marrying my american fiance

[laurelle]

My friend has a fiance from california and he is canadian. they want to get married in Vegas in October and then she wants to come into canada to live with him. She has no visitor visa or anything like that. Will she be allowed to enter into canada as his wife even though they have no paperwork to show they are applying for permanent residency? She is a massage therapist and his niece said she would rent commercial space to her so she can open her own buisness. I have to wonder if this plan is going to work out for them. any comments?

Laurelle

 

[super11]

Hello, I married my wife in Canada earlier in April and I am also from the states. Yes, she will be able to visit him without having applied for the permanent residency. As far as living there...that's where problems arise, I do not have definite answers to all these questions, but I do know that she can visit. She cannot work there though unless with a work permit. To be honest, as far as I understand it...she pretty much definitely has to fill out all of the paperwork and her husband needs to sponsor her. It's not as simple as crossing the border, and saying I'm living here bc I'm married to this guy...it just won't work.

 

[Azsereth]

As far as entering the country to live, I think it depends a lot on whether you intend to apply inland or outland. I entered Canada as a visitor and we were honest with the immigration officer about my intent to move here with my husband and apply for permanent residency from within Canada. I think the only paperwork we had at the time to prove our intent to apply was my FBI background check and our marriage certificate. They gave me a 1 year visitor record, and I've since received another full year. You should be aware that they can still turn you away at the border...we were pretty worried that it would happen to us, but so far we've been fortunate to encounter only really nice and understanding people at the border.

If you apply outland, you should probably apply before attempting to cross the border and keep ties to the US so that they don't think you're an overstay risk. Others may have more advice on the issue, but that's what I've gathered from reading these forums.

 

[Leon]

They can enter together, state their intent to apply for sponsorship, show some filled out forms on entry, ask for a visitor record which might allow her to stay for a full year instead of 6 months but in the end they could still apply outland. It is faster anyway.

I am pretty sure she would not be allowed to open a business on a visit visa. She should wait until she gets her PR.

 

[scylla]

I am pretty sure she would not be allowed to open a business on a visit visa. She should wait until she gets her PR.

Correct. Opening a business on a visit visa is illegal.