Renewing Visitor's Visa while waiting for PR in Canada

[bartjones]

I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to this question.

I'm sponsoring my wife for PR from Korea and started preparing the application in January. At that time the Seoul visa office was still open and they were saying processing times there were 3-4 months. We are planning on moving to Toronto at the end of April. Back then I expected that my wife could arrive in Canada as a visitor (Korea has visa waiver arrangements so she can stay 6 months), and during that 6 months visitors period her PR would get approved in Seoul and she could land in Niagara Falls.

Now the visa office in Seoul has closed and presumably our application will be processed in Manila. I'm reading about 7-9 month waiting periods there. If that is correct, my wife's PR approval is unlikely to come through before her visitor's status expires. This means she will have to leave Canada or get her visitor's visa extended.

So here is the question. My wife has family in Michigan and she also holds a valid U.S visitor's visa. If her Canadian visitor's visa is getting close to expiring before her PR is approved, would it be possible for her to go down and spend a weekend with her U.S family, return a few days later and get a new Canadian visitor's visa? Is a short stay out of the country like that enough to entitle her to another 6 month visitor's visa in Canada or is there something else she needs to do?

I know this is possible in Korea as I did it a few times myself (weekend in Tokyo) before I got PR here, but I'm not sure if it's possible in Canada. Thanks for any help.

 

[computergeek]

I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to this question.

I'm sponsoring my wife for PR from Korea and started preparing the application in January. At that time the Seoul visa office was still open and they were saying processing times there were 3-4 months. We are planning on moving to Toronto at the end of April. Back then I expected that my wife could arrive in Canada as a visitor (Korea has visa waiver arrangements so she can stay 6 months), and during that 6 months visitors period her PR would get approved in Seoul and she could land in Niagara Falls.

Now the visa office in Seoul has closed and presumably our application will be processed in Manila. I'm reading about 7-9 month waiting periods there. If that is correct, my wife's PR approval is unlikely to come through before her visitor's status expires. This means she will have to leave Canada or get her visitor's visa extended.

So here is the question. My wife has family in Michigan and she also holds a valid U.S visitor's visa. If her Canadian visitor's visa is getting close to expiring before her PR is approved, would it be possible for her to go down and spend a weekend with her U.S family, return a few days later and get a new Canadian visitor's visa? Is a short stay out of the country like that enough to entitle her to another 6 month visitor's visa in Canada or is there something else she needs to do?

I know this is possible in Korea as I did it a few times myself (weekend in Tokyo) before I got PR here, but I'm not sure if it's possible in Canada. Thanks for any help.

Yes, she can, but they may also choose to refuse her entry (on the belief that she is not actually going to leave). That she HAS US family and a US visitor's visa actually helps her since it's easy to leave.

She can also apply for an extension of her visitor status. Generally it would be approved for someone in her position.

 

[bartjones]

Thanks very much computergeek

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to this question.

I'm sponsoring my wife for PR from Korea and started preparing the application in January. At that time the Seoul visa office was still open and they were saying processing times there were 3-4 months. We are planning on moving to Toronto at the end of April. Back then I expected that my wife could arrive in Canada as a visitor (Korea has visa waiver arrangements so she can stay 6 months), and during that 6 months visitors period her PR would get approved in Seoul and she could land in Niagara Falls.

Now the visa office in Seoul has closed and presumably our application will be processed in Manila. I'm reading about 7-9 month waiting periods there. If that is correct, my wife's PR approval is unlikely to come through before her visitor's status expires. This means she will have to leave Canada or get her visitor's visa extended.

So here is the question. My wife has family in Michigan and she also holds a valid U.S visitor's visa. If her Canadian visitor's visa is getting close to expiring before her PR is approved, would it be possible for her to go down and spend a weekend with her U.S family, return a few days later and get a new Canadian visitor's visa? Is a short stay out of the country like that enough to entitle her to another 6 month visitor's visa in Canada or is there something else she needs to do?

I know this is possible in Korea as I did it a few times myself (weekend in Tokyo) before I got PR here, but I'm not sure if it's possible in Canada. Thanks for any help.

She doesn't actually have to leave the country to extend her visitor's visa, she can do it online, it's a fairly simple process. It's a little safer, as going to the US and crossing back over runs the risk of getting a tough Border Officer and not being allowed back into Canada. I haven't done it myself, I'm just going on what I've read on some other threads

 

[bartjones]

Thanks canuck_in_uk. You're probably right. I just took a look at the website and see that it's a much easier process than I suspected.