Strange I94 record - Canadian visiting USA

[wowcheesestick 2]

I am under the impression that the longest any Canadian can stay in the USA (tourist) for any given calendar year is 6 months.

 

My friend arrived in Aug, so we planned a departure date some time in Feb.

 

However, when we left the USA this month (November) to go to Japan and then returned, the I94 record showed a renewed  date, which is May 2018. This date is longer than the original 6 month duration.

 

Does this mean my friend can stay longer now?  pLease advise!

[GreatDane 366]

15 minutes ago, wowcheesestick said:

I am under the impression that the longest any Canadian can stay in the USA (tourist) for any given calendar year is 6 months.

 

My friend arrived in Aug, so we planned a departure date some time in Feb.

 

However, when we left the USA this month (November) to go to Japan and then returned, the I94 record showed a renewed  date, which is May 2018. This date is longer than the original 6 month duration.

 

Does this mean my friend can stay longer now?  pLease advise!

No - he still needs to stay in the US no longer than six months of any 12 month period. You don't get a six month extension for leaving the country and coming back in - then no one would get a visa. They'd just leave for two weeks and come back.

[wowcheesestick 2]

then why does the I94 system post the wrong date? Are you a lawyer ?

[Lemonslice 4,953]

It's different for Canadians - check in with CBP to confirm - do not rely on strangers on the Internet, go to the source. 

 

Let your friend know to check the IRS rules - might have to file taxes for 2017 (look up substantial presence test).

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by Lemonslice

[Ontarkie 14,406]

There is no hard and fast rule about it being 6 months a year or 6 months in a row. If your friend got stamped for longer then yes he can stay till that day. 

 

Oh and your friend needs to make sure being gone that long he doesn't lose his Canadian health care. Their is a requirement of not being gone too long for that too.  

Edited November 28, 2017 by Ontarkie

[acidrain 325]

When I researched this topic it fascinated me. The truth is you could technically spend 182 days, return to Canada and then enter on another B2 for another 182 days. Is it legal to enter? Yes. Is it legal to stay? No.

 

Why does your friend have a i-94 if they are Canadian? Are you referring to the stamp in your passport? When I travel they always stamp my passport 6 months from now despite the fact even in my set of circumstances I can only visit for 1-2 weeks.

 

What happened during the POE inspection process? Did your friend disclose how long she intended to stay in the US?

Edited November 28, 2017 by acidrain

[wowcheesestick 2]

12 minutes ago, acidrain said:

When I researched this topic it fascinated me. The truth is you could technically spend 182 days, return to Canada and then enter on another B2 for another 182 days. Is it legal to enter? Yes. Is it legal to stay? No.

 

Why does your friend have a i-94 if they are Canadian? Are you referring to the stamp in your passport? When I travel they always stamp my passport 6 months from now despite the fact even in my set of circumstances I can only visit for 1-2 weeks.

 

Your friend would have to get permission from a customs official to spend another 182 days in the US. Of course any border official would not agree to this based on the fact they do not have legal status. To spend more than 50% of your time in another country makes a person a resident. They have records of all ports of entry and will know upon inspection how long your friend stayed. They also have records of any flight manifests in and out of the US.

 

This leads to the next and obvious question a border official would ask. What are your friends ties back to Canada? If there is any chance they feel your friend would overstay or live illegally they will deny entry. Staying half a year and if they are in a relationship with a US citizen will make it difficult to cross. I would expect your friend to face a lot of questions if they disclose they want to spend half a year in the US (what do they do for work, where do they live, etc) unless they are a regular snowbird.

Thank you so much for your reply. I just got reply from the CBP, they said my friend can stay till whatever the I94 states. Which is longer than 6 month (cumulative, not one time). I also tried to look up the exact law that prohibits staying longer than 182 days and I could not find any except the big media outlets stating so. 

 

I found a place that said the 182 days rule isnt true. which I incline to believe. (A lawyer)

 

https://www.visaplace.com/blog-immigration-law/overstay-in-the-us/long-canadian-stay-us-2/

 

 

In addition, I94 is publicly accessible online here and that is where I found the date for my friend (they did not give her a class/until date on the stamp)

 

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

 

I really appreciate your comments as it is extremely useful. 

 

You seem to understand the topic fairly well, can you point me to the law that says its illegal to stay? thanks

Edited November 28, 2017 by wowcheesestick

[acidrain 325]

Sorry I had edited my post because upon re-reading it I realized I didn't understand your set of circumstances. I greatly apologize as I didn't realize your friend left, then came back. For some reason I thought your friend stayed 6 months and was trying to stay another 6 months. I understand now what you are saying.

 

I was told several times by border officials that spending more time in the US than in Canada can determine residency. I say this as my own set of circumstances being in an immigration proceeding I have to be careful how many days I spend in Canada vs US. If I spend more days in the US than Canada I am told my immigration petition abroad can be terminated. Residency can be a very subjective term because it is where a person's home is. I can't say what your friends set of circumstances are but hopefully they can prove their home base is in Canada.

 

How the border often determines residency is when you hear the term "what are your ties to your country?" So if your friend has a lease or owns a house, a job to go back to or school, bank accounts, car insurance, medical or other appointments, etc this determines whether or not their home is in fact in Canada. If you did what we tried to do and pack up a U-haul, quit your job and try to start a new life in the US without anything to come back to then you are becoming a resident of the US. To live in the US without an immigration visa is illegal. It can be a very slippery slope. Your intent when crossing the border becomes crucial in whether what you are doing is legal.

 

Where a lot of people are surprised to learn is how the US and Canadian governments report information. Now US citizens and Canadian citizens must (as of Nov 2016) use each respective passport when entering each country. My spouse is dual so he must use his Canadian passport entering Canada and his US passport entering the US. Why do they do this? For each country to determine benefits. For instance if anyone spends more than 182 days the IRS or Revenue Canada will assess that as part of a residency claim. There are numerous articles warning snow birds to not spend more than 182 days as suddenly the IRS considers the person a resident and you are required to file US income tax. If you are considered a US resident then you are not considered a Canadian resident for that tax year. As Ontarkie pointed out you no longer qualify for Canadian medical. Since information is documented these agencies do find out. I know it sounds impossible but many people lose benefits because they think nobody will know.

 

It would be a very difficult argument to present to the border the next time your friend crosses they are not residents of the US if they spent 8 out of 12 months there. You do not want what happened to my personally in which I was processed, fingerprinted, photo taken. If the border feels strongly your friend is intending to immigrate or live in the US they will process your friend if they cannot produce significant ties. This would be hard to prove if a person has not resided in Canada for any length of time. I was naive when I thought I could do whatever I wanted and come and go out of the US. I am merely cautioning you as my passport is flagged and I report to secondary every time I cross.

 

I am unsure what your relationship status is but you could always consider AOS (adjustment of status)/90 day fiance visa and that way your friend would be considered legal. They would have to apply for advance parole (to leave and re-enter the US) and a work permit that can take anywhere from 3-4 months to process. As soon as the border gets even a whiff of a cross border relationship they become very apprehensive quickly.

Edited November 28, 2017 by acidrain

[geowrian 22,338]

You can spend up to 6 months in any single trip, which should be the maximum duration on the I-94. Do not stay past that date.

 

Multiple extended stays will raise great suspicion of living in the US instead of just visiting, which is not permitted with B-1/B-2 status. It's not illegal to visit for over 6 months in a year, but expect heavy scrutiny the next time unless there is a sufficient gap of a time until the next visit. The general rule of thumb is to spend more time outside the US than in it, with twice as long outside of it than in it being preferred. As noted above, there are consequences for staying over half the year within the US (i.e. taxes, access to Canadian healthcare, etc.).

Frequent extended stays also raises concerns of how you are supporting yourself while you visit for so long, with the risk being that you may be accused of unauthorized work at the next visit.

 

Entry on any non-immigrant status (barring dual-intent visas like a K-1 or H-1B or similar) with the intent to stay in the US is illegal. You must leave before your legal status expires, and you cannot enter with intent to adjust status.

 

tldr: Your first can stay until his I-94 expires. If he remains for the full 6 months on this visit, he faces a considerable risk (IMO) of being denied entry for another visit within 6-12 months afterwards.

Edited November 28, 2017 by geowrian

[Boiler 45,939]

The maximum allowed admission would be one year on a B, I assume Canadians are similar.

 

Could be one day or not al all.

 

If you leave then that admission is finished and any new entry is just that a new application.

 

There are of course tax implications if visiting for long periods, see IRS Substantive Presence test. 

[jle2234 68]

I spent a lot of time in the U.S. before immigrating, and before even beginning the immigration proceedings. The longest single stay I had was 3-4 months. While I have never counted, I'd say it's possible that I neared or exceeded staying 6 months in a single year. It honestly never came up. I never had any trouble crossing POE -- no refusals or withdrawn applications. I also had no issues with my immigration.

 

It is important to note that, for future crossings in to the U.S., having spent extended periods away from Canada may call in to question the strength of your ties to Canada, making it more difficult to cross POE in the future.

 

I agree with previous advice that you speak to someone at border services who can clarify details for you.

[Boiler 45,939]

6 months in one year is a tax issue.

 

If you want legal advice speak to a Lawyer.

[caliliving 606]

technically you can stay each time you enter 6 months, but many canadians have returned for a week and tried to reenter and got denied entry.  so obviously, leaving for a week and going back in for 6 months multiple times will raise issues.