Q 13 - Should I use visa dates or actual status dates?

[Pam_Pam]

I had legally worked in another country on a work visa for almost a decade. I renewed the status many times without any gap. However, I was only required to get a new visa when I traveled out of the country.

If I answer question 13 by entering each visa issue date and expiry date, there will be gaps. There will also be overlapping dates since I sometimes got a new visa before the old one expired.

If I answer by entering the actual duration I stayed there, it won't match the visa in my passport.

Which dates should I use?

Also, some countries gave me a 3 - 6 months visitor visa, but I only stayed there less than a week each. If I answer question 13 by entering the visa issue date and expiry date, will that make IRCC misunderstand that I actually stay there that long?

 

[Seym]

The application asks about the status you had in other countries, not the documents supporting said status. If you continuously held that worker status for x years, with implied status during renewal, just list one entry for the x years, no need for the minutiae. That's what I did when I studied in a foreign country in Europe, where I had to renew my study permit every year in summer : one single entry for the whole duration of my studies there. IRCC obviously never asked about my papers from said country.

If you reaaaaaally reaaaaaally don't feel at ease with the answer above, feel free to add an explanation letter where you'll give more details and say that you were in a similar situation to the Canadian implied status. But that's probably overkill.

Also, you don't need to list the visitors visas there. IRCC doesn't care about your one week vacation abroad, but about the placed where you actually lived. The 10 years US travel visa I used for a total of 2 months or so wasn't listed, the trips from Montreal to US were in the physical presence calculator and that's basically it. Some people list them out of an abundance of caution, and that's fine (in which case, stick to your actual travel dates maybe, after all, listing all 10 years of US visa wouldn't make sense with me living in Canada all these years!), but why make a straightforward application more complicated?

 

[Nousernamesadface]

Status dates. Visa is not status.

For visitor status you have status when you're actually visiting, not when you have the visa.

 

[Pam_Pam]

The application asks about the status you had in other countries, not the documents supporting said status. If you continuously held that worker status for x years, with implied status during renewal, just list one entry for the x years, no need for the minutiae. That's what I did when I studied in a foreign country in Europe, where I had to renew my study permit every year in summer : one single entry for the whole duration of my studies there. IRCC obviously never asked about my papers from said country.

If you reaaaaaally reaaaaaally don't feel at ease with the answer above, feel free to add an explanation letter where you'll give more details and say that you were in a similar situation to the Canadian implied status. But that's probably overkill.

Also, you don't need to list the visitors visas there. IRCC doesn't care about your one week vacation abroad, but about the placed where you actually lived. The 10 years US travel visa I used for a total of 2 months or so wasn't listed, the trips from Montreal to US were in the physical presence calculator and that's basically it. Some people list them out of an abundance of caution, and that's fine (in which case, stick to your actual travel dates maybe, after all, listing all 10 years of US visa wouldn't make sense with me living in Canada all these years!), but why make a straightforward application more complicated?

Thank you very much! That's a very clear and helpful answer.

 

[Pam_Pam]

Status dates. Visa is not status.

For visitor status you have status when you're actually visiting, not when you have the visa.

Thank you! This really makes more sense since some visitor visas are "activated" upon arrival and valid for x months afterward, so the issue date and end date are a bit confusing if I use the visa date.

 

[Nousernamesadface]

Thank you! This really makes more sense since some visitor visas are "activated" upon arrival and valid for x months afterward, so the issue date and end date are a bit confusing if I use the visa date.

Yeah that's why I did it this way. For work permits and such the whole duration of it makes more sense, even if were briefly outside of the country you still had worker status. But for visitors, its the duration you're visiting. First time we were came to Canada a CBSA officer gave a visitor record and said this will be "null and void" when you leave Canada.