Evidence to support re-entry into Canada. Please help!

[CuriousCdn]

Hi.
My spouse overstayed her visa by about 9 months, and now she wants to re-enter Canada after leaving 3 months ago. I understand that it will be difficult for her to re-enter Canada because customs will presume she might overstay again, so I was wondering what kind of proof she could bring to support that she will leave Canada and respect their laws. She is a student and doesn't really have any income; I would be supporting her while she is visiting Canada. She is to go back to school on March 28th 2011 (it is a vocational educational program). I'd like to get her up here as soon as possible.

Could the following evidence be used to support her case and motives?:

-Proof of enrollment for the spring semester at her college.
-Proof of financial obligations such as "student financing". Like a letter indicating she's been approved for student financing for example.
-Return plane ticket.

I understand that when it comes to entering Canada the IO has the final decision, but could the documents I listed above hold any merit in regards to supporting her obligations to return to the United States? Any suggestions or answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Patricksgirls]

You could try that but I wonder if three months away would be long enough for the officer. Generally a rule of thumb is stay out as long as you stayed when you are flagged. Those are good proofs but she did over stay once before.

 

[CuriousCdn]

You could try that but I wonder if three months away would be long enough for the officer. Generally a rule of thumb is stay out as long as you stayed when you are flagged. Those are good proofs but she did over stay once before.

Im not even sure if she was actually flagged or not. When she left Canada they neither stamped/scanned her passport, so Im wondering if there would be any record that she stayed past her 3 month allowed visit?

 

[Baloo]

Did she leave Canada and return to the USA?

Was her passport scanned at the US border?

If yes is the answer to both of these questions, be aware that Canada and the USA do exchange information.

IMO the problem is, by overstaying last time she gave a clear indication that she does not respect the rules/laws, if an IO sees this I think they may limit her time in Canada (Visitor record).

The documents that you list are good support documents, in light of the overstay she may need more.

As you noted, the IO makes the call. Sadly there are no guarantees.


Did she have a problem entering Canada at the start of her last visit?
Is she on a visa for education in Canada?

 

[CuriousCdn]

Did she leave Canada and return to the USA?

Was her passport scanned at the US border?

Yes she recently left Canada and returned to the USA. This occurred approximately 9 months after she was expected to leave Canada.

Her passport (to the best of her memory) was only scanned when she left the US to visit Canada. Upon leaving Canada, neither Canadian or US customs scanned / stamped her passport. All she was asked in Canada upon departing was the purpose of her visit. She states (Canadian) customs didn't even regard the visa / stamp in her passport

IMO the problem is, by overstaying last time she gave a clear indication that she does not respect the rules/laws, if an IO sees this I think they may limit her time in Canada (Visitor record).

The documents that you list are good support documents, in light of the overstay she may need more.

How would the IO be aware that she didn't leave Canada on time? Canada doesn't keep track of people who leave unless they have reason to I thought? Something to do with them having no exit control? I understand the IO could probably request information from the airlines to check if she left Canada on that expected date, but you'd think he would only do it if he had suspicion to do so?

Any suggestions as to what other documents we could use to support her re-entry?

Did she have a problem entering Canada at the start of her last visit?
Is she on a visa for education in Canada?

Yes she had a slight problem when she entered Canada on her initial visit. Her lack of evidence to support she would be returning to the US (no return ticket, no financial/employment obligations), and her story of visiting her then boyfriend at the time had the IO convinced she would probably not respect her departure date. She was issued a 3 month Visitor Visa (form attached inside of passport) as a result. I'd like to add that my wife will be receiving a new passport soon due to our marriage. Would this complicate things at the border or make them easier?

No she does not have a visa for educational purposes. She is planning on going to college down in the US, I was insinuating using forms from her college down there (such as proof of enrollment/student financing) to support her obligations to return to the USA.

Thanks for your time and opinions.

 

[sithvixen]

Hi thought I'd pop in on this.

My husband is in a similar situation though not quite the same. I'll tell you what I know and what I plan to do, to see if it gives you an idea.

The biggest issue is they want to make sure she will leave. If they see that she didn't respect her visitor visa length, especially since they already suspected her the first time, they are definitely going to take issue again. After all, she she already did it before. So these are the things you may need:

1) Get a return ticket for sure. Though I suspect this time it won't be enough. She's lucky she even made it into Canada the first time, they were very merciful to give her just a visitor visa. I know the US customs would turn you away in a heartbeat if you didn't have a return ticket. Definitely provide the college receipts and proof of PAID enrollment. Just showing that she applied or is accepted probably won't be enough; they may think she will just cancel it and stay in Canada if she doesn't have actual money put down on it.

2) Write a letter stating that you are going to be taking care of her and provide food, clothing, shelter and financial support during her stay. Let them know you are employed full time (even perhaps where) and date and sign it. If they suspect she might have a reason to stay too long AND work illegally, they will have a huge problem with that.

3) If she has applied for her perm residence, have copies of this, especially if she is applying outland. If she applies outland, she eventually has to go for an interview in the USA (usually within 6 months of applying) and also to "flagpole" once she gets her visa. This means she HAS to leave or she won't get her visa. At least this is how it works for my husband.

4) They may ask her why she stayed too long, be prepared to offer a reasonable explanation, and apology. This may not save you but they will probably ask. They may also ask why she didn't apply for an extensions. Dunno. However if they continue to have a huge problem, then I have heard there is an option to pay a thing like a bail bond. Basically she/you puts a sum of money down to guarantee she will leave by a certain date. If she doesn't, you forfeit the money. Unfortunately I can't remember where I heard or read this so you may want to research it as a last resort.

Ultimately the message is, you better find absolute proof she is going to leave or they may just tell her to go home. In their eyes, she has already proven that she won't respect their rules, so now the burden is on her to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she will.

-- My husband is from the USA and when he came her last June they didn't stamp his passport or anything. Just waved him through.

In December we applied for an extension to stay 6 more months and they rejected us because he had no stamp or proof of entry into the country (we couldn't find the plane ticket receipt either!). They gave him 90 days to appeal it (for $200) or he had to leave right away.

Well we took some time to try and track down the proof for the appeal but couldn't find it. So now he has to leave, and he has stayed about 90 days over. We didn't appeal it and we are wondering if they will take issue with that when he returns. No idea, hell they may not even notice since they have no record he even entered and they probably won't have a record he left either. Hopefully anyway. If they do, I have pretty much all the proof I told you to get. Return tickets, a letter stating we are taking care of him, the excuse above, proof of his application for his visa (outland), plus the fact that he has to leave for his interview/flagpole. And well if they really are pissy, we can offer the bail bond.

Good luck!

 

[Patricksgirls]

If she was given a visitor record then she is flagged and trust me they now most likely know she overstayed. My example is I got my Class 1 license in December and did not show it to the IO yet they knew my license was now a Class 1 or A in the US. I must have looked shocked and the IO said "We" the US and Canada share info regularly. SO that being said you could try a visit but I would wait at least a few more months unless you have the money to burn on a quick return ticket.