Is Visa Run Possible?

[scubadana]

Hello,

My partner got his approved outland spousal sponsorship however it expires in April. We live in Australia and we just had a baby so April is little to soon for us as our circumstances have changed and we want to move to Canada later in the year. Is it possible to do what's called a "visa run" where my partner flys to Canada to "activate" the visa and then fly back home to AUS for a couple more months then to Canada when ready? I did it when I got my AUS PR so I was hoping he could do the same? We really don't want the hassle of applying again and I read there is no way of extending.

Any one have any insight on this? I know its not recommend of course so please don't judge but is it possible?

Thanks in advance.

 

[armoured]

Hello,

My partner got his approved outland spousal sponsorship however it expires in April. We live in Australia and we just had a baby so April is little to soon for us as our circumstances have changed and we want to move to Canada later in the year. Is it possible to do what's called a "visa run" where my partner flys to Canada to "activate" the visa and then fly back home to AUS for a couple more months then to Canada when ready? I did it when I got my AUS PR so I was hoping he could do the same? We really don't want the hassle of applying again and I read there is no way of extending.

Any one have any insight on this? I know its not recommend of course so please don't judge but is it possible?

Thanks in advance.

The short form is that it's possible in that they cannot stop a PR from leaving the country. But see below - it may be possible to ask for an extension of the COPR.

It used to be common to soft land and then leave; with covid, they are stating landing should be for taking up permanent residence; technically it's possible they could decide at border that PR is not arriving permanently, but probably unlikely.

So leaving aside the covid stuff (like probably would not be let in unless clear entering for more than several weeks), main challenge would be receiving PR card. After that need to keep track of and comply with residency obligation.

But: it may be possible to request an extension of the COPR, this has been something they have done during covid - can't say whether it would be/will be the case in April or how generalized this is. We extended ours in late 2020 - our timing was short from when copr first received and middle of school year and covid travel restrictions were quite severe at the time. (We wrote near to the expiry date of COPR and visa office replied fairly quickly and agreed to issue new ones - we had to resubmit passports and the copr/visas were cancelled and new ones issued). And yes, our COPR/PPR documents had the standard language that it could not be extended etc etc - but it was also clearly entirely made up of old standard language that was not changed during covid.

In your case, "just had a baby" and not wanting to travel at this point (covid etc) does seem like a reasonable justification to provide that extra time. (If you had a sepcific medical reason and/or doctor suggesting travel be delayed for some months, that might strengthen your case)

I can't offhand think of any harm in asking...but I do warn that I think we were extremely lucky that the visa office responded so quickly, and the uncertainty was not fun. (Side note: there used to be language on IRCC websites about what to do if your COPR expired and you could not travel, worth checking if that is still there - not a guarantee that they will extend but my impression is they would consider.

[I'm also leaving aside Australian covid side, which might make it hard/expesnvie to return there.]

Good luck.