CANADIAN OVERSTAYED IN THE U.S?

Hi guys,
My boyfriend a canadian has been here in the u.s since june 25th 09. He was planning to leave by dec 14th 09. But after reading some of the answers here i realized that he would be staying here longer than the 6 months thats allowed.

This year in february he went to seattle for about 5 days
and L.A for about 5 days in april.
He would also drive up to bellingham to visit but wouldn't stay over night.

My questions are what is the penalty for staying longer than 6 months?
Does his visits in bellingham count in the 6 months even if he didn't stay over night?
Could he visit me again after jan 1st?

My boyfriend and I have a long distance relationship so we are trying to be as legal as possible cause we both don't want him to not be able to visit me here in the u.s.

if he leaves before Dec 25th he will not have overstayed. The 6 months is determined PER STAY.

Now, if he does stay more than 183 days in one calendar year, he *could* be considered a tax resident of US and have to report his income to IRS, but it doesn't sound like he's raking in much wages 9at leat not legally),

So, the rule is 6 months PER VISIT, not per year, for border crossing purposes.

He is risking his Provincial healtcare, however, and the border officer could always deny his entry on the basis that he is spending too much time in US.

But, until dec 25, he has no overstay.

Thank you so much for the reply.

Would you mind if I ask you where you got your information from?
It's just that I also saw on another thread that the other visits are included in the 6 months. That it's per year.

We are just really worried that he will get in trouble doing this..
this is the longest he has ever stayed in the u.s.

There are also threads, backed up by a CBP offocer who used to post here that the 6 months is per visit.

In any event, he should be getting back to canada, where he lives.

no one here can determine what US CBP will consider "overstay". Only US CBP can do that when he next tries to visit.

If they determine that your boyfriend is a "defacto" resident, then they can and will deny him entry, and can even ban him from re-entry for a time, if they choose.

I'm guessing he has no ties in Canada, no job, no mortgage etc so the longer he stays in the US the more he will be suspected of trying to stay beyond his allowed time.

could you pls tell me what a defacto is?

when he flew here in san fran he only bought a one way ticket and the officer he got asked him what he was gonna do here and he told them to visit my girlfriend..he never asked how long he was going to stay here or anything.

so when is a legal date he should go back to vancouver, canada?
as much as i would love for him to stay here with me i really don't want to risk his chances of ever being able to come back here.

also, does him crossing the border count as one day even if he doesn't stay over night?

no, he has no legal ties in vancouver, bc he quit his before he came here and he has no rent or mortgage.we are both only 22 years old.. he plans to go back to school when he goes back to vancouver.. this was probably the longest time we can spend with each other so we wanted to make the most of it.

-- Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:59 am --

agnelson, so does that mean if he wanted to go back to vancouver now and go back in 2 months if the officer lets him in he can stay for another 6 months? gosh i would really love for him to able to do that. =(

"defacto" simply means "in fact". So if you "say" you live in canada but you spend all your time in US and have nothing to do in canada, you are "in fact" a US resident despite what you "say".

He needs to spend time in canada. The more times he tries to cross, the more likely he is to (a) be turned back and (b) have his file noted for potential immigrant intent, which would prevent him from future entry. Each entry is judged as a separet entry, but the appearance caused by long entries between short "visits" to canada will appear to no longer be visiting US (and the office woud be correct in this case).

alright so i guess if he goes back this dec. 14th which is our original plan
he will be okay? or would it be safer for him to go back next week?

he doesn't usually stay in the u.s for long periods of time only during the summer.. but he he does visit a few days here and there..

whats weird is that he never gets questioned by american officers when he goes to the u.s but when he goes back to vancouver the canadian officers kinda give him more of a hard time.

Its not the going back that is safe or unsafe -- all the questions the Cdn offficer asks is to determine if he is bringing anything back into canada that he should be taxed on.

It is trying to re-enter US after spending so little time in canada over the past 8-9 months that it it obvious that his ties in Canada make him a risk of overstaying.

Remmebr, its not just overstaying that is bad, it is the risk that one will oversty that will get one turned back at the border.

Its not just being questioned actually they put him aside and went through his stuff in front him then complimented him on how neat he was with his things. LOL

do u know if his visit for a couple of hours in the states would count as a day? cause he lives by the border of bellingham and he would sometimes go to seattle to shop but would be back on the same day.

im sorry for asking so many questions.. this is really the first time we realized that there is a possibility of him getting turned down.. we always just though he could go to the u.s anytime.