Hello all
I've sifted through the tons of information and would like some input if needed for those who have been through this before.
Background: I'm a US citizen that lives in California and my girlfriend lives in British Columbia. We've been going out for a year now and our plan is to get married at the end of this year, ~Dec 2016. I would like to live with her in BC before we actually get married as the long distance has been rough for both of us.
Strategy: I will be driving up from California in April 2016 with the bare minimum in my trunk in order to make it appear as though I'm visiting and not planning to live there. We plan to get married in Dec 2016 and then apply for Outland Spousal PR Sponsorship (aka OSPS).
Some questions I had were:
1) Living in BC pre-OSPS (Apr - Oct 2016, 6 months as a tourist), Telecommuting with a US based job
I plan to obtain a telecommute US based job before moving to BC. When I drive through and cross the border into BC, I will have documentation showing my proof of employment. I also own a rental property condominium, which I can show my mortgage statement. When I cross the border, I plan on telling the CBSA agent that I'm visiting my girlfriend for a week (when really I plan to stay there 6 months, but my intent is as long as possible).
Should I get my passport stamped? Should I leave the country and re-enter before October so that my "6 months" as a tourist resets so that I can be there for another 6 months? Was thinking I could take a round trip bus ride from Vancouver down to Bellingham and back to Vancouver to do this. Any thoughts?
Note: I will not make mention that I have a telecommute job.
2) Living in BC pre-OSPS (Oct - Dec 2016)
As mentioned in step 1, I'm hoping I'll have been able to "reset" my 6 months so that I can stay longer.
We will then get married in Dec 2016, probably in Hawaii. When we fly back to Vancouver, I will not say I'm here with my newly married wife. I was thinking when we go through customs at YVR, we could split up and go to separate booths. I would just say that I'm visiting my girlfriend and her family for the Christmas 2016 season. What if the CBSA agent asks me if I was traveling anyone? Should I just lie and say by myself? Will CBSA see that I just recently flew from Vancouver to Hawaii and they might suspect something?
Would it be better if I flew to Hawaii from Seattle and my fiancee (at that time) would fly to Hawaii from Vancouver? (being really paranoid here
)
Then, we both fly back to Vancouver together?
3) Outland Spousal PR Sponsorship (Dec 2016)
We will file our paperwork and even though it's Outland, I will still be living with my wife (at this point). I will treat things as though I'm a visitor and be very careful. At this point in time, should I file paperwork (or make a request?) to extend my tourist visa while the Outland Spousal PR is in process? Or technically since it's Outland, should I really be out of the country? If so, do I make it appear as though I'm visiting my wife even though I'm really living with her and therefore, do not make any request to have my tourist visa extended?
4) Showing proof of leaving/exiting Canada to CBSA when coming into Canada to "visit" my girlfriend/fiancee/wife, when really I don't intend to leave Canada
Should I buy a refundable plane ticket from Vancouver back to Los Angeles a few weeks out and then cancel the ticket to get a refund? Has anybody done this? Or should I just buy a cheap bus far going from Vancouver to Seattle/Bellingham?
5) Last few questions, because I'm paranoid
Does CBSA have access to the US immigration system information? Meaning, if I drive up to Vancouver in April, then I take a bus to cross the border into Washington state in Sept. When I take a bus back to Vancouver, will CBSA see that I just crossed from Canada into the US just a few days earlier?
Is it always preferred to get my US passport stamped by CBSA when crossing into Canada?
Thanks everyone for your help, I know this is a ton of info and questions.
I've sifted through the tons of information and would like some input if needed for those who have been through this before.
Background: I'm a US citizen that lives in California and my girlfriend lives in British Columbia. We've been going out for a year now and our plan is to get married at the end of this year, ~Dec 2016. I would like to live with her in BC before we actually get married as the long distance has been rough for both of us.
Strategy: I will be driving up from California in April 2016 with the bare minimum in my trunk in order to make it appear as though I'm visiting and not planning to live there. We plan to get married in Dec 2016 and then apply for Outland Spousal PR Sponsorship (aka OSPS).
Some questions I had were:
1) Living in BC pre-OSPS (Apr - Oct 2016, 6 months as a tourist), Telecommuting with a US based job
I plan to obtain a telecommute US based job before moving to BC. When I drive through and cross the border into BC, I will have documentation showing my proof of employment. I also own a rental property condominium, which I can show my mortgage statement. When I cross the border, I plan on telling the CBSA agent that I'm visiting my girlfriend for a week (when really I plan to stay there 6 months, but my intent is as long as possible).
Should I get my passport stamped? Should I leave the country and re-enter before October so that my "6 months" as a tourist resets so that I can be there for another 6 months? Was thinking I could take a round trip bus ride from Vancouver down to Bellingham and back to Vancouver to do this. Any thoughts?
Note: I will not make mention that I have a telecommute job.
2) Living in BC pre-OSPS (Oct - Dec 2016)
As mentioned in step 1, I'm hoping I'll have been able to "reset" my 6 months so that I can stay longer.
We will then get married in Dec 2016, probably in Hawaii. When we fly back to Vancouver, I will not say I'm here with my newly married wife. I was thinking when we go through customs at YVR, we could split up and go to separate booths. I would just say that I'm visiting my girlfriend and her family for the Christmas 2016 season. What if the CBSA agent asks me if I was traveling anyone? Should I just lie and say by myself? Will CBSA see that I just recently flew from Vancouver to Hawaii and they might suspect something?
Would it be better if I flew to Hawaii from Seattle and my fiancee (at that time) would fly to Hawaii from Vancouver? (being really paranoid here
)Then, we both fly back to Vancouver together?
3) Outland Spousal PR Sponsorship (Dec 2016)
We will file our paperwork and even though it's Outland, I will still be living with my wife (at this point). I will treat things as though I'm a visitor and be very careful. At this point in time, should I file paperwork (or make a request?) to extend my tourist visa while the Outland Spousal PR is in process? Or technically since it's Outland, should I really be out of the country? If so, do I make it appear as though I'm visiting my wife even though I'm really living with her and therefore, do not make any request to have my tourist visa extended?
4) Showing proof of leaving/exiting Canada to CBSA when coming into Canada to "visit" my girlfriend/fiancee/wife, when really I don't intend to leave Canada
Should I buy a refundable plane ticket from Vancouver back to Los Angeles a few weeks out and then cancel the ticket to get a refund? Has anybody done this? Or should I just buy a cheap bus far going from Vancouver to Seattle/Bellingham?
5) Last few questions, because I'm paranoid
Does CBSA have access to the US immigration system information? Meaning, if I drive up to Vancouver in April, then I take a bus to cross the border into Washington state in Sept. When I take a bus back to Vancouver, will CBSA see that I just crossed from Canada into the US just a few days earlier?
Is it always preferred to get my US passport stamped by CBSA when crossing into Canada?
Thanks everyone for your help, I know this is a ton of info and questions.