Family and spousal reunification still possible in the United States or Canada during the pandemic
By: Staff
Although the Canadian government has restricted individuals from entering Canada from the United States or elsewhere for non-essential travel starting in March, there have been exceptions to his border closure. Starting in June the Canadian government permitted immediate family members to enter Canada even for non-essential travel – this included siblings, parents, and most commonly, spouses (common law and married).
While this was an encouraging start in reunifying families and spouses, the Canadian government has gone further in recent days and will be announcing an expansion of this list to include individuals in a committed relationship of one year as well as other humanitarian and compassionate cases.
With the land border crossing to the United States closed temporarily as well, many fiances have been separated from each other because they do not fall into the family classification. The major difference between the Canadian and United States border closures however is that the United States did not close the border to air travel. Which means fiancé relations who do not fall into the immediate family classification have been able to enter the United States to marry and then re-enter Canada with their new spouses.
There is still a strict fourteen (14) day quarantine requirement that remains in effect upon re-entering Canada for non-essential travel.
During this time, family and spousal reunification has been made much easier and will become even more so in October but as with anything in this environment the landscape can change based on the health conditions in either country