U.S. citizen getting married in Canada- how to enter with/without a visa

[usatocan]

So grateful to anyone who can provide me with guidance! 8)

So here is my story:

My fiance lives in Toronto and I live in Florida. We are planning a July 2016 wedding in Toronto. My plan is to go to a University full-time to complete my graduate studies; I have no plans to leave Canada. She (my wife) will sponsor me for Permanent Residency once we are married. I will eventually apply for Canadian Citizenship. I could obtain a Study Visa in order to enter the country but I am wondering if that is necessary. If I show up at the border with my vehicle full of household items/luggage, an FBI clearance letter, and a wedding permit, will there be a problem? The CIC website can be confusing because there is nothing on there that tells a person how to enter the country in order to get married, but it does have directions for a spouse to sponsor a spouse (citizen of other country) already living in Canada for Permanent Residency. I always wonder how that particular person gets into Canada in the first place. Obviously, I want to follow immigration laws, so please advise me as to the proper way. ;D

Sidenote: my mom is a Canadian citizen with a Permanent Resident card for the U.S.

Thanks so much!

 

[Rob_TO]

If I show up at the border with my vehicle full of household items/luggage, an FBI clearance letter, and a wedding permit, will there be a problem?

Yes, most likely you will be turned away at the border and refused entry. You are not allowed to "move to" or "live" in Canada as a visitor only. Doesn't matter if you have a fiancee or wife or mother in Canada.

If you enter Canada as a visitor, you need to act like a visitor. So you need to convince CIC you'll leave after your visitor status expires and you must have luggage typical of a visitor.

Once you successfully enter Canada, you can then apply to extend your visitor status and/or apply for PR.

Also in order to attend any school/university for longer than a 6 month course, you'll require a study permit as a foreign student (and pay international student fees). Again having a Canadian wife has no impact on this. You won't be able to go to school as a Canadian until you have your PR application completely finished and you've landed as a PR.

Of note also, you won't qualify to apply for citizenship until you've lived in Canada for 4 years after becoming a PR.

 

[Ponga]

Excellent advice.

 

[scylla]

Sidenote: my mom is a Canadian citizen with a Permanent Resident card for the U.S.

How did your mom get citizenship? Depending on the answer, you may also have a claim to citizenship.

 

[usatocan]

Thank you all. Excellent and quick responses.

To answer the last question: My mother was born in Canada and has lived in the US as a Permanent Resident since the 1940's.

 

[MilesAway]

If your mom is a citizen by birth, then you should also be a citizen, but by descent.

 

[Ponga]

The OP's life just got a whole lot better.

 

[scylla]

Thank you all. Excellent and quick responses.

To answer the last question: My mother was born in Canada and has lived in the US as a Permanent Resident since the 1940's.

Apply for this now:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof-how.asp

 

[usatocan]

scylla: This is interesting. I may look into applying for this since I am first generation of a Canadian.

Update: I talked with a retired CIC agent and with the graduate school I will be attending this fall. They both said that I will be able to move into Canada with a Study Visa (which also acts as a Temporary Resident visa). Once married, I can be sponsored by my wife for Permanent Residency. But now I'm wondering if I could bypass that and apply for a citizenship certificate based on this new information!

Thanks for all the help!

 

[dbss]

If you are Citizen you don't have to do any of this, so my advice is to get the citizenship.

Also, on study permit you will be international student so you will be paying international fee which again will go away (and you pay regular fee like every Canadian) if you are Canadian. Since your gf/fiance/to be wife is here in Canada, chances of you getting a study permit are less if CIC knows your full story.

 

[scylla]

scylla: This is interesting. I may look into applying for this since I am first generation of a Canadian.

Update: I talked with a retired CIC agent and with the graduate school I will be attending this fall. They both said that I will be able to move into Canada with a Study Visa (which also acts as a Temporary Resident visa). Once married, I can be sponsored by my wife for Permanent Residency. But now I'm wondering if I could bypass that and apply for a citizenship certificate based on this new information!

The study visa only makes sense if you want to throw money away. Take a look at the difference between foreign and domestic tuition fees. If you get your citizenship sorted out, then you pay domestic fees and can also work unlimited hours to support yourself. If you go the study visa route, you'll be paying international student fees and will be limited in the number of hours you are allowed to work. Going the citizenship route is a non-brainer IMO.

 

[usatocan]

Update!

So following some advice from this forum, I applied for Proof of Citizenship back in April. I am still getting married in July, but I doubt I'll have my PoC before then. A retired CIC judge (my fiancée's friend's father) told me that I shouldn't have a problem crossing the border if I make sure to present my PoC acknowledgement letter, my Canadian mother's birth certificate, my birth certificate and my wedding license (granted in Toronto last month). To top it all off, I have a recent clearance letter from the FBI showing no arrests. I'm also going through all the RIV paperwork in order to export/import my personal vehicle. I also contacted my fiancée's Member of Parliament and had them notify Border Services where I'll be crossing. I pray it all works out.