Negatives of Visitor Record? - For US citizen to travel during process

[tom_from_sk]

Good afternoon,

A few months back one member (who is very helpful and positive) on here discouraged getting visitor records for visits during the application process. Does anyone have much experience with this? Can you get around them if the border officers give you one? What are the negatives of having one? Is it just that they can track you more?

Once my fiance and I are married, we plan to cross back and forth at land crossings in Alberta/Montana during the process as well at airports, for a couple trips.

Just curious if anyone can provide any insight... Thank you in advance!

 

[Claudzilla]

Good afternoon,

A few months back one member (who is very helpful and positive) on here discouraged getting visitor records for visits during the application process. Does anyone have much experience with this? Can you get around them if the border officers give you one? What are the negatives of having one? Is it just that they can track you more?

Once my fiance and I are married, we plan to cross back and forth at land crossings in Alberta/Montana during the process as well at airports, for a couple trips.

Just curious if anyone can provide any insight... Thank you in advance!

It's my understanding that visitor records are usually a bad thing and limit the amount of time you can stay in Canada. For example, if you're from the US, you can usually stay 6 months out of a year, but if the border agent is suspicious for some reason, they may issue a visitor visa that says you have to leave after 3 months. I may be completely wrong about that, but it's the impression I've gotten. However, with that said, I was issued a visitor record and it seems to be a good thing. When I arrived at YYC to wait out the remainder of my PR process, I was taken to see immigration officers and interrogated for about 30-45 minutes. Once that was all said and done, and the immigration agent seemed satisfied that I was being truthful and wasn't breaking any rules, he issued me a a visitor visa for 1 year, meaning I get twice as long as the average american before I have to bother with extending my visitation (hopefully I won't have to extend it at all....c'mon Ottawa!). The immigration agent did mention that the visitor record would also allow me to travel back to the states if needed, but I'm not going to chance it. My lawyer said that, even with a visitor record, there is nothing that guarantees re-entry. I didn't ask for the visitor record (with how hard they were grilling me, I just felt lucky to get in at all) and, honestly, I didn't even know what a visitor record was until I got one.

 

[tom_from_sk]

Thank you Claudzilla for your information. What kinds of things did they grill you about? We will be flying in and out of YYC for our honeymoon and one other trip.

 

[Claudzilla]

Thank you Claudzilla for your information. What kinds of things did they grill you about? We will be flying in and out of YYC for our honeymoon and one other trip.

It's really unlikely that you'll have a similar experience. Pretty much everyone I've talked to went through with no problems. But here's the story:

I came up in November of last year. We waited until my husband had been approved for sponsorship so that we could have that "proof" of the application in process. When I got to the customs agent, they asked me, "How long do you intend to visit Canada". I basically couldn't give them a good answer. I said that I was intending to stay until my PR application was processed and planned on extending my visit if needed. I couldn't give them a definitive timeline, and of course, they did NOT like that. I was told to go around the corner and talk to an immigration agent. This guy was...something. He started off very rude and condescending. I told him what I'd told the customs agent. I said that I'd stay the full 6 months that I was allowed to be in Canada. He says, no exaggeration, "As long as you're ALLOWED to be here?! What does THAT mean??" Admittedly, I'm nervous at this point. I said, "American citizens have can be in Canada for up to 6 months....so I'll stay for that length of time and extend the visitation if I need to." He says, "Excuse me? You don't have the right to be here at all. I decide how long you have the right to be here! And what are you going to do after 6 months??" I'm nearly in tears at this point. I said, "Extend my visitation...?" He starts laughing and turns to the other immigration agent, "Visitation? What is that? Isn't that something you do at a funeral?" (seriously, I'm NOT making this up). He finally gets serious, and just starts hammering me with questions: How old are you? Where were you born? Where does your husband work? How much does he make? How tall are you? What is your eye color? What's your husband's address in Canada?
He asked a few of the questions more than once and he was firing them off very fast. It was obvious he was trying to catch me in a lie and trip me up. Then, the instant he decided I was telling the truth about everything, his entire attitude changed. He was suddenly friendly, patient, answered a few questions for me, and we joked around about unreliable computer systems. He issued me the visitor record for 1 year, reminded me that I couldn't work, but was very encouraging that the process shouldn't take too long.

I still shake a bit thinking of it because I was REALLY convinced for a minute or two that I'd have to get right back on a plane and go back home (with my two large dogs sitting across the airport in freight cargo). Even my immigration lawyer was shocked when he heard what went down. And trust me, I have zero problem with authority. I was nervous, but was never disrespectful or demanding.

I really do think this was a "worst case" story, and extremely unlikely to be your experience.

 

[Claudzilla]

I think what got me in so much "trouble" was the refusal to give a return date. It seems a lot of people will give an arbitrary visit time (just saying, "oh, I plan to be here 4 months..."). I just didn't want to chance any kind of untruth.

 

[tom_from_sk]

Thank you for elaborating. I am sorry to hear that they treated you poorly to start (and almost made you cry), but happy that they came around in the end. I sure hope this does not happen to my fiance at all after we are married and start the process. We are trying to do this legally and correctly and not bend any rules, just like you were. Thanks again for sharing!

 

[Claudzilla]

Thank you for elaborating. I am sorry to hear that they treated you poorly to start (and almost made you cry), but happy that they came around in the end. I sure hope this does not happen to my fiance at all after we are married and start the process. We are trying to do this legally and correctly and not bend any rules, just like you were. Thanks again for sharing!

No problem! Hope you and your fiance have a lovely honemoon!

 

[Ravcat]

It's really unlikely that you'll have a similar experience. Pretty much everyone I've talked to went through with no problems. But here's the story:

I came up in November of last year. We waited until my husband had been approved for sponsorship so that we could have that "proof" of the application in process. When I got to the customs agent, they asked me, "How long do you intend to visit Canada". I basically couldn't give them a good answer. I said that I was intending to stay until my PR application was processed and planned on extending my visit if needed. I couldn't give them a definitive timeline, and of course, they did NOT like that. I was told to go around the corner and talk to an immigration agent. This guy was...something. He started off very rude and condescending. I told him what I'd told the customs agent. I said that I'd stay the full 6 months that I was allowed to be in Canada. He says, no exaggeration, "As long as you're ALLOWED to be here?! What does THAT mean??" Admittedly, I'm nervous at this point. I said, "American citizens have can be in Canada for up to 6 months....so I'll stay for that length of time and extend the visitation if I need to." He says, "Excuse me? You don't have the right to be here at all. I decide how long you have the right to be here! And what are you going to do after 6 months??" I'm nearly in tears at this point. I said, "Extend my visitation...?" He starts laughing and turns to the other immigration agent, "Visitation? What is that? Isn't that something you do at a funeral?" (seriously, I'm NOT making this up). He finally gets serious, and just starts hammering me with questions: How old are you? Where were you born? Where does your husband work? How much does he make? How tall are you? What is your eye color? What's your husband's address in Canada?
He asked a few of the questions more than once and he was firing them off very fast. It was obvious he was trying to catch me in a lie and trip me up. Then, the instant he decided I was telling the truth about everything, his entire attitude changed. He was suddenly friendly, patient, answered a few questions for me, and we joked around about unreliable computer systems. He issued me the visitor record for 1 year, reminded me that I couldn't work, but was very encouraging that the process shouldn't take too long.

I still shake a bit thinking of it because I was REALLY convinced for a minute or two that I'd have to get right back on a plane and go back home (with my two large dogs sitting across the airport in freight cargo). Even my immigration lawyer was shocked when he heard what went down. And trust me, I have zero problem with authority. I was nervous, but was never disrespectful or demanding.

I really do think this was a "worst case" story, and extremely unlikely to be your experience.

I had a very similar thing happen to me. Ended up giving me a visa up to my return flight's plane ticket date, 3 weeks, and said if I wasn't out of the country by that date I would "never set foot in Canada again" Here we are 2 years later waiting on my PR to go through after getting married etc...

 

[BeShoo]

A visitor record is not something you're supposed to ask for. It's something they give you if they think you might have motivation to stay longer than you're allowed to. It imposes certain conditions on your visit (typically no working, no attending classes, hand it in as proof that you left before it expired). Essentially, the same conditions would apply for any casual visit, but normally they wouldn't be told to the visitor in writing. Aside from the requirement to hand it in at the end (unless you get an extension), it doesn't really increase the tracking.

They ask you a lot of questions about your intentions before they decide to give you a visitor record. Once you have one, you'll seldom (if ever) be asked so many questions again. They look at your visitor record in your passport, realize that you've already been grilled to make sure you are not trying to become an illegal immigrant, and let you through with minimal questions because they know that someone else already asked all the questions and decided you were going to be okay, at least until you get an answer on the PR application.