6 month visit off and on

[wjone005 1]

Hello world! I am an American living in Buffalo, NY. I've been in a long distance relationship with my girl friend that lives in Montreal for the past 4 years and a half.

We both usually visit each other 1 weekend out of the month, or more, when we use our vacation days from work. But after 4 years we both agreed that there should be a better way of us seeing each other more. She's an accountant and I'm systems administrator with IT. We thought about trying to work in each other's countries. However, employers have to not be able to find not one person that could do the job. Before they can ever consider hiring foreigner. So therefore, she thought about quitting her job and just come down here as tourist for 6 months. But this is the way she wanted to do it. She would by stay in the States for 3 weeks and then go back to Canada for 1 week and just keep repeating this process.

So with that said, would this method work? If she goes back to Canada each month, does that begin a new 6 month duration each time she tries to come back down to the States? Marriage is an absolute last option and we don't want to marry just to be able to get the experience of living with each other.

I'm open to any suggestions that you all may have!

[Jawaree 717]

So dude after 4 yrs do you think you'd make it permanent with her? If not there's no point in her quitting her job

just keep on visiting each other, she can stay here for one 6 mth period out of each yr, the same applies to you

in Canada but I do believe Canada has a common-law visa that would work if marriage is not in the cards.

Yes she can visit once a mth, but most time has to be spent in her own country, it cannot appear as if she is

living in the US or eventually she can be denied entry....Check about a working visa.on either side, Manitoba needs

young couples up there to work adly & help populate the area

[wjone005 1]

So dude after 4 yrs do you think you'd make it permanent with her? If not there's no point in her quitting her job

just keep on visiting each other, she can stay here for one 6 mth period out of each yr, the same applies to you

in Canada but I do believe Canada has a common-law visa that would work if marriage is not in the cards.

Yes she can visit once a mth, but most time has to be spent in her own country, it cannot appear as if she is

living in the US or eventually she can be denied entry....Check about a working visa.on either side, Manitoba needs

young couples up there to work adly & help populate the area

Yea I have intensions of marrying her. But I always been told you really don't get to know a person until you actually live with them. I rather see exactly what I'm getting myself into before I make that life long commitment. So it kinda feels like either you all in or not.

I'll look into working visa for Manitoba. But it's been hard to get someone to sponsor us with a work visa. We even tried Toronto, since Toronto is only an hour and a half from Buffalo. Yet, no employer reached out to give me a visa.

[hopeful 4 XMas 19]

So dude after 4 yrs do you think you'd make it permanent with her? If not there's no point in her quitting her job

just keep on visiting each other, she can stay here for one 6 mth period out of each yr, the same applies to you

in Canada but I do believe Canada has a common-law visa that would work if marriage is not in the cards.

Yes she can visit once a mth, but most time has to be spent in her own country, it cannot appear as if she is

living in the US or eventually she can be denied entry....Check about a working visa.on either side, Manitoba needs

young couples up there to work adly & help populate the area

I am curious about something you said, she can stay here for one 6 mth period out of each yr,

I did not see that anywhere, so the rule is what exactly, one six month period per year or per visit? The way I read it, it stated one six month period per visit.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

First of all, is she Canadian? Because if she is another nationality, jut working in Canada, things are different.... If she is Canadian, you may look into the TN Visa, it is less restrictive than most work visas.

But yes, Canadians can visits fairly freely. But, it is a visit, and if she stays longer than 6 months in any rolling year, she will likely be considered to be living in the USA, which is not allowed. Additionally, this wil raise questions how she can do so without working in the USA illegally.

[wjone005 1]

First of all, is she Canadian? Because if she is another nationality, jut working in Canada, things are different.... If she is Canadian, you may look into the TN Visa, it is less restrictive than most work visas.

But yes, Canadians can visits fairly freely. But, it is a visit, and if she stays longer than 6 months in any rolling year, she will likely be considered to be living in the USA, which is not allowed. Additionally, this wil raise questions how she can do so without working in the USA illegally.

Yes she's a Canadian citizen.

So basically, the only way she can stay down here for a good significant time without any type of conflict, is if either we marry, get a work visa or stay 6 months and leave .

Edited December 16, 2015 by wjone005

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Bingo

[NikLR 13,227]

Also just going to stay in the USA for 6 months and not being a retirement age tends to raise a lot of questions for the CBP. It's possible without a major tie to Canada (ie: a job) she could be denied entry. Each entry is dependent on the CBP officer she talks to.

[wjone005 1]

Also just going to stay in the USA for 6 months and not being a retirement age tends to raise a lot of questions for the CBP. It's possible without a major tie to Canada (ie: a job) she could be denied entry. Each entry is dependent on the CBP officer she talks to.

So that brings it down to either marriage or finding an employer that is willing to go through the long process of hiring someone foreign.

[NikLR 13,227]

Can she take a sabbatical? Can you?

[Boiler 45,525]

Your basic premise about Work Visa's is wrong. But yes you do need an Employer to sponsor you and Canadians have access to the TN which makes life a LOT easier.

[wjone005 1]

Can she take a sabbatical? Can you?

I'll have to ask. But since we are both still considered "entry level" within our occupations, I'm not sure if our jobs would be willing for us to take a sabbatical.

[wjone005 1]

Your basic premise about Work Visa's is wrong. But yes you do need an Employer to sponsor you and Canadians have access to the TN which makes life a LOT easier.

The access to the TN may be easier since she is Canadian, but since we are entry level professionals, most companies can hire someone in their own country that can do the same job right?

[NikLR 13,227]

Both my husband and I wanted to live together before marriage as well but only managed to get in about a month. While Canada allows for common law and conjugal partners, common law requires at least 6 months of cohabitation while conjugal requires you to provide proof you were unable to live together. They don't consider jobs as being a good enough reason.

Married is easier for both directions but fiancée at least works for the US direction. (There is no fiancé visa for Canada.) Have you guys looked into the TN visa?

Also it's possible for her to come and visit for longer than a weekend but just be aware of her ties to Canada. She has to convince the CBP she will be returning to Canada. Like wise you have to convince the CBSA.

Also as per the work visa, you have to convince an employer you're worth the effort. Don't sit around waiting for them to contact you. My mom had to go through the effort for one of her employees and it took a lot of time and money but he really is invaluable to her. He's now a Canadian PR and her business partner.

[Cathi 5,755]

So that brings it down to either marriage or finding an employer that is willing to go through the long process of hiring someone foreign.

It isn't that easy.In order for a US company to hire her on a work visa they have to prove that they cannot find a qualified US citizen to do the job. There are plenty of accountants in the US. US employers cannot just give jobs to foreigners