Tmp move to Canada, How to Keep GC and 'Cont'd Res' Rule

Hello,

I have seen a similar post in this forum and my situation is similar but slightly different.

I am a Canadian citizen and have my greencard since 2007. Currently layed off due to economic conditions.

One plan I have is to move back to Canada for about 1 year; stay with my folks and study to get in to graduate school for fall of next year back in California which is where I currently live. So even when I move back to Canada temporarily, I don't intend to work and I still own a house (that I will rent out) in the US. (so I still have all my ties in the US.)

I know about the basic laws of keeping my greencard and its nuances; my issue is how to keep the "continuing residency" for when I apply for US Citizenship. (which I am eligible to in 2012) Basically the naturalization piece of the law says this:

Be physically present in the United States for at least one half of the five years (or one half of three if spouse is a citizen), with no absences longer than six months;

I realize even if I apply for the I131 (re-entry) permit, it would break the 'continuing residency' criteria and I don't want to reset the residency longer than the usual 5 years after one gets a green card.

In Canada, I will live in a drivable distance to the US border, should I just drive across the border every 2 months for the year while I am in Canada?!

Questions:

Whats my reason to the customs officer? I'm cross border shopping?!

Should I rent a place or a mail box in the border state to mimick that I am living there??!

I hope I was clear in my explanation and questions.

Any advice / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Well what you're asking is how do you fool CBP, and it's impossible to answer a question which is designed to deceive someone. What the regs say is if you're out of the country for more than six months then the clock resets, it's that simple.

I have to say having seen people ask this question a lot of times before on here, they never remember the tax situation which is also mentioned in the LPR rulebook they give you. You can't move your tax home out of the US while you are an LPR, if you do you will lose your LPR status. And the CRA simply won't believe that a Canadian employed in Canada who spends most of their time is not resident for tax purposes either, so it's just a complete non-starter to try and do this just because of the tax situation.

Unless of course you enjoy paying taxes and are okay with being taxed twice.

The only mention of tax forms in the CBP field manual is to ask LPRs if they've filed Form 2555 (which is to say you're non-resident for tax purposes). If you say "yes" then you're in trouble.

Steve, thanks for your reply.

I guess I haven't thought about the tax situation as I stated in my post, I don't intend to work for the ~1 year that I would be in Canada.

Fine, I'll still file my US taxes. Legally I'll probably have to file Canadian also but theres nothing to really double tax on since I'm not taking any income.

But I guess you are to the point with the fact that the clock will reset with the 6 month rule.

And don't forget, you have to have your re-entry permit *in hand before you leave the US*, otherwise they can cancel your green card.