Something other than an Eta?

[Edenzdoor]

Hello,

I am a citizen of The United States and my boyfriend is a citizen of Canada. We have been in a relationship for 4 years. I am currently in Calgary AB, Canada on a 6 month visitor visa. My 6 months here are up as of December 15th 2015, when I will be returning home for Christmas for a few weeks. He and I are attempting to become common law, so that we can reapply for my Permanent Residency under the Family Sponsorship after 1 full year of living together. I had planned to apply for an ETA before going home, just to make sure I had all my ducks in a row, but the CIC website says you cannot apply for an ETA if you are a US citizen. So, I'm wondering if there is another way I can apply for another 6 month visitor visa ahead of time, from December 2015 to June 2016, to assure that I have the correct paperwork to come back...Or if I just have to take my chances when crossing the border again. (Which border patrol does not seem to like too much, if you don't have paperwork.)

Thanks in advance for any advice or help you are able to give!

 

[scylla]

There's nothing you can apply for in advance. You'll just have to take your chances at the border.

How long are you planning to be away? If you are aiming for common law, you should keep the separation to a minimum. Once you hit three weeks, CIC will often consider this as a break in the continuous common law obligation and you'll have to start counting the 12 months again from scratch once you return.

I would keep your visit under two weeks.

 

[Msafiri]

Hello,

I am a citizen of The United States and my boyfriend is a citizen of Canada. We have been in a relationship for 4 years. I am currently in Calgary AB, Canada on a 6 month visitor visa. My 6 months here are up as of December 15th 2015, when I will be returning home for Christmas for a few weeks. He and I are attempting to become common law, so that we can reapply for my Permanent Residency under the Family Sponsorship after 1 full year of living together. I had planned to apply for an ETA before going home, just to make sure I had all my ducks in a row, but the CIC website says you cannot apply for an ETA if you are a US citizen. So, I'm wondering if there is another way I can apply for another 6 month visitor visa ahead of time, from December 2015 to June 2016, to assure that I have the correct paperwork to come back...Or if I just have to take my chances when crossing the border again. (Which border patrol does not seem to like too much, if you don't have paperwork.)

Thanks in advance for any advice or help you are able to give!

Your other option is to apply for an extension of status in Canada prior to the expiry of your current 6 months admission so you can get at least another 6 months or preferably more (on request) to 12 months. Downside to this route is that you can't leave Canada because if you do the extension is moot and you are back to zero days again in so far as common law status establishment goes (unless you get re-admitted within a short time as alluded to by scylla). There are multiple threads on both this section and the family sponsorship section on US citizens taking this route to get common law status. There will also be advise on both Inland sponsorship (CIC Vegreville) and Outland sponsorship (Canada Visa Post in the US) with pros and cons for each option.

 

[Edenzdoor]

Thank you both for your responses. I am only planning to return home to the states for a week or two at the most. I will definitely look into more information here on this forum. Thanks again.