Spouse sponsorship question

[sam8401]

I am a Canadian citizen.

My wife is from the US who I married in Canada on March 2022.

Because she is from the US, she can visit Canada for up to 6 months at a time. She has been doing just that since about the time we got married.

So basically since March 2022, we have been "living together in Canada" as never has her visit stretch lasted more than 6 months
(Every 3-4 months, like clock work, she has had to visit her home (in the US) for one or more reasons.)

We submitted a Canadian PR application for her back in November, 2022. My question is ...

Do we need a visitor Visa for my wife if she never stays for more than 6 months at a stretch in Canada with me?

(I am happy to apply for a Visa, just not sure if we even need it?)

 

[scylla]

I am a Canadian citizen.

My wife is from the US who I married in Canada on March 2022.

Because she is from the US, she can visit Canada for up to 6 months at a time. She has been doing just that since about the time we got married.

So basically since March 2022, we have been "living together in Canada" as never has her visit stretch lasted more than 6 months
(Every 3-4 months, like clock work, she has had to visit her home (in the US) for one or more reasons.)

We submitted a Canadian PR application for her back in November, 2022. My question is ...

Do we need a visitor Visa for my wife if she never stays for more than 6 months at a stretch in Canada with me?

(I am happy to apply for a Visa, just not sure if we even need it?)

She does not need a TRV since she is from a visa exempt country.

However she should be aware that she is effectively living in Canada as a visitor status which is sometimes frowned upon by CBSA (visitors are technically not allowed to move to Canada and live here). Generally speaking, visitors are expected to spend more time outside of Canada than inside of Canada in any given 12 month period. Essentially this means there is some risk each time she re-enters Canada that CBSA may not like the fact that she is using visitor status to live in Canada. If this happens, she should indicate she has a spousal sponsorship application in progress and that she has always made sure her status in Canada remains valid while she waits. As an American, she should be fine. However we do see instances here time to time where people have issues. Make sure she doesn't attempt to move all of her personal belongings here (especially things a normal tourist wouldn't take on holidays). She isn't allowed to do that until she has PR and this can be one of the triggers for CBSA for bigger issues at the border.

It's good that you have submitted the spousal sponsorship application. Ideally you would have done that back in March last year or very soon afterwards. But it's in now and hopefully you'll have an answer soon.

 

[sam8401]

Okay, noted. Thank you for your response, much appreciated.