what do I say to the border guard when applying for PR at airport

[Rockyrockyplus]

evening..

i am going to be entering canada with my wife in two days after our lovely vacation

i am a Canadian citizen, she is from a visa exempt country. she has travelled to see me frequently and on her last visit in sept the border guard started asking her more questions like..

"are you planning on staying in canada or staying in your country of residence?" (she said still deciding which was true)

"when did you get married?"

"what does your husband do for work? what do you do for work?"

"do you have a return ticket?"

then the border guard suggested she save her plane tickets for if we apply for her pr here.. nice enuf to her but seems like they've noticed her lol shes always gotten 6 months everytime however

we have retained a lawyer to file our pr. all the work is done cept for my wifes translated birth certificate which she is bringing.. the lawyer has advised me to be honest and when we approach the border guard say,

"this is my wife, she is visiting me while i submit the application for sponsorship on dec 28th" (we really are sending it that day)

the reason being the more and more questions she is being asked at the airport every time she comes and sees me so if we say shes just visiting, the questions will def. pop up

my wife has all her family back home but nothing else really, she just left her job but could easily find a new one if things didnt pan out. excellent flight history however and she has travelled a lot thru the states as well

i have the receipt for pr printed off, return flight dated 6 months later, medical insurance. shes bringing money and i will provide for her when shes here no problem

the question is.. does it pay to be honest from the get go from anyone with personal experience? id rather get to the point as suggested and then answer questions only when asked. im gonna KISS (keep it simple stupid) but just wanted to get opinions. im sure we will be fine,

thx.

 

[Torablack]

evening..

i am going to be entering canada with my wife in two days after our lovely vacation

i am a Canadian citizen, she is from a visa exempt country. she has travelled to see me frequently and on her last visit in sept the border guard started asking her more questions like..

Being honest will be your best friend. There is already a history of her coming and going. There is no need to lie or rise a suspicion with CBSA. All the best!

 

[Rockyrockyplus]

Being honest will be your best friend. There is already a history of her coming and going. There is no need to lie or rise a suspicion with CBSA. All the best!

thanks. we were gonna be honest from the get go, was unsure if we should say 'just visiting' or 'my wife is visiting while we send off the application for sponsorship on dec 28'

shes flown to canada and left a good 5 times in 2017-2018, along with lots of usa flying

calm, cool, collective, honest is the key it seems.

 

[paint.thinner]

Hey @Rockyrockyplus, your plan sounds good - be honest. But be prepared to answer this question: what are you guys going to do if the Spousal PR application is denied?

 

[Rockyrockyplus]

Hey @Rockyrockyplus, your plan sounds good - be honest. But be prepared to answer this question: what are you guys going to do if the Spousal PR application is denied?

she will immediately fly home and will be residing with her sister while she seeks a job and gets back on our feet. that's our plan b as weve discussed. my wife is bringing 5 thousand cash with her here too

if the border guard knows she is visiting canada while the pr application is ongoing and it takes a year why do most of them want a return flight after 6 months? curious? it doesnt make sense to me.. they must know we are gonna ask for an extension eventually? but on the flip side she will most likely get her work permit in 4-5 months so I guess it doesn't matter

forgot to mention shes applying for a work permit while the pr app is goin through. we have the receipt for that as well. shes extremely educated so im fairly confident about all of this.

regarding her bank account back home, she saved up all her money and is bringing it here. so were not gonna print out bank statements for her. no biggie?

 

[np08]

she will immediately fly home and will be residing with her sister while she seeks a job and gets back on our feet. that's our plan b as weve discussed. my wife is bringing 5 thousand cash with her here too

if the border guard knows she is visiting canada while the pr application is ongoing and it takes a year why do most of them want a return flight after 6 months? curious? it doesnt make sense to me.. they must know we are gonna ask for an extension eventually? but on the flip side she will most likely get her work permit in 4-5 months so I guess it doesn't matter

forgot to mention shes applying for a work permit while the pr app is goin through. we have the receipt for that as well. shes extremely educated so im fairly confident about all of this.

regarding her bank account back home, she saved up all her money and is bringing it here. so were not gonna print out bank statements for her. no biggie?

There's a big misconception as to what the actual job of the CBSA officers is. They don't know your plans and they can't see the future. You saying that you will apply for an extension or an OWP doesn't mean that you a) will and b) will get them.

All the CBSA officer knows is that this person is entering the country as a visitor and that they need to leave a firm impression that they will leave when they have to, which is in 6 months. Again, possible extensions and changes of status in the future have no bearing on the current situation.

This is why you have to convince them that this is just a visit and you will leave when necessary.

shes extremely educated so im fairly confident about all of this.

Her education level has no effect on the chances of getting the work permit (or the PR in the end). Every person that applies for a PR through the family class will get a work permit if they:

a) have actually applied for a family class PR
b) have paid the correct fees ($255, not $155 which is a common mistake)
c) have correctly filled out the form and signed it

That's all that matters. The vast majority of cases where the OWP application is returned (and consequently the implied status lost, leaving the person in Canada out of status) is due to wrong fees.

 

[canuck78]

I'd keep it simple. Would say she is visiting. She has in the past. If they ask more questions than I'd go into the sponsorship and receipt but I wouldn't open up with that. Gets a bit tougher if you are coming back from a vacation together. Did she just spend 3 months in Canada and then you both went on vacation and are returning? Would have been better to prioritize the filing. In general it is always best to just answer the questions you are asked but keep it simple. When it comes to people visiting with plans to file inland you do a bit of a dance. They like to see return flights, luggage for a visitor and that you are trying to follow the rules as a visitor but also assume that you may the file inland.

 

[Rockyrockyplus]

I'd keep it simple. Would say she is visiting. She has in the past. If they ask more questions than I'd go into the sponsorship and receipt but I wouldn't open up with that. Gets a bit tougher if you are coming back from a vacation together. Did she just spend 3 months in Canada and then you both went on vacation and are returning? Would have been better to prioritize the filing. In general it is always best to just answer the questions you are asked but keep it simple. When it comes to people visiting with plans to file inland you do a bit of a dance. They like to see return flights, luggage for a visitor and that you are trying to follow the rules as a visitor but also assume that you may the file inland.

greetings @canuck78

no. she was in canada for two weeks, left (she had to work and has been home for 2 months) and i actually flew down to her country to visit her. should of stated that.

only here for three days. mostly to fly back with my wife for support just incase (and eat delicious food).

K, i can say visiting to them, tho im sure it will go deeper than that as per the conversation they had last time with her.. they were very nice to her but we know we are on their radar lol, my goal is to keep it as simple as possible, trust me there but figured id beat em to the punchline and have it done and over with

any thoughts?

 

[canuck78]

greetings @canuck78

no. she was in canada for two weeks, left (she had to work and has been home for almost 2 months) and i actually flew down to her country to visit her. should of stated that.

only came for a three days. i mostly came down to fly back with my wife for support just incase

Ok, i can say visiting to them, tho im sure it will go deeper than that. my goal is to keep it as simple as possible, trust me there.

any thoughts?

Don't get why people need to support their wives if they are well travelled but guess that is my own issue. Crossed some pretty crazy borders when I was a young woman by myself. When crossing any border the advice should always be don't lie but don't be chatty. Your 3 day trip and you both flying back together does pretty much signal that she may be staying but seems like you both have a long history of visiting each other. You're not doing anything illegal.

 

[Rockyrockyplus]

@canuck78

i totally agree with you lol. i said she'd be fine but my wife was pretty insistent that i go with her (happy wife, happy life) so i agreed.

actually, first time here. long story short, we met and got married after a year of being together (we met by accident online and shes the love of my life) but due to my ridiculous work schedule, she flew down to see me instead (7 times now)

she has family although her parents are both disabled and not functioning properly and her sister works in a different city but came to see me for the visit. she has a brother too but he takes care of the parents and they are in a village very far away from her. we are planning on visiting them once PR goes thru (no worries, we consulted with our lawyer bout me not meeting her parents and it is fine).

i feel like my wife made it more complicated by insisting i go down there with her. not much I can do now however

 

[canuck78]

@canuck78

i totally agree with you lol. i said she'd be fine but my wife was pretty insistent that i go with her (happy wife, happy life) so i agreed.

actually, first time here. long story short, we met and got married after a year of being together (we met by accident online and shes the love of my life) but due to my ridiculous work schedule, she flew down to see me instead (7 times now)

she has family although her parents are both disabled and not functioning properly and her sister works in a different city but came to see me for the visit. she has a brother too but he takes care of the parents and they are in a village very far away from her. we are planning on visiting them once PR goes thru (no worries, we consulted with our lawyer bout me not meeting her parents and it is fine).

Best of luck. You have been married a year and have a history of meeting in person so your application shouldn't raise red flags.

 

[Rockyrockyplus]

@canuck78

sorry damn my typing, married for 4 months, together for 16 months.

either or she has an extensive flight history coming to canada (we flew to Paris together too where i proposed) and shes followed the rules every time she has come to canada. she actually hates lying and cannot stand breaking rules, she is one of those types.. im a chef and a bit of a rebel so it works haha

thank you, i believe we will be just fine. not the first couple to fly in together and most certainly not the last lol