Worried about visitor record limitations

[RobVG]

When the border was going to close during the pandemic, I chose to stay with my fiancé and lived in Canada for 3 years. I filed a visitor record every six months and I was actually given a year to stay with the last record I filed a few years ago.
I went to two immigration counselors inquiring about becoming a PR. They each told me all I had to do to stay legal was to cross the border every six months and even turn around the same day and come back. The last time I came into Canada the officer told me this is just a technicality, and I'm not allowed to do this. He let me cross and I immediately applied for a visitor record to stay for six months. I learned it could now take well over six months to be approved and need to know If I can stay legally until I hear back from the IRCC.
We still plan to get married, and I will apply for residency under spousal sponsorship., but in the meantime I want to stay legally in Canada as I did before.

 

[canuck78]

When the border was going to close during the pandemic, I chose to stay with my fiancé and lived in Canada for 3 years. I filed a visitor record every six months and I was actually given a year to stay with the last record I filed a few years ago.
I went to two immigration counselors inquiring about becoming a PR. They each told me all I had to do to stay legal was to cross the border every six months and even turn around the same day and come back. The last time I came into Canada the officer told me this is just a technicality, and I'm not allowed to do this. He let me cross and I immediately applied for a visitor record to stay for six months. I learned it could now take well over six months to be approved and need to know If I can stay legally until I hear back from the IRCC.
We still plan to get married, and I will apply for residency under spousal sponsorship., but in the meantime I want to stay legally in Canada as I did before.

If no date was stamped in your passport when you entered Canada then you are legally allowed to visit Canada for the next 6 months. I would withdraw your visitor record application. During Covid and under the Trudeau governed it was much easier to extend a visit. That would likely no longer be possible. Visiting Canada for 3 years could easily be viewed as attempting to live in Canada as a visitor. If you were to attempt to do this now you may have received one extension but not be able to visit for 3 years. You actually got quite lucky if you were able to enter Canada for another 6 month having spent so much time in Canada over the past 5 years. At a certain point Canada wants you to apply for PR (or even a study/work permit) not just keep visiting Canada for long periods of time. If you leave Canada and try to reenter again right away you risk being denied reentry so it is typically best to apply for a visitor record online. If your visitor record application gets refused at least you have the opportunity to gather your things and make arrangements to leave. I would strongly suggest you speak to you partner about applying for PR if you want to visit Canada for over 6 months and if you don’t I would plan on reestablishing your ties to the US before trying to visit Canada again for a long period of time.