moving to Canada legally (LOOOONG... but good info)

[raveracer77 at yahoo.ca (Rave Racer 77)]

Here is the Canadian site:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/

This is the wrong direction but they might have info:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

I've been trying to get my wife down for over a year now.  I've been pretty 
quiet on the list up until lately because she's been visiting for over a 
month.  Catching up.... you know.  Montreal is the main office HQ for the US 
Embassy in Canada and they'll do everything but if you're trying to go to 
Canada you might want to talk to the Canadians instead.  Rules up until the 
last couple of years used to be...  US Citizens are allowed to cross the 
border for visitation for up to 6 months but this was unregulated so if no 
one stamped your passport, no one knew how long you'd been there and you 
could pretty much stay as long as you wanted.  That's how it used to be. 
With the tightening up of the US side of the border (Leaving Canada) the 
Canadian Authorities have decided maybe they'll do the same.

Before I give any advice remember to take it simply as that... Advice.  My 
experiences with immigration have been horrible on both sides of the border 
as a born and raised Dual Citizen (Half Breed) I have seen many horrible 
things that should have never been allowed to happen in the name of so 
called "Security".
Story one should be familiar by now:  The day after my wedding last year I 
tried to cross the border heading south (US border) with new wife in tow.  I 
told the truth, every bit of it and regret it, every bit of it.  I had 
called USCIS 6 months earlier and been given bad information on how to 
cross.  July 23, 2006, the day after my wedding, my wife was finger printed, 
mugshots were taken and her passport red flagged and she was not allowed 
into the country.  I am Military and could not skip out on work to deal with 
a situation that was out of hand.  My anniversary of course is July 22, but 
I don't remember that day as well as the 23rd.
Story two is about my Flight Captain who married a local RN originally from 
Hamilton who was already here on a temp work Visa.  In the attempt to have 
her work Visa transfered over to a Marriage Visa they were going to revoke 
her work Visa.  The Revocation would have been immediate while the new 
Marriage Visa was in the mail.  This close to the Mexico border there are 
Border stations on all the major highways going north and a routine trip to 
El Paso would mean going through one of these.  When my Captain asked what 
they should say at the border guard, the official said to Lie.  He said that 
was unnacceptable and that they were not allowed to revoke her work Visa. 
They made an acception to the rule and allowed her to keep it until the new 
one came.

So now my shadey advice

Unwritten Rule #1: If you don't have anything prepared (Visas or Citizenship 
papers) don't claim any relation and she'll get across without any hassle. 
Before we were married my then girl friend was allowed to come visit me on 
three occasions without any trouble.  Once married she was considered a 
"Flight Risk" and subsequently denied... hence my drinking.

Unwritten Rule #2: Lie, Lie, Lie.... and if you get caught, Lie.  Nobody 
knows the truth about anything at any point and every bit of it is heresay 
at every point of their questioning.  Unless you have drugs on you, and in 
the case of Canada maybe weapons, you're golden.  Just don't push it about 
paying duty taxes on junk.

Unwritten Rule #3: Stick to your story.  They'll question you endlessly and 
get mad when you repeat yourself after they repeat the same question back to 
you 30 times.  Get mad back, they're idiots and are trying to trip you up 
and when it doesn't work, they get frustrated.  If you don't get riled 
easily, it's actually fun to watch.

Good luck and don't mention my real name to anybody at the border... if they 
check you'll be held there and questioned for hours.  I should hope going 
into Canada would be easy.

      Rave Racer
Current:
'91 Jetta GLI 2.0L 16V
'81 Scirocco Mk1 1.8L 8V Digifant 2
'86 Fox
2 GTI parts cars

Gone:
'89 Jetta 1.8L 16V GTX
'87 Audi 4000 Quattro
'72 Triumph GT6

http://spaces.msn.com/raveracer77/photos/
http://www.myspace.com/rave_racer
___________________________________________
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John S. Lagnese" <jlagnese@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 07:50
Subject: OT: moving to Canada legally


> Hi,
> Some friends of mine are moving back to Canada. She has MS and can't 
> afford her medication here so... They  both dual Canadian/ US citizenship 
> so they can move back. Their son can go with some paperwork and money. His 
> girlfriend, who has lived with them for 3 years is a US citizen. Is anyone 
> familiar withthe procedure on how a US citixen can get a visa to go to 
> Canada for a prolonged stay or know where to point me?
> Thanks,
> John
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