Saturday, March 2, 2013

How Does The 6-month Rule Work For Canadians Visiting The US?

I understand as a Canadian you can stay up to 6 months without a visa in the US... but does that mean 6 months at one time? 6 months of a year? etc. I just returned home from the US after a 2 month stay. Does that mean I have only 4 months of visting time for the rest of the year?

Best Answer

It is six months per year, so if you have stayed two months you can visit for a total of four more. The intent of the six-month rule is to prevent people from illegally living in the USA (or Canada, for Amercans visiting Canada).

Despite the common belief, there isn't actually a prohibition on being in the USA more than 6 months a year. It's a"rule of thumb" Immigration on both sides of the border use. For example, there are lots of Americans and Canadians who cross the border almost every day, every year and do so without problems. However, they also usually go home at night - so Immigration doesn't care.

Immigration DOES care if you stay months at a time.

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