Canada Passport Holder, Cross Border From USA with Spouse without Spouse Visa?

[wh469]

Hi, my wife has a Belarus Passport, she has UK residency and a US Visitor Visa, I have Canadian & British passports and we live in the UK and Cyprus, and we are going on holiday to New York for a few weeks, and we want to drive across into Canada. Does she need to apply for a Canadian Tourist Visa or can we just cross the border together if I show my Canadian Passport and UK Marriage Certificate? Eg the spouse of an EU citizen can cross any EU border accompanied by the spouse without a visa, but I don't know if the Canadians are as enlightened. Whereas I can get my wife visas for EU countries and the USA easily enough, the last time we applied to Canada for a visa Visa they rejected her for some rubbishy reason and we abandoned the trip and lost money on the tickets! So it would be much easier just to cross the border rather than apply online in advance again.

Please help if you can, Thank you, William

 

[Jalex23]

Hi, my wife has a Belarus Passport, she has UK residency and a US Visitor Visa, I have Canadian & British passports and we live in the UK and Cyprus, and we are going on holiday to New York for a few weeks, and we want to drive across into Canada. Does she need to apply for a Canadian Tourist Visa or can we just cross the border together if I show my Canadian Passport and UK Marriage Certificate? Eg the spouse of an EU citizen can cross any EU border accompanied by the spouse without a visa, but I don't know if the Canadians are as enlightened. Whereas I can get my wife visas for EU countries and the USA easily enough, the last time we applied to Canada for a visa Visa they rejected her for some rubbishy reason and we abandoned the trip and lost money on the tickets! So it would be much easier just to cross the border rather than apply online in advance again.

Please help if you can, Thank you, William

She needs a TRV.

 

[wh469]

You say "*** Say thanks by clicking the Good button on your left ***".

I can't see that button but anyhow thanks very much for your speedy reply.

Actually to get what i call a "good" i would want something like this: "No you can't just get a visa on the spot at the border, you will have to apply in advance in the normal way". Anyhow i will assume you mean that.

To get an "excellent" i would want something like this: "I am afraid my friend the canadians are not as enlightened as the europeans. they will turn your wife away even if she is with you and has marriage certificate. they will force you to drive all the back to New York or wherever you can find a Canadian consulate. Slavish but true Eh."

 

[Jalex23]

You say "*** Say thanks by clicking the Good button on your left ***".

I can't see that button but anyhow thanks very much for your speedy reply.

No worries.

 

[SenoritaBella]

Lol... it has nothing to do with Canadians being enlightened or not. Different rules for different countries.

Unfortunately, if her passport does not allow visa-exempt entry to Canada, she will need to apply for a temporary resident visa. She can not apply/obtain this at the border (only visa-exempt applicants such as yourself with a British passport have this "priviledge" of applying for a work or study permit or visitor record at the border). She will need to submit her application either to a Canadian visa office in England(assuming she has legal residence there) or send to the Canadian visa office that handles applications for Belarusian citizens.

Attempting to cross into Canada with her (when she does not have a valid entry visa) may leave you facing charges of smuggling(yikes) and she may be detained and put on the next flight back to the UK or Belarus. Don't try it.

That "rubbishy" reason is actually not rubbish if you keep emotions out of it. You are a Canadian citizen, the officer knows your spouse is not very likely to just "visit" and go home. She'll want to stay because that's what couples do - live together. To succeed, they'll want to see she has strong ties to Belarus e.g. full-time long term employment, leave of absence from work, property ownership, minor children, etc. These are things you can not manage from overseas, and that will likely draw you back home.
- Having a Canadian husband makes her ties stronger to Canada than Belarus
- Living in the UK(not her home country) also means she has weak(er) ties to Belarus

Given the above, it is challenging to satisfy an officer that she will leave Canada(and her sweetheart ) at the end of her visit. The visa refusal is a another way of saying, they know you guys plan to be together in one place(Canada), so why not apply for the correct type of visa(i.e. permanent residence) that will allow her move permanently. Cheer up, it is well!

 

[wh469]

Can we not just walk into the Canadian Visa Applucation Center in New York Visa and get a same day TRV visa? We are actually in Cyprus at the moment (where we spend the winter), I don't want to fly to the UK to get a visa, she doesn't have Cyprus residency (don't need a visa just travel together), and Cyprus does not have a Visa Application Centre anyway (the nearest is Israel).

 

[Jalex23]

Can we not just walk into the Canadian Visa Applucation Center in New York Visa and get a same day TRV visa? We are actually in Cyprus at the moment (where we spend the winter), I don't want to fly to the UK to get a visa, she doesn't have Cyprus residency (don't need a visa just travel together), and Cyprus does not have a Visa Application Centre anyway (the nearest is Israel).

There is no such thing as a "same day TRV".

You can apply wherever you want as long as you have a mailing address managed by that VAC, so your decision where to apply.

BTW you must apply either online/mailbut there is no "in person" kind of thing. So it doesn't matter if you can't travel, in fact it makes no difference in the process.

 

[wh469]

Thank you all very much for your help. Case closed.