2 passports - Permanent Residency and Vistor status.

[mr-s]

Hi,

I'm in Canada on a UK passport with 6 months visitor status.

30 days before it expires I'm going to apply for an extension via paper application. I'm doing it this way instead of online because the waiting times are longer and I will have the legal implied status for a longer period of time before CIC make a decision to extend my stay.

I also have an Australian passport which my Canadian wife is sponsoring me on. From doing some research it now appears likely that my Permanent residency will be approved before the decision on my visitor status extension is made on my British passport.

1.When my application is approved and I get an Australian passport request do I just send my AU passport to Sydney, Australia to get the sticker with the return address to my Canadian postal address?

2. Do I need to cross into the USA and then back again to land me in Canada as a PR on my AU passport?

3. Will it matter that I have applied for a UK passport visa status extension? Can I cancel it or does it not matter if it's refused as I'll be landed on my AU?

Maybe I could exit on my UK passport to show I've left when I cross to the USA and then come back in on my AU passport with PR?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[spaceexp]

Hi,

I'm in Canada on a UK passport with 6 months visitor status.

30 days before it expires I'm going to apply for an extension via paper application. I'm doing it this way instead of online because the waiting times are longer and I will have the legal implied status for a longer period of time before CIC make a decision to extend my stay.

I also have an Australian passport which my Canadian wife is sponsoring me on. From doing some research it now appears likely that my Permanent residency will be approved before the decision on my visitor status extension is made on my British passport.

1.When my application is approved and I get an Australian passport request do I just send my AU passport to Sydney, Australia to get the sticker with the return address to my Canadian postal address?

2. Do I need to cross into the USA and then back again to land me in Canada as a PR on my AU passport?

3. Will it matter that I have applied for a UK passport visa status extension? Can I cancel it or does it not matter if it's refused as I'll be landed on my AU?

Maybe I could exit on my UK passport to show I've left when I cross to the USA and then come back in on my AU passport with PR?

Any advice would be appreciated.

1. Since you are in Canada you will probably get an option to send your passport to Ottawa for final processing. Is Australia visa exempt? If it is, you will not need to send your passport at all. Make sure that your Canadian address is updated in the system as your current mailing address.

2. You do not need to cross into USA, but you need to go to the border (USA side), tell them you are flag poling and landing as Canadian PR, they will tell you where to go next (USA office to get a paper saying you are refused entry into USA, then Canadian office to finalize landing).

3. I am not sure about the two passport situation, BUT when you land and get official PR all your visas are canceled (visitor, work, study, even the immigration visa, since it is valid for one entrance).

One thing for sure, do not show two different passports at the border, that will only mess up things. Or bring both, and explain everything on the USA side.

 

[chakrab]

if you can entry USA using UK or AU passport, just visit the place for a day and come back. do not go for flag poling. US will write it down on their system and you may be asked, if you were refused entry at any point, later. flag pole is only recommended for people who need an US visa to enter and don't have one.

 

[Rob_TO]

30 days before it expires I'm going to apply for an extension via paper application. I'm doing it this way instead of online because the waiting times are longer and I will have the legal implied status for a longer period of time before CIC make a decision to extend my stay.

Either way is fine, but really there's hardly any chance your extension request would be refused.

If you wanted to save $100 you could also simply go to USA and re-enter Canada, which would also serve to reset your visitor status.

1.When my application is approved and I get an Australian passport request do I just send my AU passport to Sydney, Australia to get the sticker with the return address to my Canadian postal address?

Visa-exempt, so no need to mail your passport anywhere. At the most they may ask for a passport copy update, meaning you just photocopy your passport and scan/email it to them.

2. Do I need to cross into the USA and then back again to land me in Canada as a PR on my AU passport?

Yes, you go to any USA land border to flagpole.

3. Will it matter that I have applied for a UK passport visa status extension? Can I cancel it or does it not matter if it's refused as I'll be landed on my AU?

No it doesn't matter. Any status extension request in progress, is immediately cancelled the second you leave Canada so would be cancelled if you flagpole to land as a PR.

Maybe I could exit on my UK passport to show I've left when I cross to the USA and then come back in on my AU passport with PR?

When you leave Canada to USA and then re-enter to land as PR, you should do all this on the same passport. Else your entry/exit records for USA and Canada may not match up.

 

[Rob_TO]

if you can entry USA using UK or AU passport, just visit the place for a day and come back. do not go for flag poling. US will write it down on their system and you may be asked, if you were refused entry at any point, later. flag pole is only recommended for people who need an US visa to enter and don't have one.

It's called an "administrative refusal" and has no impact at all on future travels to USA. If an immigration form asks if you've been refused entry you can still say "no". At least that's how it was explained to me.

 

[blueangel371115]

Also, it's not like you have a criminal inadmissibility issue. You just aren't actually entering the US, you are going to customs, telling them why you are coming there, they take you into secondary, give you a paper and you basically turn around and reenter Canada. My CoPR actually said on it Remarks: Tour du Poteau. Which means 'around the pole' . I'm sure they've done it before and are aware of that. But if it eases your mind, you can clarify that at the border when you land.

 

[spaceexp]

Yeah, mine didn't even say "refusal to enter", they didn't tick that box, they just wrote "flag poling" in the remarks section of the paper they give you at the US side.