Citizenship status of skaters aiming for the Olympics

kwanfan1818

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Sorensen has trained in Canada since 2010, he surely satisfies all those criteria easily.
You have to be in PR status to apply for citizenship, and lots of skaters never apply for Permanent Residency status in the country in which they train, opting for other legal statuses. It's expensive and time-consuming, and there are tax consequences. F-B/S also skated for Denmark through 2018, so earning status wouldn't have been a driver for competition.

Papadakis has been training in Canada since 2014 and opted not to, and, as a result, feared leaving Canada to go to Worlds, since she wasn't guaranteed re-entry, which Cizeron would have been, because he has status.
 

RoseRed

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You have to be in PR status to apply for citizenship, and lots of skaters never apply for Permanent Residency status in the country in which they train, opting for other legal statuses. It's expensive and time-consuming, and there are tax consequences. F-B/S also skated for Denmark through 2018, so earning status wouldn't have been a driver for competition.

Papadakis has been training in Canada since 2014 and opted not to, and, as a result, feared leaving Canada to go to Worlds, since she wasn't guaranteed re-entry, which Cizeron would have been, because he has status.
He's been a permanent resident for quite a while, at least since November 2018. Source: x

I got the impression that he was already planning to apply for status in Canada (or maybe already had started the process) even before they decided to switch, though I'm not sure about that.
 

kwanfan1818

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He's been a permanent resident for quite a while, at least since November 2018. Source: x
Yes.

I was responding to the idea that anyone who'd been in Canada training for 10 years should be assumed to have applied for it. That decision is individual and driven by a lot of different concerns. I know people who've worked in Canada legally for over a decade after getting degrees in Canada and who have never applied. (Although a few weren't eligible after the Harper government changed the rules, and under the Trudeau government there are still quotas.) And we have these discussions repeatedly about individual skaters, and the answer is always individual to the skaters. Similarly in the US, I've worked with people who seem to be on perpetual work visas and have never applied for a green card.
 
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screech

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I may be mis-remembering but are/were Laurence and Nikolaj a couple? If so I'd assume they would have been planning to live in Canada after their career was done, so I'd have figured he'd apply for permanent residency in that case too.

Also, with regards to taxes, from what I see Canada's tax rate is lower than Denmark's. And what I take away from the tax treaty between countries, if he's in Canada more than 183 days per year, he doesn't have to pay Danish taxes.
As a Canadian who lived and worked in Europe for a few years, I didn't have to be a permanent resident of the other country for the tax treaty to kick in, and there was one single form to complete declaring myself as a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes. The fellow Canadians I worked with didn't even do that, and they were fine; and none of us were permanent residents of the European country with whom we had a treaty.
 

kwanfan1818

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They are a couple. I remember an interview in which she said she was learning Danish, because she wasn't going to not understand her (future) children :)

I had forgotten that Quebec has its own Permanent Residency application, requirements, and process, and I think the applications are processed by the Quebec government. So his path to PR status wouldn't follow the Federal process, timelines, and standards, and they may have their own way of handling applications from athletes.
 

maatTheViking

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They considered representing Denmark at the Olympics, but it was too difficult for Laurence to obtain Danish citizenship. Denmark has no special considerations for elite athletes, and even if married you cannot bring your spouse to Denmark and be allowed to live there, 'unless the couple's combined affiliation is greater to Denmark than any other place' or some such nonsense - it means it's very hard for any Danish person who meets and marries someone while living abroad to have their spouse gain residency. (I have several friends for whom this applies).

On top of this - you have to live in Denmark many years to gain citizenship.

Unless the politicians were willing to enact an exception, there was no way Laurence could obtain Danish citizenship in time for 2022 olympics. I think Denmark, along with Japan, is one of the countries it is the hardest to obtain citizenship for.

They wanted to represent Canada to get a chance at the olympics (though I'm sure it's not the only reason, given how long Nikolaj has lived there), and I think Nikolaj has mentioned that unlike Denmark, in Canada there was a clear path for him to become citizen. I doubt they are not already on top of it, and he will do what he can to obtain his citizenship in time for 2022.

That doesn't mean they don't both want to keep connection to Denmark.
 

kwanfan1818

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it means it's very hard for any Danish person who meets and marries someone while living abroad to have their spouse gain residency. (I have several friends for whom this applies).
That's anti-incentive to return home, if you marry someone who isn't Danish. (Does Iceland still count?)
 

levineismine

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I interviewed Laurence and Nikolaj two years ago (Feb 2019) Link, and this was the status of Nikolaj's citizenship:

"Nikolaj, how far along are you in the process of obtaining your citizenship?
NS:
I got my permanent residency already last year in April. Usually it’s three years from that to passport, but I’ve been here so long so I can get credits for that. I have one year of credit and then it’s from April 3, 2018 when I got my permanent residency until April 3, 2020, but every time I go out of the country it doesn’t count, so it’s probably going to be somewhere in May or June."

I can speak from personal experience living in Québec and from friends', that everything related to immigration/work permits/PR/citizenships etc. has drastically slowed down/extended the timelines in the last year due to the situation (as in the rest of Canada). But even before the pandemic, timelines for PR were being stretched by months compared to the initial times forcasted at application time. Nikolaj already had that, but I imagine processing times for citizenship have been affected too. But it looks like he already fulfilled the time required to be a resident in QC a year ago so I'm sure he has everything in order to get citizenship on time, especially as @greenapple said as he's received confirmation already. Having lived 10 years in QC he already speaks great French and he'll have no problems passing the exam.
 

Ananas Astra

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Larry Loupolover? He switched from Azerbeidshan to Bulgaria, right? Does he has that passport? Not that I think he'll make it to Olympics, but to Nebelhorn...
What exactly is his background? His name sounds neither Azerbaijani nor Bulgarian, he was born in the US and he speaks Russian IIRC.
Larry Loupolover is such a mystery.
 

cholla

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What about Galyavieva and Lopareva French citizenships? Even if it will likely be a mootpoint, but I guess they should still be prepared, just in case.
Galyavieva has received French citizenship a while ago. Lopareva has applied and is currently learning French. I don't know how long it will take for her to obtain it. @taz'smum knows a lot more than me about those administrative hassles.
 

allezfred

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Thank you! :p

So I suppose it goes under "a foreign citizen is successful in sport, science and/or art, and he/she is willing to carry on his/her activity on behalf of Georgia."

But how do you define successful enough? (I realize there is probably no answer to that here :lol: ) I badly need citizenship for Kazakova. :drama: She'd better pass that language test! :bribe:
Umm, Georgia gave citizenship to two Brazilians to represent them in beach volleyball at the 2008 summer Olympics.


Plus Allison Reed represented them in 2010 and I’m guessing the citizenship tests weren’t too stringent. :shuffle:
 

shuilee

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Does Daniel Eaton have KOR citizenship?

Are Min/Eaton eligible to compete in Olympics in either Team Event or individual?
 

Karen-W

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Does Daniel Eaton have KOR citizenship?

Are Min/Eaton eligible to compete in Olympics in either Team Event or individual?
I would imagine that citizenship for Eaton will be as hard to come by as it was for Min's last partner, Gamelin, who competed in the last Olympics with her. ;-)
 

starrynight

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Interested to track the progress of Harley Windsor and his new partner.

It will be a race against time to get that team to a point where a case could be made for a special privilege for Australian citizenship.
 

allezfred

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Am not sure, but it looks to me like they might have their eyes on Milano-Cortina rather than Beijing.
 

emilieh

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Plus Allison Reed represented them in 2010 and I’m guessing the citizenship tests weren’t too stringent. :shuffle:

Speaking of Reed, what is her status with Lithuania? As I recall, it took quite a process for Tobias to get citizenship in 2013, and Copely was not successful in 2009.
 

kwanfan1818

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When Tobias gave up her Lithuanian citizenship to get an Israeli passport to skate for Israel, to say that the President of Lithuania, who changed her stance to allow Tobias to get citizenship in the first place, was furious would be an understatement.

After that, I don't think if R/S were World medalists, and she only had had only one passport her whole life, and she was in contention for the Nobel Peace Prize, would Reed have a chance at Lithuanian citizenship.
 

MsZem

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When Tobias gave up her Lithuanian citizenship to get an Israeli passport to skate for Israel, to say that the President of Lithuania, who changed her stance to allow Tobias to get citizenship in the first place, was furious would be an understatement.
When I became a dual citizen, I was explicitly told that I'd lose my new citizenship if I ever got a third one, because it's an indication that I don't value it. To give up one's citizenship - and not even for a chance at the Olympics! - is just not done.
 

kwanfan1818

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When I became a dual citizen, I was explicitly told that I'd lose my new citizenship if I ever got a third one, because it's an indication that I don't value it. To give up one's citizenship - and not even for a chance at the Olympics! - is just not done.
Each country has its own rules and calculations, including whether you can have multiple citizenships in the first place, and, the allowable circumstances for having/getting more (age, ancestry, place of birth, what countries, whether automatically bestowed, etc.).

In the case of Tobias, she was required to give up Lithuanian citizenship when she got an Israeli passport under right of return. if she had been a US/Canadian dual citizen, for example, and gotten that Israeli passport, she wouldn't have had to give up US or Canadian citizenship. Nor did my Australian/New Zealander dual citizen co-workers have to give up either when they became US citizens.
 

Hanna

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After that, I don't think if R/S were World medalists, and she only had had only one passport her whole life, and she was in contention for the Nobel Peace Prize, would Reed have a chance at Lithuanian citizenship.
So does this mean that R/A Olympic trip is unlikely to happen? :(
 
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Vagabond

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In the case of Tobias, she was required to give up Lithuanian citizenship when she got an Israeli passport under right of return. if she had been a US/Canadian dual citizen, for example, and gotten that Israeli passport, she wouldn't have had to give up US or Canadian citizenship.
As far as I know, she has always been a U.S. citizen. She was born in the U.S.
 

MsZem

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So does this mean that R/S Olympic trip is unlikely to happen? :(
I will be really surprised if it happens, and I suspect they are very much aware that it is unlikely.

Each country has its own rules and calculations, including whether you can have multiple citizenships in the first place, and, the allowable circumstances for having/getting more (age, ancestry, place of birth, what countries, whether automatically bestowed, etc.).

In the case of Tobias, she was required to give up Lithuanian citizenship when she got an Israeli passport under right of return. if she had been a US/Canadian dual citizen, for example, and gotten that Israeli passport, she wouldn't have had to give up US or Canadian citizenship. Nor did my Australian/New Zealander dual citizen co-workers have to give up either when they became US citizens.
I don't believe that the law of return requires new Israeli citizens to give up existing citizenship - that would be up to their country of origin. But I'm Israeli born, so I never had to look into this.
 

Sylvia

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Interested to track the progress of Harley Windsor and his new partner.

It will be a race against time to get that team to a point where a case could be made for a special privilege for Australian citizenship.
Copying over what I posted in the Australian news thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/australian-skating-news.98953/page-43#post-5968525
Harley didn't share the name of his new partner in his Instagram story skating clips that included sbs 3T and the caption "Only 368 days until [2022] Worlds"...
Based on his IG story caption, it appears Windsor believes 2022 Worlds in France would be the realistic goal for next season.
So does this mean that R/S Olympic trip is unlikely to happen? :(
For those who may be confused ;) R/S = Allison REED / Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS of Lithuania.
 

kwanfan1818

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I will be really surprised if it happens, and I suspect they are very much aware that it is unlikely.


I don't believe that the law of return requires new Israeli citizens to give up existing citizenship - that would be up to their country of origin. But I'm Israeli born, so I never had to look into this.
I only meant that Tobias got her Israeli citizenship under the law of return, not that the law of return required her to give up any other citizenships. I'm sorry I wasn't clear.

Some countries could distinguish between invoking the law of return, which doesn't confer immediate citizenship, vs. filing paperwork to (re) claim citizenship to which the person always or retroactively became entitled when national laws change.
 

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