Dual intent question

[smallcoffee]

Hello,

Sorry if this was asked before.

I am Canadian living in France with my common-law partner (Finnish citizenship) and baby (Finnish citizenship and Canadian citizenship certificate in progress)

We plan to move to Canada in a few months because my french visa will end soon. We will start the sponsorship application inland for my partner.

How can I avoid issues at the Canadian airport regarding dual intent? Is the following enough?
-I will get a return ticket for my partner
-I will not mention dual intent
-I will say that my partner is simply visiting, no word on starting an application (I have a feeling this won't work because we have a child, any idea?)
-We will not have too much luggage
-My partner has ties to Finland, drivers licence, bank card, siblings and parents

 

[KBH]

Sounds like you are perfectly well prepared.

You are correct not to mention the sponsorship application up front, but if asked about it, you should say your partner does plan to apply for PR. It's just better not to provide that information unless they ask.

Ultimately with the return ticket and ties to Finland you should not have any issues at all.

 

[cheng9999]

Hello,

Sorry if this was asked before.

I am Canadian living in France with my common-law partner (Finnish citizenship) and baby (Finnish citizenship and Canadian citizenship certificate in progress)

We plan to move to Canada in a few months because my french visa will end soon. We will start the sponsorship application inland for my partner.

How can I avoid issues at the Canadian airport regarding dual intent? Is the following enough?
-I will get a return ticket for my partner
-I will not mention dual intent
-I will say that my partner is simply visiting, no word on starting an application (I have a feeling this won't work because we have a child, any idea?)
-We will not have too much luggage
-My partner has ties to Finland, drivers licence, bank card, siblings and parents

Don't volunteer everything at first, but if asked after you answer "visiting", "what exactly will you do here?", then you'll need to be prepared to give more details. Be honest. You are returning Canadian, and will settle the family/kids down, and so your partner is critical to be around, hence coming as a visitor during this settling in period.

The key is to that your partner knows that he/she is a visitor, knows that as a visitor he/she has a finite time allowed in Canada (can apply for extension, but that's a different subject), and will leave before or when this time is up, cannot work, etc. If your partner can give reasons why he/she will go back to Finland, for example even if there is a PR process going on, he/she will need to go back and take care of things, get documents from government departments which needs to be done in person, etc., it would demonstrate to the border officer that this person has a no/low risk of overstaying. Just be careful with words...your partner is a visitor coming to visit, not coming to "live". If asked what he/she will do while visiting, anything is good except anything even remotely related to work.

You guys may or may not get asked to such a level of detail. The thing is to prepare for it.

 

[smallcoffee]

Don't volunteer everything at first, but if asked after you answer "visiting", "what exactly will you do here?", then you'll need to be prepared to give more details. Be honest. You are returning Canadian, and will settle the family/kids down, and so your partner is critical to be around, hence coming as a visitor during this settling in period.

The key is to that your partner knows that he/she is a visitor, knows that as a visitor he/she has a finite time allowed in Canada (can apply for extension, but that's a different subject), and will leave before or when this time is up, cannot work, etc. If your partner can give reasons why he/she will go back to Finland, for example even if there is a PR process going on, he/she will need to go back and take care of things, get documents from government departments which needs to be done in person, etc., it would demonstrate to the border officer that this person has a no/low risk of overstaying. Just be careful with words...your partner is a visitor coming to visit, not coming to "live". If asked what he/she will do while visiting, anything is good except anything even remotely related to work.

You guys may or may not get asked to such a level of detail. The thing is to prepare for it.

Thanks

 

[tozach]

Thanks

You already have good advice and you are prepared too. That is great. Just to be clear, you can have dual intent and that should not be a ground for refusal of entry as long as you are clear that you will adhere to the visa rules and regulations. Being a Canadian citizen, it should be uneventful for you. All the best