Extending my visitor visa

[KG]

Hi there,

I hope you can help me. I am looking to extend my visitor visa and was wondering how long I can request an extension for. I came out to Toronto in September 2014 with my fianc? who is on a two year working holiday visa. I have already applied to extend my visitor visa once and this runs out September 30th 2015. I have a return ticket back to the UK booked for September 30th and I will want to return home to see family and friends but ideally I would like to be able to come back and stay in Toronto with my fianc?. (I will be returning back to the UK for visits during my time in Toronto) I wanted to avoid having to reapply to extend my visitor visa every six months and wondered how long I would be able to request an extension for. My fianc?'s working holiday visa runs out September 2016. Do you think I would be able to request an extension for longer than six months.

If you could help me that would be great.
Thanks so much
Katie

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Katie,
You should be able to extend your visit till 2016, though it may involve you leaving and re-entering Canada.
However, it's also possible that you might be eligible for an open work permit from now until your fiance's woroking holiday visa expires, depending on what he does for work and some other things.
Unfortunately I am not the one to ask about this as I'm just the webmaster.
However, one of our consultants came to Canada himself through IEC and would be a great person to talk to about it.

Riley

 

[KG]

Thanks so much for coming back to me. I am happy to leave and re-enter canada as I still want to go back to the UK during the time my fianc? is here to see family. I have applied for an open work permit but this was rejected. My fiance is an art director but is freelancing at the moment. I think once he has a permanent job my open work permit may be granted.

If I apply for an extension until 2016 and it's rejected will I have to reapply to stay for another six months (after my second visitor visa expires on September 30th?) or will I have to return to the UK?

Also do you know how long you have to be out of Canada before you can come back again?

Thanks again for your help
Katie

 

[Riley Haas]

I am assuming the work permit was rejected because of your fiance's freelance job, though that's just a gues. Yeah, if he gets permanent it might be a good time to reapply.

Since you are a UK citizen, are you actually applying for a visa? Normally you don't need one. Are we talkinga about visas or entry stamps?

Technically you can leave and re-enter immediately, provided you a) don't need a visitor visa or b) have a multiple entry visa but the CBSA officer can allow you entry for whatever time they see fit: a week, a month, 6 months. If you leave and re-enter on the same time, it's conceivable they would give you a very short entry stamp. If you go back to the UK for a couple weeks, it's liable to be a lot longer.

 

[KG]

Hi,

It's wasn't clear the reason why my open work permit was rejected, they said it could have been down to a number of reasons but I have a feeling it's because my fianc? doesn't have a permanent job at the moment. Once he secures a permanent job I will reapply for an open work permit.

I am not applying for a visa, just an extension to stay in the country as a visitor as I have been here over six months. I applied before I was due to be back in the UK in March and it was granted, I then applied for another extension to stay longer and that was granted. I just want to be able to extend it for a longer period of time to avoid me having to reapply and pay each time. do you think I have a good chance of getting my visitor visa extended from September 30th 2015 to September 10th 2016 (this is the date my fianc?'s working holiday visa runs out)

Thanks so much again
Katie

 

[Riley Haas]

The only thing I can suggest is sumbmitting a copy of your fiance's working holiday visa and requesting the full extension, next time you apply. Doubt it will work, but you never know.