I apologize in advance for the long post. I tried to look on the forums to see if my question had already been answered, but I didn't find anything specific enough to match my case and position. Any advice or thoughts will be greatly appreciated, as we need to figure out what to do before we leave for Canada next month.
My boyfriend and I want to be together. He is a Canadian Citizen and I am a US Citizen, and we have been in a long-distance relationship for 2+ years. We intend to move in together in Canada, via the Family Sponsorship Program, which would allow myself, the US Citizen, to become a Permanent Resident, and therefore able to work and go to college.
In order to qualify, the US Citizen must be a Common-Law Spouse, which essentially requires the two of us to live together for 12 consecutive months, according to online government sources. However, US and Canadian Visas only allow for visitors up to a maximum of 6 months. Therefore, our plan was for the Canadian to reside six months in the US on a standard B2 Nonimmigrant visa, after which we would move back up to Canada and repeat the process with the US Citizen, and then we would apply for Family Sponsorship.
The first 6 months in the US is almost over, mostly due to the excessive tardiness of the USCIS bureau in dealing with Visa extension applications. Our move date is in April and we plan to drive across the border on the 24th. The US citizen's employment will end that week, as well as the lease on the apartment we live at, so we won't really have a place to return to in the US. As such, we want to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible and we do whatever we need to gain entry into Canada. In Quebec, we have family and a place to stay, so living for 6 months on just a few suitcases won't be too much of an issue.
The return to Canada does bring up questions we forgot to consider before, however.
In short, we want to make sure that the US Citizen will not be denied entry, based on two factors:
- US Citizen is currently not yet enrolled in Family Sponsorship and needs entry on a visitor visa
- US Citizen intends to ship furniture and other items into Canada in such a way that may hint that her intent is not to leave Canada and consequently result in her being barred.
1 - Since the US Citizen needs entry on a visitor visa, are there any tips or processes that can be done in order to more smoothly cross the border or to ensure that we get the 6 months we require? I don't believe that we can say "We intend to sponsor" and have that mean anything if we do not currently have an application open. Is it best to just say "We're driving the Canadian back home and the American will just be visiting for a few weeks or a month" instead and hope they don't limit the American's stay with a departure date?
2 - For simplicity's sake, we intended to load up all of our belongings (furniture and other household items that's equivalent of a studio apartment) into a container and have it shipped to us in Canada while we drive up. From what I could tell, anything you're shipping into Canada must be declared when you cross the border.
a) Will this possibly arouse suspicion at the border and cause the US Citizen to be denied entry on the basis of having clearly a 'whole apartment' worth of stuff?
b) If the shipment is in the Canadian Citizen's name instead, would this help it pass 'under the radar'?
c) Will they be suspicious of the shipment either way, whether it's in the US or Canadian's name? Is it best to just ship everything later after our sponsorship application is submitted?
3 - If we cannot ship the items immediately with us, then we considered storing the items in the US for the six month period until the US Citizen can receive them without problems. We've found a service that can hold the shipment in New York for however long we need. When we're ready, the service will finish shipping it into Canada. At what point can we actually ship it? Once we've lived together for 12 consecutive months and the Common-Law Spouse Family Sponsorship application is submitted and a confirmation receipt is issued? Do we have to wait till the application is actually approved?
4 - If the shipment is received later down the line instead of shortly after crossing the border into Canada, how do we go about receiving it at customs and passing it through with the settler's exemption if we've been living in Canada for the last 6+ months? Do we need to go back to the US and cross again just so we can declare it at the border? And if so, is there any danger in not being let back in?
I hope my question and situation makes sense, and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read and reply.
My boyfriend and I want to be together. He is a Canadian Citizen and I am a US Citizen, and we have been in a long-distance relationship for 2+ years. We intend to move in together in Canada, via the Family Sponsorship Program, which would allow myself, the US Citizen, to become a Permanent Resident, and therefore able to work and go to college.
In order to qualify, the US Citizen must be a Common-Law Spouse, which essentially requires the two of us to live together for 12 consecutive months, according to online government sources. However, US and Canadian Visas only allow for visitors up to a maximum of 6 months. Therefore, our plan was for the Canadian to reside six months in the US on a standard B2 Nonimmigrant visa, after which we would move back up to Canada and repeat the process with the US Citizen, and then we would apply for Family Sponsorship.
The first 6 months in the US is almost over, mostly due to the excessive tardiness of the USCIS bureau in dealing with Visa extension applications. Our move date is in April and we plan to drive across the border on the 24th. The US citizen's employment will end that week, as well as the lease on the apartment we live at, so we won't really have a place to return to in the US. As such, we want to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible and we do whatever we need to gain entry into Canada. In Quebec, we have family and a place to stay, so living for 6 months on just a few suitcases won't be too much of an issue.
The return to Canada does bring up questions we forgot to consider before, however.
In short, we want to make sure that the US Citizen will not be denied entry, based on two factors:
- US Citizen is currently not yet enrolled in Family Sponsorship and needs entry on a visitor visa
- US Citizen intends to ship furniture and other items into Canada in such a way that may hint that her intent is not to leave Canada and consequently result in her being barred.
1 - Since the US Citizen needs entry on a visitor visa, are there any tips or processes that can be done in order to more smoothly cross the border or to ensure that we get the 6 months we require? I don't believe that we can say "We intend to sponsor" and have that mean anything if we do not currently have an application open. Is it best to just say "We're driving the Canadian back home and the American will just be visiting for a few weeks or a month" instead and hope they don't limit the American's stay with a departure date?
2 - For simplicity's sake, we intended to load up all of our belongings (furniture and other household items that's equivalent of a studio apartment) into a container and have it shipped to us in Canada while we drive up. From what I could tell, anything you're shipping into Canada must be declared when you cross the border.
a) Will this possibly arouse suspicion at the border and cause the US Citizen to be denied entry on the basis of having clearly a 'whole apartment' worth of stuff?
b) If the shipment is in the Canadian Citizen's name instead, would this help it pass 'under the radar'?
c) Will they be suspicious of the shipment either way, whether it's in the US or Canadian's name? Is it best to just ship everything later after our sponsorship application is submitted?
3 - If we cannot ship the items immediately with us, then we considered storing the items in the US for the six month period until the US Citizen can receive them without problems. We've found a service that can hold the shipment in New York for however long we need. When we're ready, the service will finish shipping it into Canada. At what point can we actually ship it? Once we've lived together for 12 consecutive months and the Common-Law Spouse Family Sponsorship application is submitted and a confirmation receipt is issued? Do we have to wait till the application is actually approved?
4 - If the shipment is received later down the line instead of shortly after crossing the border into Canada, how do we go about receiving it at customs and passing it through with the settler's exemption if we've been living in Canada for the last 6+ months? Do we need to go back to the US and cross again just so we can declare it at the border? And if so, is there any danger in not being let back in?
I hope my question and situation makes sense, and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read and reply.
