Americans are Googling how they can move to Canada during a divisive election
- Around election time, nervous Americans tend to start Googling ways they can move to Canada.
- This year is no different, and searches like "Can I move to Canada" started spiking about an hour into the first US presidential debate.
- There are a few ways you can move to Canada if you're a US citizen, and you don't have to become a Canadian citizen to live there.
- You can get a regular visitor visa and stay up to six months, request to extend your stay in Canada as a visitor, or become a permanent resident.
- But it's worth noting that the Canadian border remains closed to the US due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When politics get heated in the US, Americans tend to engage in escapist fantasies of moving north.
It comes as little surprise, then, that Google searches around moving to Canada are seeing a huge increase during one of the most divisive US elections in recent memory.
As The New York Post reported, queries around "move to Canada" saw massive spikes on Google an hour into the shouting match that was the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.
But Americans looking to escape north is nothing new.
The Canadian government's immigration website crashed as the results of the 2016 US presidential election started rolling in. And if you look at Google trends, searches on moving to Canada also spiked in November 2004 during the presidential race between President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry. They also saw some uptick in November 2012 when Gov. Mitt Romney ran against President Barack Obama.
Despite the searches, not many Americans seem to follow through, however.
CNN reports that the number of applicants from the US between January and March increased only by 3.6% from 2016 to 2017, which constitutes only 66 more applications.
If you're dead-set on moving to Canada though, the good news is that yes, it turns out you can generally move to Canada from the US, and you have a few options for doing so.
The bad news, however, is twofold, depending, in part, on what you're looking to get out of the move.
The first, more immediate hurdle is the fact that the Canadian border is closed to the US due to the coronavirus pandemic. And if you're looking to become a Canadian citizen, it's actually pretty darn difficult to do that.
That said, let's look at the other viable options that would allow you to move to Canada during normal circumstances besides citizenship.
Most people can stay in Canada for up to six months with a simple visitor visa, which is also known as a temporary resident visa. However, holders of this visa cannot work or study in Canada.
To stay longer than six months, you can request a visitor record, which will give you a new expiration date by which you need to leave Canada. But getting this document that allows you to stay longer as a visitor, as well as how long you can stay, depends on the purpose of your stay and other variables.
If you're considering a more permanent move, you'll want to apply for permanent resident status. While permanent residents can work, study, and have healthcare in Canada, unlike citizens, they can't vote, run for office, or get certain jobs with high-security clearance.
To expedite the process, you can apply express if you're a skilled worker, through a family sponsorship if you have Canadian relatives, with a start-up visa if you plan on starting a business, or through specific Canadian provinces and territories, among other options.
You can find out if you're eligible to become a permanent resident, as well as which option is best for you, through the Canadian government's immigration website.
Finally, if you have spent at least five years in Canada as a permanent resident — and can prove that you were physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during those five years — you can apply for Canadian citizenship.
Applying for Canadian citizenship will require you to be at least 18 years old, speak English or French, take a basic quiz on Canadian history, values, and institutions, and provide income tax filing, among other things.