If upon entry, an officer did not provide you with a date of expiry for your visit, you are allowed to remain and visit for six months.
If you have overstayed and are less than 90 days out of status, you can apply to restore your status.
No, when visiting Canada, you cannot work or study without a permit.
Yes, you can request to extend your stay beyond the maximum implied six months, or the exit date stamped in your passport. You must make a request for a visitor record, if approved, you will receive an independent document and it will include an expiry date for your stay in Canada.
Sponsor your spouse by way of marriage- legally valid civil marriage
Sponsor your partner by way of common-law (same or opposite sex) partnership. As long as you've been living or have lived with your partner for at least 12 consecutive months in a marriage-like relationship.
Sponsorship by way of conjugal relationship:
A conjugal partner is:
- a person who is living outside Canada,
- in a conjugal relationship with the sponsor for at least one year, and
- could not live with the sponsor as a couple because of reasons beyond their control (e.g. immigration barrier, religious reasons or sexual orientation).
When you agree to be a sponsor, you must sign an undertaking, promising to give financial support for the basic needs of your spouse or partner and their dependent children.
Examples of basic needs:
- food, clothing, shelter and other needs for everyday living,
- dental care, eye care and other health needs that aren’t covered by public health services.
- The idea of the undertaking is that you must make sure the people you sponsor won’t need to ask the government for financial help.
- If they receive social assistance, you’ll have to pay back what they received during the time you are legally responsible for them.
- You won’t be able to sponsor anyone else until you’ve repaid the amount.
- The undertaking is for three years and applies to the sponsor from the day the sponsored applicant becomes a permanent resident of Canada.
- The length of the undertaking varies if you are sponsoring a dependent child under 22 years of age. The length of the undertaking is 10 years from the day your dependent child under 22 years of age becomes a permanent resident, or until the child becomes 25 years old, whichever comes first.
Once the sponsored partner receives permanent residence, you are bound by this undertaking even if your relationship dissolves.
Yes, criminal charges can pause the processing of your immigration application until the charges are resolved. To avoid immigration consequences of criminal convictions, receive an immigration opinion before resolving criminal matters, so you are informed and understand the full future impacts of your decision.
- If you applied on or after July 4th, 2022, you’ll be eligible for a stay of up to 5 years at a time.
- If you applied before July 4th, 2022, but entered Canada after July 4th, 2022, you’ll be eligible for a stay of up to 5 years at a time.
- If you applied and entered before July 4th, 2022, the length of stay granted to you by the border services officer when you entered Canada remains the same.
Unfortunately, there is no exact answer to this. An estimated processing time can be found on the website of the relevant immigration office. However, it should be noted that processing times fluctuate depending on various factors including the workload of the particular immigration office and their current processing priorities, the complexity and completeness of the application submitted, and the timeliness of responses to requests for more information.
You can submit applications on your behalf. However, immigration applications can be complex and the information guides/ document checklists available can be vague. Depending on your case, you may need to include evidence or documents that are not mandatory per se but would be required in your case.