Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am from India.I came to canada on business Visa.
I got WX-1 worker visa on 28/09/06( 28th of September 2006) and the Printed Expiry date of VISA is 30/12/2006.My date of Entry to Canada is 8th October 2006.It is single entry Visa.And immigration official during my arrival didn't put any dates on my passport.

But, For Business Reasons,My company is insisting me to stay till March 30th of 2007.And my company management is telling that, you can stay in canada till April 8- 2007.That is exactly 6 months from the date of entry.

I want to know from you regarding following queries.

1. Can I stay in canada, Till April 8th of 2007 without any problem.Is it Legal?

2. Is it possible to extend my Business Visa with in Canada itself.

3.If it can be extendable, Upto how many months and times I can extend.


Thanks in Advance
Manjusv

Hi Manju,

Normally the immigration officer at the port of entry will stamp your passport granting a stay period of 6 months from your date of entry. Only under some exceptional cases the stay period is reduced. However it is strange that your passport had not been stamped.

I could think of only one possibility. You might NOT have gone through the immigration after going through the customs. The first officer you meet at the port of entry will be from customs who would then redirect you to an immigration officer.

I'm not sure about what to do in this case. May be David would be in a position to advice you.

Hope it helps.

--Satish

Thank you sathish.

Sathish,
my pass-port got stamped, but he didn't mentioned any date.

so, what if no dates are mentioned......

Please answer........

Thanks

Manju,

If your passport is stamped it is sure to have the latest exit date mentioned. Normally the immigration office will write it with pen below the stamp, something like "V_______07AP07" which means your status in Canada is Visitor and you can legally stay until 7th April 2007.

The expiry date on your visa has nothing to do with your stay period. You can stay beyond the expiry of your visa provided your passport is stamped with the latest exit date. The expiry date on your visa specifies the date on or before you could (re)enter Canada.

If you do not have this written in your passport, I would recommend to talk to an agent at CIC office. The website address is www.cic.gc.ca.

Hope it helps :)

Cheers,
Satish

Thank You once again sathish.

But, I checked in my Passport , and there is no hand written date specified.
Some of my friends are telling that, if no dates are specified, one can stay upto 6 months from the date of entry.

If you have any info, please share with me.

Thanks
Manju

Manju,

As I told you before, the normal stay period granted is 6 months. But it is not uncommon that it might be less than 6 months. I'm not sure if it is safe to assume 6 months stay when exit date is not mentioned in your passport. I would suggest you to get it clarified from CIC and their contact number can be obtained from the website given below:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/call.html

--Satish

Manju,

I've found the following statement from CIC website and might be useful to you:

"If there is no stamp, a handwritten date or document in your passport, your temporary resident status will expire six months from the day you arrived in Canada."

Thanks a lot sathish.