Hi i have overstayed in us for almost 10 years (age from 15 to 25) to be honest, i didnt know that i overstayed till age of 23. Now im back to my home country and served military service for two years and want to go canada with legitimate visa this time. I already got fbi background report clean. And considering if i ever mention about overstayed period in us, becasue study permit application doesn’t exactly ask about it, only place i can think of is mention at the letter of explaination. But to be exact, its not really a letter of confession, its your explanation of your study plan in canada. Should i just apply and see how cic responds ? Or just reveal everything on the explanation letter?
Overstay in US applying for study permit
- Thread starter raincity24
- Start date
If you don't mention then it will be misrepresentation and you will have a 5 year ban from entering Canada.
If he is not asked about that, how is that misrepresentation? Misrepresentation is when you give (intentionally or otherwise) false or misleading record/account of events.
OP, how did you leave? Were you ordered to leave (either forcefully or voluntarily)?
Withholding information that would impact assessment is also a misrepresentation. Overstaying for 10 years is nothing minor.
Where is that stated? You cannot be accused of misrepresentation, if you have not provided info to that effect. It's a legal term. I have seen a few people mention this on this forum, but that is simply not true. Not offering info that you are not asked for, cannot be legally termed as misrepresentation. Lawyers would have a field day in court at IRCC's expense if they tried this.
For what it's worth, here's what IRCC has to say about it:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/protect-fraud/document-misrepresentation.html
Definitely not a minor offense, which is why I asked OP if he was ordered to leave. If so, and he answered "No" to that question in the form, then he would have committed misrepresentation.
If it was important to IRCC to ask specifically about overstaying, they would have just asked plainly in the forms. Their forms have some pretty specific questions about criminality, security and immigration related matters.
If he leaves out that information, and IRCC does find out, they can deny him visa, but they can't accuse him of misrepresentation because they never asked him. You can't be accused of lying if you never said anything - that's my point.
You are showing me link related to fraud in the form of documents, look for the definition of misrepresentation for IRCC.
One has to talk about what they have been doing all these years, accounting for the 10 years in USA, what would he have to mention? can he avoid mentioning legal status there? why he left? stamped/marked pages from the passports will have to be presented as well. All of them have to fit together like a puzzle to make sense to VO.
I've looked and not found anything different from what I posted above. Feel free to share a link.
Question 2
Check the box to indicate if you have ever:
- remained beyond the validity of your status, attended school without authorization or worked without authorization in Canada.
- been refused a visa or permit, denied entry or ordered to leave Canada or any other country or territory.
There's a box below where you explain, you can also explain in a separate letter, and upload it to client info section.
It's upto you to declare or not, IRCC shares info with DHS. People have been banned for withholding information that can affect IRCC's outcome.
Misrepresentation
- 40 (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible for misrepresentation
- (a) for directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of this Act;
Thank for this. I still think what constitutes as material fact is relative.
In this particular case, where is the applicant expected to have provided this information? Perhaps in the SOP, but that is not a required document by IRCC, so if he doesn't include that in his application..?
FTR, I'm not advocating that OP should withhold this information - that would be a rather stupid move cos IRCC will eventually find out. If they do, they'll either outrightly reject him, or ask him to provide more information on his time in U.S. If he then still didn't come clean, he can then be guilty of misrepresentation.
I've seen people on here state applicants can be banned for misrepresentation for not mentioning they have extended family in Canada. I find that ridiculous.
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You have to mention family in the imm5645 form, failing to do so isn't misrepresentation? what is misrepresentation? the form asks you how many siblings you have? you say I have 2 siblings, while you have 4 siblings and 2 of them are in Canada, but you don't want to tell IRCC about them. Here you are mispresenting yourself.
You need to understand that one a law is something, and implementation of law is something else. You can get away with withholding or misrepresenting something, but you may also be caught. When caught there are consequences to be faced.
You are absolutely correct - that is misrepresentation cos you willfully withheld info which you were asked to provide. It doesn't matter which country your unmentioned siblings are. The mere fact that you did not mention them is misrepresentation.
That's not what I mean though. In the form, you mention your siblings and provide their addresses, wherever that may be. If you have siblings in Canada, you provide their address. If they are in US, you do the same. It doesn't matter which country they are, if you provide the wrong address/information about them - you are already guilty of misrepresentation.
Lots of people have siblings in Canada, did not mention them in their SOP and got their visas/permits with no hassle. I have siblings in Canada and I listed them in the family info form. But I never referenced them anywhere else - not in my SOP or any other document submitted. There are threads on here saying people will get their visa refused or worse, banned for misrepresentation because they didn't mention their PR-holder relatives in their SOP. Same thing is being said if you don't mention your EE profile in your SOP. This is not true and it just raises the anxiety level of people, even causing them to overshare information in their application that might even be detrimental to them.
While completing the questionnaire for your SP, you will be asked if you have family in Canada. IRCC specifically tells you what they mean by family in this case and it does not include siblings. If they really wanted to know if you have extended family in Canada and if that impacts your application, I believe they would have asked.
I do agree with you re: the letter and the spirit of the Law as this is a universal concept. People will always find wriggle room in the interpretation of the law in a courtroom.
Thanks for the chat.
I totally agree with you. I didn't mention my siblings in Canada and my EE profile in my SOP. I didn't feel I need to talk about them at all in the SOP, SOP is about my plans and what I want to do irrespective of which relative I have in Canada doesn't matter since I am not seeking support from anyone. What if I was not in touch with my siblings and didn't know where they are?