How to get Visitor Record as I wait for PR thru FCS

[ooklathemok]

Details:
The wife is Canadian, I am American.
We've applied for PR through FCS and she has been approved.
We are now waiting for the paperwork to go through the states.
I've been in Canada since September. I drove here, crossed the border on my passport.

I'd like to stay while the paperwork is being processed. Searching the forum, I've seen people refer to getting a Visitor Record to extend their stay. The CIC site keeps kicking me back to the new homepage (which I cannot link apparently) whenever I find something that looks like I am on the right path. Then, I fill out the questionnaire at the new homepage and it just says to use my passport even though I have chosen "temporary stay longer than 6 months or it tells me to apply for Family Class.

The only other thing I have stumbled on is form IMM5708E via Guide 5551 (which I cannot link, again sorry).

Is it true I shouldn't apply for anything longer than 6 months as a year is rarely given?

I'd love any advice, please and thank you.

 

[amikety]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend/visa.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/e-services/mycic.asp

Use the second link to apply online. You can also try flagpoling with your spouse if you live near the border. If the Canadian asks, they usually give a VR with proof of marriage and PR application in process.

That 6 months stuff is funny. Ask for what you need. Explain why you need it. I asked for 14 months and got it. I explained I needed 2-3 months to complete my PR application and 12 months for average processing time. It you make a valid case, I think CIC is pretty reasonable about it. Two of my three VRs were for a year or longer.

You'll be able to link once you get more posts in

 

[ooklathemok]

Thanks so much!

When I use the online application it asks me to "indicate if you have ever applied for a service (e.g. a study permit or work permit)." Then, I should enter my UCI from the application. Well, I have not applied for either of those types of permits but I do have a UCI from the Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class that my wife & I submitted. Unfortunately, the website says my UCI is invalid.

So, I guess I should answer that I don't have an UCI? It's just this big warning "If you have a Client Identification Number (Client ID) and you do not provide it, you will not be able to apply for all available online services."

Sorry, I am a total perfectionist and the language on forms always makes me crazy.

As I read through the guid and look at the mail in form it asks what I am applying for. Again, nothing explicitly says Visitor Record. My choices are:
an extension of a temporary resident status
an initial or extension of a temporary resident permit
a restoration of your status as a visitor

passport visit = temporary resident, yes? So I choose the first one?

Also, curious since you have been through the process, do you drive while on the VR? My loving wife thought I might like a vehicle here in Alberta so I drove here. However, she was told by someone at a registries agency that a visitor can drive for 6 months in AB. After that, they need an AB license which, of course, I can't get until I have a a residency of some sort. All provinces are probably different, but I was just curious.

 

[amikety]

Yes, you're asking to extend the temporary status.

Unfortunately, CIC did a major revamp about two months after I last applied. It sounds like they changed it a lot, so I'm not really familiar with it anymore.