Canadian Sponsor/US Spouse (Me) - Questions!

[keesio]

Ideally he drives the U-Haul up and claims it as his and you come in a separate vehicle. Or if you go in the same U-Haul, he makes sure to claim it as his and you are along for the ride to visit him and the kids.

 

[monstergirly]

Thanks! He will certainly be claiming everything as "his". It's just so weird to be "visiting" a husband and family that I haven't been apart from for more than a few days for the last 9 years!

 

[Ponga]

Thanks! He will certainly be claiming everything as "his". It's just so weird to be "visiting" a husband and family that I haven't been apart from for more than a few days for the last 9 years!

Just make sure that you have nothing of yours in the U-Haul...which is going to be nearly impossible, right?

When the CBSA goes through the U-Haul at the POE (and they certainly will, to some degree), they may find items of yours. If they do, he's going to have a hard time explaining that!

IMHO, traveling separately is a much better plan.


Good luck!

 

[keesio]

Just make sure that you have nothing of yours in the U-Haul...which is going to be nearly impossible, right?

When the CBSA goes through the U-Haul at the POE (and they certainly will, to some degree), they may find items of yours. If they do, he's going to have a hard time explaining that!

IMHO, traveling separately is a much better plan.


Good luck!

CBSA is fairly familiar with the scenario of the OP where a Canadian sponsor and American applicant spouse are moving back to Canada after living in the US together for some time and they are returning to Canada. They know what is up... especially if there are small kids involved. As long as the American applicant shows respect for the process by using the right terminology ("I would like to visit my husband and kids while we wait for my sponsorship") and shows awareness that the applicant cannot officially live in Canada until the whole process is done, they usually do not give you any problems. Of course you can run into a grumpy CBSA officer who decides to be a harda$$... but being nice and more importantly.. being honest, it should be fine.

OP - you will want to have a backup plan you can tell officers if they ask you where you are officially staying in the US now that your husband moved to Canada with all the stuff. Like saying that you can stay with your parents or something like that. Last thing you want is to be confused without an answer to questions like that.

 

[Ponga]

CBSA is fairly familiar with the scenario of the OP where a Canadian sponsor and American applicant spouse are moving back to Canada after living in the US together for some time and they are returning to Canada. They know what is up... especially if there are small kids involved. As long as the American applicant shows respect for the process by using the right terminology ("I would like to visit my husband and kids while we wait for my sponsorship") and shows awareness that the applicant cannot officially live in Canada until the whole process is done, they usually do not give you any problems. Of course you can run into a grumpy CBSA officer who decides to be a harda$$... but being nice and more importantly.. being honest, it should be fine.

OP - you will want to have a backup plan you can tell officers if they ask you where you are officially staying in the US now that your husband moved to Canada with all the stuff. Like saying that you can stay with your parents or something like that. Last thing you want is to be confused without an answer to questions like that.

Oh, I realize that CBSA is well aware of couple like this. The grey area, is how they react when items are being moved across the border for a person that cannot legally move across the border.

It really is the luck of the draw with the CBSA officer. For that reason alone, I suggest the OP travel separately.

 

[keesio]

Oh, I realize that CBSA is well aware of couple like this. The grey area, is how they react when items are being moved across the border for a person that cannot legally move across the border.

It really is the luck of the draw with the CBSA officer. For that reason alone, I suggest the OP travel separately.

True. Though the people I see that have issues when they show up in a U-Haul with their stuff are the ones who are bringing up just *their* stuff to Canada to be with their Canadian sponsor who is already in Canada and settled there.

The cases where both Canadian sponsor and US applicant are already married (and often with kids) and have been living in the US for some time already before they haul everything back to Canada to prepare for resettlement there, CBSA is (usually) more understanding about it. They know that it is the sponsor's responsibility to relocate to Canada once the applicant's PR has been approved and many sponsors try to relocate earlier to get settled. And they also know that it is practical to have the applicant come up also to help resettle, especially since the applicant's place in the US is no longer (house sold or moved out of apartment) and their stuff is shared (furniture). Add small children to the mix and especially if the mother is the applicant and you can see why CBSA tends to give a little slack here.

Still not a guarantee for sure. And again you could get unlucky and end up with a CBSA officer who is having a bad day. But I have yet to see someone get denied in situations I described above.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Just make sure that you have nothing of yours in the U-Haul...which is going to be nearly impossible, right?

When the CBSA goes through the U-Haul at the POE (and they certainly will, to some degree), they may find items of yours. If they do, he's going to have a hard time explaining that!

IMHO, traveling separately is a much better plan.


Good luck!

CBSA doesn't go through belongings when you are landing or returning to canada as a citizen (at least in my experience, and as reported on here), unless there is a reason for concern. generally, they just ask you the same question multiple times to make sure you are giving consistant answers, look at your B4 list, and give you a receipt. i highly doubt CBSA is going to take the time to go through every single item in a uhaul full of boxes when a canadian is returning home. they would need to have some serious concerns about them bringing in contraband to warrant taking that much time. it is certainly a rare occassion where a CBSA officer would sit there and examine every item being brought in and confirming who owns what stuff. considering they are married, it would be difficult for anyone to determine what is his and what is hers. as long as the OP understands she is only visiting, can prove some ties back to the us and her pr application, there shouldn't be an issue. i do agree it's way easier to travel separately, though there are many couples who report no issue with the scenario above.

 

[jennylee844]

I am in the same boat but it's reversed. I am the Canadian, and my husband is the American. We are going to wait for our approval before we move, but we originally discussed that if it took a long time, we would do a similar thing. I would move back with all our stuff, and my husband would fly in with just his bags, making it easier (rather than being together in a car) to say he is just visiting. I don't want to alarm you, but we submitted my husbands paperwork on November 4, 2014, and we only just now received Sponsorship approval (3 months later), and still need to go through the Permanent Residence approval. It's taking a lot longer than those who submitted a few months earlier, and the timeline is getting even longer with every update. Just be prepared that you most likely will not have PR status, and you will need to ensure you choose the best way to cross the border. You don't want to piss of the agent and get blacklisted. Make sure you demonstrate every aspect that you are just visiting, like posters have said before. If they look you up, they will see you have a Permanent Residence application on file, and will grill you on visiting, so make sure you have some sort of paperwork trail bills/bank statement/house that links you to the US still. Good luck!

 

[Ponga]

CBSA doesn't go through belongings when you are landing or returning to canada as a citizen (at least in my experience, and as reported on here), unless there is a reason for concern. generally, they just ask you the same question multiple times to make sure you are giving consistant answers, look at your B4 list, and give you a receipt. i highly doubt CBSA is going to take the time to go through every single item in a uhaul full of boxes when a canadian is returning home. they would need to have some serious concerns about them bringing in contraband to warrant taking that much time. it is certainly a rare occassion where a CBSA officer would sit there and examine every item being brought in and confirming who owns what stuff. considering they are married, it would be difficult for anyone to determine what is his and what is hers. as long as the OP understands she is only visiting, can prove some ties back to the us and her pr application, there shouldn't be an issue. i do agree it's way easier to travel separately, though there are many couples who report no issue with the scenario above.

This is what I said:
When the CBSA goes through the U-Haul at the POE (and they certainly will, to some degree)

I never said, or implied that they will go through every item in the truck, but are you saying that they won't even open up the back of the truck and look around...even if they aren't suspecting weapons or contraband, just because it is a returning Canadian citizen?!

I agree that it shouldn't be an issue, and perhaps it won't be, but...there are never any guarantees.

 

[rhcohen2014]

i would recommend reading Jay's recent post in the US applicant thread. it is a great example of how couples enter together, and as long as you are prepared, there's nothing to be scared about. It was on page 255 (Which is the last page of this thread at this time)

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/us-outland-applicants-thread-t106068.3810.html#lastPost

 

[rhcohen2014]

This is what I said:
When the CBSA goes through the U-Haul at the POE (and they certainly will, to some degree)

I never said, or implied that they will go through every item in the truck, but are you saying that they won't even open up the back of the truck and look around...even if they aren't suspecting weapons or contraband, just because it is a returning Canadian citizen?!

I agree that it shouldn't be an issue, and perhaps it won't be, but...there are never any guarantees.

yep, that's what i'm saying. they don't normally search cars/trucks/uhauls unless they have a concern there may be contraband (based on the initial answers at primary or responses/demeanor in secondary). again, i would recommend reading Jay's post - he actually mentions this in his story.

 

[Ponga]

yep, that's what i'm saying. they don't normally search cars/trucks/uhauls unless they have a concern there may be contraband (based on the initial answers at primary or responses/demeanor in secondary). again, i would recommend reading Jay's post - he actually mentions this in his story.

Sorry, but I don't really have the time to dig through that entire thread to find `Jay's' posts. Who is Jay anyway?

Suffice to say that anyone that arrives at the border in a rented moving truck, Canadian citizen or not, is still subject to inspection. This would certainly include the truck. Anyone that doesn't think so, could be in for a rude awakening.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Sorry, but I don't really have the time to dig through that entire thread to find `Jay's' posts. Who is Jay anyway?

Suffice to say that anyone that arrives at the border in a rented moving truck, Canadian citizen or not, is still subject to inspection. This would certainly include the truck. Anyone that doesn't think so, could be in for a rude awakening.

ponga, i never said that it's not *subject* to inspection. of course it is! what i said is generally, CBSA doesn't go out of their way to check vehicles unless there is a specific concern to warrant the inspection. not everyone warrants an inspection, and CBSA certainly isn't going to search EVERY vehichle of a person moving to canada - citizen or pr. for the most part, CBSA just believes what is written on the B4 forms and lets people on their way.

JAy's response is on the last page - page 255. the poster's name is JayNC something. it is a good story about this exact situation.

 

[Ponga]

JAy's response is on the last page - page 155. the poster's name is JayNC something. it is a good story about this exact situation.

Looked through the posts from page 153-158 and found nothing. Sorry, but I don't have that much time right now.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Looked through the posts from page 153-158 and found nothing. Sorry, but I don't have that much time right now.

oops sorry, i meant 255 (now the second to last page). i will edit my earlier post. here is the quote:

Done.

Drove up to the border at Queenston-Lewiston (use the RV lane if you have a moving truck) with wifey in our car behind me. Explained to the border officer what we were doing and I was asked the typical questions for anybody who crosses under normal circumstances. I admitted I had a palm tree in my truck and I got a tongue-lashing about pests and soil. I was told that I'd have to discard the plant and soil. (more on that later).

Was directed to the parking area while wifey got questioned. She said she was nervous but was asked the basics (and a few questions about why our son was already in Canada) but nothing beyond that.

We headed inside to complete the importation of my goods. I was told that I had created one of the best accounting of goods the CBSA guy had ever seen. We chit-chatted about my car value (it's on my list of goods to follow) and he even let me use the Red Book to make sure both my valuation and the CBSA valuation was under $10,000CAD. Both were under the $10,000 value. Exportation/importation of my vehicle will be another post. I got my receipt, stamps on my spreadsheets, and headed over to immigration to handle wifey's situation (I'm her Dec 2014 outland sponsor).

We walked to the immigration counter together, explained what was going on and the two CBSA folks working the immigration counter couldn't have been more helpful (they were obviously "work wife" / "work husband" to each other - they were busting each others' chops the entire time while remaining professional.) We explained that we had paid the PR application fees but had no AOR or UCI (they didn't know what either meant meant) but they managed to see some details of the application so we knew it was in process to some degree which was very helpful. They asked how long my wife wanted to stay and she said "As long as legally possible." We also explained that she still has ties to the U.S. - including a father in FL with cancer and they were very clear that she should use that fact when she went to extend or reapply for her visitor record. Aside from reviewing her passport, they took our word for everything but we were definitely prepared.

It took them about an hour to print her VR because they are learning a new system (that was their claim) but in the end, we got the 6 month VR (we didn't ask for it - it was just given), my receipt for goods and we were on our way.

As for the palm tree...a gentle reminder from the CBSA officer who processed my B4 about the dangers of pests + soil. I'd tell you about what happened when I opened the door to the moving truck to show CBSA what was inside, but uh...that never happened. 9pm on a Friday night and -9F probably contributed to that.

If you have any specific questions, ask here or PM me. Happy to answer questions about my experience.