PLEASE, HELP. Do I need to extend my stay as a visitor?

[IsabelHernando]

Hello everyone.

In a month or so (July 2017) I will be flying to New York from Madrid, where I live, and I will be there until the first week of August (I already have the visitor visa ready for the US). Then, instead of coming back, I am going to Montreal (Canada) on August the 4th to stay at a friends' place. I already have tickets from Montreal to Madrid for December the 20th, so 4.5 months after I entered Canada. My idea is to go back to Canada after Christmas, sometime at the beginning of January I don't know which of the following statements are correct:

1. Since I left Canada for a couple of weeks and entering again, I have 6 months as a visitor again.
Or 2. I still have 1.5 months because I only spent 4.5 as a visitor until December, and I have to apply for an extension of my stay 30 days before the 6 months. If this is what I will have to do, does anyone know how likely is it to get the extension? And what could I provide as proof of founds?

I have tried to find information about this but there I haven't seen that the option 1 is a thing, so if someone could help me with this I'd be more than thankful.

 

[Bryanna]

Hi,

I guess you do not hold a Spanish passport because you have a US visitor visa (B1/B2) instead of an ESTA under the VWP.

You must apply for a Canada TRV (visa stamped in your passport) before you travel to Canada (preferably when you are in Spain).

At the port of entry, your visit, in August, will be assessed by an immigration officer. All going well, you will be allowed to remain in Canada for 6 months as a visitor. This means you will have visitor status for 6 months.

Your visitor status will lapse when you leave Canada. If you have a multiple-entry TRV, you will be allowed to travel to Canada after Christmas using the same TRV. Again, your new stay after Christmas will be assessed for a new visitor status


Cheers

 

[IsabelHernando]

Hi! First of all, thank you so much for responding.

I thought the ESTA was considered a visitor visa, but I guess it is not! So sorry for the miss understanding. I do hold a Spanish passport and an ESTA, available until March 2018.

Would I still need the TRV if I wanted to come back to Canada after Christmas?

 

[IsabelHernando]

And I don't have any visa for visiting because in the cic webpage I understood I did not need anything but my passport (+ eTA if entering by air) to enter to Canada. So I thought I could be there for four months and a half, spend Christmas at home and then go back for another 6 months.

Am I right with that?

Thank you so much, again!

 

[Bryanna]

Then it's a different situation.

As you hold a Spanish passport, you must apply for eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) if you intend to fly to Montreal from New York in August. If you plan to drive up/cross into Canada at a land border then your Spanish passport will suffice. You do not need a visitor visa (i.e. TRV) to travel to Canada.

At the port of entry, your visit will be assessed by an immigration officer. All going well, you will be allowed to remain in Canada for 6 months. This means you will have visitor status (not a visitor visa) for 6 months.

When you leave Montreal for Madrid, your visitor status will lapse. You will be reassessed for a new entry/new visitor status when you arrive in Montreal after Christmas. BTW you will need an eTA if you board a flight from Madrid to Montreal.

I would recommend that you bring adequate evidence of your ties to Spain (a lease, school enrollment or employment proofs, property ownership, etc) with adequate finances for your stay because you will have stayed for 4.5 months on the first visit + you will be attempting to re-enter Canada again quite quickly