Visiting Canada

[muxlow]

Hello, my fiancé and I are soon to be married. We want to be married in his homeland of Canada. I hail from the US and am going up to visit for as long as I can while everything is being processed. He will be sponsoring me through family class and I will be applying outside of canada because the route is quicker... although am I allowed to visit/stay/ be practically living with him while this is going on? If I do so, I have a few questions:

Am I allowed to submit all my papers with him in Canada even though I am applying outside?
Are my addresses for any information allowed to be his Canadian one, or my home back in US?
When going through customs at the airport, if I say I am visiting for six months, will they possibly deny my access into Canada?
After six months if I leave for a few days and come back, will they be less likely to let me in?
Is this 'cheating' or 'not allowed' for outside applicants and would it be more appropriate to apply from inland?

I understand with inland I can possibly apply for a open work visa, but through studying those visas, I am afraid I will not be eligible for one. The process, to my understanding, takes longer also, which is why outland seems the most fitting.

Thank you much for your time and best wishes,

Muxlow

 

[Baloo]

Hello, my fiancé and I are soon to be married. We want to be married in his homeland of Canada. I hail from the US and am going up to visit for as long as I can while everything is being processed. He will be sponsoring me through family class and I will be applying outside of canada because the route is quicker... although am I allowed to visit/stay/ be practically living with him while this is going on? If I do so, I have a few questions:

Am I allowed to submit all my papers with him in Canada even though I am applying outside?

YES

Are my addresses for any information allowed to be his Canadian one, or my home back in US?
YES- mailing address

When going through customs at the airport, if I say I am visiting for six months, will they possibly deny my access into Canada?
It is possible, and depends on many things - why not visit for a month and possibly decide to stay for longer (you can always change a flight).
Canada allows freedom of choice

After six months if I leave for a few days and come back, will they be less likely to let me in?
YES, but you can apply to extend a stay.

Is this 'cheating' or 'not allowed' for outside applicants and would it be more appropriate to apply from inland?
Not cheating or bad, it is allowed

I understand with inland I can possibly apply for a open work visa, but through studying those visas, I am afraid I will not be eligible for one. The process, to my understanding, takes longer also, which is why outland seems the most fitting.

Have a read here:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html;msg344291#msg344291

 

[muxlow]

Thank you for your helpful response. I found that thread right after I posted this. Next time I will make sure to read a little more here. Haha. Thank you again. One more question about the medical examination: does it have to be in my home country or can it be in Canada?

 

[MandiF]

As long as the medical exam is with a DMP then it can be in Canada or US, which ever is best for you.

 

[Baloo]

Canada is ok,

There is a DMP list on the CIC website - cost in Ottawa is about $170, for the medical, blood work and xray.

 

[muxlow]

Thank you much. I believe doing the medical exam inside canada will probably be less stressful for me... I am very nervous about going through customs though. I had a bad run in last time with them... Does anyone have an idea about how I can handle the situation with them?

Should I say I am visiting my boyfriend? And for how long? I plan on staying six months (which is the limit, no?) but I would rather not tell them that. If I said six weeks is that okay? If I have no returning flight will I get in trouble? I am unsure how to approach without them thinking I am going to illegally stay with my boyfriend in Canada and ... I don't know... do illegal stuff...? Heh.

 

[Baloo]

I don't do illegal either.

You will need a return flight, make sure you can change the flight
Take as much proof as you can, if you need to convince the IO that you are visiting, it is better to have the proof with you.
Don't take masses of stuff, you are visiting, not moving.

Check the CIC site for details on "visiting".

More questions, just ask.

 

[muxlow]

Thank you Is a return flight a 'necessity'? And if I have a return flight and cancel it... do I have to go through extending my 'visa' which costs money ( ? )? And thank you I will check it out now

 

[Wells Dad]

... cost in Ottawa is about $170, for the medical, blood work and xray.

Yikes! It would have been nice to have it done so cheaply...it cost us $400 US in Seattle!

 

[bonbon9]

Thank you Is a return flight a 'necessity'? And if I have a return flight and cancel it... do I have to go through extending my 'visa' which costs money ( ? )? And thank you I will check it out now

Some officers might ask you to show them a returning ticket. I would try to get a refundable one.
Extending your stay will cost you CAD 70, it's not that expensive and it is something you definately want to be careful about. Don't overstay.

EDIT: CAD 75. Sorry.

 

[nylalisa]

Yikes! It would have been nice to have it done so cheaply...it cost us $400 US in Seattle!

My thoughts exactly, about $455 CAD in Greece.

 

[Wells Dad]

We've looked into the cost of extending the visitor visa, it costs $200 CAN.(unless we read it wrong....) My wife is hoping to visit again in March, and hoping to stay until her PR comes through. (We're trying for dual intent.)

A word of warning, based on our experience.....don't overstay! My wife ended up with the 1 year exclusion order due to overstaying. Which may also make it more difficult for her to visit again.

As others have said, it's wise to have proof that you intend to return. Do the return ticket, show ties to your home country. And I'm not sure I would tell them you want to stay six months, as that may cause further scrutiny/ asking for proof of return. (That part is just my opinion...)

We did a lot of visiting back and forth before we got married, and the best thing we found when entering either way was to just say "Visiting a friend", for (pick a time period), and have proof of return. They quite often asked us when (specifically) we were going back, too.

Good luck, hope this is helpful!

 

[Baloo]

Thank you Is a return flight a 'necessity'? And if I have a return flight and cancel it... do I have to go through extending my 'visa' which costs money ( ? )? And thank you I will check it out now

This process will not be inexpensive - $75 to extend a stay is in most cases far cheaper than leaving the country and trying to return.
A return flight is not mandatory, but it is a good way (not the only way) to show your intent to leave.

 

[Baloo]

We've looked into the cost of extending the visitor visa, it costs $200 CAN.(unless we read it wrong....) My wife is hoping to visit again in March, and hoping to stay until her PR comes through. (We're trying for dual intent.)

A word of warning, based on our experience.....don't overstay! My wife ended up with the 1 year exclusion order due to overstaying. Which may also make it more difficult for her to visit again.

As others have said, it's wise to have proof that you intend to return. Do the return ticket, show ties to your home country. And I'm not sure I would tell them you want to stay six months, as that may cause further scrutiny/ asking for proof of return. (That part is just my opinion...)

We did a lot of visiting back and forth before we got married, and the best thing we found when entering either way was to just say "Visiting a friend", for (pick a time period), and have proof of return. They quite often asked us when (specifically) we were going back, too.

Good luck, hope this is helpful!

IMO very good advice.

Wells Dad - I would point out that you don't "try" for dual intent, it just "is" - it just means you can have two reasons 1) Visiting Canada and 2) applying for PR :

An intention by a foreign national to become a permanent resident does not preclude them from becoming a temporary resident if the officer is satisfied that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay

From OP11, see section 5.4
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op11-eng.pdf

 

[muxlow]

Thank you much for your help. I have read the visiting information on the canada website, but am still confused on one little thing... whatever the length of time I have until my returning flight (let's say 6 weeks... only because I DID visit for six weeks last time), if I extend my FLIGHT itself for another x amount of weeks (because the stay can be up to 6 months, no?) do I apply for extending my 'stay/visa in canada' the 30 days before my flight leaves or 30 days before I stay six months (if I were to stay that long).

Furthermore I took an online assessment and went through the different options they had to see if I was eligible for extension. There was an option where they stamped my passport with a date, and an option where they left it blank. When I visited before, I received no stamp the first time. This means, I am assuming, that I could have stayed 6 months (??) before I was over-staying. Please correct me if I am wrong. Half way through my visit we drove to seattle and then back through the border. I received a stamp with a date for the day I went back into canada. Under the stamp he wrote another date, which was my return flight that he asked about. The date on the stamp I assume is when I came in, but if there is a date underneath... if I stay past that am I... expired? And if so, 30 days before this date, do I have to apply for extension?

Sorry for all the questions. I don't want to fly all the way down to Vancouver and get denied. I cannot imagine what would happen next. 0.o

One last thing... is two months a stay that will get you further questions by customs or should I book a refundable return flight six weeks as I did last time?

Thank you all so very much.