Full time tourist

T

tarabrae

New Member
Hi all. My wife and I are Australian citizens, born and raised, and are approaching an age where we can consider early retirement. We will have sufficient income in our retirement that we will be able to travel full time, and are considering a scenario where we sell our home, buy an RV in the US and spend on average 10 months per year travelling in the USA and Canada (i.e. 4 to 6 months in each) with the balance spent visiting Europe, South America, family back home in Australia, or wherever we like the look of.

I know we can (with permission) enter the US for six months on each entry for the duration of a B2 visa, and Canada is not a problem, but I just wanted to get a sense of how this would be viewed by CBP given that we would be genuine tourists (albeit frequent and long staying ones), not seeking work, carrying our own insurance and spending our life savings in their economy. The only perceived negative might be that we won't be maintaining a residence in our home country, but will easily be able to provide evidence of our income from Australia.

Grateful for your thoughts.
 
You might be able to pull it off for a year or two but not beyond that. Canada and the US share all such information. Officers will soon catch onto the fact that you are living in the US/Canada under the pretense of being a visitor.

tarabrae said:
Every year
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Triple Citizen said:
You might be able to pull it off for a year or two but not beyond that. Canada and the US share all such information. Officers will soon catch onto the fact that you are living in the US/Canada under the pretense of being a visitor.
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You seem to think I'm trying to "pull something off". There's no pretence (implying deception) of being a visitor, I would be a genuine tourist going from place to place and visiting different places every year; probably more so than Canadian snowbirds that spend four or five months every year in Florida. I've already confirmed (with an actual CBSA officer who is a personal friend) that there is no problem visiting Canada for up to six months each year. I'm fairly certain that the interest of US authorities in what I'm doing in other countries would be limited to whether I was breaking any of their regulations (which would indicate a likelihood of breaking US regulations), which I would not be.

So there is nothing to "catch on" to as my intentions would be clear. We would always comply with any requirements and depart prior to the expiry of the granted period of stay. Most years we would also spend a period offshore, not for the sake of it but to visit other countries that would be much closer than trying to visit from Australia.

I know that US CBP officers have a lot of discretion when deciding whether to admit someone and for how long, but they must work to some guidelines. Until such time as I can ask a CBP officer myself, one with relevant experience at a land border, I'm trying to gain a sense of what their reaction would be but it appears there are few, if any, that have gone before me with a similar situation.
 
That was not my intention, apologies if it sounded like that. My opinion is that it *may* get trickier as seek re-entry upon re-entry as years go by.
Oddly enough, I am a citizen of both the US and Canada, and yet I would prefer to retire in New Zealand. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side!!!

tarabrae said:
You seem to think I'm trying to "pull something off".
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A 6 month entry on a B2 visa is not a guaranteed one. If you stay close to the 180 day maximum allowed once or twice, you're likely to be allowed shorter stays on subsequent visits. Living in the US on a B2 can lead also lead to denial of entry on future attempts. And crossing into Canada does not reset the 180 day clock if you want back in the US on a B2 visa.

Just an average joe's thoughts...
 
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