- Apr 8, 2010
- 14
- 124
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Buffalo
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 12-10-2010
- AOR Received.
- 14-12-2010
- File Transfer...
- 09-11-2010
- Med's Done....
- 29-07-2010
- Interview........
- Waived
- Passport Req..
- 08-07-2011
- VISA ISSUED...
- 07-07-2011
- LANDED..........
- 02-08-2011
I've been roaming these forums on and off for the last few days, ever since I stumbled upon them. I do wish I'd found them a good 3+ years ago, but oh well. Better late than never, right? I've been really taken aback by how informative and helpful some of the members on here have been, and I'm now hoping maybe I could benefit from all the knowledge floating around here as well.
This is probably going to be a very long post, so I thank those of you in advance who have the patience to read it all.
I'm not sure where to begin really. I suppose a little background info will help. I am a US citizen, born in Texas, but raised since the age of 8 in the United Arab Emirates. My father (doctor) landed a steady job there and we ended up staying. 2004-2006, I was attending an American university there, studying Computer Science, when my health suddenly took a turn for the worse. I went from being an honor student, a part-time writing tutor at their writing center, freelance editor and on a sports team, to... not even being able to make it to half of my classes. It turned out I have systemic lupus, like my mother before me, as well as rheumatoid arthritis. Because of how awfully lupus can flare in hot climate (pretty much what killed my mother), and because I could no longer even function normally in university, it became clear that I had to leave.
Unfortunately, I didn't really have a reliable place to go to. Some of my father's distant family is still in Texas, but we're very much estranged. I myself have not been to the States since I was 12 (to visit my grandfather), so it's just as foreign to me as, say, France. My maternal grandfather resides in NY, but we had not been in touch for several years as well. So with my health in the heat worsening, I decided to visit some close friends of mine in Newfoundland until I could figure out my next course of action.
That's where things began to go downhill, I suppose. I'd be the first to admit that I was ill-prepared. I did have savings, but they weren't much. With everything being as last minute as it was, I ended up renting a room in a house shared by one of my friends and the landlady's daughter, paying rent each month and buying groceries with the little money I had on me.
This was June 2006. In July, one of my best friends whom I had known mostly online since 2001 moved from his hometown (also in NL) to where I was living at the time (not the same house, just same town). With us knowing each other for as long and as well as we already did, I guess it was inevitable that we'd fall in love and decide to want to stay together.
However, despite the fact that my lesions had disappeared once I got into cooler climate, my health became more unpredictable. I started suffering from intense chest pain that, at the time, my doctor father suspected to be pericarditis. By early fall, I could no longer walk more than 15 minutes without breathing troubles. The lesions returned and I was constantly and suddenly hit with chest pain, usually rendering me bed-ridden for the short time that it took for it to recede.
My 6 month visitor's pass was to expire in December 2006, but by the end of November I wasn't much better--and of course, broke by then. My then-boyfriend began looking after me--feeding me, letting me stay at his place so he could watch over me, paying my rent. I wasn't in a condition to travel, even if I could have afforded it and come up with a place to stay. I knew visitor's visas could be renewed but couldn't afford to, especially since I was under the impression at the time that I would have had to provide a return ticket as evidence that I would leave once it was up. One more thing I couldn't afford.
So you can guess what happened. I'm ashamed to say that, in our ignorance, and since we knew we wanted to eventually marry anyway, we decided it was better for me to stay here with him until we could figure things out, rather than risk trying to travel the way I was--sick and broke and without a sure place to stay.
Eventually we read on the official CIC website that we could indeed apply even if my status was no longer legal, even if it wasn't the ideal situation. With just my boyfriend working and supporting the both of us, money was... tight. I officially moved in with him June 2007, but we put off officially getting engaged until his family had met me and gotten used to the idea, given our upbringing differences. (He's never left NL and was raised Pentecostal, whereas I was mostly raised in the UAE, as a Muslim, though I'm no longer actively practicing.)
About this time last year, we finally decided to stop waiting around for when we would have the ideal savings for a wedding, since it wasn't going to happen with only one of us working, and officially got engaged. In August 2009, we were married here in NL. At the time, my husband had just been laid off (along with a bunch of others) from his work, and it wasn't until this past November that he started working again.
Things are steadier now. We have our own apartment and he has reliable, steady work hours. We want to stop procrastinating and get this taken care of--the right way. I looked up the CIC website again the other day and found everything looks the same as I remember it, but out of curiosity I ran a general Google search and accidentally happened upon this forum. After reading some threads and realizing the risks involved with applying inland (especially with illegal status) vs. outland, etc., our current thoughts are thus:
We're not comfortable at all with the thought of separating, given the up-and-down nature of my health (currently also being tested for diabetes and hypothyroidism) and the fact that I've been out of work for a good 4 years now and have not once stepped foot into the States in the last 13 years. So us staying together--even if it would delay the process--would be ideal for us.
While I have been using his surname ever since we married for things like doctor visits and such, I haven't gotten around to updating my name in my US Passport (my only photo ID since I can't even drive), so that's first on our agenda. After that though, it sounds like our best course of action might be to find some way to afford to leave Canada so that I will no longer be overstaying, possibly stay near the US border for a few days, then attempt to re-enter? From what I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), customs do not actively monitor when you leave Canada--only when you enter. So I should be able to leave without any hassles, right?
If so, then the next question would be: being a US citizen, could I then re-enter Canada with my Canadian citizen husband and likely be given another 6 month visit pass? To be clear, I do NOT want to go through the hell of overstaying and feeling anxious over it again. The purpose of achieving another legitimate, legal visitor's pass would be so that, once in Canada, we can immediately begin working on the PR application inland. I'm assuming actually telling customs I intend to apply for PR once I'm back in the country would be a bad idea? Or not? Also, it is my understanding that I could either apply for an extension of my visitor's pass at the same time as the PR app, or for an open work permit. However, I am doubtful that with my very limited education and work experience, I'd be eligible for an OWP. (Again, correct me if I'm wrong.) Or for all I know, it might be more straightforward to just try to extend the visitor's status instead? When doing this, do you still need to provide proof that you'll leave when it's expired, or is it implied since you will already have a PR app in process and can't leave the country anyway (due to it being inland)?
These last few years have been extremely trying. Until I found these forums, I had never even considered the possibility that I could leave Canada hassle-free; the UAE checks for your entry visa when you try to exit, and if you don't have one (or have an expired one), you are in for some trouble. So I just assumed it was the same here. I have been very adamant about not working illegally since I read years ago that that could keep me from ever gaining PR status, so having just one of us work has been stressful as well--especially with my doctor visits and medical tests being thrown into the mix. We just want to get this done, and done right. We're also considering, once my passport is updated, finding some way to consult an immigration lawyer... although I do not know how pricey that would be.
Anyway, that's about it I suppose. I apologize for the terribly lengthy post; I don't seem to be very good at being concise. Any suggestions or hints/tips regarding our situation would be most appreciated.
This is probably going to be a very long post, so I thank those of you in advance who have the patience to read it all.
I'm not sure where to begin really. I suppose a little background info will help. I am a US citizen, born in Texas, but raised since the age of 8 in the United Arab Emirates. My father (doctor) landed a steady job there and we ended up staying. 2004-2006, I was attending an American university there, studying Computer Science, when my health suddenly took a turn for the worse. I went from being an honor student, a part-time writing tutor at their writing center, freelance editor and on a sports team, to... not even being able to make it to half of my classes. It turned out I have systemic lupus, like my mother before me, as well as rheumatoid arthritis. Because of how awfully lupus can flare in hot climate (pretty much what killed my mother), and because I could no longer even function normally in university, it became clear that I had to leave.
Unfortunately, I didn't really have a reliable place to go to. Some of my father's distant family is still in Texas, but we're very much estranged. I myself have not been to the States since I was 12 (to visit my grandfather), so it's just as foreign to me as, say, France. My maternal grandfather resides in NY, but we had not been in touch for several years as well. So with my health in the heat worsening, I decided to visit some close friends of mine in Newfoundland until I could figure out my next course of action.
That's where things began to go downhill, I suppose. I'd be the first to admit that I was ill-prepared. I did have savings, but they weren't much. With everything being as last minute as it was, I ended up renting a room in a house shared by one of my friends and the landlady's daughter, paying rent each month and buying groceries with the little money I had on me.
This was June 2006. In July, one of my best friends whom I had known mostly online since 2001 moved from his hometown (also in NL) to where I was living at the time (not the same house, just same town). With us knowing each other for as long and as well as we already did, I guess it was inevitable that we'd fall in love and decide to want to stay together.
However, despite the fact that my lesions had disappeared once I got into cooler climate, my health became more unpredictable. I started suffering from intense chest pain that, at the time, my doctor father suspected to be pericarditis. By early fall, I could no longer walk more than 15 minutes without breathing troubles. The lesions returned and I was constantly and suddenly hit with chest pain, usually rendering me bed-ridden for the short time that it took for it to recede.
My 6 month visitor's pass was to expire in December 2006, but by the end of November I wasn't much better--and of course, broke by then. My then-boyfriend began looking after me--feeding me, letting me stay at his place so he could watch over me, paying my rent. I wasn't in a condition to travel, even if I could have afforded it and come up with a place to stay. I knew visitor's visas could be renewed but couldn't afford to, especially since I was under the impression at the time that I would have had to provide a return ticket as evidence that I would leave once it was up. One more thing I couldn't afford.
So you can guess what happened. I'm ashamed to say that, in our ignorance, and since we knew we wanted to eventually marry anyway, we decided it was better for me to stay here with him until we could figure things out, rather than risk trying to travel the way I was--sick and broke and without a sure place to stay.
Eventually we read on the official CIC website that we could indeed apply even if my status was no longer legal, even if it wasn't the ideal situation. With just my boyfriend working and supporting the both of us, money was... tight. I officially moved in with him June 2007, but we put off officially getting engaged until his family had met me and gotten used to the idea, given our upbringing differences. (He's never left NL and was raised Pentecostal, whereas I was mostly raised in the UAE, as a Muslim, though I'm no longer actively practicing.)
About this time last year, we finally decided to stop waiting around for when we would have the ideal savings for a wedding, since it wasn't going to happen with only one of us working, and officially got engaged. In August 2009, we were married here in NL. At the time, my husband had just been laid off (along with a bunch of others) from his work, and it wasn't until this past November that he started working again.
Things are steadier now. We have our own apartment and he has reliable, steady work hours. We want to stop procrastinating and get this taken care of--the right way. I looked up the CIC website again the other day and found everything looks the same as I remember it, but out of curiosity I ran a general Google search and accidentally happened upon this forum. After reading some threads and realizing the risks involved with applying inland (especially with illegal status) vs. outland, etc., our current thoughts are thus:
We're not comfortable at all with the thought of separating, given the up-and-down nature of my health (currently also being tested for diabetes and hypothyroidism) and the fact that I've been out of work for a good 4 years now and have not once stepped foot into the States in the last 13 years. So us staying together--even if it would delay the process--would be ideal for us.
While I have been using his surname ever since we married for things like doctor visits and such, I haven't gotten around to updating my name in my US Passport (my only photo ID since I can't even drive), so that's first on our agenda. After that though, it sounds like our best course of action might be to find some way to afford to leave Canada so that I will no longer be overstaying, possibly stay near the US border for a few days, then attempt to re-enter? From what I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), customs do not actively monitor when you leave Canada--only when you enter. So I should be able to leave without any hassles, right?
If so, then the next question would be: being a US citizen, could I then re-enter Canada with my Canadian citizen husband and likely be given another 6 month visit pass? To be clear, I do NOT want to go through the hell of overstaying and feeling anxious over it again. The purpose of achieving another legitimate, legal visitor's pass would be so that, once in Canada, we can immediately begin working on the PR application inland. I'm assuming actually telling customs I intend to apply for PR once I'm back in the country would be a bad idea? Or not? Also, it is my understanding that I could either apply for an extension of my visitor's pass at the same time as the PR app, or for an open work permit. However, I am doubtful that with my very limited education and work experience, I'd be eligible for an OWP. (Again, correct me if I'm wrong.) Or for all I know, it might be more straightforward to just try to extend the visitor's status instead? When doing this, do you still need to provide proof that you'll leave when it's expired, or is it implied since you will already have a PR app in process and can't leave the country anyway (due to it being inland)?
These last few years have been extremely trying. Until I found these forums, I had never even considered the possibility that I could leave Canada hassle-free; the UAE checks for your entry visa when you try to exit, and if you don't have one (or have an expired one), you are in for some trouble. So I just assumed it was the same here. I have been very adamant about not working illegally since I read years ago that that could keep me from ever gaining PR status, so having just one of us work has been stressful as well--especially with my doctor visits and medical tests being thrown into the mix. We just want to get this done, and done right. We're also considering, once my passport is updated, finding some way to consult an immigration lawyer... although I do not know how pricey that would be.
Anyway, that's about it I suppose. I apologize for the terribly lengthy post; I don't seem to be very good at being concise. Any suggestions or hints/tips regarding our situation would be most appreciated.
