Did I completely screw up my application?? Crossing Canada border with outland

[philipsweden]

Hi

I need some opinions on what I am gonna do.

I have applied for family class sponsorship outside of Canada via the London office and right now my file is in London for the step 2 process.

Me and my fiancee decided to land in Canada before my application went through for family reasons as a visitor since Swedish citizens are allowed to be here as visitors for 6 months. After being in Canada for a few weeks I went skiing in Seattle over the weekend and coming back into Canada the officials asking when I was leaving Canada and I said that I am waiting for my app to go through.
The border official did not believe that I was just visiting Canada, she believed that I had no intention to leave Canada as a visitor and therefor she had the right to completely cancel my PR app and refuse me into the country. But even though she believed that I was actually living in Canada despite my arguments against that, she did allow me to enter as a visitor for my 6 months period of time. HOWEVER she did but a note on my PR app that I was actually living in Canada as a visitor and she believed that when the London Visa office reviewed my file they will most likely deny my application. On top of this she argued that since she believes that I am living in Canada she said I HAD to apply for my PR as inland application.

She gave me two options
1. Leave Canada asap and get a job outside of Canada and show this to CIC so they do not believe that I live in Canada as a visitor. That way she said my current PR application could be saved even with her note in it.

2. Stay in Canada, apply for a work visa and start the PR app all over as inland application.

I guess my 3rd option would be to wait and see the London Visa office decision on my current application, if they deny the app argue against the decision that it was made on false accusation of me living in Canada as a visitor.

Any ideas on what to do?? I have no idea how much influence this note on my file has, of course I do not want to start my whole application all over again and I really dont want to do an inland application.

Please help!!

Thanks a lot!

 

[scylla]

You can apply either inland or outland while living in Canada. Many of us on the forum have applied outland while living in Canada successfully (my husband included). Just wait for a decision from London. The border official either didn't know what she was talking about or was trying to scare you. She definitely had the right to refuse you entry into Canada (you're lucky you weren't turned away). However she doesn't have the right to cancel your PR application. I would avoid further trips out of the country until your PR status has been approved. If you have to leave, make sure you bring proof that your application has been filed and is in progress.

 

[sakamath]

I think, the misunderstanding was caused because of...

...and coming back into Canada the officials asking when I was leaving Canada and I said that I am waiting for my app to go through.
The border official did not believe that I was just visiting Canada...

What you should have mentioned is "I would leave Canada by so-and-so-date (which is well less than the 6 months you are allowed as a visitor.)". When you said "waiting for my app" you are implying that if your app takes 2 years to process, you would stay here 2 years - which you are not allowed to.

AFAIK, there is no harm in living in Canada as a visitor as long as you do not overstay. If you have not "moved" to Canada, you would still have some ties to Sweden (job, education etc). Resume that before the end of your 6 months period so that you can prove that you left Canada (there may or may not be an 'exit' stamp on your passport when you leave Canada). But this is my opinion.

 

[Swede]

The most important two things when dealing with CIC are full disclosure and following the rules.

So:

• Make sure that CIC knows that you're in Canada and what your address is.
• If your visa expires - leave.

You don't have to apply inland when you live in Canada as long as you're in the country legally.


When did you send in your application?

Lycka till!

 

[philipsweden]

Thanks for the answers! Still not sure what to do.

Should I just wait until London VO makes their decision and hope for the best, if they decline it I know I can appeal but I do not know how long that process is?

The truth is that I do not have much linking me to Sweden except my family, this border official was asking me for proof of residence in Sweden and employment outside of Canada which I do not have.

I know that many members here landed before they got their application approved and I did the same. So the problem seems to be that this particular border official who was nice enough to let me into Canada DID believe that I am living in Canada as a visitor which according to her is not allowed hence she will put this on my PR file so the London VO knows that I am doing something that I am actually not allowed to do. She told me straight up that I am going around the system of inland vs outland and she believes that London VO will view this as very negative.

I know this is such a grey area, what is living and how to you prove that you live somewhere etc?

My registered address with CIC is in Canada, does that then imply that I am living in Canada before I get my PR??

I still believe that I am doing nothing wrong with VISITING my fiancee in Canada while my outland PR app is going on however I now have this note in my file and I need to know what to do!!
Maybe the London VO will just laugh at this border official's note and think that hundreds of people do this every year so not a big deal but what do I know!!

 

[Rob_TO]

I guess my 3rd option would be to wait and see the London Visa office decision on my current application, if they deny the app argue against the decision that it was made on false accusation of me living in Canada as a visitor.

As others mentioned, it shouldn't matter at all if you happen to live in Canada or not when your outland app is being processed.

In our case, my fiancee and I were living solely in Canada as common-law for 1.5 years when we sent in our out-land application. She was here under a work visa, and when that expired she turned it into a study one. In the applicant part of the application her address clearly showed our Canada address and nothing to do with her home country.

The overseas visa office had no problems with this and proceeded as normal, eventually mailing the COPR to our Canadian address. So it really doesn't matter if you live here at the time or not. What does matter, is that is you apply out-land and any current visa you have expires and you can't renew it... you have to go back to your home country.

 

[scylla]

I still believe that I am doing nothing wrong with VISITING my fiancee in Canada while my outland PR app is going on however I now have this note in my file and I need to know what to do!!
Maybe the London VO will just laugh at this border official's note and think that hundreds of people do this every year so not a big deal but what do I know!!

For whatever it's worth, when we submitted my husband's outland application, we said my husband was "living with me in Canada as a tourist". During the three years before we submitted the application, my husband spent 80% of his time in Canada. We were approved in just over four months.

 

[chipits]

Thanks for the answers! Still not sure what to do.

Should I just wait until London VO makes their decision and hope for the best, if they decline it I know I can appeal but I do not know how long that process is?

The truth is that I do not have much linking me to Sweden except my family, this border official was asking me for proof of residence in Sweden and employment outside of Canada which I do not have.

I know that many members here landed before they got their application approved and I did the same. So the problem seems to be that this particular border official who was nice enough to let me into Canada DID believe that I am living in Canada as a visitor which according to her is not allowed hence she will put this on my PR file so the London VO knows that I am doing something that I am actually not allowed to do. She told me straight up that I am going around the system of inland vs outland and she believes that London VO will view this as very negative.

I know this is such a grey area, what is living and how to you prove that you live somewhere etc?

My registered address with CIC is in Canada, does that then imply that I am living in Canada before I get my PR??

I still believe that I am doing nothing wrong with VISITING my fiancee in Canada while my outland PR app is going on however I now have this note in my file and I need to know what to do!!
Maybe the London VO will just laugh at this border official's note and think that hundreds of people do this every year so not a big deal but what do I know!!

Yes, just wait for the London VO to make their decision.

There is NO WAY that London will disapprove you because you were staying in Canada while your visa was processing. The only reason they would deny you is if your relationship isn't genuine. Plenty of people do exactly what you do, and as you say, your registered address is in Canada, so it's not like you're hiding the fact that you're staying in Canada while it's processing.

The border agent was an idiot trying to scare you. You have nothing to worry about, but as others have mentioned, I would possibly avoid further trips across the border until your application is completed.

 

[Sweden]

Sorry to hear that - but indeed, as the others have said - you're not doing anything wrong and I doubt that London will really be influenced by the note - visiting in Canada is allowed, and using the outland application while in Canada is also allowed - and encouraged by CIC< somewhere on the website it says that even if you are in Canada on a tourist visa, you don't have to apply inland. So you were very unlucky with that border officer!!

Also - just make sure that you extend your visa before you run out of 6 months, you can do the online extension. If you're denied extension, then make sure you leave the country - but other than that, I don't think you should do anything.

Lycka till,
Sweden

 

[Kiri]

I would definitely wait. They won't refuse you because of what some border guard puts on your records because they have no proof of that. You have provided enough proof and evidence for your living situation and legal rights to be in Canada, etc, right? So long as you leave in the 6 month time OR apply for extension, they can't deny you based on suspicions of living here.

I have been in Canada since May 2011. I went back at 6 months for 3 weeks to America and returned... they were wanting to argue this was not enough time, thought I was trying to move here.. I didn't mention anything about an application or even that my spouse and I were common law, they made the assumption we were dating and planned to marry in the future... wrote that down. If I thought things border guards said and did affected my application, I'd be panicked too! lol I finally convinced them to let me in showing I had an address in America, a job that I worked from home at the time, etc. I had an order to leave after 5 months - I wasn't even allowed the 6 months -- and you wanna know why they did that to me? Because we'd have been residing together for 1 year come that 6 months and legally able to apply as common law (what we wanted). So I applied for an extension on those grounds come 4 months and since doing it by mail creates around a 60 day wait period... I'd make required time for CL even if they denied my extension. So they sent me an approval for 1 year and 1 month after a few months. So I've been in Canada since May 2011 (barring 3 weeks), for a total of 1 year and 8 months. I have an extension until May this year where I will apply for another extension if my PR app is not finished on the grounds of hopefully being in process and financially it would be a burden on us since we have been residing together and are financially co-dependent on one another for 2 years now in Canada.

I've told my story to let you know that no matter what happens at the border, so long as you can get in and you follow the rules (leave in time, or apply for extension, etc), you'll be fine. I just will not be taking any trips back to America until I am at least in process (on record 'in process')... once you get there they have more belief that you'll be approved.

If you 1 or 2 option then you risk throwing up all sorts of red flags. As for 3rd... if they deny, you could always use this incident as part of your appeal, but certainly not your only case as it's highly unlikely that you will be denied based on that.

In fact, I'm not sure if anyone else will agree.. but the border guard is an idiot and trying to scare you into thinking they can cancel your PR application. I don't think they can legally do that. Only deny your entry or grant it. At least that's my personal opinion, someone correct me if I'm wrong in them not having the power to do that.

 

[Sweden]

I agree - don't do anything and wait until your file gets to London. You are not doing anything illegal, and as long as you keep it that way, you should be fine. It's very unfortunate that they tried to scare you, and the worst would have been if you had been refused entry, but now you're in Canada, and from the look of it, you have a rather straightforward application - living together with your gf etc. So I'm not sure that the note on your file will have any weight... if anything, London might ask you for an explanation, and you should be fine.
Good luck,
Sweden

 

[philipsweden]

Thanks a lot for all the answer, I know I have the law on my side but that immigration officer clearly did not know what she was talking about.

My file is already in London so I hope they will finish their work quickly there.

 

[Sweden]

Thanks a lot for all the answer, I know I have the law on my side but that immigration officer clearly did not know what she was talking about.

My file is already in London so I hope they will finish their work quickly there.

Join in the London thread - you can follow which applications they're working on (more or less - it's CIC after all!) if you fee like it.
it's here :
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-outland-london-uk-applications-t49436.7155.html
good luck,
Sweden

 

[AnaMaria]

Just try not to leave Canada until the decision is made. The next time, it might not be as lucky as this time and you may be refused to enter. The officer probably have noted down her "suspicion" on your file. I doubt it will affect PR application but it may affect the entry as a visitor. For now, just relax and hope for the good news

 

[RajaJi]

philipsweden: As long as you entered Canada legally and have not overstayed, there is nothing to worry. You do not need to take any action. Just wait for decision from London VO.