Need Advice About Getting Back Into Canada

[ankk]

Hi there,

About a month ago my wife and I got married in Toronto. She is a Canadian and I am from the US. Before the wedding I stayed in Canada for 6 months to help plan the wedding. A few weeks after our wedding we decided to travel to the states to visit my family for awhile before starting the sponsorship process (she is sponsoring me to live in Canada). When we got to security in Toronto airport, we told the boarder agent that we had just gotten married and I was going home and she was coming to visit my family. Some how this got mixed up and we were pulled into secondary check because they thought she was trying to come live in the US without being sponsored. We explained to the next agent what had happened and showed him the paperwork that shows we were planning to live in Canada he let us through but wrote on my wife's passport that she has to be back in Canada by August 30th.

We only planned to stay in the states for a few weeks anyways before going back to Canada and starting the sponsorship process. We are worried that when we try to go back to Canada I will not be allowed back in because I have already been there for 6 months and I have no real ties to the States. We plan to pay some or all of the sponsorship fees before going back to Canada just to show we are very serious about it.

My questions are...

Do you think I will have trouble getting back into Canada?

What should I say to the boarder agents when going through security?

Since we had to go through secondary check is my name now flagged in the system?

If I am denied what are then my options because we do not want to be separated?

Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

 

[rhcohen2014]

make sure to have your marriage certificate, and any proof of the legwork you have done for the pr application. you will most certainly be pulled into secondary (this is normal for newly married cross border couples). They may ask you about your ties to the us. The only ties CBSA care about is a residence (apt/house) and employment with an american employer.

Since you are now married and know the rules about PR, there is a slim chance you will be denied at the border. What is more likely to happen is they will give you a visitor's record, and they will give you a specific date to leave by and possibly check out with them when you leave. You are not allowed to work while in canada. You can work remotely for non-canadian companies. While in, you will be able to extend your stay and be there for the entire PR process.

Being pulled into secondary while going to the US has no bearing on what your experience is going to be like going into canada.

No one can really tell you for sure what will happen, as it's in the sole descretion of the border agent you meet. Be honest and be prepared. CBSA will certainly let you know if they don't like how much time you've spent in canada. They tend to be more lenient for those who are married and do the work for PR.

 

[Becki567]

I agree with everything rhchohen said, also IMO the most important part is to show how you will support yourself. They want to be assured that you will not be working illegally