Carribean Husband Lives in Canada with no Visa

[mkasss]

Hello,
I am looking to sponsor my husband to live in Canada. He is originally from the Carribean. He has been living here for 8 years and also has a daughter here (not with me.) He does not have a visa, and has not had one since he has been here. We have been together about 4 years and have lived together for 2.

My questions are:
- should we look to fill out an inland or Outland application, as he has no visa (even an expired one) but he does actually live here?
- After submitting the application, will he have to travel back home? How long will he have to stay and will he have any trouble coming back to Canada?
- I have heard that there is a chance if I do not make enough money I cannot sponsor him? My job involved a lot of income in tips so on paper I do not make a lot of income. Is there any truth behind this? If so, is there a way to claim his income here as other income for me (as he also works full time.)
- any other information you have would be great

Thank you!

 

[mikeymyke]

He's lived for 8 years, but never had a visa, does that mean he's been living here illegally for 8 years?

 

[mkasss]

Yes

 

[Rob_TO]

- should we look to fill out an inland or Outland application, as he has no visa (even an expired one) but he does actually live here?

You can choose either. Either way, you'll need to disclose in the application that he has been living here without status for the past 8 years. So as soon as you submit the app, there's a chance his situation will be reported to CBSA.

Some people believe that if he submits an inland app, CBSA will be less likely to start removal proceedings. However this is not guaranteed. In case he's deported, the inland app would be cancelled and you'd need to resubmit an outland app from his home country.

- After submitting the application, will he have to travel back home? How long will he have to stay and will he have any trouble coming back to Canada?

With an outland app, he can continue to stay here illegally for as long as CBSA doesn't deport him. With an outland app there is the chance CIC will want an interview back in his home country. Of course if he attends the interview, he most likely wont be able to return to Canada until his app is approved.

- I have heard that there is a chance if I do not make enough money I cannot sponsor him? My job involved a lot of income in tips so on paper I do not make a lot of income. Is there any truth behind this? If so, is there a way to claim his income here as other income for me (as he also works full time.)

There is no minimum income required. Just need to show enough that CIC is convinced you won't go on welfare after he gets PR.

I would not recommend disclosing all of his illegal work here. It will just make a bad situation worse.

You are in a tough spot, as there is no telling what will happen after submitting the app. But you need to do it if you ever want him here legally as a PR. Hopefully CBSA doesn't get involved.

 

[mkasss]

Okay thank you very much! ???

 

[Alurra71]

Not disclosing his working is likely going to cause issues because if they find out he is working and he didn't disclose it, it is misrepresentation and could cause a whole lot of issues as well ...

You are most certainly between a rock and a hard place here.

Is his daughter a Canadian citizen or is she also here illegally?

There is a lot of things going on here with just your few simple statements. Choose carefully before you continue.

 

[Aquakitty]

I question whether him continuing to work illegally full-time while this application is processing is a good idea. His employers could get in trouble too. Has he ever tried to get legal status in that 8 years? The CBSA really, really doesn't like people working illegally.

 

[canadausa#11]

Won't the fact he has been working illegally just make him inadmissable? Surely that is really frowned upon by the CIC

 

[Mardek]

Won't the fact he has been working illegally just make him inadmissable? Surely that is really frowned upon by the CIC

Not really. They will care as long as he is in Canada, once outside they don't care much, however it may mean that he will have to pay taxes on all of the income he didn't declare, and his employers will get in trouble as well.

 

[canadausa#11]

Not really. They will care as long as he is in Canada, once outside they don't care much, however it may mean that he will have to pay taxes on all of the income he didn't declare, and his employers will get in trouble as well.

They won't care that he has been breaking all sorts of laws and regulations in Canada for the last 8 years? Seems interesting that they wont mind that he has been flouting Canadian immigration and admissibility for such a long period of time and taking work away from a Canadian.

 

[Aquakitty]

They won't care that he has been breaking all sorts of laws and regulations in Canada for the last 8 years? Seems interesting that they wont mind that he has been flouting Canadian immigration and admissibility for such a long period of time and taking work away from a Canadian.

Well it depends on the person and situation really. If they see someone who is blatantly flouting the rules just to get PR in Canada, that could be a big problem. But, if say his daughter relies on him then that could be a good excuse. We don't know the whole story, like why did his child's mom not sponsor him? etc. No way to know for sure what will happen.

I think the old "apply inland and stay under the radar for 2 years" thing applies here. If he applies outland, will they allow him to interview in Canada or will he have to leave and interview at his VO? Assuming it goes to his home country VO and not Ottawa.

 

[sunshinemrc]

Well it depends on the person and situation really. If they see someone who is blatantly flouting the rules just to get PR in Canada, that could be a big problem. But, if say his daughter relies on him then that could be a good excuse. We don't know the whole story, like why did his child's mom not sponsor him? etc. No way to know for sure what will happen.

I think the old "apply inland and stay under the radar for 2 years" thing applies here. If he applies outland, will they allow him to interview in Canada or will he have to leave and interview at his VO? Assuming it goes to his home country VO and not Ottawa.

If they apply Outland and interview is required it will be in his country and not in canada as he has no legal status in Canada. we had a friend who went through that. Thank god for them everything worked out and he was issued his pr. His case was quite complex as well. He was illegal in the U.S. And came to Canada 5 years ago, met his now wife, they married had a baby, he worked illegally too. They applied inland but were refused. Since there are no appeals they applied again Outland and after 7 months he was called for an interview in his home country. His wife and kids went with him knowing that if his file gets refused he will not be able to come back to Canada for a very very long time and his wife just gave birth to their 2nd child. We advised him to just be very honest with the visa officer, admit to illegal work etc since CIC already knew that. After a 45 min interview the vo approved his application on the spot. After 2 weeks he was called to come back to embassy to collect his visa and CoPR.