I definitely agree, but here is why I left a little room for doubt:
It's my understanding that Canadian PR status will now be maintained
with 2/5 years physical presence, with no regard to concepts such as
principal country of residence or establishing domicile. If I am
correct in this assumption (I hope Andrew or Jim can confirm or correct
me), and if the OP really insists on getting and keeping status in both
countries for the spouse and her child:
They would be added to the Canadian PR application and the whole family
would land in Canada together. The wife/child remain in Canada while
waiting for a conditional US Green Card to be issued, at which time
they would move to the US and activate their immigrant visas (I'm
assuming that after June 2002, the Canadian PR status will not be
affected by this act. American Immigration will assume they have
abandoned Canadian residency, but they really don't care about previous
status of the person). They will then remain in the US for 3 years
(maybe spend a few weeks in Canada on vacation during this time), and
apply for US Citizenship 3 months before the 3 years are up (Time away
from US will not be deducted, the way it is in Canada). They would then
move to Canada as US citizens and voila!! Note that they will require
1.5 years of physical presence in the US to be eligible for
citizenship, while they can spend up to 3 years away from Canada with
no impact to their PR status, so it's doable.
They'd be walking on a fine line and will be on the edge of several
immigration laws, but I don't think they'll be breaking any laws. I'd
appreciate input from Jim and Andrew, and please note that I'm in no
way recommending this to the OP, I'm just turning the thread into a
theoratical discussion as the subject meant it to be!
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