pitt

Hi

I am looking to move to Canada asap. I have good savings and I can stay there 6 months without working. I just want to spend some time with friends there and get to know better canadian culture.

However, next year I am looking to apply for the working holiday visa. I don't know if it is a problem to live there for 6 months now and then next year apply for the working holiday visa. Will the immigration be ok with this?

Former Lancastrian

Hard to say as that will depend on a number of factors.
Normally a visitor can stay up to 6 months (not guaranteed) without needing written authorization. They will have to provide evidence that they have sufficient funds to support themselves for the duration of their stay and will leave Canada at the end of their stay. As the IEC WHV is basically a lottery limited places then there is no guarantee you would get a place even if applying.
Doing it this way has its risks and nobody can give you a definitive answer.

pitt

Is there any number I can call and ask questions about this?

SchnookoLoly

FL is a CBSA officer, so his word is pretty much gold when it comes to this.

It's going to be up to the immigration officer to decide whether or not to let you in, and decide for how long. No one is going to be able to say for sure what a particular officer will or will not be okay with.

All you can do really is take the guidance that FL has posted above. Bring your proof of funds, have a return ticket, make sure you reiterate that you know you can't work at all, state your intention to apply for IEC in December/January when it reopens, and see what happens.

Former Lancastrian

No because they will give you the same answer I just gave and seeing as I deal with this on a regular basis then even I can't give you a 100% answer as it will be up to the examining officer if you choose to do it that way. They may allow you or they may not.

Shirtback

Listen to FL

I can give you an example of a similar scenario, which may or may not help you( ):

Young relative decides to visit Canada. Reads that visa-exempt passport holders are eligible for 6 month stay. YR buys (non-refundable/non-modifiable) return ticket based on this, arrives at POE & is admitted, without problems, but for 3 months. It wasn't a problem, as the funds he had earmarked for a 6 month stay allowed him to purchase another ticket to leave earlier than he had planned, within the 3 month limit.

Just remember that the tourist/visitor visa *may* be granted for up to 6 months; if you bear in mind that it's a possibility, rather than an entitlement, & have a contingency plan in case you don't get 6 months, then you should be fine.

It has no bearing on a putative future IEC.

S

Vulcanoid

On a tangent - if people are only admitted for 3 months, how is this marked? Handwritten on the stamp?

I ask because last summer, I was on a 3 week vacation, I presented myself at YVR with a smile, passport, vacation plan, bookings for first few days and a car rental, got welcomed in with a stamp in my passport from the day I arrived. There was nothing on it that said 'this person is meant to be gone in 20 days'. Could I theoretically have changed plans & stayed for a full 6 months on that, buying another ticket? (assuming I obeyed all laws, lived off my savings, etc) Or on departure do they match up with the form I filled in on the plane, or what?

Shirtback

Good Gawd, I really can't remember/have no idea. There must have been a stamp/annotation in passport, if I remember the case, & I do, because it was surprising to me.

Understand that cyclically, I have had a semi-steady stream of young relatives, children of friends/relatives, friends of friends & various hangers-on transiting my sofa for a good many years . All of whom expect me to be an immigration/Life in Canada Expert ...

I've seriously reduced sofa availability in the last few years, & I tend to remember the non-standard cases, without checking their passports on arrival (I vet my invitations pre-landing these days ))!!)

S

Siouxie

If there is no date written underneath the stamp then I believe you have 6 months.

Anyone who gets less than 6 months can always apply online or by mail to extend anyway, so it's no big deal.