Hello,
I am from the United States (Alaska), my partner is from Canada (Toronto). Our goal is for me to achieve permanent residency in Canada.
We've been together since December 2010. In September of 2012 we cosigned a lease, and got a joint bank account, both in Toronto.
At first we did not realize that we (most likely?) could not qualify as conjugal partners due to our countries of residence, and did not realize that we needed to cohabitate for an unbroken year to qualify as common-law partners. Because of this, for the first few years I stayed in Toronto for the winter, and traveled back to Alaska to work over the summer.
Last year, in September when I tried to enter Canada by Megabus from New York, hoping to stay for the usual six month visitor visa (or longer if I exited and re-entered), I was denied entry because I did not have enough documentation of my departure plans, and because I had already been in Canada from September 2012 through May of 2013, with three weeks back in the States for Christmas. (By the way, are you allowed six months per calendar year, or 6-months in any given 12-month period?). I had to take the bus to Buffalo, print out a return ticket and proof of finances, and re-enter. All told, I was then allowed into Canada for 1 1/2 months before leaving. I was also required to show the document they stapled into my passport (which stated that I had to leave by November 1st, and furnish proof of my compliance at my port of exit at that time) on my way out of the country.
I did not tell them that I was in a relationship with the person I was planning on staying with, but I believe they were suspicious because of her gender, and made a note that I was staying with her. I have since come and gone twice, both times in December 2013, as legs of a trip from Florida (where I went after being forced to leave Canada) to and from a family vacation in Hawaii. I already had the tickets to Hawaii before the border problem and could not afford to switch my tickets, so kept my original travel plans and stayed in Toronto for for a few days on either side of the Hawaii trip. Each time they seemed to decrease my red-flag level (When I was initially denied entry, I had to give them the document stapled to my passport on exit, the next time they stapled a new one in, but I didn't have to show it to anyone on exit, and the last time, I received a stamp, though all of my stamps after that first incident have hand-written numbers/etc below them).
Our rough plan now is for me to attempt to get into Canada on a 6 month visitor visa at the beginning of December. Then, when my partner gets off work for the summer at the end of May, we would stay together somewhere in the states, where I would find a job and work. Then I would apply for a student visa to study French in Toronto for 3+ months, which would round out our mandatory year.
There is a BIG "if" inherent in our plan, however, which is whether or not I will be able to get in for the first six months. Any advice/feedback about any of our situation going forward is much appreciated, but specifically any wisdom about how to minimize chances of my being turned away at the border/not given the full 6-months are especially welcome right now as I try and figure out what tickets I ought to buy!
Does flying (as opposed to bussing) in give better chances? Does entering at a non-Toronto point (Montreal) help? In which case I suppose it would be better to have my exit ticket leaving from somewhere else as well? Does traveling via routes used by commuters help (from Seattle -> Vancouver)? Should I have a return bus/flight that leaves exactly 6 months from when I enter? Or should it be a bit less? Or a lot less, and hope they give me an open-ended entry anyhow? Does it matter if my return ticket is bus or plane?
What should I say my purpose in going to Canada for six months is? If montreal, would the desire to learn French with the aid of immersion in a French environment be a good reason? Would visiting friends and working on writing/drawing projects be a good option? If they ask why Canada and not stay at home, what should I say? Because it's the cheapest foreign country to explore?
Also, what records does the CIC have access to? When they scan my passport, are they shown documentation of all of my border crossings (both ways) and any notes they took about my denied entry, etc?
Things I am planning to have with me at the border:
- A signed note on official letterhead from my boss in Alaska, saying that I have been working with him seasonally since 2010, and that I will have work again next summer.
- A signed note from a friend (not my partner) wherever I am entering, which says I will be staying with them until I find my own lodgings.
- An exit ticket
- A print out of my bank account balance
- Anything else?
Thanks so much!
I am from the United States (Alaska), my partner is from Canada (Toronto). Our goal is for me to achieve permanent residency in Canada.
We've been together since December 2010. In September of 2012 we cosigned a lease, and got a joint bank account, both in Toronto.
At first we did not realize that we (most likely?) could not qualify as conjugal partners due to our countries of residence, and did not realize that we needed to cohabitate for an unbroken year to qualify as common-law partners. Because of this, for the first few years I stayed in Toronto for the winter, and traveled back to Alaska to work over the summer.
Last year, in September when I tried to enter Canada by Megabus from New York, hoping to stay for the usual six month visitor visa (or longer if I exited and re-entered), I was denied entry because I did not have enough documentation of my departure plans, and because I had already been in Canada from September 2012 through May of 2013, with three weeks back in the States for Christmas. (By the way, are you allowed six months per calendar year, or 6-months in any given 12-month period?). I had to take the bus to Buffalo, print out a return ticket and proof of finances, and re-enter. All told, I was then allowed into Canada for 1 1/2 months before leaving. I was also required to show the document they stapled into my passport (which stated that I had to leave by November 1st, and furnish proof of my compliance at my port of exit at that time) on my way out of the country.
I did not tell them that I was in a relationship with the person I was planning on staying with, but I believe they were suspicious because of her gender, and made a note that I was staying with her. I have since come and gone twice, both times in December 2013, as legs of a trip from Florida (where I went after being forced to leave Canada) to and from a family vacation in Hawaii. I already had the tickets to Hawaii before the border problem and could not afford to switch my tickets, so kept my original travel plans and stayed in Toronto for for a few days on either side of the Hawaii trip. Each time they seemed to decrease my red-flag level (When I was initially denied entry, I had to give them the document stapled to my passport on exit, the next time they stapled a new one in, but I didn't have to show it to anyone on exit, and the last time, I received a stamp, though all of my stamps after that first incident have hand-written numbers/etc below them).
Our rough plan now is for me to attempt to get into Canada on a 6 month visitor visa at the beginning of December. Then, when my partner gets off work for the summer at the end of May, we would stay together somewhere in the states, where I would find a job and work. Then I would apply for a student visa to study French in Toronto for 3+ months, which would round out our mandatory year.
There is a BIG "if" inherent in our plan, however, which is whether or not I will be able to get in for the first six months. Any advice/feedback about any of our situation going forward is much appreciated, but specifically any wisdom about how to minimize chances of my being turned away at the border/not given the full 6-months are especially welcome right now as I try and figure out what tickets I ought to buy!
Does flying (as opposed to bussing) in give better chances? Does entering at a non-Toronto point (Montreal) help? In which case I suppose it would be better to have my exit ticket leaving from somewhere else as well? Does traveling via routes used by commuters help (from Seattle -> Vancouver)? Should I have a return bus/flight that leaves exactly 6 months from when I enter? Or should it be a bit less? Or a lot less, and hope they give me an open-ended entry anyhow? Does it matter if my return ticket is bus or plane?
What should I say my purpose in going to Canada for six months is? If montreal, would the desire to learn French with the aid of immersion in a French environment be a good reason? Would visiting friends and working on writing/drawing projects be a good option? If they ask why Canada and not stay at home, what should I say? Because it's the cheapest foreign country to explore?
Also, what records does the CIC have access to? When they scan my passport, are they shown documentation of all of my border crossings (both ways) and any notes they took about my denied entry, etc?
Things I am planning to have with me at the border:
- A signed note on official letterhead from my boss in Alaska, saying that I have been working with him seasonally since 2010, and that I will have work again next summer.
- A signed note from a friend (not my partner) wherever I am entering, which says I will be staying with them until I find my own lodgings.
- An exit ticket
- A print out of my bank account balance
- Anything else?
Thanks so much!
