Questions about extending visitor status

[epmarshall]

Hi all,

I am an American who entered Canada on 9-7-15. So by 3-7-15, I need to have extended my visitor status. I am worried that I will be denied and have to leave Canada, so I'm wondering how to avoid this and have a few questions if anyone could help me out.


1. Is it okay to send the extension early? I want to go ahead and do it at the start of January. I think the latest I need to have it sent off is 2-7-15, right? The dates are important, so I want to make sure I'm getting this correct first.

2. How much money or financial proof do we need to show? Do they require a specific amount?

I make a small online income that covers my expenses and my boyfriend works and has a large savings fund. However, my bank account is still kind of low and I don't know if they want the money for the visit to be mine specifically or not. How should we present this situation? Should we show them proof of both incomes and show that he has a savings fund or should we say he has enough to cover me but I still make an income? I'm just wondering how to put this in the best possible way.

3. Does it matter that his savings fund is tied up right now? He has it in a special type of account where it gains extra interest if he doesn't touch it. So technically it's unavailable until June of next year. But it would be available 3 months from the date of my extension if we needed it. I don't know if this is something we need to tell them in the extension letter or not. I don't want to leave this out if it's going to cause misrepresentation issues later on.

Thanks in advance for any responses! I really appreciate this forum.

 

[floomy]

not sure if you can mention your online income (depending on selling outside Canada or inside?)

what you can send
1. his recent pay stubs (two of them )
2. his bank and saving balance (even if it is tied up )
3. his letter that he would support you financially till gets your PR
4. you can send off app early, make sure you mail through registered mail with tracking no. as a proof .


hope other members would give you more info regarding to online income.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

1. Is it okay to send the extension early? I want to go ahead and do it at the start of January. I think the latest I need to have it sent off is 2-7-15, right? The dates are important, so I want to make sure I'm getting this correct first.

2. How much money or financial proof do we need to show? Do they require a specific amount?

3. Does it matter that his savings fund is tied up right now?

Hi

1. There is no point in applying so early. CIC recommends 30 days prior to expiry but that is not a requirement; you can apply up until the day before your status actually expires.

2. There is no set amount. Include his pay slips and bank statement.

3. No.

 

[epmarshall]

not sure if you can mention your online income (depending on selling outside Canada or inside?)

what you can send
1. his recent pay stubs (two of them )
2. his bank and saving balance (even if it is tied up )
3. his letter that he would support you financially till gets your PR
4. you can send off app early, make sure you mail through registered mail with tracking no. as a proof .


hope other members would give you more info regarding to online income.

Thanks, floomy. I will get the pay stubs, bank balances and letter. We are planning on going for common law, though. So we are still 6 months away from being able to apply, which is worrisome. I don't know if I should mention this in the extension. I mean, I guess I have to if that's the reason for the extension.

Hi

1. There is no point in applying so early. CIC recommends 30 days prior to expiry but that is not a requirement; you can apply up until the day before your status actually expires.

2. There is no set amount. Include his pay slips and bank statement.

3. No.

Hi Canuck. Isn't it better to apply early, though? I just don't want to get to the end of my status and then have them deny me all of a sudden when I'm not prepared. Plus, we are getting a new place and I assume we'd need to show the renter that I have at least 6 months of status, right?

Do I include my online income? Just my pay stubs from that or something?

Awesome. So we don't even have to mention it is tied up since it doesn't matter or should we still?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[floomy]

I would not mention that you are going to apply for sponsorship, but would say you wanna stay with bf and travel etc (common and plain reason for extension)

1. if you apply early, then you would receive your visitor visa early and have to re-extend earlier.
2. if you would apply 30days prior to your current visa is expired, as a result you would re-extend visa later (so give you more time) since you are going to apply for sponsorship.
3. not sure landlord would ask your permit (I never been asked by landlord)
4. if you sell something online and get paid with Canadian currency, don't think you should mention that.

 

[ChellyCat]

As others have already said: They recommend you apply a month in advance of expiry, but you can do it literally the day before (I personally applied a day LATE once on accident, and they still extended my visa easily- gave me 1 year when I asked for 6 months!) Show his pay stubs, bank balances, and get him to write a letter saying he will support you. I would NOT mention the online business as that may not be kosher with CIC.

 

[epmarshall]

I would not mention that you are going to apply for sponsorship, but would say you wanna stay with bf and travel etc (common and plain reason for extension)

1. if you apply early, then you would receive your visitor visa early and have to re-extend earlier.
2. if you would apply 30days prior to your current visa is expired, as a result you would re-extend visa later (so give you more time) since you are going to apply for sponsorship.
3. not sure landlord would ask your permit (I never been asked by landlord)
4. if you sell something online and get paid with Canadian currency, don't think you should mention that.

You make a good point. I had just figured they would give me an extension for a year or 6 months after the March date. I guess it is better to wait if they are going to do it that way and give me less time. Thanks for telling me.

About the travel, do you mean within Canada? I figured it was better to go ahead and let them know that we were planning to follow the protocol and do PR, etc. So you're saying I should just say I want to stay with him longer without mentioning PR at all.

Also, I work remotely for a company in the US and I get paid in American dollars. I don't want to put that in there if it's not necessary, but I'm just concerned that they will say it's misrepresentation if I don't mention it. I was thinking it'd be okay to say that much since it's not Canadian income.

As others have already said: They recommend you apply a month in advance of expiry, but you can do it literally the day before (I personally applied a day LATE once on accident, and they still extended my visa easily- gave me 1 year when I asked for 6 months!) Show his pay stubs, bank balances, and get him to write a letter saying he will support you. I would NOT mention the online business as that may not be kosher with CIC.

Hi Chellycat. What reason did you give them for wanting to stay? Did you mention PR at all?

Hm, you also think I shouldn't mention the online business. Maybe it's best to leave it off for the time being. But is that okay? Also, aren't they eventually going to know about it anyway, I mean I have to mention it in the PR app down the road.

Thanks again, everyone. I appreciate the help.

 

[TracyCa64]

epmarshall,
Are you married to your sponsor or will you go the Common Law partner route? For Common Law you need to live with your partner for 12 consecutive months. If you are being sponsored as a Common Law partner you can state the reason you are requesting the extension is to establish a Common Law partnership so that you can apply for PR. CIC wants a reason why you want the extension and they understand that you need to stay in Canada to establish Common Law. They just want to know that either you or your partner is financially responsible while you are "visiting" Canada. Your partner can write a letter stating that he is financially responsible for you while you are visiting Canada. You can show any funds that you have in an account as well, even if it is in American dollars.

I have read on the boards not to request the extension too early, some have been denied. I guess it just depends on the officer approving.

I had to do this back when I needed to establish Common Law. You can ask for a year and if they don't give enough time, you can always extend again. Let me know if you have any other questions, I did this and have to extend again this month as my PR is being processed.

 

[epmarshall]

epmarshall,
Are you married to your sponsor or will you go the Common Law partner route? For Common Law you need to live with your partner for 12 consecutive months. If you are being sponsored as a Common Law partner you can state the reason you are requesting the extension is to establish a Common Law partnership so that you can apply for PR. CIC wants a reason why you want the extension and they understand that you need to stay in Canada to establish Common Law. They just want to know that either you or your partner is financially responsible while you are "visiting" Canada. Your partner can write a letter stating that he is financially responsible for you while you are visiting Canada. You can show any funds that you have in an account as well, even if it is in American dollars.

I have read on the boards not to request the extension too early, some have been denied. I guess it just depends on the officer approving.

I had to do this back when I needed to establish Common Law. You can ask for a year and if they don't give enough time, you can always extend again. Let me know if you have any other questions, I did this and have to extend again this month as my PR is being processed.

Hi Tracy, we are going the common law route. Thanks so much for your information! It's good to hear that we can just tell them we want to establish the Common Law partnership.

I will wait on the extension then, I don't want them to deny it because it's too early. When do you think is a good time to submit it? Would the 30 days before be okay? So maybe the beginning of February?

Also, did you have an opinion about mentioning my online job? Do you know if it's alright to leave it off?

Again, thanks for the info. I appreciate it!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi Tracy, we are going the common law route. Thanks so much for your information! It's good to hear that we can just tell them we want to establish the Common Law partnership.

I will wait on the extension then, I don't want them to deny it because it's too early. When do you think is a good time to submit it? Would the 30 days before be okay? So maybe the beginning of February?

Also, did you have an opinion about mentioning my online job? Do you know if it's alright to leave it off?

As said above, it is perfectly fine to ask for the extension in order to become common-law.

Apply around 30 days beforehand, as CIC recommends.

Provided you are paid in the US and don't do any work for Canadian clients, it's fine to mention the online job if you want.

 

[TracyCa64]

Hi Tracy, we are going the common law route. Thanks so much for your information! It's good to hear that we can just tell them we want to establish the Common Law partnership.

I will wait on the extension then, I don't want them to deny it because it's too early. When do you think is a good time to submit it? Would the 30 days before be okay? So maybe the beginning of February?

Also, did you have an opinion about mentioning my online job? Do you know if it's alright to leave it off?

Again, thanks for the info. I appreciate it!

I think when I applied I did it around the 30 or maybe 25 days before the end date. Yeah, I think if you have it sent off by Feb 7 or a few days after would work. Just be sure that you get everything together and prepared before then so you aren't scrambling. I have read as long as it is within 30 days before your must leave date it is okay. My end date is Jan 30 and I am going to send mine in probably Dec 30th.

If your online job is your actual job and it is how you make your income/living then you need to list it as your job. The application has a section that wants you to list employment for the last 10 years. You really want to be up front and honest with everything. Like for me I am unemployed and I had to put that down. I was able to show that my partner could be financially responsible for me while I was here.
Being from the US (visa exempt) we have it somewhat easier than some other countries, but you still have to prove your case.

I am from California and I came here in April 2014 - Oct 2014 then was granted extension till June 2015. I only asked for that long to establish Common Law and I also knew I was going to California in June for 7 weeks. When I came back I had to go through secondary customs and I just explained everything to the officer and showed him some documents that I brought. He gave me a visitor record and stamped the date of when I needed to leave. I applied for PR in October 2015, Sponsor approval in November 2015, just waiting now. I will extend my visitor status soon too.

Let me know when you are going to do everything and I can help you with anything. It's still fresh in my mind. LOL

 

[TracyCa64]

canuck_in_uk,
Thank you for always being here for us. You always give great advice and have helped me so many times. You rock!!!

 

[TracyCa64]

Oops... I had to modify my post. I messed up on my dates. All fixed now!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

canuck_in_uk,
Thank you for always being here for us. You always give great advice and have helped me so many times. You rock!!!

Thanks, happy to help .

 

[epmarshall]

canuck_in_uk,
Thank you for always being here for us. You always give great advice and have helped me so many times. You rock!!!

Agreed. Canuck is great and thank you as well TracyCa64! This topic really helps ease the anxiety I've been having about this lately since it's my first time extending.

Let me know when you are going to do everything and I can help you with anything. It's still fresh in my mind. LOL

I'll probably start gathering documents and filling the forms near the end of December and into January if I'm submitting around Feb. 7th. I know that I'm going to have more questions as I start completing the forms, so I will definitely take you up on that. Thanks so much!