Looking for help after partner turned away at the border

[Gritten]

Hey Everyone,

I know people have been extremely helpful here. I'm looking for some advice as I don't know what steps we should take at this point.

1) I met a woman from the US (she's a US citizen) and I'm a Canadian citizen
2) We've done multiple visit trips back and forth to visit. Usually once per month
3) She was able to stay with me visiting for a couple of months during the summer but had to go back home

(We're both in the process of going through divorces - she just finalized her's but I have to wait until December/January time and have been together almost a year now albeit remotely and visiting.).

4) She was back home for a couple of weeks and returning to come visit me. She was going to stay for 6 months (the maximum time) and we were going to take the route of applying for visitation extension and then applying for PR under common law

5) I wrote a letter stating she would be visiting me and I would be assisting support her financially.
6) She's not working currently and recently moved to her moms so did not have anything on her to show her residency there in the US and was turned away

It's a 7 hour drive from her mom's to the border so she's currently making her way back. Does anyone have suggestions on what we can do in our situation for her to be able to come back to Canada so we can extend the visitation to get our common law time in?

Thanks in advance - this was pretty shocking to both of us with her having to head all the way back.

 

[Buletruck]

Well, IMO, the letter from you was probably a bad idea to begin with. This would probably be an immediate red flag for CBSA that she isn't planning to come as a visitor and intends to stay longer. Remember the length of stay (or even entry) is determined by CBSA at the POE and is not necessarily 6 months. Showing up with 6 months of "stuff", a letter from her significant other saying you are going to help your unemployed GF of no fixed address is setting yourself up for failure as she doesn't have the appearance of a visitor.

The issue now is that she has probably been flagged in the system and will find further entries difficult. My personal feeling is that she needs to establish herself again in the US before attempting another entry......say 5-6 months from now (others can chime in on this one). And when she comes again, don't make it look like you are moving, just visiting. You will need to convince them of that. Once she is here, she can apply for extensions to stay longer. Moving stuff can happen after you get her PR.

 

[Gritten]

Oh she wasn't saying that she was coming up for 6 months. That was just the hopes we could do to start the common law process. She was only coming here until xmas and didn't even have 6 months of stuff, just a few bags of clothes for the time she would be here. Even my letter was stating "I was providing food / lodging and any potential financial needs during the visit time" as that's what I read from others here that they had done in the same circumstances.

 

[scylla]

I think the main issue was her lack of ties to the US. The refused entry has definitely been recorded in the system - so before she tries again, she'll want to be able to bring something with her that shows proof of ties. Does she have anything? You say she's not working - so no employment proof. Doesn't sound like she has her own place - so no property ownership or rental or anything like utility bills. What did she demonstrate in terms of proof of funds for the visit (i.e. bank account balance)?