Should residency obligations be stricter?

[Classic Chucks]

In the end, would you say the best way to ensure my likelihood of remaining in Canada for the next 12-18 months, while being able to come & go easily would be to submit for PR?

YES. As mentioned, easy for you to acquire PR status in 4-6 months time.

 

[Classic Chucks]

Good to know. Can you clarify then, regardless of applying for PR or not, if this is the correct application for extending my time past the initial 6 months: "Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Visitor or a Temporary Resident Permit Holder (IMM5708)"

I'm about ready to send it off complete, but double checking now since it says:

"Use this application if you are a temporary resident who is already in Canada and you want to:

• extend your stay,
• change the conditions of your stay or
• correct problems with your status."

Can you be a temporary resident as a visitor? i.e. not only on a TRP?

You are a temporary resident as a visitor. All quoted statements are correct. Are you extending your stay online or via paper? You can do it online easily.

 

[Classic Chucks]

And if I am understanding you correctly, if that is the correct form and I extend my visitor status for a year, that only allows me to stay for that year if I don't leave the country. Correct?

Yes.

And if I do leave the country, it's up to the border to assess me as usual. Which means if I've already been here for 6 months or more "visiting", they could likely say no, as my extended visitor status has no bearing anymore. Correct?

Yes.

In the end, would you say the best way to ensure my likelihood of remaining in Canada for the next 12-18 months, while being able to come & go easily would be to submit for PR?

Yes.

 

[California2Canada]

YES. As mentioned, easy for you to acquire PR status in 4-6 months time.

Ok, thanks. I know that sounds obvious from the outside, so thanks for your patience.

When it seemed like I may be able to coast on (what I thought was) a visa extension until we move, and therefore save $1000+ and a lot of time, I wasn't so sure about applying for PR in addition to extending my status. Yes, I'm doing it online. Just finishing up the paperwork as we speak.

Final question then, and circling back then to the whole reason I found this thread:

I understand now that time w/ my Canadian spouse counts towards my RO whether we are in Canada or the US. So we will have all 5 years together, easy.

My question is then- will it look really bad that basically I got PR and then a few months later moved to the US for the rest of the 5 years? And if so, are there any repercussions for that? I read on other threads about intent of (not) settling in Canada vs. actually meeting the RO, and sounds like meeting the # of days isn't always enough. We'll have a full 5 years of RO days, but the majority of those from another country.

This is the rock and the hard place- yes, our potential plan is to move away from Canada quite soon after receiving PR. At the same time, from all of your advice, I need to apply for PR for my current situation. I'm not trying to game the system. I'd actually prefer to not apply, but it doesn't sound like that's a good option.

Thanks for everything. You must have loads of good karma every day

 

[Classic Chucks]

My question is then- will it look really bad that basically I got PR and then a few months later moved to the US for the rest of the 5 years? And if so, are there any repercussions for that?

But if you plan to apply for Canadian citizenship in the future, note that time spent outside of Canada cannot be counted towards the citizenship residency requirements.

This is the rock and the hard place- yes, our potential plan is to move away from Canada quite soon after receiving PR. At the same time, from all of your advice, I need to apply for PR for my current situation. I'm not trying to game the system. I'd actually prefer to not apply, but it doesn't sound like that's a good option.

It is solely up to you should you prefer to apply for PR now or at later time. Study your options wisely. As you said earlier, plans change. If you think PR application is not ideal for you right now (time & money wise), then you can still opt to come here as a visitor. As you are an American, the chances of refusal upon your entry are minimal. Others come and go as they please, you just have to be mindful every time.

 

[California2Canada]

But if you plan to apply for Canadian citizenship in the future, note that time spent outside of Canada cannot be counted towards the citizenship residency requirements.

Just checking, is there something missing before the 'But'? Like "No it won't look bad, but..." ? Or "Yes, because xyz, but..." ? Just seems like I missed part of your thought

As you are an American, the chances of refusal upon your entry are minimal. Others come and go as they please, you just have to be mindful every time.

Understood- but without a pending PR app I would still be subject to 6 out of 12 months max time in Canada. Unless I have that wrong. So continuously staying for months at a time- including the option of leaving for short trips- without PR sounds legally not possible. Even if the border did let me in not realizing I'd already been here for awhile, I'd legally be over my allowed time.

I'm doing my best to study the options but it sounds like the only options for not returning to a long distance relationship (i.e. "living"/staying in Canada) are:
-Visitor extension only + don't leave the country until we move
-Visitor extension + PR

Sound about right? Or does have a submitted PR app in the works not really help me at the border either (for trips taken before it's finalized)?

 

[carolbb23]

Why do people do that come here for pr than go back and vice versa

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Understood- but without a pending PR app I would still be subject to 6 out of 12 months max time in Canada. Unless I have that wrong. So continuously staying for months at a time- including the option of leaving for short trips- without PR sounds legally not possible. Even if the border did let me in not realizing I'd already been here for awhile, I'd legally be over my allowed time.

I'm doing my best to study the options but it sounds like the only options for not returning to a long distance relationship (i.e. "living"/staying in Canada) are:
-Visitor extension only + don't leave the country until we move
-Visitor extension + PR

Sound about right? Or does have a submitted PR app in the works not really help me at the border either (for trips taken before it's finalized)?

There is no "6 months per year" rule. If CBSA grants you entry, you are legally in Canada.

You should just apply for PR.

 

[carolbb23]

There is no "6 months per year" rule. If CBSA grants you entry, you are legally in Canada.

You should just apply for PR.

Basically with pr you can stay more than 6 months

 

[California2Canada]

Why do people do that come here for pr than go back and vice versa

Because not everyone wants to live permanently in one place Yet we still want to be legal wherever we go, and it seems for both directions the way to become/remain legal is for the other partner to be PR.

That was the whole reason I ended up on this thread- it seems equally absurd to me that in order to stay legally & easily I need to be PR even though we'll be going again. But so it is.

 

[California2Canada]

There is no "6 months per year" rule. If CBSA grants you entry, you are legally in Canada.

?? I have both read on CIC's site, on this forum, and been told (verbally) at the border/in secondary that the max I can stay in one year is 6 months. Because beyond that I am spending more time in Canada than home and therefore am not a normal visitor.

But you're basically saying that though I may have been verbally told that, there is technically no rule? And every time I am allowed back in to Canada my 6 months resets?

Yes, I am going to apply for PR just to avoid a lot of mess, but if I hadn't been so sure about the difficulty of staying more than 6 months out of 12 months, I may not have even considered it.

 

[spousalsponsee]

?? I have both read on CIC's site, on this forum, and been told (verbally) at the border/in secondary that the max I can stay in one year is 6 months. Because beyond that I am spending more time in Canada than home and therefore am not a normal visitor.

But you're basically saying that though I may have been verbally told that, there is technically no rule? And every time I am allowed back in to Canada my 6 months resets?

Yes, I am going to apply for PR just to avoid a lot of mess, but if I hadn't been so sure about the difficulty of staying more than 6 months out of 12 months, I may not have even considered it.

If you arrive at the Canadian border, then you may be granted, at CBSA's discretion, up to 6 months in Canada.

This is true whether you've been gone six minutes, six months, or six years.

It's up to the officer you get, and how you present yourself, in particular if you appear to be a genuine visitor, how the assessment goes.

I remember reading a few years back about an American couple who bought a house with land in Canada and had unofficially retired there, raising animals. Every 6 months they crossed back to Washington for a day to reset their visitor status. After about 2 years, CBSA released they were living in Canada without residency rights, and gave them 48 hours to pack up their lives and leave Canada. Which illustrates both ways the decision can go.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

?? I have both read on CIC's site, on this forum, and been told (verbally) at the border/in secondary that the max I can stay in one year is 6 months. Because beyond that I am spending more time in Canada than home and therefore am not a normal visitor.

But you're basically saying that though I may have been verbally told that, there is technically no rule? And every time I am allowed back in to Canada my 6 months resets?

Yes, I am going to apply for PR just to avoid a lot of mess, but if I hadn't been so sure about the difficulty of staying more than 6 months out of 12 months, I may not have even considered it.

There is nothing stated on the IRCC website or in immigration law about a 6 month per year maximum. Some CBSA officers talk about such a rule but it is more like a guideline that they use in their job to decide whether a person is a genuine visitor or trying to live in Canada.

CBSA decides if you can enter and for how long. You would probably be fine to leave and re-enter a few times but no one can guarantee that. If you were to keep leaving and re-entering, you would most likely be refused entry eventually. CBSA is generally a lot more lenient with allowing PR applicants entry because they have shown that they are following the rules to live in Canada legally.

Also note that IRCC is much more lenient on the whole "living in Canada as a visitor", hence why so many people are able to extend their stay as visitors, some for years. However, as we've already covered, those extensions are only for as long as you stay in Canada.

 

[California2Canada]

That all make sense. I guess, as usual, it's all up to what you convince the border to allow.

And if I want to stay on purely a visitor status for a few more months (i.e. if we aren't able to get PR paperwork sorted soon enough), and I leave a month after receiving a year extension, I would still get six months upon re-entry as long as the border let me in. Correct?

Anything past that six months would require another extension, regardless of the initial length granted of the first extension. Correct?

Thanks very much to both of you!

 

[carolbb23]

Because not everyone wants to live permanently in one place Yet we still want to be legal wherever we go, and it seems for both directions the way to become/remain legal is for the other partner to be PR.

That was the whole reason I ended up on this thread- it seems equally absurd to me that in order to stay legally & easily I need to be PR even though we'll be going again. But so it is.

and access to benefits