Visitor Record issued to Applicant for 1 month. What happens upon re-entry?

[VermiciousKnish]

Applicant in spousal sponsorship from Outside of Canada is visiting/living in Canada with her husband and children while she waits. She travels back and forth to the USA about once every 1-3 months. Last entry she was given a visitor record for 1 month and told to renew it online. If she leaves before the VR expires, can she just re-enter Canada on her next visit and start again? Or must she renew it? Can she travel back and forth while waiting for renewal? Can she travel back and forth once it has been renewed or does each exit start a whole new process?

 

[scylla]

Each re-entry into Canada is assessed as a new visit. So if she is allowed to re-enter Canada and for how long is always up to the CBSA officer she speaks to when she enters Canada.

 

[VermiciousKnish]

So is it worth the $100 to apply for renewal considering she will be exiting again in a week?

 

[Aquakitty]

No need to renew it if she leaves before the end of the VR. I suggest she get a NEXUS card to make entering and leaving faster.

 

[andrew-brit]

On the visitor record (either an initial one or a renewed) states that it does not authorize reentry. This means that if you leave Canada it becomes void.

To my knowledge, VR'S are not issued upon entering Canada, instead your passport is either stamped with an exit date or not stamped. In the case of not stamped you can assume you have 6 months to stay in Canada.

So in this situation, if she leaves during the 1 month and tries to reenter she will receive a new VR or new stamp on her passport assuming she can prove to the officer that she meets guidelines and leave them in no doubt that she will not overstay, work, etc.

 

[Aquakitty]

On the visitor record (either an initial one or a renewed) states that it does not authorize reentry. This means that if you leave Canada it becomes void.

To my knowledge, VR'S are not issued upon entering Canada, instead your passport is either stamped with an exit date or not stamped. In the case of not stamped you can assume you have 6 months to stay in Canada.

So in this situation, if she leaves during the 1 month and tries to reenter she will receive a new VR or new stamp on her passport assuming she can prove to the officer that she meets guidelines and leave them in no doubt that she will not overstay, work, etc.

They do issue VR's at the border, and you can re-enter on the same one if it's not expired (we've done so lots of times). It does not mean you will be allowed to re-enter but it's up to the border officer.

 

[copypaper]

Aquakitty is correct, sometimes visitor records are issued at the border.

I originally thought visitor record loses effect as soon as you leave the country. However, I have seen a situation where someone left near the end of the VR in the hopes of getting a 6 month stamp. When she returned, the officer wrote in an expiry on the stamp the same duration as the visitor record.

My theory is if CBSA knows you have a VR, they will try to respect its duration since CIC considered your situation and had a good reason to give one for a certain duration.

 

[VermiciousKnish]

This latest VR was issued at the border and only valid for 1 month. The officer said this will give her sufficient time to renew it online. This was the second VR issued after the first one of 6 months expired. She will be leaving the country before this current 1 month VR expires but may return to Canada a few days before it expires as well. She travels back and forth between USA and Canada quite often, all while waiting for PR to be approved (one of the benefits of Outland Application if I recall the thread correctly).

Is it a waste of time and money to renew online?? It says it takes 114 days to process at this point in time anyway. Or is it safer to renew and then when asked at the border, she can say that she applied to renewal?