Immigration process

[Lil_lulu86]

I have been on here before and had all my questions answered. I have a few more. I am planning on coming up in a few weeks and this is when I want to stay. What do I tell them at the border? We are plannin on getting married in July and I have been told not to tell them that. I have been denied entry before because they thought I was moving there and at that time I wasn't. I don't want to tell them I am staying there for good cause they will not let me Through. What do I say? If I say a couple weeks can I apply for an extension? Or can I stay the whole 6 months then do it.

 

[Sweden]

I have been on here before and had all my questions answered. I have a few more. I am planning on coming up in a few weeks and this is when I want to stay. What do I tell them at the border? We are plannin on getting married in July and I have been told not to tell them that. I have been denied entry before because they thought I was moving there and at that time I wasn't. I don't want to tell them I am staying there for good cause they will not let me Through. What do I say? If I say a couple weeks can I apply for an extension? Or can I stay the whole 6 months then do it.

it's difficult to answer.... where are you from? when you will be filing for sponsorship? do you have a job to go back to in your own country? are you going to be traveling with a lot of luggage (aka a u-haul or a car full, or only flying with a suitcase)? etc - there are many questions to have a better understanding of your situation - and even with all that, it will depend on the CBSA officer at the border. You can prepare for the best, and have all the "right answers" - and still have trouble at the border.

To answer the last question: yes, if you are given a 1 month visa (stamp at the border where the officer writes 1 month), then you can apply for an extension, as long as you do it before the limit on your passport, then you can legally stay in Canada until you get the answer about the extension.
Sweden

 

[Lil_lulu86]

I am from America. My fiancée is Canadian and I will only be traveling with a suitcase and a carry on bag. I will be driving there. I do not have a job because I quit mine because I plan on staying with my fiancée the duration of the paperwork process he makes enough to support us. I do not want to say a month because I am scared of denial. I have been pulled in before because they thought I was moving there. At that time I was not. I also have an enhanced license which allows me to cross is this allowed to be used when planning on staying in canada?

 

[BeShoo]

If you plan to stay for a couple of weeks, they will just give you 6 months unless they are suspicious of you overstaying. Since you've already been denied entry, you are probably flagged in the system and you could have trouble. Once you have filed the application, they will more than likely let you in. One thing you could do is to pay the fees and have a copy of the fee receipt with you to show that you are preparing to file as soon as you are married. Once they are fairly certain that you are indeed filing, they should let you in for at least a short amount of time.

Even if they do only allow you 2 weeks, you can file for an extension. They like you to file that a month before the current one expires, but you can actually get it to them up to the last day. You need some proof of when you entered Canada, which you will not have with the enhanced driver's license, but even with a passport, they seldom stamp it, because some people travel back and forth weekly and they would quick run out of space for stamps.

If you can convince them that the application is imminent, you may be given a "Visitor Record" with a leave-by date, but that normally goes with your passport. I think you are better off having a passport before you get into this whole process. Also, you are probably going to have problems if you try to come to Canada for an extended visit before you are married, because you are not currently "a member of the family class" so you are not yet eligible to be sponsored.

 

[Lil_lulu86]

Thank you for your reply. This time that I come up we are getting married. Then we are filing. So can I get an extension even though we are not married yet?

 

[Lil_lulu86]

So to be a member of the family class can I apply for common law why I am here on my visit? I am on his bank account and his lease.

 

[BeShoo]

After you file it should be relatively easy to get an extension. Before you file I'm less sure about it, but my partner and I managed to get several extensions for him with merely the promise that we were about to file.

You don't want to use the word fiancé. There is no sponsoring of fiancés. If you are currently common law partners you could use that for now. Have you lived together for one continuous year in a marriage-like relationship?

 

[Lil_lulu86]

No we haven't lived together for one year continuously. How can I stay for one year if I can only stay for 6 months. He also travels for work so he's not always home. Is this going to be a problem

 

[Rob_TO]

So to be a member of the family class can I apply for common law why I am here on my visit? I am on his bank account and his lease.

Definition of common-law is living together for 12 consecutive months. You can do this by coming as visitor for 6 months, and just getting an extension to your visitor status. They often give another 6 or even 12 months extension sometimes.

If you can't become common-law, then just get married. If married you don't need to worry about common-law or living together 1 year.

 

[BeShoo]

There is nothing wrong with going to visit your friend or even boyfriend, but you should expect that they will probably ask a lot of questions. I went to the U.S. to visit my boyfriend for a 3 1/2 week visit once, but I was warned at the border that I couldn't just stay there permanently (and I had no intention of doing that).

The main thing is that they have to be sure you will go back home after your visit. If you can't convince them that you'll go back home, they might not let you visit, or they might restrict you to a short visit.

If you are coming just before the wedding, I would pay the PR application fee and have a copy of the receipt with you. I think you should get started on the paperwork now, so you'll be ready to send it once you're married. Having a printout of the draft application might be useful to show you are serious, but paying the $550 will be much more convincing. You just want to be able to show that you are going about it the legal way. Saying that you want to finish up the paperwork together is a good reason to come for a visit.

The thing is that you are not married or common law yet, so you can't actually be sponsored yet. There is another category called a "conjugal partnership" where you've become a committed couple living in a marriage-like relationship, but are prevented from living together. If you've been like that for more than a year, you could use that as an excuse until you get married, but it's probably not a valid way to apply in your case, so I probably wouldn't send in a conjugal application. By the way, your partner travelling for work doesn't necessarily mean you are no longer living together, but you do have to be together for 12 months for common law.

I think I would come for a short visit, get married, then go back home until the paperwork is done. If they let you stay, maybe you won't have to go back home right away.

 

[Lil_lulu86]

So when I cross with my passport an say I am only staying a few weeks how many days do they give u on your date on the passport? Do they give u the exact day u say your leaving or do they automatically give u 6 months or less?

 

[mikeymyke]

Always ask for less time when you visit. Your visa is more likely to be approved if you're asking for a short stay, and the amount of funds you need goes down. Also, the officer is capable of offering you more time on your visa if he feels confident you wont overstay. If on the other hand you ask for lots of time in Canada, you're more likely to be refused.

 

[BeShoo]

Most of the time, if you are a U.S. citizen coming via a land crossing, they won't even stamp your passport. If they stamp it, they usually won't write a date, which gives you up to 6 months. One time when my boyfriend came to visit (by air) for the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend they took give aside for secondary inspection, seized his sweet potatoes (no bringing root vegetable across the border) and stamped his passport and wrote in a date of 6 months later. He was clearly only coming for less than a week because he had to get back to work.

If they are really worried that you might not leave, they will issue a "visitor record" which is a piece of paper that goes in your passport. You are supposed to hand it back when you leave so they know you're gone.