[i'm not sure if I should have posted this in this forum or the temp. resident, but as it relates to PR I chose here. Mods please let me know otherwise/move it]
I'm American; my wife is Canadian. My 6 months in Canada was ending in June, and I applied in May for a visitor status extension with proof of our recent marriage and a letter stating we intended on filing PR paperwork. I asked for one year. I only just now in October received the approval, which was for 6 months from the issue date. So it says the expiry is April 12th, 2018.
In the meantime of waiting for this extension, I left Canada for 1 month, returning Sept. 6th. To my knowledge, I received another 6 months upon re-entry, as nothing was stated otherwise, which would put me at March 6th.
I especially thought this because I was told on this forum that once I left the country my application for a visitor extension would not be valid anymore, since I wasn't in Canada. So I didn't think it had any bearing anymore.
1) Did I get an approval letter because by the time they processed it (Oct) I actually was back in the country (gone Aug, returned Sept)? Surely they could see that I had come and gone?
2) The approval letter says 'Visitor Record'. I've heard various things (often negative) about VRs and was not expecting to have one. Is this the same doc that people talk about sometimes getting at the border?
3) Does this VR trump my last entry- i.e. I can now stay until April 12th instead of March 6th?
4) Baring the usual 'it's at the discretion of the border' does this VR mean I can come and go without issue up until that date? I wanted to make trips back to the US in both January and March and wondering if this will help me with re-entry at all (even though it says it does not authorize re-entry....I've read mixed things on here about 'coming and going with ease due to having a VR'.)
5) If I were to make these trips back to the US and I am let back into Canada without questions, will I get 6 more months from re-entry as usual, or will I still be stuck with the April 12th deadline?
i.e. If I return March 15th, can I stay now until Sept. 15th, or still only until April 12th, unless I apply for another extension before then?
I should add that we have no proof of me applying for PR (the stated reason for extension was to stay while applying). We started the process and then abandoned it as our plans changed and we will be moving back to the US in Sept. 2018. So we are doing my wife's US PR now instead. We were hoping I could coast on a tourist status until then.
Thanks for the help!
I'm American; my wife is Canadian. My 6 months in Canada was ending in June, and I applied in May for a visitor status extension with proof of our recent marriage and a letter stating we intended on filing PR paperwork. I asked for one year. I only just now in October received the approval, which was for 6 months from the issue date. So it says the expiry is April 12th, 2018.
In the meantime of waiting for this extension, I left Canada for 1 month, returning Sept. 6th. To my knowledge, I received another 6 months upon re-entry, as nothing was stated otherwise, which would put me at March 6th.
I especially thought this because I was told on this forum that once I left the country my application for a visitor extension would not be valid anymore, since I wasn't in Canada. So I didn't think it had any bearing anymore.
1) Did I get an approval letter because by the time they processed it (Oct) I actually was back in the country (gone Aug, returned Sept)? Surely they could see that I had come and gone?
2) The approval letter says 'Visitor Record'. I've heard various things (often negative) about VRs and was not expecting to have one. Is this the same doc that people talk about sometimes getting at the border?
3) Does this VR trump my last entry- i.e. I can now stay until April 12th instead of March 6th?
4) Baring the usual 'it's at the discretion of the border' does this VR mean I can come and go without issue up until that date? I wanted to make trips back to the US in both January and March and wondering if this will help me with re-entry at all (even though it says it does not authorize re-entry....I've read mixed things on here about 'coming and going with ease due to having a VR'.)
5) If I were to make these trips back to the US and I am let back into Canada without questions, will I get 6 more months from re-entry as usual, or will I still be stuck with the April 12th deadline?
i.e. If I return March 15th, can I stay now until Sept. 15th, or still only until April 12th, unless I apply for another extension before then?
I should add that we have no proof of me applying for PR (the stated reason for extension was to stay while applying). We started the process and then abandoned it as our plans changed and we will be moving back to the US in Sept. 2018. So we are doing my wife's US PR now instead. We were hoping I could coast on a tourist status until then.
Thanks for the help!
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