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Visitor 6 Month Period & Extension - South Korea

seoulkorea

Newbie
Jan 5, 2018
5
0
My girlfriend is a South Korean citizen. We met while traveling abroad in Europe, traveled around together for a couple of months, and I then visited her in Korea and we went to Japan too.

After that, she came to Canada to visit me from August 11th - September 6th. That was her first time in Canada, and she got a 5 year ETA, so that's no problem. (South Korea is visa exempt for visitors, it just requires an ETA).

Now, she's come back for another visit as of November 11th, 2017. To make things more complicated, we went to the US for a weekend at the end of November, so her passport is stamped with an entry date of "Dec 2, 2017" to Canada. That's the only stamp for entry to Canada.

Question 1: If the only stamp in her passport into Canada says Dec 2, 2017, does that means she has 6 months from this date, as a visitor?

Question 2: Is it written anywhere that a visitor to Canada can only stay for a total duration of 6 months within the previous calendar year? I can't find that anywhere so far on the government website, but I keep seeing reference to this by "people".

Question 3: We plan to apply for a visitor extension, using form IMM5708. What date does she put as her entry to Canada? The original August date? The November return to Canada? Or her December re-entry after our weekend in the US?
 
Last edited:

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,187
2,421
Others can comment/correct but this would be my personal interpretation

1)Each entry to Canada for a visitor is considered as a fresh entry and fresh assessment of their entitlement to enter the country
2) calendar year is irrelevant as regards the 6 months default stay for visitors, that is where no exit date has been stamped in the passport, is 6 months from date of entry. More critical to CBSA are the number of entry/exits over a short period of time or anything that could imply someone is not a genuine visitor by trying to live in the country.

A simple GOOGLE would return this http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1016&top=16

3)Enter the last date she entered Canada.
 

seoulkorea

Newbie
Jan 5, 2018
5
0
Thanks, that makes sense to me. What is the purpose of the visitor extension in that case? For other people who need actual visas?

Re: Question 2, I'd seen that link on cic.gc.ca and that was basically all I could find about the topic.
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,553
7,207
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
Question 1: If the only stamp in her passport into Canada says Dec 2, 2017, does that means she has 6 months from this date, as a visitor?

Question 2: Is it written anywhere that a visitor to Canada can only stay for a total duration of 6 months within the previous calendar year? I can't find that anywhere so far on the government website, but I keep seeing reference to this by "people".

Question 3: We plan to apply for a visitor extension, using form IMM5708. What date does she put as her entry to Canada? The original August date? The November return to Canada? Or her December re-entry after our weekend in the US?
1. Yes,

2. No such rule. Visitors can stay for years if they maintain their status.

3. Most recent entry date.