Need help with immigration/visitation laws in the States
January 20, 2011 8:42 PM   Subscribe

I am a Canadian citizen currently residing in Canada. I am in a long-distance relationship with someone who is an American citizen living in the States. What is the best temporary solution without getting any work/student visas for us to be together?

It seems like it will be impossible for me to get a work visa in the States due to my occupation. It is highly unlikely I will get sponsored. He on the other hand, will have an easier time getting a work visa in Canada since he is classified under the "Skilled Worker" section of the Canadian Immigration. As long as he has one year of work experience, he can apply for a work visa easily, but he does not and won't for another 1.5 years. Being apart for a long period of time is pretty painful.

I've come up with a few solutions but not sure of the legal aspects.

1. I can visit the US for as long as I am allowed to be there without applying for a tourist visa. That gives me 90 days. I was curious as to how many times I can keep going back for 90 days within a year. For example, if I stay in the states from January to March, stay in Canada for a month, then return to the states from May to August, will the immigration department eventually catch on and deny me entry?

2. I can apply for a tourist visa that will extend my stay for up to 6 months. I am also curious as to how long after the 6 months can I reapply for the visa again?

Ideally, I just want to be able to stay in the States somehow (of course returning to Canada a few times) for about a year to be with my boyfriend until he has that one year work experience and can get a work visa in Canada.

I feel like this sounds crazy. Am I crazy?
posted by anonymous to Law & Government (14 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
1. Yes, USCIS officials may catch on and deny you entry
2. USCIS officials may deny you a visitor's visa if it appears you have no ties to Canada forcing you to return (like say a job or a house)

Consider marriage in this situation.
posted by crazycanuck at 9:19 PM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


My (layman's, non-expert) understanding is that you may be in the USA for a maximum of 6 months less a day in any 12 month period, regardless of which visa(s) you get -- and note that that's any 12 month period, not any calendar year. You don't get a reset on the 1st of January that would allow you to visit for a whole year just by starting in the middle of one year and continuing to the middle of the next.

If you go to the states and then return to Canada and go back to the states, your time in Canada is still counted against your 6 month-less-a-day total unless you're out of the country for more than 30 days, because they'll consider that part of your larger visit to the USA.

You may find some of your best resources on this type of travel by googling information on 'snowbirds and immigration' or 'snowbirds and visas' and the like, as many of the Canadians who try to spend a significant amount of time in the USA are snowbirds, and they have a lot of this stuff figured out down to the bones of what is and isn't required. The info will generally have an 'old people' slant to it, but the legal stuff will still apply.

Some non-visa issues you'll need to consider are:

-- At what point would you be taxed as a resident of the USA
-- At what point would you lose your Canadian health insurance for lack of residency
-- What kind of health insurance will you get to cover your American visits
posted by jacquilynne at 9:21 PM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]


I can't offer an answer on #2, but option #1 is something a female friend of mine here in Vancouver did for awhile when she dated a guy who lived in Northern California. I believe she successfully did it 3 times, and on her 4th trip into the country they called her on it ... not sure what the penalty was exactly but she was banned from the U.S. for something like 10 or 15 years.
posted by mannequito at 9:57 PM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]


Well, yeah, rereading your question - it will take roughly a year and a half for your man to get enough work experience for a visa, yes? So why not go down there for 6 months, return to Canada for the same amount of time, and do it one more time. By then he should be reasonably close to applying for a visa.
posted by mannequito at 9:59 PM on January 20, 2011


One possibility is to become a student at an American educational institution, maybe get a 2 year degree in something that would advance your career. This is an expensive option, through, since you would need to pay for school and would be restricted from working.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:48 PM on January 20, 2011


USCIS officials may catch on and deny you entry

Catch on to what? What is illegal? Thankfully, the moral majority types have yet to criminalize fornication in the US! Canadians are welcome, nay, ENGOURAGED, to come down and hook up with our citizens, so long as they do it for six months or less, don't work while down here, don't commit crimes, don't study towards any sort of degree, and follow some other basic rules.

USCIS officials may deny you a visitor's visa

Again, as a visa exempt Canadian (EXEMPT, not waiver, EXEMPT meaning, not required to have a visa for entry) one does not need to apply for a visitor visa, not from the State Department, and certainly not from USCIS.

A visa is not permission to enter a country, it is permission to ask for entry. Think of it as a pre-screening. The US and Canada have determined that citizens of either country don't need one to enter as a visitor to the other, so long as those folks don't violate the terms of their entry (6 months or less, NOT working, NOT going to school, etc.). Jacquilynne, is definitely on the right track here with the snowbird forums and I think Mannequito has a plan for you.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 6:57 AM on January 21, 2011


Can you both live near the border, so that you can visit each other more easily, and you will still get the 183 days you MUST be resident in Canada per year? If you are not resident in Canada 183 days (without a good reason -- studying is, working isn't, I have no idea what vacationing counts as), you can lose access to all sorts of helpful things, like health insurance.
posted by jeather at 7:56 AM on January 21, 2011


Catch on to what? What is illegal?

Entry into the United States is at the discretion of the official that you speak to at the point of entry. Typically you are asked a series of questions about where are you going, what are you doing there, and so on. In this case, the poster is staying with her boyfriend for months and doing nothing (no studying, no working). She will then be asked when she will be returning to Canada, and then probably asked if she has an obligation (such as job, family, or house) requiring her to return at that time.

If the official at the point of entry, who has the OP's entry and exit record at hand, thinks at any point that her intent may be to stay in the United States (because what kind of young person stays for months on end without a job without planning to get married or work under the table without the proper papers), then that person can deny her entry. USCIS officials have no obligation to grant entry (or tourist extension, whatever they are called) to people that they believe will behave improperly.

I'm not saying she will be denied entry. I'm saying it's possible. I've been denied entry, my husband and friends as well even though we intended to follow the rules of our stay correctly, just paperwork was out of order or the official at the point of entry thought we had the wrong intent for our stay.

Snowbird forum is interesting- but these people usually have a house and family in Canada tying them there. I am making the assumption that the OP is 20-ish and has none of those, my advice can be disregarded if her ties to Canada are stronger.
posted by crazycanuck at 8:17 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


Entry into the United States is at the discretion of the official that you speak to at the point of entry... officials have no obligation to grant entry (or tourist extension, whatever they are called) to people that they believe will behave improperly.

How is this different than anyone entering the United States from any other nation at any time? Nothing is deemed wrong with a Candian entering under visa exempt status for less than six months so long as they follow the terms of their entry. The OP's entry record (if the CBP officer can/bother's to pull it up and her I-94 has been properly registered in the Arrival/Departure Information System because the OP entered/exited at an air/seaport port of entry) would presumably show that she entered, left before her six months was up, stayed in Canada long enough to maintain her residence and health care, and is now standing in front of him/her to request reentry. If the Officer asks, the OP can say, "I have a boyfriend in California that I'm keen to go see." which is both a legal and legitimate reason for someone to want to come to the US in addition to being the truth. When they ask for how long, the OP can say "a couple of months, presuming it all goes well!"

It is ALWAYS a possibility that any non-US Citizen will be denied entry, ALWAYS. Most of the time however, folks with no issues get through, particularly at the land borders and most particularly visa exempt Canadians. The only paperwork to get in order for the OP's trip is a valid passport.

Incidentally, its Customs and Border Protection (CBP), not Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that grant/deny entry.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 9:34 AM on January 21, 2011


Liz Gilbert and her now-husband (read the book "Committed" by her) tried the "in for 3 months, out for awhile" plan. He got extremely busted, kicked out of America for over a year, and then they were forced to get married.

Honestly, I hate to say it, but.... get married is the only solution to the international problem. Nobody has yet to get around this problem without a marriage certificate that I've heard of.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:54 PM on January 21, 2011


If you go to the states and then return to Canada and go back to the states, your time in Canada is still counted against your 6 month-less-a-day total unless you're out of the country for more than 30 days, because they'll consider that part of your larger visit to the USA.

Doesn't this apply only to people who are admitted to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program (and therefore not Canadians)?

the 183 days you MUST be resident in Canada per year

You remain eligible for OHIP if you are physically present in Ontario for 153 days in any 12-month period.

Honestly, I hate to say it, but.... get married is the only solution to the international problem.

Agreed. Unless you can manage to live together for a year and form a common-law relationship, it will probably be easiest if you get married. If it will take him a year and a half to get the requisite work experience, he will probably not be able to move to Canada before 2014, given processing times.
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 5:59 PM on January 22, 2011


I just recently spoke to a coworker from Texas who married a Canadian and it said the whole marriage process with her moving to Canada took 1.5 years. I don't know if that was bad luck or what, but is marriage really the best solution in that case?
posted by joni. at 6:04 PM on January 22, 2011


he will probably not be able to move to Canada before 2014 under the Federal Skilled Worker program, that is. Being sponsored under the family class is usually faster.
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 5:03 AM on January 23, 2011


Get married if you're serious about one of you emigrating so both of you can be together. In the experience of my situation and those of various friends, it's less paperwork and elapsed time to move to Canada than to the US if neither of you has a strong attachment to either country.
posted by thatdawnperson at 2:45 PM on January 23, 2011


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