Travelling Between the US and Canada to visit Husband - Immigration?

[teaandsymphony]

Here is my situation: My husband and I got married 4 months ago. I have been here in Montreal with him for about 9 months, on and off. Usually I am in Canada for about 2-3 months, and then pop back to the US for 1-2 weeks. Before I came up here, he was visiting me regularly in the States. However, I have a sabbatical year from my university, so I'm able to be here on a more semi-permanent basis, which is great.

The last time I went through customs, I was stopped at Immigration and questioned. I had about five stamps on my passport. I said that I was here on sabbatical, doing research (which is true - my thesis is on Quebecois literature) but left out the part about the husband. Now that I know what a serious offense misrepresentation is, I obviously will not leave out the husband part again.

We are gathering the documents for me to apply as a PR in the family class (outland). But we haven't yet submitted because the background check from the FBI takes a long time, and I have to do the medical exam. (Oops - we should have done that ages ago - learn from my mistakes, people!)

What I can't figure out is what the heck to say at Immigration when they stop me??? If I say that I'm visiting my husband, I'm afraid that they won't let me in, because they will assume that I am trying to overstay or work illegally. While I thought that mentioning our plan to apply for PR would surely convince them, this seems to make them even more suspicious that I will stay for too long. I have to go to New York for a conference in a couple of weeks. When I come back through, what should I say?

I have a decent salary through my university. I have a permanent address at my parents' house. I have a bank account. I have documentation of all this - including a letter from my thesis adviser explaining that I plan to come back to the university to finish my degree, and will presumably have a plane ticket back to the States in hand.

Is this enough? I'm terrified to mention that I'm married because I don't want to be denied entry. But then again, why would I overstay my 6 months which would jeopardize my chances of getting PR approval?

I'm sure plenty of you have been in this situation - any advice?

 

[MapleLeafBride]

While not entirely the same situation, my American husband visits me at minimum every other weekend. We actually just went through a stint where he came across the border every weekend since Christmas. Every time he tells them he's visiting his Canadian wife. He has never had an issue and we've been doing this since June 2012 (well, July 2013 as a married couple). For the last 6 weeks it pretty much looked like he was living with me on the weekends! They actually have stopped asking very many questions. I think the fact you always go back to the US works in your favour. While we had a minor hiccup at the beginning where they gave him a one-month stamp, they haven't been suspicious since.
I sincerely doubt you'd get a border guard who bars you from entering Canada, especially with the evidence you have. I think a letter from your supervisor on university letterhead would be great. Can you get something from where you're doing research in Quebec saying you're visiting doing research? Plus, you aren't really misrepresenting yourself if you are actually doing research.
Just bring enough clothing for the time you say you're staying, don't bring any resumes, or anything that suggests you're moving. If you've always abided by the rules and don't have anything suspicious on you, I can't see why they'd reject an American.
I don't know if any of this gives you answers, but at least in my case, my American husband has had no issue coming over. I wouldn't stress too much! They'll see it all over your face!

 

[teaandsymphony]

Thanks for the info! I never worried about it before, but we took a bike trip this past summer around Lake Champlain, then back into Quebec, with nothing on us but a couple pairs of bike shorts and a bunch of trail mix, and the border patrol guy was really overly suspicious of the fact that I have no official status in Canada. It seems sometimes to work against Americans that we don't need a visa to travel to Canada because I had to speak with am immigration officer over the phone who basically grilled me.

Anyway, that is really great to hear, and I will simply make sure to have my documents in order!