Six Month Stay

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: Six Month Stay
  I have previously posted my situation, which was....

..."I am a British Citizen and my son has sponsored me to move to Canada. As I have no other family in the UK I have been living with him in Canada for a while.

As a British Citizen I do not need a visitor visa to enter Canada provided my stay is less than six months. I initially came here in December 2006, then I returned to the UK to stay with friends for three weeks in May 2007, ie before the six months were up. I have been back in Canada since May 2007 and my six months will be coming up again in October 2007.

My question is, can I cross the land border and spend a night or two in the USA and will this then be counted as an end to my stay in Canada, ie before the six months are up? Then can I return to Canada, across the land border, for a further six month period?

Will an overnight stay in the USA suffice as a break in my stay in Canada? Do I need to stay in the USA longer? Will two nights be better?

Any help and guidance would be very much appreciated"....


Thanks for your responses and advice to that.

I would like to follow-up with this topic and have a couple of further questions.

My six months stay was due to be up at the end of October, so recently I went across the land border in to the USA for the day and re-entered into Canada.

Obviously US Immigration stamped my passport on the way out to USA (September 23). However, when I returned to cross in to Canada the officer at the checkpoint looked at my passport and only asked me how long I intended to stay. I replied I wasn´t sure but it would be a few weeks at least and no stamps were endorsed in my passport.

Can anyone advise on how long I have to stay in Canada now? There is no record on my passport of when I re-entered Canada after September 23.

What if the next time I fly out to the UK I fly from Seattle? That why it is unlikely a Canadian Official will see my passport before I leave and I can leave whenever I like?

I was thinking I would have at least a further nine months to stay here. This is based on the fact that I have three months Visa Waiver for the US. So I can say I stayed in the US for about three months, came into Canada, where my passort wasn´t endorsed and thus have six months further to stay here from around the end of the Visa waiver period?

I know this is a little confusing. Even I am confused after my passport wasn´t endorsed on my return to Canada, but any help from you guys would be agreat help.


[29-09-2007,06:30]
[**.71.238.175]
jjuk
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
I don´t think there´s any restriction on re-entering Canada for a second 6-month visit stay, if you leave and then return the next day. Officially you would have departed and satisfied the 6-month rule, and can then be re-admitted at the time you choose to return.

However, this is all up to the Canadian immigration officer at the border and how this is interpreted. You may be asked when was the last time you left Canada and why you´re returning so soon, or not asked about this at all. But you will be asked the purpose for visiting Canada and how long you intend to stay.

Passport holders from visa-free countries to Canada cross the border back and forth all the time for reasons such as shopping, sight-seeing, etc. So I don´t think this would be a problem, but both Canadian and U.S. immigration in these times are very sensitive to all reasons for crossing the U.S./Canadian border.

You can also call Canadian border immigration and ask them this question:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/contact/menu-eng.html

[29-09-2007,14:42]
[**.47.168.204]
Richard
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
Thanks for you reply. You´ve answered the question that I have posted before. I had a follow-up later on in the message above...

My six months stay was due to be up at the end of October, so recently I went across the land border in to the USA for the day and re-entered into Canada.

Obviously US Immigration stamped my passport on the way out to USA (September 23). However, when I returned to cross in to Canada the officer at the checkpoint looked at my passport and only asked me how long I intended to stay. I replied I wasn?t sure but it would be a few weeks at least and no stamps were endorsed in my passport.

Can anyone advise on how long I have to stay in Canada now? There is no record on my passport of when I re-entered Canada after September 23.

What if the next time I fly out to the UK I fly from Seattle? That why it is unlikely a Canadian Official will see my passport before I leave and I can leave whenever I like?

I was thinking I would have at least a further nine months to stay here. This is based on the fact that I have three months Visa Waiver for the US. So I can say I stayed in the US for about three months, came into Canada, where my passort wasn?t endorsed and thus have six months further to stay here from around the end of the Visa waiver period?

I know this is a little confusing. Even I am confused after my passport wasn?t endorsed on my return to Canada, but any help from you guys would be agreat help.

[29-09-2007,15:54]
[**.71.238.175]
jjuk
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
I guess because the way you describe your situation is a little confusing.

Since you re-entered Canada a second time, obviously you can stay 6 months again. If you fly back to the UK from Seattle, you will have left Canada again for the U.S. and completed another visit.

You can´t add 3 months left over from a previous Canadian visit to the next visit to make 9 months stay in Canada next time. It´s 6 months at a time - period. And any stay in the U.S. is irrelevant to Canada visit rules.

But if you mean staying in the U.S. for 3 months, then Canada next for 6 months, totaling 9 months in both countries in that combination, then that should not be a problem.




[29-09-2007,16:17]
[**.47.168.204]
Richard
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
Thanks for your response.

I did mean the latter.

Is the fact that my passport was not endorsed with an entry stamp on my return to Canada important here?

How would the six months be calculated then?

I was trying to say that the next time I want to go to the UK, if I fly from Seattle there is no record of how long I spent in Canada on this current stay in my passport.

[29-09-2007,16:42]
[**.71.238.175]
jjuk
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
Since passports are not always endorsed (stamped) for holders from visa-free countries (especially the U.S.), the 6 month rule is really on the honor system. Six months should be calculated and honored from the day you were admitted to Canada as a visitor. And although there may not be a record of arrival or departure to/from Canada in your passport, there are other ways this information may be retained.

Also you may want to note that U.S. and Canadian immigration and entry rules are completely separate and not connected in any way.


[29-09-2007,17:06]
[**.47.168.204]
Richard
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
So basically, I left Canada on September 23 and re-entered late on the same day.

Based on this, I have six months to stay in Canada, ie upto March 23, 2008, eventhough there is no stamp in my passport?

[29-09-2007,19:10]
[**.71.238.175]
jjuk
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
Technically, reentering the same day like this and staying another 6 months is probably going to work.

However, the visitor rule is intended for short, one-time stays in Canada. Repeated reentering like this is violating the intent of this rule, and you may be advised by immigration to apply for a longer term visa or permit, if questioned.

[29-09-2007,19:24]
[**.47.168.204]
Richard
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
I agree with Richard.

Though I have one more question for jjuk. Just like you I don´t need a visa to visit US or Canada but everytime I enter Canada they put a stamp on my passport so I don´t understand how come they did not stamp yours.

That is weird.

[29-09-2007,23:34]
[**.56.54.87]
CBV333
(in reply to: Six Month Stay)
Hi CBV333,

I know what you mean. Everytime I have ever come into Canada by air (three times) my passport has always been stamped.

But this time I crossed the land border, maybe they have a different policy due to the long line-ups of not stamping passports on the land border all of the time.

[30-09-2007,00:43]
[**.71.238.175]
jjuk
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