Extending Visit in Canada During Application Review

[elithx]

My American wife and I came into Canada mid September 2016 from our honeymoon. We have been here ever since (sent off out PR application mid November 2016 through outland). We only took one trip out of the country since (A 1 week visit to her family during Christmas).

I have a few questions:

1) Because we left Canada and come back, does the 6 month timer reset? (We mentioned on our entry paper that she is staying for 180 days). Or is there a minimum length of time you must be away for the timer to reset?

2) If the timer is back in September, then we have till mid Feb, and We should apply for an extension now. I see that there is a form and a $200 fee. Is this the correct route to take for someone in our case? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp


Cheers.

 

[CDNPR2014]

1. did she receive a stamp in her passport the last time she entered? if not, then yes you can assume she was granted a 6 mo. stay from her LAST entry and does not need to extend her stay until 30 days before that allowed time expires. if she received a stamp in her passport, then there would be a date listed when she needs to leave by. if this is the case, then she needs to apply to extend her stay before that date. every entry is unique. time resets upon each entry. if CBSA wanted to give her less than 6 mo., they would have given her a visitor's record or stamped her passport with an exit date.

2. yes, this appears to be the correct link to apply to extend her stay.

 

[thecoolguysam]

In addition to the previous comments, when the person re-enters within the 6 month period, it does not reset to new 6 months.
When person leaves Canada before 6 months and re-enter after the expiry of 6 months, the officer at the port of entry will check that person recently left and came back and the officer will check if he/she will allow the person to re-enter for 6 months or few days or few months. It totally depends upon the officer.

 

[CDNPR2014]

In addition to the previous comments, when the person re-enters within the 6 month period, it does not reset to new 6 months.
When person leaves Canada before 6 months and re-enter after the expiry of 6 months, the officer at the port of entry will check that person recently left and came back and the officer will check if he/she will allow the person to re-enter for 6 months or few days or few months. It totally depends upon the officer.

many people have 6 mo. stays reset every time they enter (especially us citizens). as you said, this depends on the officer. as stated above, if the cbsa office wants the limit the person's stay, they will do that by giving them a visitor's record or a stamp on a passport. if neither of those are done, it is a NEW 6 mo stay.

 

[profiler]

Tossing my hat into this ring:

My wife was here several (3) times in a 6 month period (February -> September). In that time she used about 90 days. On the September entry, they did write a date in, but it was 6 months from the date of entry.

 

[thecoolguysam]

many people have 6 mo. stays reset every time they enter (especially us citizens). as you said, this depends on the officer. as stated above, if the cbsa office wants the limit the person's stay, they will do that by giving them a visitor's record or a stamp on a passport. if neither of those are done, it is a NEW 6 mo stay.

Thanks for letting me know. I didn't know that the 6 months renewal is automatic when a US citizen re-enters Canada. My friend who is on H1B visa in USA comes to visit Canada and border officer only stamps the passport once the 6 months have expired otherwise he can re-enter Canada anytime during those six months and the passport is never stamped within the 6 month period.

I took my mom dad to USA for a day trip and once we came back from the land border, the officer did not extend the stay and did not stamp their passport which means the 6 months remained the same and were not extended. Maybe if they have flown out to another country or back home and then re-enter then they could have got another 6 months entry.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Thanks for letting me know. I didn't know that the 6 months renewal is automatic when a US citizen re-enters Canada.

it's not that it's automatic. of course it's up to the officer's descretion. generally speaking, unless they have reason to be suspicious, most us citizens on't get passports stamped or provided with visitor records.

this would be completely different if the person requires a visa to enter canada. i would imagine the officer has to honor the date listed on the current visa or stamped in a passport for entry. it is unclear if your parents requires a visa to enter canada. or if there was already a stamp in the passport, they are not going to give a new date, they are going to honor the date already there. if either of these situations pertain to your parents, i suspect that's the reason.

my passport was stamped once with an exit date that I told them i was leaving by, after i returned from a short trip before that date, the date stamped in my passport was honored and not extended at that time.

 

[profiler]

this would be completely different if the person requires a visa to enter canada. i would imagine the officer has to honor the date listed on the current visa or stamped in a passport for entry. it is unclear if your parents requires a visa to enter canada. or if there was already a stamp in the passport, they are not going to give a new date, they are going to honor the date already there. if either of these situations pertain to your parents, i suspect that's the reason.

No, my wife has entered without a stamp...

 

[CDNPR2014]

No, my wife has entered without a stamp...

?
i'm not understanding this comment.

many people enter without a stamp. if a person requires a visa to enter canada, their passport isn't necessarily going to be "stamped". i would assume the visa is used to determine entry eligibility and the length is dependant on the expiry date of the visa and the discretion of the officer.

 

[thecoolguysam]

it's not that it's automatic. of course it's up to the officer's descretion. generally speaking, unless they have reason to be suspicious, most us citizens on't get passports stamped or provided with visitor records.

this would be completely different if the person requires a visa to enter canada. i would imagine the officer has to honor the date listed on the current visa or stamped in a passport for entry. it is unclear if your parents requires a visa to enter canada. or if there was already a stamp in the passport, they are not going to give a new date, they are going to honor the date already there. if either of these situations pertain to your parents, i suspect that's the reason.

my passport was stamped once with an exit date that I told them i was leaving by, after i returned from a short trip before that date, the date stamped in my passport was honored and not extended at that time.

My parents obtained a visa to come to Canada and CBSA stamped the passport when they entered Canada via air. The trip to USA was after few days of arrival.

I think you are talking about your passport stamp date when you were not a PR, right?

 

[thecoolguysam]

?
i'm not understanding this comment.

many people enter without a stamp. if a person requires a visa to enter canada, their passport isn't necessarily going to be "stamped". i would assume the visa is used to determine entry eligibility and the length is dependant on the expiry date of the visa and the discretion of the officer.

I think for US citizens, CBSA does not stamp the passport same applies for Canadian citizens as well. I have been to USA many times and the passport is never stamped.
For people who come from different countries other than USA, regardless of the are from visa exempt country or require a visa, CBSA generally stamps their passport.

 

[profiler]

?
i'm not understanding this comment.

Your comment:

this would be completely different if the person requires a visa to enter canada. i would imagine the officer has to honor the date listed on the current visa or stamped in a passport for entry.

It was furthered by this comment from thecoolguysam:

I took my mom dad to USA for a day trip and once we came back from the land border, the officer did not extend the stay and did not stamp their passport which means the 6 months remained the same and were not extended. Maybe if they have flown out to another country or back home and then re-enter then they could have got another 6 months entry.

My comment was with regard to my wife being from a visa-requiring country, who passed the border and has had both a stamp + date, and no stamp at all. I am simply stating that visa or not, they can choose to stamp, not stamp, write in a date to leave by, or even issue the dreaded visitor record. That's all I am stating.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Your comment:

It was furthered by this comment from thecoolguysam:

My comment was with regard to my wife being from a visa-requiring country, who passed the border and has had both a stamp + date, and no stamp at all. I am simply stating that visa or not, they can choose to stamp, not stamp, write in a date to leave by, or even issue the dreaded visitor record. That's all I am stating.

ah, i get it. thanks for clarifying!

 

[elithx]

Thank you all for the replies