First, I just want to give a little background information. I met someone from Canada online about two years ago, and we formed a long distance relationship (I'm from North Carolina). I've recently gotten to visit him twice, for most of the month of January and just recently for a couple of weeks. This last time when I went to visit him I was sent to the citizenship/immigration office by customs when I arrived at the airport. They told me that it was suspicious that I'd visited Canada twice in a relatively short amount of time because I'm of typical working age, if that makes any sense. I received a document stapled into my passport that said I was not allowed to work in Canada, attend any educational classes, etc., and that I was required to leave on May 27. Now my original intent was to come to Canada later this year (around September or October), and spend the supposed 6 months that I'm allowed to spend there, staying with my boyfriend because we have talked about getting married but I'd like to spend a more extended amount of time with him first, and if things went well we would be married within that 6 month time span. My real question is, am I even going to be allowed to do this now? I'm afraid the document that was put in my passport when I arrived was like a stain on my record of travel to Canada, and I don't want to come all the way there to stay with him (I'd be driving), just to be turned away because they think I'm trying to work illegally. I know I'm not allowed to work in Canada without proper documentation and I have no intention of working there illegally, but I have no idea how to prove that if I'm going to be coming there for 6 months. Should I wait until 2010 to try to come spend the 6 months there since I've been there twice this year already (for a total amount of time of 1.5 months basically)? I'm sorry if this is confusing but I'm very lost and upset.. I really wanted to start my life with him later this year and I'm afraid that isn't going to happen. If anyone's able to answer this I'd really appreciated it greatly.
Very complicated situation.
- Thread starter AllisonChains08
- Start date
hey,
I go visit my boyfreind in the states every second week-end and I have never had any real issue. Once they pulled me over and asked more questions, but from what I understand is that they are worried we might no returned to our respective home countries. You have to show them you have ties.. that could be a house, rent,kids, work, studies waiting for you back in the US...The american agent that pulled me over asked me to try to have some sort of proof that I am employed such as a pay stub, letter from employer in the future to help them in their work... As well he suggested I keep in my purse a bank statement or Visa with my Canadian address so they can see where I spend most of my time and most of my money....
I do ride shares also with all sort of people : American, Canadian, and people from other countries...and it is mainly the thing they seem to bring up, that said I am not sure why they pulled you over after only two times, but I have a felling that you might have told them something that got you flagged. I think anyway they pretty much told you what the problem is. You said they told you it was suspicious that you had visited Canada twice in a short amount of time because you are of typical working age... I know for example, they could say that of me to, but I always go on the week-ends and rarely stay for more that three days in a row, and they see I keep coming every two weeks so they know I am not staying in there forever...
so I guess what you should do is find ways to prove them that you are not entering Canada to stay there illegally after your allowed 6 months...telling them is not enough....they want evidence..and then in the end it is all up to them and each individual agent. Maybe you were just not lucky that time and will get in no questions asked next time, but I assume this will be on file, so I would get ready for them to sort of ask you all this gain next time, but you can only try and see there is no real way to know for sure what would happen
I know it is nerve racking...good luck
I go visit my boyfreind in the states every second week-end and I have never had any real issue. Once they pulled me over and asked more questions, but from what I understand is that they are worried we might no returned to our respective home countries. You have to show them you have ties.. that could be a house, rent,kids, work, studies waiting for you back in the US...The american agent that pulled me over asked me to try to have some sort of proof that I am employed such as a pay stub, letter from employer in the future to help them in their work... As well he suggested I keep in my purse a bank statement or Visa with my Canadian address so they can see where I spend most of my time and most of my money....
I do ride shares also with all sort of people : American, Canadian, and people from other countries...and it is mainly the thing they seem to bring up, that said I am not sure why they pulled you over after only two times, but I have a felling that you might have told them something that got you flagged. I think anyway they pretty much told you what the problem is. You said they told you it was suspicious that you had visited Canada twice in a short amount of time because you are of typical working age... I know for example, they could say that of me to, but I always go on the week-ends and rarely stay for more that three days in a row, and they see I keep coming every two weeks so they know I am not staying in there forever...
so I guess what you should do is find ways to prove them that you are not entering Canada to stay there illegally after your allowed 6 months...telling them is not enough....they want evidence..and then in the end it is all up to them and each individual agent. Maybe you were just not lucky that time and will get in no questions asked next time, but I assume this will be on file, so I would get ready for them to sort of ask you all this gain next time, but you can only try and see there is no real way to know for sure what would happen
I know it is nerve racking...good luck
I was kind of wondering if it would be a bad idea to just flat out tell them that I'm coming to visit my fiancee before we get married. I'm a little confused about that actually.. if you get married in Canada but you're not from Canada are you still required to leave after 6 months even if you file the paperwork to become a resident/sponsored by your spouse?
Don't worry about the stamp my husband came to Canada 3 times and did the same and now we are married and I'm sponsoring him. The only thing when he left after 3 months we had to advise customs that he is leaving back to his country. He applied for a second time and they did the same. What I'm trying to say it shouldn't stop you from marrying him but my advise the next time you should be honest tell them he is your bf but don't mention anything about getting married & you should be fine. Good luck!
Yes. When you enter Canada, you are admitted for 6 months and when those 6 months pass, unless you either get an extension on that or the PR process is finished, you have no legal status in Canada and are thus there illegally.AllisonChains08 said:
Telling them at the border that you're coming in to get married could be a bad idea, especially if you have no proof that you intend to return. The IO could assume you're intending to stay longer than 6 months and could refuse you entry.
You were pulled aside because you mentioned you met your friend 'on-line'. For some reason, immigration officials feel that meeting a person in this manner is not a 'true' socially accpetable act and they must let you know of this fact by excerting thier power. Immigration people are much like social workers with a powerful social agenda that they are 'sworn' to enforce. Unfortuneately, you are now flagged in thier system until you get a good lawyer to force them to un-flag you. You will be pulled aside every time you come to Canada, trying to harass you until you give up and never come back again.
Next time, just tell them you were invited to come for a vaction by a friend of the family.
Next time, just tell them you were invited to come for a vaction by a friend of the family.
It's not a necessary red flag if they questioned her otherwise my husband wouldn't be allowed to enter Canada as a visitor for a second time. When they see a women is invited by a male or the opposite no matter what immigration get suspicious and have the right to question the relationship. As long you are honest and you leave the country within the time they provided you on your visa I don't see why it should be a red flag on her file. If this is the case 90% of the visitors will be flagged. Even if you are a lawyer you can't do anything about it.
Allisononchains.. its not a black mark.. they were just making sure that you wouldnt go beyond the terms of tourist. Don't worry just be honest to the officer and tell them you are visiting your boyfriend and bring with you plenty of evidence to show your ties back in the states.. Just reassure them.. thats what they need.
I would strongly suggest NOT to do that....Eric Parker said:
It will sound suspicious and they can ask you for more proof of that. They can go as far as asking for that person's phone number and they can call him and verify the informations....and you get caught lying pretty easily this way...
This is slightly off topic, but...
Don't assume all IOs are bad, some are actually nice and I'm sure most of them are just doing what they have to do. Of course, there's always some rotten apples in every bunch...
When I flew in to Canada to meet the man I met online, I didn't have much trouble at the airport. I said I was visiting a friend that I met online and the IO said "yeah? Do you know him well?" I said I did and then he asked me what if he turns out to be old, fat and bald and I reassured him I saw him over webcams and he's none of that. He sent me off with an "Ok, just be careful." He seemed genuinely concerned about my well being and not at all about if I'll be going home.Eric Parker said:
Don't assume all IOs are bad, some are actually nice and I'm sure most of them are just doing what they have to do. Of course, there's always some rotten apples in every bunch...
Well I didn't tell the initial customs person that I had to speak to that I met him online. I honestly think one reason I was sent to the immigration office was because I turned red as a tomato when he started questioning me (I flush easily and I was afraid I was in trouble). The women that I spoke to in the immigration office seemed like she was mostly concerned about the fact that my boyfriend is quite a bit older than me (I'm 24, he's 38). She also seemed concerned that he'd been married and divorced before and that he has 3 children, the oldest being only 4 years younger than me. It was kind of funny because she even said "I'm not a social worker but honestly I'd end this relationship if it isn't really serious". I thought I read somewhere that when you file an inland application to become a permanent resident because you got married to someone, you're automatically granted an extension to stay in the country until the application is approved? Is this not true? Would I be able to file an inland application just because I would be in Canada at the time of the filing? I'm assuming that's what that means. Thanks for the help everyone 
If you file inland, you must stay in Canada until it's through processing. That can take 1-2 years to get PR. You would have to include a visit visa extension and open work permit application with your file to keep it all together. If it all goes well, you would get your open work permit in 6-7 months.
If you apply outland, you can do it while in Canada or while in the US but you can travel while it's being processed and you get the PR faster, 5-10 months to get PR but no work permit stage.
If you apply outland, you can do it while in Canada or while in the US but you can travel while it's being processed and you get the PR faster, 5-10 months to get PR but no work permit stage.
Sorry I keep asking questions, just had a few more that I can't seem to find an answer to. I've been reading about the medical exam and police clearance requirements, and I see that I'm able to take the medical exam while in Canada and it's valid for one year after being taken. Am I able to obtain the police clearance while I'm not in the country that I'm obtaining it from? I wasn't sure if fingerprinting that was taken outside of my country of citizenship was acceptable. The main reason I ask is because it can be no more than 3 months old, correct? That just doesn't leave much of a time frame to get the clearance and get my application sent off.
You can get fingerprints taken where you are, send them in and get police clearances from countries you've lived in without actually being there. It would be expensive for some people if they actually had to go to all the countries they've lived in to get it. I had to get FBI because I had lived in the US. I got my fingerprints taken where I was, mailed them in and got it in about a month.