Residing in Canada on Visitor Visa

[sparkle]

I wanted to know if my husband who is on work visa in US, live with me in Canada on visitor visa while his PR application is in process. I live very close to border and so does he, so if he moves here, reside here and then cross border everyday for work, would that be okay ?

[steaky]

sure

[CharlieD10]

I'm not too sure about that.  Having a work visa in the US is very different from being an American citizen and therefore being exempt from needing a visa to visit Canada.  If your husband's home country is not visa exempt for Canada, do not assume he can just cross into Canada simply because he holds a US work visa.  The US work visa relates to his residence in the US, it doesn't give him any rights to visit Canada.

The reverse of this situation holds, and that is why I am not sure he can visit with you.  A Canadian PR has no rights to visit the US without a visa by virtue of that status if he needed a visa to the US before he became a Canadian PR.

I would advise you, if your husband holds ONLY a US work visa, that you check with the consulate for his country to see if he needs a TRV in order to visit Canada.

[sparkle]

Yes he needs a visitor visa, so we will apply for that. He has already got a tourist visa 2 times before our marriage when he came to visit me. Right now, even I hold a US visitor visa and go visit him every weekend. But due to our situation, even if we are just an hour away, we can't live together. So just trying to find alternatives. Our PR file is in Buffalo since Feb 2.

[CharlieD10]

Ah, I see what you mean. 

Here's the only thing I would think about in your shoes: what are the border officials going to think if he uses a TRV to cross over into Canada every evening and then returns to the US the next morning in order to go to work?  In essence, he would be the using the TRV as a temporary PR until he gets the actual one, and some of them may not be too charitable about that. 

Just my tuppence. I may be doing the border officials on both side a disservice, but they have a lot of discretion, and the last thing you want to do is get an exclusion order when he is 5 months into processing for a PR because a border guard feels he is either abusing a TRV (Canadian side) or not fulfilling the terms of his work visa (US side).
 

[sparkle]

You maybe right....
I guess with the Buffalo office slowing down, I am getting really impatient. It's going to be a year now since we got married. Even though we are so close, and planned to live together soon enough, I can't leave Canada as I am the sponsor on PR. He cannot move here until PR.....

[CharlieD10]

I understand how you feel.  This month it will be a year since we got married too.  In that year, we will have spent 7 months being separated by 2000 miles.  My application has been at my visa office for less than a month now, and they are taking 17 months to complete 80% of applications.  So, we have a long wait ahead of us, and much of it we will be separated.  I say this to say, at least you and your husband are on the same continent, only an hour apart and 5 months of his wait for PR are behind him.  It could be worse, you could be married to me! 

The time will pass.  Remember, the being apart phase is just a phase, the rest of your lives together after PR will be much longer! Be of good cheer

[sparkle]

Aww...thanks for the cheer Charlie

I really hope it takes much less for your file to process. Staying apart sucks, but as the world says to us nowadays - "You're lucky! It keeps the love alive" hehe...