Hello! I am in a unique situation and wanted to seek advice. I am an Canadian citizen who is currently working in the US on a visa but have found employment in Canada and looking to move back to Canada. My spouse is American and currently living with me. I have already applied for PR for them but we are still waiting for a final decision. In the meantime, I need to move back to Canada to switch jobs. I wanted my spouse to drive with me to Canada since I do not have a drivers license (this is a stupid mistake on my part) to help me move. I understand since my spouse has not had their PR approved yet, they will need to enter Canada as a visitor. What are some things I can do or prepare in advance to increase our odds of getting through the border?
Advice moving to Canada with my Spouse
- Thread starter idunnololz
- Start date
Given current situation would probably help quite a lot if your spouse is vaccinated.
Other than the covid-related stuff, pretty simple: your spouse is visiting. It would help if all the things in the car are yours/declared as yours (and you make it clear that spouse is coming to help you settle in).
Tell the truth about the PR application if asked; just you need to return earlier to start work. If while your spouse is in Canada the PR is approved, it can be finalized there and spouse remains. (I'm ignoring things like whether spouse needs to return and bring own goods and car, etc).
Technically border officer could decide your spouse is not just visiting and/or not being truthful or whatever else, but your situation is not that unusual, nor does it sound particularly fishy.
Other than the covid-related stuff, pretty simple: your spouse is visiting. It would help if all the things in the car are yours/declared as yours (and you make it clear that spouse is coming to help you settle in).
Tell the truth about the PR application if asked; just you need to return earlier to start work. If while your spouse is in Canada the PR is approved, it can be finalized there and spouse remains. (I'm ignoring things like whether spouse needs to return and bring own goods and car, etc).
Technically border officer could decide your spouse is not just visiting and/or not being truthful or whatever else, but your situation is not that unusual, nor does it sound particularly fishy.
Thank you for the reassurance! We are both fully vaccinated. After asking the question, I did a bit more research and decided to have my spouse print some bank statements, phone bill and rent statements just in case to establish that they still have a lot of ties in the US. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid and we can make it through without an issue.
We did that with no issue. If you search dual intent in this forum my experience doing that should come up. Honestly just be clear the non Canadian is visiting and know the status of your application. (Seemed important to the CBSA officer that my husband already had sponsor approval)
Hi,
My spouse recently drove over the border with me and we got pretty chewed out by the border officer when we went through, but we were definitely underprepared in hindsight. If you've already submitted your PR application that does look good and improves your chances of getting through on dual intent. If your spouse is employed, I would also suggest printing some proof of that employment to further show their ties to the US. If you want to get through just as visitors without having to bring up immigration, it could also be a good idea to book a return flight for your spouse (could refund it later once you are through and settled). At the end of the day you really just need to convince them that your spouse won't illegally be staying in Canada, and it sounds like you're already very prepared. Hope you have a better experience than we did!!
My spouse recently drove over the border with me and we got pretty chewed out by the border officer when we went through, but we were definitely underprepared in hindsight. If you've already submitted your PR application that does look good and improves your chances of getting through on dual intent. If your spouse is employed, I would also suggest printing some proof of that employment to further show their ties to the US. If you want to get through just as visitors without having to bring up immigration, it could also be a good idea to book a return flight for your spouse (could refund it later once you are through and settled). At the end of the day you really just need to convince them that your spouse won't illegally be staying in Canada, and it sounds like you're already very prepared. Hope you have a better experience than we did!!
Late update as I've been extremely busy and stressed out in general with the move. I've finally got some downtime to write this.
First, thank you everyone for responding. I consider myself lucky to have stumbled across this forum in general prior to the move as it helped me prepare and be a lot more confident in crossing the border.
An update on what happened and what I did in case anyone else is in a similar situation. So, my husband and I drove from California all the way to Toronto in a Uhaul with most of our stuff. Prior to the drive, I read extensively about dual-intent and got mentally prepared. Researching dual intent helped prove to myself that what I was planning to do was perfectly legal and the only reason why I would be denied should be miscommunication or lack of evidence that my husband's entry was temporary. To prepare for the border crossing, I printed out my approval as a sponsor, several documents proving my husband still had ties in the US including lease documents, bank statements and other misc bills. I also printed out the page describing what dual intent was from the Canadian government website in case I had to argue with the guard what we were doing was legal.
After this, we drove all the way to detroit and entered via the detroit-windsor tunnel. We didn't really pick this location and it was just the most convenient port of entry for us. Before getting to the border, I briefed my husband quickly about what dual-intent was as well as what he needed to argue (that he is only going to enter as a temporary visitor and that he will leave at the end of his stay). After that, we got to the border and we had a pretty friendly chat with the border person (we might have lucked out here). The border person did question my husband, however my husband made it very clear that he was only coming as a visitor and that he would eventually return to the US once his visit was over. I think by the end of the conversation the guard was pretty convinced so we didn't end up needing any of the documents I had prepared and we were able to enter just fine.
All in all it was a stressful move but I think as long as you do the research, come well prepared and don't get a super unlucky with the border person, you should fare just fine.
I definitely recommend anyone who attempts this to fully read and understand the contents of this page: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/visitors/dual-intent-applicants.html.
First, thank you everyone for responding. I consider myself lucky to have stumbled across this forum in general prior to the move as it helped me prepare and be a lot more confident in crossing the border.
An update on what happened and what I did in case anyone else is in a similar situation. So, my husband and I drove from California all the way to Toronto in a Uhaul with most of our stuff. Prior to the drive, I read extensively about dual-intent and got mentally prepared. Researching dual intent helped prove to myself that what I was planning to do was perfectly legal and the only reason why I would be denied should be miscommunication or lack of evidence that my husband's entry was temporary. To prepare for the border crossing, I printed out my approval as a sponsor, several documents proving my husband still had ties in the US including lease documents, bank statements and other misc bills. I also printed out the page describing what dual intent was from the Canadian government website in case I had to argue with the guard what we were doing was legal.
After this, we drove all the way to detroit and entered via the detroit-windsor tunnel. We didn't really pick this location and it was just the most convenient port of entry for us. Before getting to the border, I briefed my husband quickly about what dual-intent was as well as what he needed to argue (that he is only going to enter as a temporary visitor and that he will leave at the end of his stay). After that, we got to the border and we had a pretty friendly chat with the border person (we might have lucked out here). The border person did question my husband, however my husband made it very clear that he was only coming as a visitor and that he would eventually return to the US once his visit was over. I think by the end of the conversation the guard was pretty convinced so we didn't end up needing any of the documents I had prepared and we were able to enter just fine.
All in all it was a stressful move but I think as long as you do the research, come well prepared and don't get a super unlucky with the border person, you should fare just fine.
I definitely recommend anyone who attempts this to fully read and understand the contents of this page: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/visitors/dual-intent-applicants.html.
Oh, one more advice I would give. Part of the requirements for entering Canada at the moment is that you need to be fully vaccinated and have a negative covid test taken within the last 72 hours. My husband and I went with CVS since they are everywhere, it's free and it was very easily to schedule an appointment. One thing we did not realize was that CVS doesn't actually do the testing but outsources someplace else, depending on which CVS you go to. This means that they have little control over how long it would take to get the results. We ended up lucking out and got our results in 2 days but it was pretty stressful on day 2 and waiting for the results. I'd recommend any one attempting this to probably schedule and visit 2 different CVS or use a different service altogether to reduce the chance of the tests taking longer than 72 hours to return.