CAN I BE DENIED ENTRY TO CANADA IF I PREVIOUSLY OVERSTAYED ON MY U.S. VISITOR STATUS

[bg13]

I'm hoping there's someone out there that can give me some advice. I'm an American citizen who's currently living in Montreal with my husband. I moved to Montreal in August 2012 and have travelled to the US a few times after that. We got married on July 2014. The last time I came back to Montreal was June of 2013. It is now March 2015 and we're pretty much done with all the paperwork for him to sponsor me and for the open work permit (not sure if that's possible). We already paid for all the application fees but just haven't send in the forms yet. Now we've been told that because I've overstayed on my visitor status here in Canada that my worker permit will not be approve and could also affect the sponsorship application. And that I can't request to extend my visitor status since I have overstayed. Now my questions are:

1. Should I go back to the US and come back maybe 2 days after so that way my status will start again?
2. If I travel by land there's a chance that they may not stamp my passport (it happened to me before), so how can i prove the date of entry?
3. Or I can come back by airplane?
4. What are the changes of me being denied entry to Canada, if I come back? If I get denied will that affect my sponsorship application.
5. How would they know that I spend over a year and half in Canada?
6. A lawyer (i'm not a client) advise me to go back to the US and file my papers from outland.
7. I also have a daughter (4 going on 5) who has to come live with me and go to school here while waiting for the papers to go through.
Any advice will be appreciate.
Also we don't have the kind of money to hire a lawyer, which a reason why it took so long for us to do this.

 

[Ponga]

1. Since the CBSA may already be aware of your overstay, leaving now could be a problem for you (if your plan is to come back right away) because the chances of you being refused re-entry are quite high, IMHO.

6. The lawyer has given you good advice.


If you had legal status in Canada, I would have suggested that you submit an Outland application now (and remain in Canada), but because of the overstay...it would be risky.


Good luck!

 

[Ponga]

Also, regarding your question about the OWP, it's not available to you if you return to the U.S. and/or submit an Outland application.

Even a person without status, that applied Inland, is eligible for the OWP after they reach first stage approval (AIP) but do NOT qualify for the OWP [sooner] through the pilot program that launched Dec 22, 2014.

It's also worth mentioning that the instruction guide for Inland applicants was revised last September (and again earlier this month) and it now states that legal status is required to apply for sponsorship. This is the only place where this language has been changed (previously said that legal status was not a requirement as long as the applicant had an eligible sponsor). Does this really mean that a person that has applied Inland after September 2014 will be denied if they are out of status? Who really knows for sure, but you should look into this further, IMHO.

 

[screech339]

Canada and US now share border crossing information. So if you were to go back to US and return to Canada, CBSA is going to see that you have overstayed in Canada when you try to re-enter Canada from US. The agent will pull up your travel record and see the US entry date and view that as an actual Canada exit date. The agent will then see that you over stayed your prior visit. Now whether the agent will still let you in or not, is still up to agent to decide. That is a chance you have to make yourself.

 

[screech339]

Had you left Canada to another country besides US, then Canada would not know when you actually left Canada.

 

[melgolchuk]

I was in the same situation and I know its a scary place to be :-X. I ended up returning to the states for a couple months, applying outland and crossing by land with my spouse once we had the SA paperwork. They didn't give us a problem at all.

 

[rhcohen2014]

I was in the same situation and I know its a scary place to be :-X. I ended up returning to the states for a couple months, applying outland and crossing by land with my spouse once we had the SA paperwork. They didn't give us a problem at all.

I think this says it all. CBSA will be more suspcious the shorter the time in the US is. they really don't take too kindly to people who are in canada longer than they are in their home country. to be on the safe side, it's best to stay in the US for an extended period of time, submitting the app, then going to the border with proof of ties to the us and proof of your pr application (receipts, copies of app, sponsor approval letter). They want you to know and understand you do not "live" in Canada. unless you have a valid work/study permit or PR approval, you are ONLY allowed to enter as a visitor, and your actions at the border must suggest you know this.

Regardless of what you do, you are FAR better off applying outland than inland as a us citizen. even though ottawa has slowed down, total processing is STILL much shorter than inland. There's a possibility ottawa will speed up again, as it's common for the processing time to go up and down. Also, it's still not proven it "only" takes 4 months to get an OWP, and in my opinion how long it takes to get an OWP is not that much of a jump start for visa exempt applicants who don't have job offers waiting in the wings.

 

[bg13]

Thank you all for the information. So I was thinking about sending the PR and the OWP as it is with me being "out of status". A Rep that's helping told us it shouldn't be a problem even though my visitor status has passed. But since I have to leave in June to go get my daughter, I was thinking that I should stay in the US until July/ or get a OWP (whichever is sooner) and come back with her then. ????

 

[Ponga]

If you submit an Inland application and then leave Canada...you're asking for trouble! I say that, because you hopefully already know that an OWP is ONLY available to you if you submit an Inland application.

Since you are out of status, you can pretty much bet that you will either be refused re-entry, or at the very least be questioned `beyond belief' and then maybe allowed to re-enter Canada.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Thank you all for the information. So I was thinking about sending the PR and the OWP as it is with me being "out of status". A Rep that's helping told us it shouldn't be a problem even though my visitor status has passed. But since I have to leave in June to go get my daughter, I was thinking that I should stay in the US until July/ or get a OWP (whichever is sooner) and come back with her then. ????

in order to submit an inland application AND be eligible for the OWP, you MUST be living in canada. you can not travel to the us for months at a time and expect to not have problems. if you plan to be in the us for anything but short, infrequent trips, then you MUST submit an outland application which means you are not eligible for a work permit.

if your "Representative" is telling you anything different, then run away NOW!

 

[bg13]

So I've discuss these options with my husband and we think that in this case it'll be best for me to move back to the states and do the process from there. Very stressful decision but we'll give it a try. How long does it normally take to get a PR? FYI he lives in Quebec?

 

[Ponga]

Had you left Canada to another country besides US, then Canada would not know when you actually left Canada.

The entry-exit system, to be fully in place by June 30, is a crucial feature of the vaunted Beyond the Border perimeter security pact with the United States. The tracking system involves exchanging entry information collected from people at the land border — so that data on entry to one country would serve as a record of exit from the other.

In addition, Canada plans to collect information on people exiting by air — something the U.S. already does — by requiring airlines to submit passenger manifest data for outbound international flights.

 

[rhcohen2014]

So I've discuss these options with my husband and we think that in this case it'll be best for me to move back to the states and do the process from there. Very stressful decision but we'll give it a try. How long does it normally take to get a PR? FYI he lives in Quebec?

right now, us applicants are getting approved in 6-10 months. keep in mind, you can still be IN canada and apply outland. you do not have to leave canada to submit your application. if you do have to leave, you can travel back and forth often, generally with no issue. the issue comes to play when you are traveling too much in a short amount of time. splitting your time between canada and the us for months at time is no issue at all. and, again, neither is staying in canada as a visitor when your app is processing.

 

[Ponga]

right now, us applicants are getting approved in 6-10 months. keep in mind, you can still be IN canada and apply outland. you do not have to leave canada to submit your application. if you do have to leave, you can travel back and forth often, generally with no issue. the issue comes to play when you are traveling too much in a short amount of time. splitting your time between canada and the us for months at time is no issue at all. and, again, neither is staying in canada as a visitor when your app is processing.

The OP has been in Canada without status for well over 1 year. I doubt that CBSA would allow re-entry.

 

[rhcohen2014]

The OP has been in Canada without status for well over 1 year. I doubt that CBSA would allow re-entry.

honestly, you never know. if she plans to leave anyway, stays there for an extended period if time (ie: NOT try to enter 2 days later as originally posted) and submits a pr application, there's a good chance she won't run into issues at the border (assuming she can prove significant ties to the us). of course, no one can say for sure except for the officer at the border. Obviously it's a risk and one that needs to be carefully considered.