USA 6 month travel restriction?

[MacDaddy77]

Is there any way to easily get around the 6 month restriction? Can you go to Mexico for a couple of days or fly home for a week then go back? or is it once you enter you only have 6 months for that year?

Thanks, I am looking at buying a place in Arizona and have checked the immigration website and they say you have to apply for either and extension or a green card

[Sliver]

I thought it was six months in a calendar year.

[SportsJunky]

I know a few people that have places in Arizona and they have always stuck to the 6 months on each side of the border. I don't think it is easy to get around it.

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

Is there any way to easily get around the 6 month restriction? Can you go to Mexico for a couple of days or fly home for a week then go back? or is it once you enter you only have 6 months for that year?

Thanks, I am looking at buying a place in Arizona and have checked the immigration website and they say you have to apply for either and extension or a green card

Well.. I know that they are really strict anymore with the whole Green Card/Immigration thing. I am not an US Citizen but I have a Green Card and I have to renew it every 10 years.

Getting a Green Card is a major pain in the butt. You have a lot of applications and to be honest, if you aren't working here or if you're not married to someone here I really doubt you'd get one. The paperwork to renew mine alone was over $400 for the application, and that's not including pictures, the interview and other things that go with it. The process takes forever- it took 6 months for them to even renew mine (I just reapplied after having been here 10 years as a 'resident alien.')

If I leave the US for 1 year or more I have to re-apply. In order to cross the border I have to have a NEXUS card AND my Green Card. The NEXUS card was another big chunk of change, and I had to fly to an International border for an interview for the NEXUS.

If I were you, I wouldn't ask immigration in Arizona- I would ask at the nearest bridge/crossing from where you live in Canada. My Aunt and Uncle from Chatham go to Florida and South Carolina every year for about six months and have always just used their passports.

Good luck!

[nickerjones]

Originally Posted by BigBrodieFan

Well.. I know that they are really strict anymore with the whole Green Card/Immigration thing. I am not an US Citizen but I have a Green Card and I have to renew it every 10 years.

Getting a Green Card is a major pain in the butt. You have a lot of applications and to be honest, if you aren't working here or if you're not married to someone here I really doubt you'd get one. The paperwork to renew mine alone was over $400 for the application, and that's not including pictures, the interview and other things that go with it. The process takes forever- it took 6 months for them to even renew mine (I just reapplied after having been here 10 years as a 'resident alien.')

If I leave the US for 1 year or more I have to re-apply. In order to cross the border I have to have a NEXUS card AND my Green Card. The NEXUS card was another big chunk of change, and I had to fly to an International border for an interview for the NEXUS.

If I were you, I wouldn't ask immigration in Arizona- I would ask at the nearest bridge/crossing from where you live in Canada. My Aunt and Uncle from Chatham go to Florida and South Carolina every year for about six months and have always just used their passports.

Good luck!

My wife has a green card, is from Calgary, and lives here in the states with me and she doesnt have to have a nexus card to get across the border.

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

My wife has a green card, is from Calgary, and lives here in the states with me and she doesnt have to have a nexus card to get across the border.

Does she have a passport? I do not. In 2009 when they made it so that everyone had to have a passport to cross the border, I had no way of getting a Canadian passport, nor an American one so they said a NEXUS card would work only if crossing the border by car. I can't fly with it. I have to have the Green Card and the NEXUS to get past the Detroit border back into the US if I visit my parents.

[Fobulous]

To extend your stay in the USA you would have to apply by filling out I-539.

I have a quite a bit of experience in dealing with USA immigration as I filed for a green card through marriage and have renewed it once already and I can openly tell you that it is the biggest pain in the a$$.

With that being said, if you are prepared to wait and pay a decent amount of cash in filing and administrative fees then apply for the extension.

-FoB.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by BigBrodieFan

Well.. I know that they are really strict anymore with the whole Green Card/Immigration thing. I am not an US Citizen but I have a Green Card and I have to renew it every 10 years.

Getting a Green Card is a major pain in the butt. You have a lot of applications and to be honest, if you aren't working here or if you're not married to someone here I really doubt you'd get one. The paperwork to renew mine alone was over $400 for the application, and that's not including pictures, the interview and other things that go with it. The process takes forever- it took 6 months for them to even renew mine (I just reapplied after having been here 10 years as a 'resident alien.')

If I leave the US for 1 year or more I have to re-apply. In order to cross the border I have to have a NEXUS card AND my Green Card. The NEXUS card was another big chunk of change, and I had to fly to an International border for an interview for the NEXUS.

If I were you, I wouldn't ask immigration in Arizona- I would ask at the nearest bridge/crossing from where you live in Canada. My Aunt and Uncle from Chatham go to Florida and South Carolina every year for about six months and have always just used their passports.

Good luck!

my experience getting the Green card was different. There was no interview, although I had to go to the nearest big city to have my picture taken at their (INS?) office. Total process took about 4 months, but my employer hired a lawyer and paid most (if not all) of the fees. Easy peasy!

as for returning to Canada, just use my Canadian passport - no Nexus card required

edit. I see, you don't have a CDN passport. Why can't you get one?

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

my experience getting the green card was different. There was no interview, although I had to go to the nearest big city to have my picture taken at their (INS?) office. total process took about 4 months, but my employer hired a lawyer and paid most (if not all) of the fees. Easy peasy!

as for returning to Canada, just use my Canadian passport - no Nexus card required

Ok, since it's been mentioned- how do you get a Canadian passport while living in the States? Did you have one before the Green Card?

I can't get one because I've lived in the States too long- I am somewhere in limbo. So I have to get NEXUS I wonder if there is a way around this? I apparently can't get a Canadian Passport without a Canadian address, which is what INS told me.

[amorak]

That is so wrong it hurts. Contact the Canadian Embassy near you. Apply via mail. Its the same as in Canada via mail in the cont USA.

[corporatejay]

There might be tax implications to living in the states for longer than 6 months (something about a sojourner rule).

I am not a tax lawyer and it has been a few years since tax class but I would run it by an accountant as well.

[amorak]

Wait, you let American INS tell you what you needed to get your Canadian Passport?

yikes.

Definitely just download the application online for a new passport (not a renewal). It'll tell you what you need and you can mail it in from anywhere in the continental USA.

[burn_this_city]

Yeah I definitely wouldnt be going off INS for Canadian passport information. You'd have to wonder how do so many overseas "Canadians" get their passports of convenience?

[jolinar of malkshor]

Apply for an extension.

http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.gov/canadians.asp

It is not 6 months out of 1 year. It is 6 consecutive months.

[amorak]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

There might be tax implications to living in the states for longer than 6 months (something about a sojourner rule).

I am not a tax lawyer and it has been a few years since tax class but I would run it by an accountant as well.

I am (the best kind of) accountant, but you'll have to pay me for the details

But seriously, yes, there are significant tax implications and it is (relatively) difficult to remove your Canadian tax obligation unless you cut all primary and secondary ties in Canada.

If you still maintain a home, a bank account, have a club membership here, or even have a wife or kid in Canada, you will likely still be stuck paying Canadian tax on your worldwide income.

[amorak]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Apply for an extension.

http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.gov/canadians.asp

It is not 6 months out of 1 year. It is 6 consecutive months.

CBSA employee!

[jolinar of malkshor]

nm

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by BigBrodieFan

Ok, since it's been mentioned- how do you get a Canadian passport while living in the States? Did you have one before the Green Card?

I can't get one because I've lived in the States too long- I am somewhere in limbo. So I have to get NEXUS I wonder if there is a way around this? I apparently can't get a Canadian Passport without a Canadian address, which is what INS told me.

you can get a CDN passport while living in the USA, no problem

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/form.aspx?lang=eng&region=USA

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Hold on a second. Your original post suggests that you have only been in the US for less than 6 months because you need to leave and you are not sure what to do. But now you are saying that you have been in the US so long that you are in limbo?

Do you have any status in the US other than a visitor status? When did you originally enter the US? When was the last time you left the US? What was your original purpose for entering the US?

That wasn't me- you're mixing posters. Re-read.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by amorak

CBSA employee!

Like all other guesses before, I will neither confirm nor deny any association to CBSA or any other Law Enforcement Agency.