VWP for Canadians

[LiliBurd 85]

Eh!

This question is more out of curiosity than anything else but I've been seeing many VWP posts stating they have VWP for 90 days. Does this time limit apply to Canadians too? i'm asking because I know of many 'snowbirds' that go down south for more than 6 months and are totally fine to come and go from the USA.

Just curious to find out if this applies to us Canucks!

[Ian H. 207]

Hi,

The VWP is a separate program and Canada isn't part of it, however Canadian citizens don't need a visa to enter the US for tourism and can generally stay up to 6 months. People that stay longer probably had their status extended, but unless I'm missing something, they can't stay past this time unless they apply for an extension.

[Ian H. 207]

Interesting, I also read in the embassy website in Ottawa that Canadians don't need a visa for studying either.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/visit/canada-bermuda.html

[sharda 8]

VWP is not for Canadians as Canadians we have the privileged to travel without a visa with that said when travelling sometimes you are given a stamp B1/B2 which is tourist and valid for 6 month if however you leave before the 6 months and travel again within that same 6 month you don't get another stamp.

[LiliBurd 85]

Oh ok thanks! makes sense now.

[NikLR 13,227]

it's not really 6 months btw, it's 180 days. Be careful about staying outside of your home province for too long as you may lose provincial health benefits.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Also, if you spend more than 180 days in any one tax year in the US, then you will need to file either a US tax return with the IRS or a form that documents you have maintained closer ties with Canada even though you now meet the residency requirement to file a US tax return.

Canadians, when applying at a US border, are considered de-facto B-2 visa visitors although they do not require a pre-authorized visa from the US Consulate. The other visa conditions apply. Canadians are allowed to have up to 6 months long visits in the US at a time, but it will be the border authority that determines on each and every visit for how long any one is actually admitted. It could be substantially less.

The 6 months is not 6 months within a year period so technically a Canadian visitor can return to Canada for a short time and then return for up to another 6 months 'visit'. The trick for this is that you need to be visiting, not 'living' in the US and be able to prove your substantial ties to Canada. You are also expected to spend equal amounts of time outside of the US in between visits as you just spent in the US so while you might have visited for 6 months and technically can visit for another 6 months, US authorities expect you to wait 6 months outside of the US before re-applying to visit the US again. If at any time they suspect you are not indeed a valid visitor but are using this special status as a way to 'live' in the US, you will definitely be denied entry on the request to cross the border into the US. You may also be required to obtain an actual B-2 visa from the Consulate for any future visits to the US as well.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Kathryn41
correcting overly official spell check editor