Desperately need help - have had a rough couple of years

[inshadesofblue]

Hi there,

Before posting this, I have done a fair amount of research, and I understand there's no right answer to my questions till the CIC sends you that letter - so all i am looking for is some professional opinion. Past 4 years have been very rough, so i cant afford a lawyer, so asking for your help.

-- FACTS --
- My Canadian wife and I have been married for 6 years (this july).
- I come from a country that needs a visa to enter Canada
- I have mostly studied in Europe and Canada (Bachelors in Europe, Masters degree from Canada). Well-traveled. First-time offense (read below)

--ISSUES--
- I was issued a student visa in Canada for one year. During that time, on the stupidest night of my life, I was ARRESTED and released after 1-2 hours. After a month, the Crown DROPPED the charges against me. (misdemeanor) (have documents to prove it)
- After this incident, I applied for the post-graduate work permit, and even though it was delayed (i am guessing because of the issue mentioned above) - I finally DID get it.
- After 1 year, my wife and I decided that we wanted to leave Canada for a couple of years. But while trying to get her visa for my country (the application got returned to us as we paid a money order for an extra 42 cents OVER the application fee - yes, god bless my country), we also had to get international papers for our dogs who were moving with us (No Objection Certificate from my home country, approval from Health Canada etc etc), I OVERSTAYED my visa by 29 days, and left voluntarily in the end.
- We tried very hard to leave on time, but i couldn't leave my wife to wrap up out life in Canada all by herself.

--QUESTIONS--
- What impact will the ARREST and the OVERSTAYING have on our PR application (outland)
- What can i do to make my application stronger?

 

[scylla]

The overstay won't impact your PR application. The arrest should have no impact since the charges were dropped.

To make your application strong, you should provide good evidence that demonstrates your relationship with your wife is genuine and ongoing (which should be easy to do given you have been married for 6 years).

If your wife is outside of Canada, she will also need to provide proof that she plans to return to Canada and live here once your PR visa is issued.

 

[elmatador]

A withdrawn charge does not make you inadmissible to Canada. You are innocent until proven guilty. You will need to provide your Court Document stating that the charge was withdrawn. Ensure this document is a certified copy from the court. It will come with an embossed provincial court stamp and will be signed by the court.

In the applicant questionnaire you will need to answer the relevant question as "Yes". I would also get the fingerprint RCMP police clearance check completed. You can go to one of their authorized digital fingerprinting agencys for this. Select Immigration on the form and have them mail it to you and Not the case processing center. Include this with the application.

All of the above will show that you have a clear record.


In one of the applicant forms you will be asked about your personal history. Here you will need to show your time period history without any gaps. Add a letter explaining your overstay in Canada. Your overstay in Canada will not make you inadmissible.


Please do not worry about your situation. I know this can stress out a person but dont let it.

 

[inshadesofblue]

Wow - Thanks for the quick response.

TWO QUESTIONS


1) You will need to provide your Court Document stating that the charge was withdrawn.

I contacted the county court where this case was withdrawn, and as I am outside the country, the lady faxed me a copy of the document which says it was withdrawn (the document has a court cover-page, not sure if this makes a difference). Should I contact them again to try and get the original certified copy, maybe have it sent to my father-in-law in Canada?

2) I would also get the fingerprint RCMP police clearance check completed.
How would I go about getting the RCMP police clearance from outside Canada.? Both my wife and I have no immediate means to get back to Canada (though my father in law lives there, and he can probably help me). I am pretty sure my country doesn't have this facility (even at the consulate). I remember checking about 2 yrs back. I do have police certificates from Switzerland (spent 3 yrs there) and my home country.

 

[inshadesofblue]

The overstay won't impact your PR application. The arrest should have no impact since the charges were dropped.

To make your application strong, you should provide good evidence that demonstrates your relationship with your wife is genuine and ongoing (which should be easy to do given you have been married for 6 years).

If your wife is outside of Canada, she will also need to provide proof that she plans to return to Canada and live here once your PR visa is issued.

Thanks for your response.

I also had a question regarding the importance of REFERENCE letters. Do we need them? And if yes, can i get 1-2 from the wife's family (who have spent a lot of time with me in Canada), another 1 from a former employer, and 1 from a current employer. I have seen in some forums where people have reference letters from 3-4 former employers, but unfortunately I have lost touch with most of my former bosses (except 1-2).

 

[marlasinger]

I'm not too sure about your first question but if it was me, my instinct would be to send what I had been given with a letter as to why it was sent to me through fax. As for your second question, this is from the RCMP website -

If you are OUTSIDE OF CANADA:

Contact the nearest police force which offers fingerprinting services.
The RCMP will accept fingerprint forms from foreign countries that contain the following:

-rolled and flat impressions of all ten fingers taken with black ink
-full name, date of birth and sex of the applicant
-the name and address of the police agency
-the signature of the official taking the fingerprints

Canadian embassies and consulates may not have adequate resources or facilities to provide this service.

Electronic fingerprint submissions to the RCMP is not currently available outside of Canada.
You may contact third party agencies within Canada who will digitize ink fingerprints and submit them electronically to the RCMP.
You may search International Fingerprinting Services on the internet.

.....sounds like your best option would be to send ink prints to a company in Canada who could digitalize them then send those to the RCMP? perhaps your father-in-law would be a good middleman for the running around.

As for reference letters from employers, those getting them are applying through the Canadian Experience class. they aren't necessary if you're apply through family class, which I assume you are since you're posting in this forum. when it comes to the proof of your relationship, you could have some personal letters from family members attesting to the genuineness of your relationship and how they'd be helping you both re-establish in Canada. given you've been married 6 years, I'm sure you have a lot of evidence in the forms of beneficiary statements, photos, emails, texts, financial statements and things like that which show you've truly merged your lives together. my husband and I have only been together 2 years and never lived together, so we had a few family members write personal letters because we felt it would help. but it's really a personal decision.

 

[elmatador]

Wow - Thanks for the quick response.

TWO QUESTIONS


1) You will need to provide your Court Document stating that the charge was withdrawn.

I contacted the county court where this case was withdrawn, and as I am outside the country, the lady faxed me a copy of the document which says it was withdrawn (the document has a court cover-page, not sure if this makes a difference). Should I contact them again to try and get the original certified copy, maybe have it sent to my father-in-law in Canada?

2) I would also get the fingerprint RCMP police clearance check completed.
How would I go about getting the RCMP police clearance from outside Canada.? Both my wife and I have no immediate means to get back to Canada (though my father in law lives there, and he can probably help me). I am pretty sure my country doesn't have this facility (even at the consulate). I remember checking about 2 yrs back. I do have police certificates from Switzerland (spent 3 yrs there) and my home country.

Hi, I would certainly recommend submitting the court certified papers. Please try contacting them and have them provide it. Also, the document that you have, is it titled "Form 37" "Order Acquitting Accused"?

Just like the other member pointed out please have a local company do your ink fingerprints. You can then mail this to your father in law. He can take it to an agency and have them digitize it. It takes 72hrs for RCMP to process a finger print check if there are no hits in the database. If there is a Hit it can take longer.

Was the charge withdrawn with alternative measures, such as a peace bond? Or was it completely dropped without any alternate measures?

Please note that CIC will do a name based search on your name in the criminal records database anyway. The court papers will ensure CIC that they charges have been withdrawn.

Feel free to ask any other questions you might have and good luck on your application. Focus on all the other aspects of the application. Put aside your worries about the overstay and withdrawn charge.

 

[SenoritaBella]

To add: the overstay won't be a problem. When your legal status expires, you still have up to 90 days to restore status either as a visitor, worker or student. You left within this period, so you should be fine. The only thing that could cause problems is trying to conceal it(or lying about it).

 

[inshadesofblue]

Hi, I would certainly recommend submitting the court certified papers. Also, the document that you have, is it titled "Form 37" "Order Acquitting Accused"?


Was the charge withdrawn with alternative measures, such as a peace bond? Or was it completely dropped without any alternate measures?


Feel free to ask any other questions you might have and good luck on your application. Focus on all the other aspects of the application. Put aside your worries about the overstay and withdrawn charge.

Its not Form 37 (or it certainly doesn't say so on the document). There are TWO pages. Page 1 comes on the letterhead of "Ministry of Attorney Journal, Ontario Court of Justice Criminal etc etc", with a handwritten note from the Court officer who sent me the document mentioning my document is on page 2. She has also mentioned her name and extension on the page (if it gives the document weight?). Page 2 gives a synopsis of the case on top, and at the bottom, its signed by the judge, saying case 'Withdrawn by the Crown'. I guess I'll do as you suggested, and call the court and beg them to send an official copy. Last time when I called, she was very hesitant to mail it to my father-in-law's address (not sure why, because she did fax it to me?).

The charge was completely dropped. Without no conditions whatsoever.

Thank you. The help here has been priceless.

 

[elmatador]

Its not Form 37 (or it certainly doesn't say so on the document). There are TWO pages. Page 1 comes on the letterhead of "Ministry of Attorney Journal, Ontario Court of Justice Criminal etc etc", with a handwritten note from the Court officer who sent me the document mentioning my document is on page 2. She has also mentioned her name and extension on the page (if it gives the document weight?). Page 2 gives a synopsis of the case on top, and at the bottom, its signed by the judge, saying case 'Withdrawn by the Crown'. I guess I'll do as you suggested, and call the court and beg them to send an official copy. Last time when I called, she was very hesitant to mail it to my father-in-law's address (not sure why, because she did fax it to me?).

The charge was completely dropped. Without no conditions whatsoever.

Thank you. The help here has been priceless.

Hi there,

If you talk to them, tell them you want a Court Certified Endorsement for the charge with the judge's decision. This will basically list the charge, date, location and the date that the charge was withdrawn. It will be embossed with the Provincial Court stamp and signed by the court. It should say "THIS IS TO CERTIFY THIS IS A TRUE COPY OF THE ORIGINAL CONTAINED IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT". They will charge you money for the certification.

Please note that if the charge was dropped before the date you appeared in court then you may not get a Form 37. See link below for an example of what it looks like:

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/page-530.html


Do your best to get the certified copy! This will make your application solid. It may result in delays if you don't submit the certified copy.

 

[inshadesofblue]

thank you for all your help.

On a related topic - given the issues (on post 1), will it be possible for me apply for and get a tourist visa in the meantime? So we could wait for the process to finish in Canada?

 

[SenoritaBella]

In many cases, having a romantic interest in Canada reduces the likelihood of being granted a visa because officers are concerned about people overstaying. But some people have succeeded.

Sponsorship means you have plans to live in Canada permanently. If you apply for a tourist visa after submitting a sponsorship application it could make it harder to satisfy an officer you will return to your home country after visiting. This is why they ask for strong ties to your home country.

Perhaps consider applying for the tourist visa first before you submit the sponsorship application.

thank you for all your help.

On a related topic - given the issues (on post 1), will it be possible for me apply for and get a tourist visa in the meantime? So we could wait for the process to finish in Canada?

 

[inshadesofblue]

In many cases, having a romantic interest in Canada reduces the likelihood of being granted a visa because officers are concerned about people overstaying. But some people have succeeded.

Sponsorship means you have plans to live in Canada permanently. If you apply for a tourist visa after submitting a sponsorship application it could make it harder to satisfy an officer you will return to your home country after visiting. This is why they ask for strong ties to your home country.

Perhaps consider applying for the tourist visa first before you submit the sponsorship application.

So the Tourist visa won't be a problem considering the overstaying/Criminal charge?

 

[SenoritaBella]

I don't know for sure and may depend on the officer. You left within 90 days of your status expiring, so hopefully it won't be a problem.

So the Tourist visa won't be a problem considering the overstaying/Criminal charge?