CSQ & CIC Paperwork / CBSA holding passport

[pennyverap]

Hi,

I am in the process of sponsoring my husband (inland). We sent our paperwork to AB on December 23rd. Last week we received 2 letters from the CIC, one requesting that we begin the CSQ paperwork and one stating that we should begin the paperwork (police certificates, valid passport etc) for the CIC.

From my understading, this is odd... normally you have to get the CSQ, send it in to the CIC before they ask that you begin the paperwork for the CIC. Is this correct?

How long does it normally take to get the CSQ?

Also, my husband came here claiming refugee status, he was denied (obviously) so we began the sponsorship process. Now the CBSA has his passport, we asked them to release it and were denied because he is still in the PRRA process and because his residency hasnt been accepted yet (which makes no sense, he needs a valid passport to get his residency).
Can we get a new passport made at the Mexican consulate without bringing in his old passport? Has this happened to anyone else?

Thank you for any advice you guys can offer

 

[NBaker]

It is entirely possible that a decision could be made on the PRRA prior to a decision on the spousal application and that your spouse would be required to leave Canada.

In your circumstances your better course of action is an application made from your spouses own country.

Your spouse could remain here to learn if the PRRA is positive and apply for landing from that result. Of course the percentage of positive PRRAs is extremely low so this is unlikely.

Having applied for the spousal after PRRA was started provides no guarantee of a deferral of removal if PRRA is negative.

It may be something to consider applying again since some of the time here would provide for you to be together and if required to depart (which is very likely) the separation would be minimized.

Unfortunately too the in Canada application has started so a refund is unlikely and if ordered to go the application cannot be transferred and the fees lost.

Naturally the passport will not be returned in the circumstances. Only if your spouse makes arrangements to confirm his departure and leaves now informing CBSA will his passport be returned.

 

[pennyverap]

Thanks for the info.

We actually started the sponsorship process before the PRRA, we only got the PRRA paperwork in March and the sponsorship paperwork was received in Vegreville on December 30th. I was with him when he went to CBSA for the PRRA and we informed them that the sponsorship was in progress.
We were told my the advisor at CBSA that because we started the sponsorship before the PRRA, they would put a hold on the removal until the sponsorship was taken care of.

We're going to try and get a new passport from the consulate explaining that we can't get his expired passport.

Do you think that once we get the CSQ, would that change anything and make it possible for us to get his passport from CBSA?

Thanks for the info

 

[NBaker]

Very good news about the timing of the applications made.

The only point at which I believe the CBSA would likely provide the passport is at the request of CIC for landing.

Normally as long as CIC knows there is a valid passport that will be available for landing and photocopies can be made available to them showing the passport is valid that should be sufficient for their needs.

If the existing passport is valid how would another one be obtained from the government representative? If it is not valid and another is obtained it needs to be given to the CBSA.

If copies of the passport are needed CBSA should be willing to provide certified copies, but your spouse should have these from when his passport was seized and would have been given copies then.

 

[pennyverap]

The thing is, his passport is expired and since the letter stated that he needed a valid passport I thought they needed it right away.
We do have certified photocopies of his passport so I guess we'll just go ahead and send those in with the letter from the CBSA stating that they wouldn't release it.

So we're just going to go ahead and get the medical & criminal check done. Crossing my fingers that it all works out
Waiting on the CSQ to come in to, which should be in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your advice, I feel much better about it all

 

[Devine2020]

The thing is, his passport is expired and since the letter stated that he needed a valid passport I thought they needed it right away.
We do have certified photocopies of his passport so I guess we'll just go ahead and send those in with the letter from the CBSA stating that they wouldn't release it.

So we're just going to go ahead and get the medical & criminal check done. Crossing my fingers that it all works out
Waiting on the CSQ to come in to, which should be in the next few weeks.

Thank you for your advice, I feel much better about it all

I think you should work on him renewing his passport from his country of Origin because he may have issues getting approved on an expired passport. I read a story before about someone who was not approved because of an expired passport...Please do some thorough research on how he can have his Passport renewed before its too late...

 

[NBaker]

He will require a valid passport to be landed.

Applying from home poses the problem of explaining where the original passport is. One is very ill-advised to say it is lost since it isn't and may require production of a police report. Lying to police about such matters can lead to charges.

So there are two possibilities. Perhaps the CBSA officer you are working with might be willing, if they have time, at your expense to send the expired passport to the government representative in Canada with the understanding that the expired and extended/new passport are returned at your expense to the CBSA office to hold until CIC requires it for landing.

The other possibility is the CIC office will request the passport from CBSA when they are ready and (quite improperly) return it to you to have extended. This second option may delay the landing process since it will happen later on in the process.

If the CBSA officer is willing to assist, it may still take time since it is not required and would not be a priority, but it has been done.

 

[pennyverap]

Again, thanks for all the advice to both you

The thing is, I have the name of the CBSA Immigration Advisor but no phone number. I've been trying to find a number for him online and can't... though I have found a number for other people that work at the same location as him. I might call and see if I can get through to him, to ask a few questions and see what we can do.

I may also send another written request and see if I can do what you suggested NBaker, it seems like it may be our best option.

I just don't want the process to be delayed too much by this.

Let's hope something works

 

[NBaker]

I encourage writing to the office, either by fax or snail mail, which really isn't so snail these days since Canada Post has really little to do ; )

You could ask for an appointment for both of you to attend and ask if there is a remedy that the officer would be willing to work with you.

Be very cautious about being a 'domineering' Canadian spouse. Not that you would necessarily be so or are, but you don't want that perception and recognizing that no matter what you do, it may turn out that this will just take time, lots and lots of time and equal or more amounts of patience.

Good luck.

 

[pennyverap]

Thanks for all the advice

My husband actually went to the Mexican Consulate and got 2 letters from them, one asking the CBSA to release his passport. This seems to be an issue that has happened quite frequently, back in 2006 the Consulate had sent a "communique" to Immigration Canada stating that Mexican refugee claimants must be able to get their passports to renew them when needed.
One letter is the actual communique stating that Immigration should release passports and the other is a letter stating that my husband is in the Residency process and needs his passport renewed and they are asking on his behalf (and mentioning the communique) that they release his passport.

We're hoping that these 2 letters as well as the letter from the CIC works.
If it doesn't then I will try to contact the advisor to see if we can figure out what else we can do. (I promise to be very polite and will make sure to seem overbearing)

Keeping my fingers crossed

 

[NBaker]

CBSA righfully and lawfully seized your husband's passport when he made his refugee claim and are not obliged to return it at this time regardless of anything the Consulate writes. The letter from the Mexican Consulate is not something that would be too likely to carry a lot of weight with the case officer in the circumstances and may not necessarily provide the desired results you are both seeking.

You will want to carefully consider use of the letters from the Consulate.

 

[pennyverap]

So, we did what you suggested. I spoke to someone at the CBSA (I finally found a number for someone there).
We were sent a letter to go meet with an Immigration Advisor to fill out the paperwork to get my husband's passport renewed at CBSA. They will then send it to the consulate and once the passport is done it will be sent to CBSA. The immigration advisor (who was very very nice) told us she would send a certified copy to Vegreville for us and would call me to come pick up a certified copy that we could keep for ourselves.

BUT (there's always gotta be a but lol), this morning when we were there, she also told us that this morning my husbands file was taken from her because his PRRA was rejected (we knew that would happen, just not now). So she also brought in a CBSA officer to the meeting

She said that she will give us 60 days for the removal... and would put a hold on it once I was accepted as a sponsor. I mentioned to her that we were told the PRRA would be put on hold due to the fact that we started the sponsorship months before the PRRA. She said it was out of her hands but that she would contact Vegreville and tell them to make our sponsorship a priority so that my husband doesnt get deported &
She said that we should get an answer about my application to sponsor in a few weeks now.

So I dont know if this is a good thing or a bad thing... I am SCARED SCARED SCARED that we won't get an answer in 60 days... but I'm happy that she said she would have them work on our sponsorship to get an answer ASAP.

I just don't understand how we could be told that we wouldn't get a removal order because of the sponsorship and then have this pop up in our faces when we were the specifically to get my husbands passport done for his residency

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope I get my accpetance THIS week so I can feel better!

 

[NBaker]

Very good to hear. All that is possible appears to be being done.

So you are best to hope for the best outcome and be prepared for the worst outcome so that if things do not work out here then you have all ready and in place to apply from outside Canada.

The one really important point from your post for others relates to the statement made related to a removal order. It is alarming, truly, how often the statement is made related in the same way I see in your post, about having a removal order.

The instant that the report was written when the refugee claim was made the result is a removal order. That order is (where no other inadmissibility changes it to a deportation order) a departure order. True enough it is 'conditional' upon a final decision on the refugee claim made, but it is a removal order. It becomes an enforceable deportation order when the person subject to it fails to leave Canada in the time required.

At present you have benefited from something you are not necessarily entitled since a PRRA decision was made in the circumstances. Perhaps because it was realized this should have been offered to waive PRRA for the 60 days at the start of the process and not done. Ordinarily having reached this point and a negative PRRA removal should have proceeded immediately (usually a miniumum of 2-3 weeks from delivery of the decision).

Once again, as difficult as it may be, prepare for the worst and hope for the best - best of luck to you in the future.

 

[pennyverap]

NBaker, thank you for all your advice. Greatly appreciated.

He has an appointment this afternoon to renew his passport at the consulate. Once that's done, we're sending his fingerprints and whatnot to his mom in Mexico so she can get his background check done. We're hoping it'll go faster this way then to mail it all.
Thank goodness I work for a company that has great rates with courriers!

We are preparing for the worst, now trying to figure out if we want to move to Mexico together for a couple of years and maybe come back or if we want to restart the paperwork from scratch and I stay behind.
I read that I could ask Vegreville to transfer our file to Mississauga, instead of starting all over, not sure if that's actually possible... but we'll see.

I'm hoping the fact that our immigration advisor from CBSA contacting Vegreville will actually make the process go faster. We're also thinking of writing a letter as well when we send in the rest of the paperwork. Not sure if that would be a good idea though...

I'm hating the fact that they didn't put PRRA on hold because of the sponsorship... Vegreville had out paperwork in December and he was called in for the PRRA in April... The person we met even told us the PRRA would be put on hold due to the fact that we started the sponsorship in December

I'm going to keep hoping for the best... but we are looking into what we'll need to do in case he has to leave :'(

And thank you for clearing up what I said about the removal order... I appreciate knowing exactly what the terms mean and using them properly!

 

[NBaker]

Well done. A positive outlook and looking at all the possibilities. Not much more you can do, but see how things go.

What process would be required for you to reside in Mexico while the processing proceeds for Canada, if that is necessary?