Going home to reset your visitation

[kjantz]

Hi,

My boyfriend is from Iceland and he has been in Canada for 8 months and is allowed to stay until Sept 1/17 thanks to an extension on his visitation. Given that he's from Iceland he didn't need to get a visa to come in the first place, but needed to apply for an extension past the regular 6 month allowed visitation.

We are in the process of applying for him to come permanently however it will not be through by September and he must maintain some status in order to stay. We are wondering how long he would need to return home to Iceland in order for him to be able to re-enter Canada for another 6 month visitation period?
Does anybody know the answer to this?

Thank you!

 

[Scryden]

There is no black and white rule to answer your question. This is entirely up to the CBSA border officer when he enters the country how long of a stay your boyfriend is granted. Theoretically, the only rule is no longer than 6 months as a visitor but there are no rules describing whether this be 6 months per year or not. So in theory, he could leave the country and come back in for another 6 months. But again, this is all up to the discretion of the border officer and your boyfriend might raise a red flag if the officer finds out thru questioning that your boyfriend just left the country and already returned for another 6 months.

You could look into what is called a "bridging visa". This is a temporary visa that grants somebody to stay and work in Canada until a decision is made on the person's permanent residence application. I know it works this way when you are currently on a work permit. I am not quite sure about a visitor's visa.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi,

My boyfriend is from Iceland and he has been in Canada for 8 months and is allowed to stay until Sept 1/17 thanks to an extension on his visitation. Given that he's from Iceland he didn't need to get a visa to come in the first place, but needed to apply for an extension past the regular 6 month allowed visitation.

We are in the process of applying for him to come permanently however it will not be through by September and he must maintain some status in order to stay. We are wondering how long he would need to return home to Iceland in order for him to be able to re-enter Canada for another 6 month visitation period?
Does anybody know the answer to this?

Thank you!

Hi

Has he already applied for PR or are you doing common-law sponsorship after Sept?

It is safer to apply for another extension instead of leaving and re-entering. IRCC is generally more lenient with longer visits than CBSA.

 

[kjantz]

There is no black and white rule to answer your question. This is entirely up to the CBSA border officer when he enters the country how long of a stay your boyfriend is granted. Theoretically, the only rule is no longer than 6 months as a visitor but there are no rules describing whether this be 6 months per year or not. So in theory, he could leave the country and come back in for another 6 months. But again, this is all up to the discretion of the border officer and your boyfriend might raise a red flag if the officer finds out thru questioning that your boyfriend just left the country and already returned for another 6 months.

You could look into what is called a "bridging visa". This is a temporary visa that grants somebody to stay and work in Canada until a decision is made on the person's permanent residence application. I know it works this way when you are currently on a work permit. I am not quite sure about a visitor's visa.

Thanks for your response, that's helpful!

 

[kjantz]

Hi

Has he already applied for PR or are you doing common-law sponsorship after Sept?

It is safer to apply for another extension instead of leaving and re-entering. IRCC is generally more lenient with longer visits than CBSA.

We are going to be getting married and applying through spousal sponsorship. I have heard that you generally are not granted more than one visitation extension though? He already received one.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We are going to be getting married and applying through spousal sponsorship. I have heard that you generally are not granted more than one visitation extension though? He already received one.

People can be granted multiple extensions. Pay the full $1040 PR fees and include that receipt in the extension app. Provided he can show sufficient proof of funds, there should be no issues.