Can I marry my American girlfriend in Canada? Help please!

[NoseOfNicko]

Oh hi! I live in Canada and my girlfriend lives in the US and I'd like to know if we could get married in Canada. She's gonna be here in a few months (2 or 3) and we'd like to get married, but she doesn't have any kind of visa, so can we still get married? and can she stay in Canada? She's gonna have a return ticket for 2 weeks later, but can she stay longer than 2 weeks if we get married?

Thank you.

[fernendez]

If she is an American, she does not need a visa to visit Canada and yes you can get married!!

[QCSunshine]

Yes, I am an American and got married in Canada. Look into the rules in your province to see if there is a waiting period or anything. If you plan on starting the immigration process-- take photos of it all and document it (wedding, reception, engagement party, anything you do that is related). And I would say, it is good to celebrate it with friends and family (and get someone to take photos of that too!), though some here have eloped and it was fine. But in general, having photographic evidence of family and friend support and awareness of your relationship is a big plus.

If she stays in Canada longer, make sure she stays in status and does not stay beyond the time the immigration says she can stay. If she wants to stay longer, she can apply to extend her stay as a visitor BEFORE the end date of the time she was allowed to stay originally. There are threads on here about that (search things like "extending my stay as a visitor," etc.)

Good luck!

[NoseOfNicko]

   @   fernendez: Thank you for the answer! But do you know if she can stay in Canada? She wants to quit her job in the US, come here in 2 or 3 months, marry me and never go back to the US! Can she do that?

[NoseOfNicko]

   @    QCSunshine: Thank you for the answer! But like I said, she doesn't have any kind of visa, so she's gonna say that she has 2 weeks off her job and she's gonna have a return ticket for 2 weeks later... Is it ok if she stays longer than 2 weeks? I mean, if we get married? Can she stay in Canada and we can start the process (sponsorship and all of that) while she's in Canada?

[QCSunshine]

She doesn't need a visa. When she enters either they will stamp her passport with a date she needs to leave by or she has the automatic six months that Americans can stay in Canada. But she cannot stay over that time and will need to extend her stay if she wants to stay longer, regardless of whether or not you are married. Marriage alone does not allow someone to stay in Canada.

[QCSunshine]

And yes, as long she submits the extension to stay as a visitor (before the end of her initial time), she can stay until she gets the decision saying whether or not the request was approved. If it is approved, they will give her a visitor record with the date for how long it is valid. If she leaves Canada after she received the visitor record, it is no longer valid and she will have to request a new one at the border again.

And you can start looking at the applications and collecting the needed information (all addresses, past job history, etc.) before you get married, so you can submit it sooner after you are married. It takes quite a lot of work to prepare the sponsorship application.

[NoseOfNicko]

Thank you so much for the answer! Does it take long to submit an extension to stay as a visitor? Could she submit it in less than 2 weeks (in case she couldn't stay for more than 2 weeks)? Sorry for all of the questions, I just really don't know a lot about that stuff...

[Morena]

Thank you so much for the answer! Does it take long to submit an extension to stay as a visitor? Could she submit it in less than 2 weeks (in case she couldn't stay for more than 2 weeks)? Sorry for all of the questions, I just really don't know a lot about that stuff...

She suposse to ask for the extension one month before her status as a visitor expires (6 months)...

[NoseOfNicko]

She suposse to ask for the extension one month before her status as a visitor expires (6 months)...

So even if she gets a ticket for 2 weeks in Canada she could stay for 6 months? Or did I misunderstand?

[QCSunshine]

The rules say 30 days before, but as long as the request is in before the time expires, it is okay. I once submitted a request to extend my stay about 2 days before. It doesn't take that long to fill out the extension paperwork, but it does take some time to gather the documents and/or decide your responses for the various questions. So I would suggest looking into it in advance of the deadline, so you know what it involves. You can check out the threads on here about that to find helpful information about what information/documents to include.

At the border she might very well be allowed in 6 months (I am not sure if they say anything, but I think that is the default time unless the officer makes it a shorter time). If she has an earlier date given, then that is the date by which she should leave or submit the request to extend the stay.

[NoseOfNicko]

So even if she has a return ticket for 2 weeks later she might be allowed in 6 months? Just want to be sure.

[Baloo]

So even if she has a return ticket for 2 weeks later she might be allowed in 6 months? Just want to be sure.

Entry and the duration all depends on the VO she deals with on the day.

Visitors need to convince the VO that they are "visiting", Americans don't often get hassled because they don't need a visa to visit, but that does not mean it cannot occur.
A word of advice, never lie to a VO and never misrepresent facts on a form, there are stiff penalties, it is not worth it IMO.

Extending a stay - http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

[NoseOfNicko]

When she enters either they will stamp her passport with a date she needs to leave by or she has the automatic six months that Americans can stay in Canada.

My girlfriend visited me for 2 weeks 3 weeks ago and she looked at her passport and there's no return date written, there's just a slash and a sqiggly line that may or may not be a number 3 next to expiration on the stamp and underneath the stamp is a letter v with a long line (v_________________)... What does that mean? Does that mean that she could have stayed for 6 months?

[NoseOfNicko]

Bump.