loveacross

Hi,

We've been frequent readers of this list for quite some time. Our situation has been changing so rapidly over the past month! And thus have a few questions we hope someone can help us with.....

Let me give a short summery of our situation in hopes that
someone has advice or experiances to share. My fiance(e) (Who's a
Canadian citizen) and myself (An American citizen) want to be
together in Canada. Dawn and I have been together since late August this year. And acually cohabitating here in B.C since September.

My first question is about extending my visitor stay visa. In late Feburary 2003 my 6 month visitor stay would have expired.
Dawn is an ESL teacher and wants to travel to England in early March
to become even more certified in what she does (And her mum is in
England). However we want to have things sorted out so I have the option of either staying here for a few weeks and wait for her to return to Canada. Or traveling with her to Europe and then being able to return with her to Canada (Including going through customs without much hassle). Please can anyone tell me if there is anyway either of these two options might be viable? I'm really quite in the dark here :-(. If we aren't married is there any basis by which I can still have my visitor stay extended? Mind you, there is a chance we might be married in January in Febuary. We both do love each other very much. We're just trying not to rush things at all. Will Immigration Canada renew my visitor stay on the basis that we plan to be married in the future?

Cheers for any considerations to these questions. And best wishes to
all,

Shaun&Dawn
[email protected]

Rete

I'm afraid not if you are currently in Canada on a non-paper visa. The non-paper visitor's visa between the US and Canada and Canada and the US is not extendable or renewable. If you have a formal paper visa, you can attempt to ask the CIC for an extension.


You can leave Canada at the end of your six month visit and go to Europe. As long as you have a valid passport and the funds to do so, there is nothing to stop you from visiting England or other parts of Europe that participate in the VWP. As for staying in Canada while she is gone that depends on your willingness to overstay the current visitor's visa you are on.

Canada, like the US, has immigration procedures in place for migration based on marriage to one of its citizens. Canada no longer has a fiancee visa. I understand it was recently done away with as was the Minister's Permit. My suggestion is for you to ask your questions regarding migration to Canada of Canadian immigration forum here on british expats. There are several knowledgable people there and two attorneys who give wonderful free advice to people.

Rita