J1 visa in the US

Dear friends,

I have been a canadian permanent resident for the past 3 years working at as a researcher in a University Hospital here.

I have applied for my citizenship a month ago, and at the same time accepted a position in clinical medicine at a University in the US. It would start in June 2012, and it will be on J1 visa (not research J1, because its formal residency training)

I have obtained something called a statement of need from Health Canada (basically its a document stating that canada needs graduates from this specialty to serve in canada, and this essential for J1 application, since I am expected to come back to the place of my last legal permanent residency, which is Canada in my case).

It gets a bit convoluted now, so please bear with me here:

I applied from Toronto to citizenship, usually it would take about 14 months-18 months until I am called in for citizenship test, and after that for the Oath:

I am worried that my J1 visa would not be issued on a multiple entry basis (This aspect is very much subjective and not objective, depending on how the consular official (US one) feels that day!! I know its hard to understand, but its totally up to his/her discretion)

If I had the bad luck of not having the multiple entry status, I would not be able to come for the citizenship test and oath, i may be able to come only ONCE, as it would be too risky coming twice, since I need to apply all over again for J1, and this might take up to a month, and if i am seeing patients on ICU service, for instance, my program would not wait for a month for me to get back there.

I am very distressed, my priority is continue my career in Canada after I am trained in the US, as I love this country, and feel that its the best environment possible for self-fulfillment and good living.

What could I do to maintain my permanent residency in Canada in case I had the misfortune of not having a multiple-entry J1? would they take in consideration my 3 years spent in canada (during which I was a fully functioning scholar, with publications in a famous Canadian institution), and in which I payed my taxes regularly for the past 3 years? Do you have any suggestion for my dilemma?

This leads me to my second question:

If i am on a non-multiple entry J1 visa, and cant leave the US, would Canada be able to renew my Permanet residency card without me being physically there to pick it up considering the risk of losing my career should I travel out of the US? Would they take this on a case-by-case basis?

And last my third question:

If i am on a j1 in the US, but I wish to pay canadian taxes (even though I am in the US), would it be possible to do so instead of paying US taxes? I dont care if its more expensive to pay Canadian taxes, since I consider Canada my country, and I might as well pay them those taxes as it would show that I am serious about maintaining my ties with Canada.

Thank you so much for your patience, help, and time.

I am worried that my J1 visa would not be issued on a multiple entry basis

There is no such thing as J1 "prisoner" status.

You are granted J1 visa for the duration of your exchange. Period. One consular application. As long as the conditions are the same, you can come and go from US as often as you wish. Nothing to do with consulate.

Even if your I-94 card is not stamped "Multiple Entry", it is considered so, and even if it id taken from you if you leave N America, a fresh I-94 will be issued upon your return, by CBP officer. Again nothing to do with your perfectly intact J1 visa.

A condition of J1 is that you will remain a tax resident of your previous country, so you have no choice but to pay Cdn taxes (and US on your US income)

And you can leave canada for 3 years without fear of losing your PR status.

You really need to get up to speed on all the misconceptions you have....

Hey Agnelson,

Thank you so much for replying my post here.

As a matter of fact, even though I am a canadian permanent resident, but reciprocity visas rules applies according my original country of citizenship since its requires a (Security Advisory Opinion), and according to reciprocity rules.

(check this website xxxxx
you will see how J1 is multiple entries for 24 months MAX, but its subjective really according to the discretion of the official)

xxxx

Here you see the canadian reciprocity table, and this note with it:
Note: Aliens who have "landed immigrant" (permanent residency) or "refugee" (asylee) status in Canada may be accorded Canadian reciprocity per 97 STATE 214113, but only if they apply in Canada and do NOT require an SAO. Such applicants who apply outside of Canada must be accorded the reciprocity of their country of nationality. Such applicants who require SAOs must be accorded the reciprocity of their country of nationality per 06 STATE 80485.


Therefore, I am still facing the risk of (imprisoned J1) is you describe it ...

Well its not imprisonment, but its very very very high risk going out of the States during the J1 duration BEYOND the multiple entry period.

What do you think? Is there anyway to plead to Canada to consider not revoking my permanent residency if I fail to show at the citizenship oath based on these circumstances?

((A condition of J1 is tha tyou will remain a tax resident of your previous country, so you hav no choice but to pay Cdn taxes.))

Does this mean that my stay in the US on j1 visa counts as presence in Canada???

Again thank you so much for your help

Its not letting me post outside links, but if you go to travel.state.gov and view the reciprocity tables for Canada then for Iran (for the J1 visa) you will see what I mean.

I really appreciate your insight and feedback

A condition of J1 is that you will remain a tax resident of your previous country, so you have no choice but to pay Cdn taxes (and US on your US income)

My only income will be my US income, do I have to pay BOTH canadian and US taxes on that? cant I just pay Canadian taxes for my US income? Excuse my ignorance. ِMy salary is 49300 dollars per year, I cant afford to pay BOTH taxes to US and CA .. nothing will remain for me

And you can leave canada for 3 years without fear of losing your PR status.

My PR expires in september 2014. It has been issed in september 2008, and since that time I have been living in Canada. I applied for citizenship, but then we come to the previous issue.

Should I not come to Canada, and comes 2014, A how will I be able to renew my PR when I am physically in the US?

Assuming A) was resolved, I need to stay in the US until 2019 to finish my specialty (its a long specialty), if a new PR was issued in 2014, it expires in 2019, and I would not have stayed a day during those new 5 years in Canada: How will I be able to renew this PR again

I am very depressed really. I dont want to lose my status in Canada, because I do not want to continue my life in the US.

My only income will be my US income, do I have to pay BOTH canadian and US taxes on that? cant I just pay Canadian taxes for my US income? Excuse my ignorance. ِMy salary is 49300 dollars per year, I cant afford to pay BOTH taxes to US and CA .. nothing will remain for me

As a Cdn resident, you have to REPORT all income. As a prson earning income in US, you have to report and pay tax on all US income. Canada will give you credit for US tax on your Cdn return, but you will have to report it, and pay a small extra tax.

You have applied for Cdn citizenship. Forget rebnewing PR, that will be taken care of by citizenship.

Your PR will expire the instant you have left for 3 year, not before and not after. The expiry date on the card does not matter in this discussion.


As to coming back to Canada for whatever process -- you do realizze that canada and US are pretty close geographically, you are not moving to the South Pole.

Hi Agnelson, thanks for your help. I wish that other senior members here would read my plight and comment.

As to coming back to Canada for whatever process -- you do realizze that canada and US are pretty close geographically, you are not moving to the South Pole.

Please read what I posted before. its not because of travel difficulty. its because of Visa issues.

I already answered that: you will get ONE J1 visa, and will be allowed to enter and leave US unlimited times on that visa, including as many visits to canada as you need/want.

AS I said, you seem not to understand the consular process, versus entry into US. You will be granted VISA at US consulte in canada ONCE, at it will last as long as you need it (up to 7 years). Did you really think that each time you left the US on vacation you needed to re-apply for Visa?! You need to get familiar with Visa process.

For that go to a "regular" immigration information site like immihelp.com, since Cdns rarely need visas. You will see that the information there will allay all your fears.

My friend did you check the websites i have provided???

Visa
Classification Fee Number of Applications Validity Period
A-1 A A A
A-2 None One 3 Months
A-3 1 None One 3 Months
B-1 None One 3 Months
B-2 None One 3 Months
B-1/B-2 None One 3 Months
C-1 None One 3 Months
C-1/D None One 3 Months
C-2 None One 3 Months
C-3 None One 3 Months
D None One 3 Months
E-1 2 B B B
E-2 2 None One 24 Months
F-1 None Multiple 24 Months C
F-2 None Multiple 24 Months C
G-1 None One 3 Months
G-2 None One 3 Months
G-3 None One 3 Months
G-4 None One 3 Months
G-5 1 None One 3 Months
H-1B None One 3 Months 3
H-1C None One 3 Months 3
H-2A None One 3 Months 3
H-2B None One 3 Months 3
H-2R None One 3 Months 3
H-3 None One 3 Months 3
H-4 None One 3 Months 3
I None One 3 Months
J-1 4 None Multiple 24 Months C (24 months is the number of multiple entries)
J-2 4 None Multiple 24 Months C
K-1 None One 6 Months
K-2 None One 6 Months
K-3 None One 6 Months

I am not doubting your answers. thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I am merely asking about this since I know that people are issued the mutliple entry (maximum limit is for 24 months)