Outland - Coming to Quebec (or other provinces) before receiving the PR ?

[mikaeru]

Hi,

we just sent our outland application to Mississauga in mid june, and from the estimated delays we can see on the CIC's website, we think our sponsor application should get approved in mid august. However, as we have to deal with Manila and the average wait is 14 months, we were thinking of having my wife enter Canada as a visitor until the PR gets accepted.
She already bought her one-way flight ticket to Canada for october 2014, so here are our questions:

• Is it ok for her to enter with just a one-way ticket (or no exit date) if we tell someone(who?) that we have an application ongoing with the CIC ?
• When I come to get her at the airport (YUL - Montreal), is there an officer I can meet so they can confirm I'm here to afford her return flight ticket if she has to leave in 6~12 months ? I'm also worried I can't see what happens while she's at the customs area...
• Should we ask for an extension to her visitor entry before she comes, or only once she's inside Canada ?
• Can we extend a visitor entry more than once ?
• While she enters Canada as a visitor, I assume she can't get medical insurance from Canada (or Quebec's RAMQ). What are our options ? She's from Japan.

thanks !

 

[scylla]

The first thing you should do is contact the airline she will be flying with. Airlines sometimes won't let you board with just a one way ticket.

 

[nonothavingfun]

How long would her tourist visa be.. 6 months? I'd recommend that you buy a refundable return ticket to Japan prior to her arrival in Canada.. if that's possible. It will alleviate a lot of the complications. Since you're outland then she can leave the country and come back to get another tourist visa for another 6 months.. ie. trip to the US (daytrip or weekend trip even). She shouldn't have many problems getting her second tourist visa if you can keep the explanations accurate and simple.

But if you can, just get a return ticket.. something that you can alter when you have to. From what I understand you're going to get some grief without one, and the less complicated it is, the better (if it came down to a discussion with an immigration officer).

I don't think it's possible to get an extension on a tourist visa. But it's easy enough to leave the country and come back to get another 6 months.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

 

[Rob_TO]

• Is it ok for her to enter with just a one-way ticket (or no exit date) if we tell someone(who?) that we have an application ongoing with the CIC ?

Its recommended to have a return ticket since it will be easier to board the airplane in the first place, and it will help convince a Canadian immigration officer she intends to leave in case they ask. Although many people have successfully boarded with 1 way tickets, and many are not asked at all about return tickets from Canada immigration. So the choice is really up to you which way to go.

• When I come to get her at the airport (YUL - Montreal), is there an officer I can meet so they can confirm I'm here to afford her return flight ticket if she has to leave in 6~12 months ? I'm also worried I can't see what happens while she's at the customs area...

No, you can't go to the customs/immigration area. She will need to go through and answer all questions by herself.

In case she goes to secondary inspection and they are doubtful about anything, they MAY call you for an interview on the spot to confirm you'll be supporting her, assuming you will be in the waiting area. This is entirely up to CBSA immigration.

• Should we ask for an extension to her visitor entry before she comes, or only once she's inside Canada ?

You can't ask for an extension on something you don't even have yet.
Most likely she'll be let in with a 6 months visitor status. At around 5 months, you can apply to extend that for another 6 or 12 months.

• Can we extend a visitor entry more than once ?

Yes.

• While she enters Canada as a visitor, I assume she can't get medical insurance from Canada (or Quebec's RAMQ). What are our options ? She's from Japan.

She won't have provincial coverage until 3 months AFTER getting her PR status. Until then, get her privite emergency medical coverage. You can shop around some places here: https://www.kanetix.ca/travel-visitors-to-canada