Hey guys i moved to toronto after the series and have been playing on the euro sites...im still confused about how long I'm actually aloud to stay here without a work/study permit. Does anyone know/understand the law for length of stay, thinking of seeing a lawyer to figure out the best course of action.

appreciate it.

gregy

You've likely already broken the law. It never occurred to you that you could just stay there > 6 months without doing anything at all? This is assuming you did go straight from the WSOP to Canada and have been there ever since.

If you have, it may be a very long time before you're let back into Canada.

This is not true, but may be true if you continue not to do anything about it. Don't tell them you're a professional gambler.

When you talk to them it will help your 'cause if you have evidence that you have strong ties to the USA and are not going to try to live in Canada.

If Canada kicks you out they don't let you back in to grab your stuff or anything like that so try to have a plan if you go to the border just in case they kick u out. They told me to go across the border to the USA and then to reenter Canada, which I did and they didn't let me back in. Total bull**** move Canada. I ended up getting pretty drunk in a small Washington state town and then going to a different immigration point the next day and they let me in, the guy there was like "you're really not supposed to do this but you seem allright, just don't get into trouble". When they originally didn't let me in I'm like wtf all my stuff is in Canada and they were just like "thats not our problem".

A few years back Canada didn't kick me out but "asked me to leave" because they thought I was trying to live there. It was a huge pain in the ass but eventually things get sorted out. I'm pretty much guaranteed an interrogation whenever I go to Canada now but they let me in.

btw if you file an extension to stay you are automatically granted the extension while they are processing it. If 6 months has not expired yet file that ASAP.

Dudley Dooright references piss them off.

file the extension by paper mail

leave the country and come back

I think Gregy came back during Christmas. Not sure how that effects it.

I'd look into that study permit if i were you

run for prime minister

just make sure to leave in <6 months and come back and it's not a big deal unless canada finds a reason to press it.

that's the cliffnotes to a very extensive and complicated thing ^

how many of these 6 month stays does it take for Canadian authorities to suspect you are living there, typicallly?

Damn I didn't know you could leave after 6 months and come right back...

Sup gregy

You didn't know because you can't. Whether you can get away with it is another question, but you are certainly not allowed to do this and not sure many people want this kind of gamble.

This is completely incorrect. You're allowed 6 months in a 12 month period. Anything more and you risk being permanently barred from entry into the country.

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca...ng=eng#a1_1_16

I know the above link doesn't explicitly say per year, but unless you're granted either an extension or apply for a visa it is 6 per 12. Canada isn't Thailand. You can't do a day trip, stamp your passport and hop back into the country.

I also want to add the Canadian gov't website is insanely easy to navigate and answers basically every question regarding this sort of stuff.

If you're actually following the law and leaving before 6 months has elapsed and not returning until another 6 months has passed then there's nothing to suspect and they generally shouldn't care. There are a lot (I don't know numbers off hand) of people that legitimately do this regularly so its not a unique situation. It's pretty common among asian families from HK for example. Where the parent(s) live and work in HK, but also live in Canada as "tourists". The reason I bring this up is so long as you follow the law the situation itself isn't uncommon and unless you get someone at the border that is an ******* you won't really get hassled.

never leave canada...simple

It all really comes down to the border agents. The law is pretty vague but I have called the border agency 3 times along with talking in person to them a few times about it. If you are an american citizen you can come to canada as a visitor for up to 6 months. You then have to leave the country for 24 hours before you can come back and do another 6 months as a visitor. I know this is contrary to what everyone here thinks but technically this is the law. But the kicker is that they also said once it becomes obvious that you are "living" in canada then you may start to have problems coming and going frequently through the border. I came to canada a month after black friday and since then I have come and gone 5 times. Each time I have come in by airplane and each time I get taken to the back room to be questioned about my plans. The last time I went through the agent said that I am not breaking any laws but that pretty soon I may have a problem being let in because it is obvious I am not visiting anymore. I do have to head to the U.S. in May and there is a chance I don't get let back in if I get unlucky with a border agent who doesn't like me. Bottomline is bring the right paperwork, be respectful and 100% honest with the border agents, don't stay longer than 6 months without leaving, and if you do come back for a second 6 month stay I wouldnt come and go frequently. Also look into the "extend your stay" option on the government website.

how long can you live in Canada as a tourist without owing taxes to Canadian government?

The bolded text is correct.

There's technically nothing illegal about staying for 5.5 months, leaving for a few days, then coming back in for another 5.5 month stay, and repeating that until you die.

HOWEVER, you'll eventually get denied entry. Foreigners have no absolute right to enter the country. The burden of proof is always on the petitioner, and not on the border agents.

LOL, how can you say you are being 100% honest but have a border person say that it might soon be obvious you aren't visiting anymore? If you were honest, they would know you never were just there on vacation but instead living there to work.

Not really sure what your trying to get at. I always tell them how long I plan on staying before leaving. Whether they decide that it crosses the line of visiting or living permanently that's up to them. I own a home in the U.S. and am staying temporarily in Canada. I've never once told a lie to the border agents.

So you don't consider your present situation as living in Canada and occasionally visiting the US? If you are in Canada 300+ days a year and work from Canada, how the hell can you claim you are just visiting and not living there?

It's semantics, and I'm not trying to argue with you, but technically if you were taking >6 months vacation that is allowed in Canada you would in fact be breaking the law because at that point you should actually be filing for paperwork (ie. extension of stay, visa, etc.). If you're staying 6 months, leaving for a week and coming back for another 6 months and so on, you're going to run into trouble if you're actually being honest about what you're doing.

It's obvious this thread has devolved into what can you get away with vs. what is actually legal. If you have filled out absolutely no paperwork and are just travelling on a passport you're allowed 6 months. Staying over 6 months per year without getting the paperwork and working while you're in Canada is very clearly illegal. Staying for 6 months, leaving and then coming back right away results in a situation where laws are being broken 99% of the time. Almost everyone in that situation would be a case of someone illegally trying to obtain/maintain residency in Canada. The reason nothing has happened is that no one has actually had a situation where it's gone beyond a border guard giving you a hard time. If any sort of investigation were carried out I can guarantee you, you would not be told that everything checks out with what people have been doing/suggesting.

FWIW Insidemanpoker is 100% correct with what he has said.

Haha what are you getting so worked up about? I came here to post what I have heard from the border guards, who are the people who allow passage into the country. If I was breaking the law I don't think I would have been let in the last 3 times. People can make their own decision about how they want to go about living/visiting here. But telling everyone that you can only come for 6 months out of a 12 month period is wrong. The border agents told me in person that that is a misconception and not true. If someone wanted to do a 9 month stint in Canada as a visitor they could pull it off with no problems.

Unless you're filing the correct paperwork and getting approved, for someone travelling with just a passport you are only entitled to a 6 month visit. The border guards can say and do whatever they want obviously. A random American without a criminal record is literally of almost no concern at all when it comes to length of stay in Canada. I don't think anyone at all is arguing about that. Obviously a person could very easily stay 9 months in Canada. At 6 months no one shows up at your door and asks you to leave or threatens to throw you in jail.

All of that is irrelevant with respect to the law. If you're staying longer than 6 months, have a long term lease on an apartment, are working, etc. you're no longer visiting Canada and you almost certainly are breaking the law. If you were investigated I can guarantee you that all of that stuff will come up.

I mean all of this conversation is irrelevant. Almost no one will bother to actually go through the proper channels to make their stay legal. And of those people that do, very few of them (that are not students) will actually be allowed to legally obtain residency in Canada. Also, for what it's worth a border guard letting you in doesn't mean **** with respect to the law. When you enter a foreign country, the onus is on you to understand and adhere to their laws. The only thing they currently really care about is drug trafficking. As I mentioned earlier, although it's unlikely it happens, if a problem were to arise out of this it wouldn't be some border guard raking you over the coals. You'd be contacted, then interrogated, and your story would be investigated further. Depending on what happens next any number of things could happen. At the very least you would be flagged, and more than likely asked to leave and potentially not attempt to re-enter the country unless you manage to obtain paperwork allowing it.

This, is an answer coming from a Canadian. Get a friggin' immigration lawyer.

You are an American I presume, so applying to live in Canada isn't that hard. It's not like you are from Uzbekistan (spelling) or some other country that Canada considers sketchy.

Cheers,

S