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Re entry to Canada from US with ETA

stussy

Member
Jun 7, 2010
15
0
If you are on ETA, are you allowed 6 months everytime you re-enter Canada regardless of country of origin?

Visitor on ETA is from Philippines and has been going to the US for leisure and we are not sure if they still need to apply for an extension of stay if they exited and re-entered Canada. Thank you!
 

Naturgrl

VIP Member
Apr 5, 2020
44,671
9,429
If you are on ETA, are you allowed 6 months everytime you re-enter Canada regardless of country of origin?

Visitor on ETA is from Philippines and has been going to the US for leisure and we are not sure if they still need to apply for an extension of stay if they exited and re-entered Canada. Thank you!
No. CBSA decides how long you can stay. It can be up to 6 months.
 

stussy

Member
Jun 7, 2010
15
0
No. CBSA decides how long you can stay. It can be up to 6 months.
but they will decide on re entry? It wont be considered overstaying if you stay more than 6 months from the original entry if its less than 6 months from the re-entry?
 

Naturgrl

VIP Member
Apr 5, 2020
44,671
9,429
but they will decide on re entry? It wont be considered overstaying if you stay more than 6 months from the original entry if its less than 6 months from the re-entry?
Don’t understand what you are asking. CBSA decides how long a person can stay. If you stay over 6 months and don’t apply for visitor extension then yes that is an overstay. If that person tries to re-enter, CBSA can deny entry if they think person is trying to live in Canada.
 

stussy

Member
Jun 7, 2010
15
0
original entry is November. When they entered Canada with an ETA, they were not really given a time frame or limit of stay so automatically it will be 6 months (which should be until May) but they went to the US in January and re entered Canada. Again, no condition on until when they can stay. We've been informed that the 6 months should count from when they re entered again and not from original entry but it doesnt really say anything specific on the Immigration website so we wanted to check if we still need to apply for an extension to stay if they are staying until June. ETA expiration is 5 years
 

Naturgrl

VIP Member
Apr 5, 2020
44,671
9,429
original entry is November. When they entered Canada with an ETA, they were not really given a time frame or limit of stay so automatically it will be 6 months (which should be until May) but they went to the US in January and re entered Canada. Again, no condition on until when they can stay. We've been informed that the 6 months should count from when they re entered again and not from original entry but it doesnt really say anything specific on the Immigration website so we wanted to check if we still need to apply for an extension to stay if they are staying until June. ETA expiration is 5 years
So when they re-entered again the 6 months starts, not original entry.
 

Copingwithlife

VIP Member
Jul 29, 2018
4,432
2,225
Earth
original entry is November. When they entered Canada with an ETA, they were not really given a time frame or limit of stay so automatically it will be 6 months (which should be until May) but they went to the US in January and re entered Canada. Again, no condition on until when they can stay. We've been informed that the 6 months should count from when they re entered again and not from original entry but it doesnt really say anything specific on the Immigration website so we wanted to check if we still need to apply for an extension to stay if they are staying until June. ETA expiration is 5 years
But what’s your end game here ?

Going back & forth , attempting to get another six months only reinforces the idea the person is trying to live in Canada, not visit temporarily

Having a ETA that is valid for five years is irrelevant. Five years validity doesn’t mean the person can stay for five years
 

stussy

Member
Jun 7, 2010
15
0
No end game. They have been really been going back and forth. They just decided to extend for a couple more months but we werent sure if we need to apply for extension since we had a few trips to the US for leisure. Just wanted to make sure.