Spousal Sponsorship and Visitation from the United States

[swestenzweig]

I am a United States citizen living and working in Buffalo, New York and I am engaged to Canadian citizen who lives in Ontario. We plan to marry by the end of the year and plan to file for my PR immediately. I understand that the current processing time is exceeding 2 years, during which time I will not be allowed to live or work in Canada.

My question is regarding visitation. While my fiance and I have been dating (the past 18 months), I've been very careful to only visit on the weekends and spend more than 50% of my time in the United States to ensure I do not give the impression that I am living in Canada illegally. However, once I get married and file for PR, I'd like to visit more frequently. I still plan to maintain my work and residence in the United States, but I'd like to try to start establishing some sort of normal life with my new wife. I had a discussion with CBSA at one point last year and they mentioned they could grant me a visa for 6 months at a time once I can prove that I am married and that my PR paperwork was in-process. The CBSA agent indicated that this would allow me to work in the United States and return to Canada each evening to spend the night with my wife.

My question is: does anyone have any experience with this? How does it work in practice? Are there any pitfalls or problems to be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

 

[BeShoo]

It doesn't normally take two years. The sponsorship approval stage takes about a month. The applicant approval takes less than 15 months in 80% of cases for U.S. citizens, but it can be as low as about 3 months at the shortest, so the median amount of time is probably somewhere around 8 months. It depends on how complicated your case is. Prior marriages, moving all over the world, and many other factors can make a case more complicated.

The border agents are usually very good about allowing visits from U.S. applicants who have already filed for PR, even if the visits are fairly long-term. In my case, my common-law partner has been legally visiting me in Canada continuously for over four years, with only annual weekend trips back to the U.S. because we were ridiculously slow getting the application ready to send. I won't get into details of why our situation turned out like that, but I will say that I have a lot of experience because of it.

U.S. citizens visiting Canada are visa-exempt, so you wouldn't be getting a "visa," but if you are married and have PR paperwork in process, they will usually give you a "Visitor Record" (which I will call a VR). When they first decide to give you one, it can be for up to 6 months. For $75, it's possible to apply for an extension and this can be for up to one year. My partner just got his fifth extension. The VR says that you cannot work or attend classes in Canada and it gives a deadline by which you must leave Canada. You're supposed to hand in the VR to Canadian authorities when you finally leave, so that they know that you didn't overstay.

The VR says on it "This does not authorize re-entry" and various people on this forum will tell you that you shouldn't ever leave Canada once you have one, because you could be denied re-entry at any time. While this is technically true, that doesn't seem to be how it works in practice. Before we got the VR, my partner tended to get pulled aside for secondary inspection and lots of questions when he came to visit me in Canada. Since he's had one, we've made four weekend trips to attend family events and never had a secondary inspection nor very many questions coming back into Canada.

When they see the VR, they don't have to ask a lot of questions about the reason for his visit and whether he has sufficient ties to the U.S., etc., because they know that a lot of those questions have already been asked and acceptable answers given to them in order to get the VR. They could still ask a lot of questions, but in my experience they never do.

Essentially, to visit Canada, you need to convince the officer at the border that your visit is temporary -- you won't just start living in Canada illegally -- and that you have enough ties to the U.S. to make you want to return home after your visit, and that you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your visit to Canada so that you won't be tempted to work illegally. In your case, I don't think it will be difficult for you to do that because you have a job and residence in the US that you need to get back to after each visit to Canada. People have run into problems before driving back and forth every day between the U.S. and Canada but if you are married and have a PR in process, it should be fine.

In some very small town border crossings, most of the traffic is local people going back and forth across the border to work and the border people think nothing of it. At busier crossings, much of their traffic is tourists, so they might question it more, but once you have a VR, I don't think you'll have problems. They usually ask where you live and the reason for your visit and they often ask where you work or what you do for work. As long as you don't start saying that you live in Canada, I think you should be fine.

 

[swestenzweig]

Thank you for the response. It's encouraging to hear that the wait time is considerably less than I originally thought!

My concern was based around not the duration of my stay, but the frequency of my crossing. From my own personal experience, it was the latter that gave me the most grief at the border. Keeping a residence and job in the US (as well as sufficient funds) goes a long way to alleviate many of the concerns Border Services has had (I still travel with all that documentation on-hand), so I agree that it's best to maintain those while the PR is in-process. It sounds like, from your experience, that marriage and the PR in-process should be enough to allow me to travel back-and-forth as I intend.

I think it's worth learning a bit more about the VR, even though it doesn't seem to be authorized for re-entry; anything that minimizes future complications is always helpful.

Aside from frequent crossings, I'll make sure that I don't do anything that raises suspicion at the border that I may be trying to immigrate prematurely. I'm also a NEXUS card-holder, so I'm hoping that helps, too.

Again, I truly appreciate the insight, advice, and experience!

 

[scylla]

As you've already concluded, there is unfortunately no visa or permit you can obtain that will guarantee you can come and go daily. You'll effectively be reassessed by immigration officers each time you enter.

Having a Nexus card will certainly help - but it doesn't guarantee you'll be allowed in.

The short answer is that sooner or later you may run into issues leaving and re-entering Canada on a daily baiss and you should have a back up plan in place in the even you're ever refused entry or told you need to stop this behaviour. I would also recommend that you carry evidence with you that shows ties to the US (e.g. your job, any properties owned or rented, etc.) and also evidence that the PR application has been submitted and fees paid. In the event it looks like the IO is going to refuse you entry, don't argue and take the refusal. Time to time we have seen 1 year bans issued to US citizens here and that's something you want to avoid at all costs.

 

[BeShoo]

I agree 100% with everything that Scylla said. Always have your evidence with you. You never know when you'll be turned back to the U.S. If that happens, you'll just have to remain there until the PR is finally approved. It's a fairly short wait for a lifetime together, though I know it seems like forever now. If you do get turned back, you just have to go along with it.

I've known of other people who got in trouble for crossing too frequently, but I'm not sure any of them had a VR. It's not something you normally "ask" for but if the officer thinks you might be motivated to overstay, he or she will issue you one to make sure you leave.

I was reading in the newspaper that starting in June, the U.S. and Canadian border people are going to be routinely exchanging data so that they will always know exactly how much time you have spent in each country. Currently, the only know when you came into the country but not when you left.

 

[swestenzweig]

Thanks again for the helpful advice. As I was turned away at the border once before, I've been carrying documentation with me ever since. I'll just add the marriage license and receipt when I apply for the PR with the rest of the documentation I travel with.

I was advised by several border officers at the immigration desk to let them know when I get married. Once I get married and get my PR filed, that's exactly what I plan to do. It was one of the border officers at the immigration desk who told me that I could travel back and forth daily once they're convinced that the marriage is plausible and the PR is in-process. Of course, as I have been advised many times, what happens in reality is all up to the discretion of the border officer at the time of crossing. I may have a discussion with Border Services ahead of time to verify what I've been told and confirm what exactly I am permitted to do.

At worst case, I can still keep the visits limited to the weekends until the PR is finally approved. Still, it would be nice to have a little bit more freedom than that.

 

[kittyandpipit]

we applied outland (American) and were soooo nervous that he wouldn't get back in with his extension that says does not guarantee re-entry...

they barely even asked any questions, we just showed her the paper, and she said if we didn't have it we would have just had to go to immigration and fill something out...we put his home address in Canada.

now, if only the US was as easy.