carrin

Hi

My boyfriend is thinking of coming to stay with me for a 6 month period. i am in canada and he is in the uk. He is a uk citizen.

What i am after finding out is, he is under the impression that he can travel to canada and stay for upto 6 months without a visa?
If this is the case is there anything he will need to make sure he has before coming over?
I mean i think he would have some kind of interview with immigration before they let him into the country with wanting to stay for so long.

Is there a set amount of money he might have to bring? to prove he can provide for his stay? is there anything else that he might need before arriving.

Any help would be appreciated

iaink

Entry is entirely at the immigration officers discression. 6 months is the max they can allow, and its not unusual as long as he can prove he has funds and perhaps a return ticket, but your relationship might complicate the issue as it could give the IO reason to believe he is at risk of overstaying at the end of his time.

No guarantees I guess is what Im saying.

carrin

ok, so if he turned up and had a return ticket. i dont know if they have a set figure when thinking of funds to prove he can support himself?

he would be staying with me. i believe he cant work for those months he would be here.

Also you mentioned about the relationship. what if during the time here we decided we wanted to get married and apply for permanent residency?

iaink

Far as I know there is no set figure. Often a couple of major credit cards is enough. I suspect its a judgement call by the IO, but who knows...

Correct, working is forbidden.

Marriage/ sponsorship... the usual rules as covered in the wiki, CIC website and elsewhere would apply. Intent to marry on its own doesnt mean anything. Either marriage, or proof of a relationship that meets the other requirements would be needed.

chanceUK

he needs to just be honest with the immigration officer. They only get difficult if they think you are hiding something.

Make sure that he can show that he can fund his trip so that the immigration officer wont suspect that he will try to work illegally. + he must have a return ticket. Also ties to the UK help e.g. he may be asked if he has a job to go back to in the uk, family etc - they will want to be confident that the main purpose of the trip is a temporary visit.

answer any questions about where he will be staying honestly i.e. with you. he doesnt need to tell them anything about possibly getting married, seeking permanent residency unless specifically asked.

most people get asked a number of questions, but very few have any problems what so ever. Lots of people stay in canada for 6 months

Alan2005

Before I became a PR, when I came through immigration they always gave me 6mos and never asked for proof of cash or a return ticket. It was "hello", stamp, "enjoy your stay, goodbye"

victorfoxtrot

Last September I did exactly the same thing, and am currently staying with my Canadian boyfriend. Worst case scenario is that they can get snotty and limit the amount of time you are staying, but that really is worst case. As others have said just be honest (but don't tell his life story), just answer the questions they pose with sufficient information. I was asked who I was staying with and where he lived (so it's useful to memorise the address if you don't already know it), I was then asked if I had a job in the UK, I said no (I'd quit my job to come here - but I didn't say that!). I then said I had funds to support as I am lucky to have savings. I had heard that you need $10,000 CAD per 6 months, but I don't know where I found that out. I actually had bank statements with me to prove it, but they didn't ask to see them, just took my word for it. I think any savings he has it is worth printing off a bank statement just in case. Also a return flight helps too. There is no need to mention anything about possibly getting married and applying for PR. Just keep it simple; he's visiting his girlfriend and that's all there is to it.

R I C H

No, it's not, not in the longer term.

A friend's brother visited his girlfriend several times over the course of 3 years, hoping to stay for 6mths at a time. He was self employed, had funds to support himself and a house in the UK to return to. On the 3rd visit immigration refused him entry to the country. He was told that he would not be permitted any further time in Canada unless they had marriage plans. It was 12 months before he could resolve the situation and make arrangements to get married in Canada.

His parents, who were in the habit of visiting their other children in BC for vacation purposes were told by immigration that multiple medium term (6mth) visits would only be tolerated for 'a certain period of time', after which they'd have to consider shorter visits, risk refusal at point of entry or seek sponsorship to emigrate here.

There are no certainties - immigration have the discretion and power to make whatever decision they deem as appropriate.

rivingtonpike

This is a good point. I was planning that my Mum, who is 64 and lives in France/Spain would visit us for 3 or 4 months each year. Then she'd spend the winter (our winter) with my brother in NZ; a sort of snowbird upside down. I wonder at what point she'd be considered too frequent a visitor?

iaink

By immigration, or by your wife

rivingtonpike

My wife's the only one that can tollerate her for more than a day. They have the same hair style, taste in clothes, broomsticks....

victorfoxtrot

that maybe true in the long term based on multiple long term stays, but from the original message it sounds very much as if this is the first time that he will be visiting for an intended 6 month period, hence the questions. In my experience and others it seems, he is unlikely to get too hard a time on his first attempt at staying for 6 months, but take your point that further down the road it could cause issues.

carrin

We are definitely planning for this to be the one and only 6 month visit. I think I have read that we can start the process for PR while he's here and then apply for his stay to be extended until it comes through.. is that true? Are there difficulties associated with that extension?

victorfoxtrot

Yes you can start PR whilst he is here ,but first you have to check you qualify, and as common law partners you have to have lived together for a minimum of 1 year. Perhaps someone else can clarify whether or not you still have to be living together for a year when you apply - for example I don't know whether let's say you lived together in the UK for a period of time, maybe 2 years, but since then you have returned to Canada, he remains in the UK - I don't know whether that absence means you have to start again?

I'm in that boat. Came here at the end of July, took a trip home for 3 weeks in Sept, and have been here ever since. Our year will be up by the end of July and then we can submit. As for a visa extension, I can't give you any advice (I'm about to submit mine later this month), although the advice I have been given is provide as little info as possible. Say that you want to stay to 'explore the relationship' but don't say that you want to stay to gain enough time living together to qualify to apply for PR. You also have to supply evidence of financial support and again satisfy immigration that you will leave at the end. Luckily we're heading back to the UK for a holiday at the end of July as we have a wedding, so I can at least provide details of my return ticket. There are plenty of people on this site that have doen the same, and I think that it is unlikely that he will have a problem since it will be his first time. Obviously anything with immigration is not without risk, you can never predict, but if you want to be together then you have no option but to do it this way (that's what I told one immigration officer and she smiled!), so go for it. Good luck.

carrin

Would the having to live together for 12 months first apply if we got married instead of going the common law sponsorship route?