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barista1

Newbie
May 1, 2014
2
0
I'm American. Just married a Canadian. He is not ready to leave Canada due to finances, and I do not want to give up my American Status, but we want to be together... How long can I stay as just a visitor at a time? Do we have to go through Spousal Visa status or etc? Advice please. Thank you.
 
see response in family sponsorship thread...
 
barista1 said:
I'm American. Just married a Canadian. He is not ready to leave Canada due to finances, and I do not want to give up my American Status, but we want to be together... How long can I stay as just a visitor at a time? Do we have to go through Spousal Visa status or etc? Advice please. Thank you.
You may visit him in Canada, and IF ALLOWED at POE stay with him for 6 months. After that you have to leave for USA. You may try to turn around after a week or so and to try to enter Canada again but it is possible you could be refused because VISITING does not mean LIVING permanently.

Of course the best way for you is to apply for PR for you trough Family Sponsorship. Your American status (citizenship? I suppose)will not be changed but you will get legal rights to stay with your husband in Canada.
As an American you could try to go to Canada on visit and then start PR process inside of Canada. During the process you will be able to work (on Open Work Permit) in Canada and go back to USA for short period of times but could not leave for USA and then only visit Canada.

And yes, for PR process for spouses go to Family Sponsorship thread.
 
Nothing you do in Canada will cause the loss of US citizenship so you don't have to worry about that.

In order to live with your husband, he should sponsor you for PR. He can sponsor you inland in which case you should be committed to staying in Canada throughout the processing time which can be months. After first stage approval which generally takes about 8 months, you can apply for an open work permit. Another 8 months or so to get PR.

If you apply outland, it is not important where you are. You can go to the US for a bit, work for a bit, come back to visit etc. The processing time for that is probably around 10 months to get PR.

After getting PR of Canada which is similar to the green card in the US, you would be able to live and work in Canada, you would have health care. However, you can not vote, you can be deported if you commit a crime and you could lose your PR if you spend too much time outside Canada.

As a visitor, you may stay up to 6 months at a time. You may not work or study although you may take short courses that don't grant college credits and can be completed during your visit, that is in less than 6 months. If you wish to stay longer than 6 months, you could apply to extend your visitor status.