Visiting Spouse for the Duration of the Application Process

[Decoy24601]

My fiance and I are getting married in November. He is Canadian and sponsoring me, the American. I've been trying to explore the option of visiting him for the duration of the application process. How would I go about doing that? When I cross the border should I say I'm visiting for 4 weeks and have a return ticket? At the time I cross I will still have an apartment and a job. Then when I get there I would apply to extend my visitor status. Do you think that it would go smoothly if I say I'm staying for 4 weeks and still have a job and apartment?

If the extension is approved, should I then notify the cic that I have changed my address and am living with my husband?

Is it actually possible for me to stay with him while the application goes through? I haven't found too much information on this or whether or not people have been successful.

 

[Decoy24601]

Or should I tell the border agent that I plan to stay in Canada during the application process? I'm just not sure how to go about trying to do this.

 

[Taddy]

I can't tell you what to do but just for your reference:

I'm British and moved to Canada in June with my PR under process (but not at the IP stage). When we arrived at immigration in Toronto and were asked our purpose of visit my Canadian husband said we were moving back. The imm officer already my husband's Canadian passport and mine and my son's UK passports in his hand so we weren't trying to fool him.

I don't know whether this is usual or we were just lucky but it turned out to be a lot less stressful than I was expecting.

 

[canadianwoman]

Sometimes when people say they are moving to Canada they will be refused entry. It is better to be clear that you are just visiting. If you say you are visiting for 4 weeks and have a return ticket there should be no problems. Americans who say they are planning to visit while the PR application is being processed often don't have any problems either if they have proof the application has been sent in. In either case say you are visiting, not moving.
You can apply to extend your stay. Usually Americans are given 6 months. You can apply to extend this one month beforehand.

 

[Decoy24601]

Sometimes when people say they are moving to Canada they will be refused entry. It is better to be clear that you are just visiting. If you say you are visiting for 4 weeks and have a return ticket there should be no problems. Americans who say they are planning to visit while the PR application is being processed often don't have any problems either if they have proof the application has been sent in. In either case say you are visiting, not moving.
You can apply to extend your stay. Usually Americans are given 6 months. You can apply to extend this one month beforehand.

Thank you! I think I will just go with I'm visiting for 4 weeks and have a return ticket and apply to extend my status the next day. I have another question though. I looked through the online application to extend my visit online and it asks for proof of finances to support my stay,since it's a long term visit. Should I just provide a letter from my (soon to be) husband saying he will support me and evidence of his income or is this actually necessary?

I feel so much better after finding out we won't have to spend 6+ months apart after getting married.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thank you! I think I will just go with I'm visiting for 4 weeks and have a return ticket and apply to extend my status the next day.

If you are given a very short visitor record, you can immediately apply to extend your status. However, you will most likely be given 6 months on entry, so applying the day after entry to extend your status would be pointless.

 

[canadianwoman]

For proof of finances, a letter from your husband stating he will support you, and evidence of his income and savings, will be fine. Proof of your savings, if any, will also be helpful, of course.

 

[Decoy24601]

How do I know if I have been given 6 months of entry? If they give me a short visitor record will it be stamped in my passport? The last time I visited I don't think I was given a short visitor record and I didn't even have a return ticket at the time (I was going to travel by land to go back instead) , but I always assumed I had to leave by the date that I had told them.

Thank you to both of you.

Also, I've only flown internationally alone before. If I'm with my spouse, do we both go up to the same border agent or do we go to separate ones?

 

[jamsham12]

How do I know if I have been given 6 months of entry? If they give me a short visitor record will it be stamped in my passport? The last time I visited I don't think I was given a short visitor record and I didn't even have a return ticket at the time (I was going to travel by land to go back instead) , but I always assumed I had to leave by the date that I had told them.

Thank you to both of you.

Also, I've only flown internationally alone before. If I'm with my spouse, do we both go up to the same border agent or do we go to separate ones?

Its a given if you enter Canada with your U.S passport, you have 6 months from the date a CBSA officer stamps your passport(i have been in and off of Canada 20 times in the past two years, they don't stamp it every time) while you entered the border unless otherwise advised by a CBSA officer.

 

[Decoy24601]

Its a given if you enter Canada with your U.S passport, you have 6 months from the date a CBSA officer stamps your passport(i have been in and off of Canada 20 times in the past two years, they don't stamp it every time) while you entered the border unless otherwise advised by a CBSA officer.

Alright thank you.

I've only flown internationally alone. When I'm flying in with my spouse, do we both go to the same border agent or separate ones?

 

[carr1]

My fiance and I are getting married in November. He is Canadian and sponsoring me, the American. I've been trying to explore the option of visiting him for the duration of the application process. How would I go about doing that? When I cross the border should I say I'm visiting for 4 weeks and have a return ticket? At the time I cross I will still have an apartment and a job. Then when I get there I would apply to extend my visitor status. Do you think that it would go smoothly if I say I'm staying for 4 weeks and still have a job and apartment?

If the extension is approved, should I then notify the cic that I have changed my address and am living with my husband?

Is it actually possible for me to stay with him while the application goes through? I haven't found too much information on this or whether or not people have been successful.

I originally arrived in Canada in October 2014 with the intention to stay and visit for 1 year and establish common law with my boyfriend. When I arrived I had a return ticket for 3 weeks later and stated I was visiting my BF and his family for 3 weeks, even though I knew I was going to stay. When arriving from the US you are allowed to stay as a visitor for 6 months. 6 months later I applied online to extend my visitor status, my BF wrote a letter staying he will provide for me while I visit and we included a paystub and bank statements, I also included my Canadian bank statement and I used his address as my address on the application. I was approved without any issues.

Right after I applied for my first extension we decided to jump on a plane and marry in Vegas. When coming back from Vegas at Pearson airport he needed to go through the Canadian customs line and me through the non Canadian. I was questioned just a bit and wrote I was staying for 180 days on my customs form and had no issues, he just asked if I was applying for PR and I said yes and he wished me luck. Now I just applied for my 2nd visitor status extension last week and explained I wanted to stay and visit my spouse while I wait for my PR app to be processed, I applied for PR on Aug 11th.
I have not had a ton of issues of staying except the boredom of not working!
Good Luck!

 

[Decoy24601]

I originally arrived in Canada in October 2014 with the intention to stay and visit for 1 year and establish common law with my boyfriend. When I arrived I had a return ticket for 3 weeks later and stated I was visiting my BF and his family for 3 weeks, even though I knew I was going to stay. When arriving from the US you are allowed to stay as a visitor for 6 months. 6 months later I applied online to extend my visitor status, my BF wrote a letter staying he will provide for me while I visit and we included a paystub and bank statements, I also included my Canadian bank statement and I used his address as my address on the application. I was approved without any issues.

Right after I applied for my first extension we decided to jump on a plane and marry in Vegas. When coming back from Vegas at Pearson airport he needed to go through the Canadian customs line and me through the non Canadian. I was questioned just a bit and wrote I was staying for 180 days on my customs form and had no issues, he just asked if I was applying for PR and I said yes and he wished me luck. Now I just applied for my 2nd visitor status extension last week and explained I wanted to stay and visit my spouse while I wait for my PR app to be processed, I applied for PR on Aug 11th.
I have not had a ton of issues of staying except the boredom of not working!
Good Luck!

This is great to hear, thank you. I wish I could remember more from when I flew to visit him last. There were only about ten people in the whole customs area excluding the border agents, it was early in the morning and my flight was the only one in at the time. I think they just had everyone go in one line since the wait was only a minute or so to be checked out. I'm sure there will be appropriate signage when we go back that we can follow, so I will just make sure that we are vigilant.

 

[Decoy24601]

Oh, should I/how do I notify the CIC that my address has changed to my spouse's after I have already sent my application?

 

[carr1]

Oh, should I/how do I notify the CIC that my address has changed to my spouse's after I have already sent my application?

I am unsure as I always applied while I was in Canada and used my BF/Husbands address. I am sure if you search on here you will find the answer. I do need to mail in my updated passport and my FBI check once I receive it but was told I can mail them in and reference my app # once I do.

Keep in mind putting your application together is time consuming, it took me a few months to get it all together (not working on it daily) I thought once we were married I could put it together and mail it in quickly but I learned easier said than done.

 

[kangamoose]

Oh, should I/how do I notify the CIC that my address has changed to my spouse's after I have already sent my application?

Once you have received AOR and can login to ECAS there is a link in there to update your address.