say you might be able to convince a judge, if you can convince the judge you plan on coming back and you just don't want the hassle of applying for PR status again because of the tax issue. The judge might take pity on her.

You'd need to talk to a Canadian immigration lawyer who is more knowledgeable on the case law. Given the cost og going to court though I think she might be better off just re-applying for PR status. The judge may well say that at the end of the day. "Avoiding Canadian taxes" isn't a particularly good argument.

Any time spent residing outside of Canada does not count toward Canadian residency for citizenship application purposes, regardless if she is living with a Canadian citizen spouse.

Reba is correct.