Oh, Canada!
I have been remiss in not chronicling my hilarious ongoing communications with various Canadian Immigration officials over the exact nature of my status. Which is sort of odd since I have not lived in Canada since 1980!
The issue seems to be that sometime after NAFTA Canada changed their immigration laws to provide Permanent Resident Status to any minor who lives in Canada for more than 36 consecutive months.
Okay, well as a minor I lived in Canada for considerably longer than that but it was DECADES before this law was passed. I was a Landed Immigrant and relinquished that status in 1980 when I quit Canada and returned to the United States.
I subsequently visited Canada in 1982, 1984, 1990, and 1993 without issue or incident.
In 2006 while driving from Maine to Quebec I was detained at the border for three hours because Canadian records indicated that I was granted Permanent Resident Status (despite there being no record that I applied for it!) but have failed to maintain residency requirements. My French is pretty lousy but we did manage to agree that it seemed to be an error in the way the newer law was applied to old records. I was finally allowed sign a 23 page document relinquishing any and all claims to Permanent Resident Status. They promised to send me a copy. I collected my very bored family and we drove on to Montreal.
Several months later I realized I had never gotten my copy of the document and I wrote to the Canadian Consul in Houston. I got a nice letter back saying all was well, thanks for playing, have a nice life, please visit Canada again and give us your tourist dollars.
Flash forward to last week when I thought it would be a good idea to just check on this all in advance of our family trip to Maine next month and our decision to visit friends in Montreal since we'll be within three hours of them.
You know what's next right? After making no fewer than ten phone calls I was reliably informed that I needed to go through the Immigration Division of the Canadian Consul-General in Buffalo. The Immigration Division of the Canadian Consul-General in Buffalo does not take phone calls but I did find an email address and we were off...
First email laid out the history as cogently as possible including scans of my Landed Immigrant Visa in my thirty year old expired passport, my entrance and exit stamps, and the letter from the Consul in 2006. Just wanting confirmation that this is all clear now and that I have no status in Canada, yadda yadda.
The return message was "If you are sure you wish to relinquish your Permanent Resident Status mail your PR card to this address with a cover letter..."
My second email was polite "I think you may have misunderstood. I have no PR card, I have never been a PR, AND I relinquished all claims to PR status in 2006. Please see email below, yadda yadda thank you.
The return message was (paraphrased) "My computer says you're a PR so you are one, btw you haven't been in residence for 720 days in the last 36 months and are therefore not in compliance with PR requirements shame on you!"
My third email was "As I have no PR card (please see email below) but am willing to relinquish any claim to PR status YET AGAIN how should I proceed?"
The return message was (paraphrased) "You're clearly a problem child and I'm sending you to someone else"
The next message, received this morning, presumably from someone new BUT WHO KNOWS SINCE ALL OF THESE ARE SIGNED BY THE DEPARTMENT AND I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE NAME YET was "If you are sure you wish to relinquish your Permanent Resident Status mail your PR card to this address with a cover letter..."
The issue seems to be that sometime after NAFTA Canada changed their immigration laws to provide Permanent Resident Status to any minor who lives in Canada for more than 36 consecutive months.
Okay, well as a minor I lived in Canada for considerably longer than that but it was DECADES before this law was passed. I was a Landed Immigrant and relinquished that status in 1980 when I quit Canada and returned to the United States.
I subsequently visited Canada in 1982, 1984, 1990, and 1993 without issue or incident.
In 2006 while driving from Maine to Quebec I was detained at the border for three hours because Canadian records indicated that I was granted Permanent Resident Status (despite there being no record that I applied for it!) but have failed to maintain residency requirements. My French is pretty lousy but we did manage to agree that it seemed to be an error in the way the newer law was applied to old records. I was finally allowed sign a 23 page document relinquishing any and all claims to Permanent Resident Status. They promised to send me a copy. I collected my very bored family and we drove on to Montreal.
Several months later I realized I had never gotten my copy of the document and I wrote to the Canadian Consul in Houston. I got a nice letter back saying all was well, thanks for playing, have a nice life, please visit Canada again and give us your tourist dollars.
Flash forward to last week when I thought it would be a good idea to just check on this all in advance of our family trip to Maine next month and our decision to visit friends in Montreal since we'll be within three hours of them.
You know what's next right? After making no fewer than ten phone calls I was reliably informed that I needed to go through the Immigration Division of the Canadian Consul-General in Buffalo. The Immigration Division of the Canadian Consul-General in Buffalo does not take phone calls but I did find an email address and we were off...
First email laid out the history as cogently as possible including scans of my Landed Immigrant Visa in my thirty year old expired passport, my entrance and exit stamps, and the letter from the Consul in 2006. Just wanting confirmation that this is all clear now and that I have no status in Canada, yadda yadda.
The return message was "If you are sure you wish to relinquish your Permanent Resident Status mail your PR card to this address with a cover letter..."
My second email was polite "I think you may have misunderstood. I have no PR card, I have never been a PR, AND I relinquished all claims to PR status in 2006. Please see email below, yadda yadda thank you.
The return message was (paraphrased) "My computer says you're a PR so you are one, btw you haven't been in residence for 720 days in the last 36 months and are therefore not in compliance with PR requirements shame on you!"
My third email was "As I have no PR card (please see email below) but am willing to relinquish any claim to PR status YET AGAIN how should I proceed?"
The return message was (paraphrased) "You're clearly a problem child and I'm sending you to someone else"
The next message, received this morning, presumably from someone new BUT WHO KNOWS SINCE ALL OF THESE ARE SIGNED BY THE DEPARTMENT AND I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE NAME YET was "If you are sure you wish to relinquish your Permanent Resident Status mail your PR card to this address with a cover letter..."