Family class PR eventually, but a few questions first.

[Baloo]

Background information:
I am a Brit, my fiancee is Canadian. I am 54, the lady in question is of a similar age, but as she is watching me type this...
I have been in and out of Canada as a business visitor and tourist during the last year. I am a director of a UK company.
On my last entry I was questioned by a POE officer (about the appointments I had booked) and given a six month visitor record. I leave for the UK in March 2010.

My fiancee and I have lived together for just over five months; we were engaged at Christmas.
We plan to get married in the spring of this year in Canada and then apply for my PR (via spousal sponsorship).
I have to return to the UK for work (1 -2 months). We want to respect the rules, and at the same time we do want to be together.
We intend to apply outland via the London UK office.

Questions:
1. What is a visitor record, I know I have to leave on the date indicated, must not work or study; But what else does it allow? Is it a bad thing to have it in my passport?
My confusion stems from the visitor record stating that I am "allowed multiple entries during validity of document", but then states "This does not authorize re-entry".

2. Can I extend my current stay, how do I do this?
3. As a Brit I don't have a visa to extend, do I have an implied visa?
3. If the stay is extended can I travel in and out of Canada without being turned back at the border?
4. When I return to Canada, I will be attending business meetings, visiting friends but most importantly I will also be getting married.
Do I inform the POE officer that I am going to get married? I hear lots of different stories, and want to be honest about my intentions.
5. Would it be sensible to return to the UK within the next few weeks, return before the visitor record expires and then apply for an extension? What is the best course of action?

It is the start of a long journey, this forum is a great resource.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Swede]

Background information:
I am a Brit, my fiancee is Canadian. I am 54, the lady in question is of a similar age, but as she is watching me type this...
I have been in and out of Canada as a business visitor and tourist during the last year. I am a director of a UK company.
On my last entry I was questioned by a POE officer (about the appointments I had booked) and given a six month visitor record. I leave for the UK in March 2010.

My fiancee and I have lived together for just over five months; we were engaged at Christmas.
We plan to get married in the spring of this year in Canada and then apply for my PR (via spousal sponsorship).
I have to return to the UK for work (1 -2 months). We want to respect the rules, and at the same time we do want to be together.
We intend to apply outland via the London UK office.

Questions:
1. What is a visitor record, I know I have to leave on the date indicated, must not work or study; But what else does it allow? Is it a bad thing to have it in my passport?
My confusion stems from the visitor record stating that I am "allowed multiple entries during validity of document", but then states "This does not authorize re-entry".

2. Can I extend my current stay, how do I do this?
3. As a Brit I don't have a visa to extend, do I have an implied visa?
3. If the stay is extended can I travel in and out of Canada without being turned back at the border?
4. When I return to Canada, I will be attending business meetings, visiting friends but most importantly I will also be getting married.
Do I inform the POE officer that I am going to get married? I hear lots of different stories, and want to be honest about my intentions.
5. Would it be sensible to return to the UK within the next few weeks, return before the visitor record expires and then apply for an extension? What is the best course of action?

It is the start of a long journey, this forum is a great resource.

Thanks in advance.

First of all: Good luck to you and your wife to be!

1. As far as I know it means that you're allowed to come and go as you please, but you're never entitled to be let into the country.
2. You can apply for an extension here. Make sure you apply a month or so before your old visa expires. You will be allowed to stay between the expiry of your old visa and the approval/denial of your extension application (called "implied status"), but I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to cross the border whilst on implied status.
3. See #1 and #2.
4. It's important to be honest. If you're caught lying you can be barred outright from applying for PR. Basically, you can be denied entry if it's believed that you might overstay your visa, but if you have a job and a home in Britain I'm sure they'll be fine. Just be honest and explain the situation and you'll be fine.
5. See #1 and #2.

 

[mitamata]

A visitor record is not a bad thing, but it can mean that you are likely to spend more time answering questions next time you're crossing the border into Canada, so be prepared. It's always a good thing to have with you evidence that you have something to return to back home (like your job, a house/apartment,...). After you apply, also have with you proof of that (the fees receipt for example).

 

[Baloo]

Thanks for the quick reply, of course I have some more questions.

After reading your statement about the visitor record it now makes sense to me.
As I don't need a visa to travel to Canada I assume the visitor record is a reiteration of the normal rules, except the duration can be varied by the POE officer.

Reading the posts in the forum show some conflicting views, in some cases visiting your wife or fiancee in Canada is not a problem, in other cases people are refused entry, what is the criteria being used?
Being refused entry would be an expensive way of gathering air miles and more grey hair. Either way we wont be lying, neither of us want to be looking over our shoulders - honesty is the best policy.

I have to return to the UK for work and other commitments, (I can delay my departure from Canada if I am allowed to do so).

It seems like there are two options:
1. leave Canada to return to the UK before the date shown on my visitor record. And then get married on my next visit, return to the UK and then apply for PR.
2. Apply for a visa extension and get married within the next three months, delaying my return to the UK. Apply for PR and attempt to visit Canada to see my new wife.
I believe that once I have applied for PR there should be no problems visiting my wife, am I correct on this?

Would there be any issues when applying for PR if the visa extension is refused ?

I would only need about 30-40 days visa extension for us to get married.
You stated "You will be allowed to stay between the expiry of your old visa and the approval/denial of your extension application" - The processing time for visa extensions looks like something over 80 days. Isn't that amount of processing time like an automatic extension? Is the online application for visa extension any quicker/slower?
What happens if I get an extension and then leave Canada, can I return as a "normal" visitor, or do I have some other status?
Would asking for an extension to get married raise any red flags?

When checking visitors to Canada, is the primary reason to ascertain if they would overstay?
When making a judgement, do POE officers take into account the fact I have always returned to the UK on or before my stated departure date?
I always travel with a return ticket and a fairly full business agenda, is this also a consideration when deciding entry?

I note that the London outland PR times are 2 - 8 months, so if need be I suppose we can wait out the process, but it would be much better to be together.

A visitor record is not a bad thing, but it can mean that you are likely to spend more time answering questions next time you're crossing the border into Canada, so be prepared. It's always a good thing to have with you evidence that you have something to return to back home (like your job, a house/apartment,...). After you apply, also have with you proof of that (the fees receipt for example).

During my one and only immigration discussion the questions were OK, the POE lady was polite and did let me in for six months.
I now have a better idea of what is needed next time. But as usual, whenever I travel through customs or immigration I always feel uncomfortable. I suppose that it is one of the joys of international travel

 

[Karlshammar]

An extension application and its results will have no effect on any PR applications.

 

[Baloo]

An extension application and its results will have no effect on any PR applications.

Thanks.

 

[Karlshammar]

No problem. As for the implied status while you apply for an extension, yes, it is almost like a free extension. It's one of those rare few times where the Canadian gov't does something great for you and where immigration is easy and works in your favor; savor it!

 

[Baloo]

If I submit an extension request on the first day of February, we could get married in late March / early April 2010 (about 80 days from extension application).
Is there much likelihood that I would get a reply, positive or negative before the current 88 days?
Has that processing timeframe been fairly constant?
I am being pessimistic, but I suppose that am asking, do rejections jump the queue?

 

[Karlshammar]

When I applied my application was approved and processed much faster than the processing guidelines. I don't know about rejections or how it works today (this was almost 2 years ago).

 

[Baloo]

I just tried using the visitor self assessment tool (for checking if I can extend my stay) at on the cic site - www dot cic dot gc dot ca/english/e-services/extend-visit.asp Sorry I cannot post links.

Even though my visitor record is dated for march 2010, certainly more than 30 days away, the tool reports that I cannot extend my stay - can someone take a look at the page and let me know what I am doing wrong? Or is the site messed up?
All it provides is the statement "Your visitor status has expired. However, you may be eligible to restore your status", clearly my status has not expired - as it is not March 2010 yet.

Can someone confirm that I can apply for an extension of my stay even though I have a visitors record in my passport?

 

[Suin]

yes, you definitely can apply and the stamp in your passport is a true reason to it. to have a a good reason to extent your visa just mention that you'd like to explore your relationship especially after being engaged. it can work just fine - as it worked in many cases.
have a good luck!

 

[mitamata]

The officer at the POE has the right to say "I believe this person intends to stay in Canada illegally or will attempt to work in Canada illegally' and deny you entry. What they base that on doesn't really matter, it differs from officer to officer and the officers have a lot of discretion here, so it often depends on who you come across. One person might just give you some basic question and quickly let you through, another might drill you for a while and then deny you entry. Sometimes it's enough to catch them on a bad day. I'm afraid there's no way to know what kind of officer you'll come across and the most you can do is be as prepared as possible.

From the stories I've read though, it seems you're more likely to be denied entry when driving into Canada though. It's much more rare to be turned away at the airport.

And about the extensions: if it's approved or rejected, you will likely hear from them in the same time frame. A rejection arrives no quicker than an approval.