Moving, working, but retaining citizenship.

JoshBailey
New Member



Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Denver

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:06 am

 

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Hello! I've been doing some research on my particular situation and I feel I understand some of the laws involved, but I was hoping for more specific advice when I stumbled upon this forum.

I'm a U.S. citizen and a friend of mine is a Canadian citizen. We're looking for a shorter term solution to help with a long term goal. Ultimately, I'm planning on becoming a resident/citizen of Canada, but that's a few years down the line. I still have to finish my current degree (apx. 2 years) and I recently bought a house, so I'm looking to stay for a handful of years (3-5) before I move.

In the mean time, she's just finished with her current degree (a bach of English Lit). She's looking to wait a while before getting a masters (from another Canadian university), but in the mean time she's interested in living and working in the U.S. Mainly, it's just to be closer to each other but working will also provide her with some more experience before she goes back to university.

So here's the play-by-play. She wants to move here and be able to work, whether on the payroll or within an internship position. She'd ideally stay here until I could move back with her to Canada. So she needs to be able to work, but she needs to also retain her Canadian citizenship.

The two broad solutions I've found are either obtaining a green card or obtaining TN status. The green card seems easier to deal with instead of the year-by-year of the TN, but probably takes considerably longer to get. Is this the case? Also, will a green card threaten her Canadian citizenship? The TN seems like it'll be harder to get strictly because of the job limitations. She's considering looking for a library internship position, but is this allowable under the librarian position listed for the TN? She's not going to be an intern librarian, but rather just working for the library. Furthermore, she doesn't have a MLS or BLS degree. Other jobs are possible too, but that's at the top of the list as it's most obtainable in our current situation.

Any help on this matter is appreciated, as is any personal experience with the whole TN/green card debate.

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Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1592
Location: Calgary

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:07 pm

 

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You can't lose citizenship unless you formally renounce it. You certainly can get library internship under TN-1, someone posted on here the other day who has it. You can be an "archival specialist" or something! Bachelor's is enough. Indeed she can get H-1B fairly easily if it's an academic institution. If she doesn't want to be a librarian that would probably be the best bet but it's a lot more paperwork than TN-1.

Might even be able to get J-1 depending on the job.

Another option would be to do her master's in the US and get a job working at the same place she's doing the degree as you can get work authorization as a student, have a look at the I-765 application.
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Steve.

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JoshBailey
New Member



Joined: 29 Jul 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Denver

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 12:30 pm

 

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Excellent! There are more options than I realized. We looked into the master's programs around here, but apparently you need proof that you can pay your entire program's tuition from the get-go, even though they keep to the standard semester billing cycle. Well, that's for international students, at any rate. Do you know if she'd still be considered international with a green card?

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Steven
CanuckAbroad VIP



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 1592
Location: Calgary

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:24 am

 

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I can't remember off-hand but there's some time limit like 5 years or so before you can qualify for financial aid, so she would be treated as an international student up to that point.

I knew a guy from Iceland who got a green card under the diversity lottery and he had to pay full tuition each semester.
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Steve.

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Reba
Moderator


Canuck in NC

Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 1451
Location: North Carolina

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:07 am

 

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Depends on the school actually. If she's just got a student visa of some sort (which is not permanent resident/green card) then she's an international and would pay out of state tuitions. If she's a permanent resident, most likely she'd pay local tuitions.

Check with school before registration. Most of them will have it on their website.
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