Friend getting married to canadian but out of status in the US

[ssanndy]

My firend is geting married in the US next month. She is out of statuus ( overstay visa) and her husband is a canadian. After marriage he plans to file for her for PR in canada. she doesn't want to go back to her home country.

Can she stay in the U while he files?
At the end of the process can ahe leave from the US to canada?
Will she have to go back to her home country during the processor at the end ( if at all) ?

 

[Karlshammar]

She has to file through the visa office that is responsible for her home country since she has no legal status in the U.S.A. If she is called for an interview she will have to go there.

 

[catchvb]

Processing at New Delhi Office is much faster than Buffalo. She should file from New Delhi.

 

[ariell]

Processing at New Delhi Office is much faster than Buffalo. She should file from New Delhi.

Assuming India is her country of citizenship, of course!

ssanndy: Whether your friend can or cannot stay in the US has nothing to do with Canada Immigration. That's a matter for the US immigration officials. There are alot of consequences of overstaying a US visa which may include being declared unlawfully present by the Dept. of Homeland Security which could lead to being deported. Having said that, there are probably millions of people visa overstays in the US so she'll have to decide how much of a risk there is for her. Also, overstaying a US visa can mean that she will have serious difficulties trying to ever get a US visa again in the future. So I would suggest that your friend get information on what overstaying her visa can mean and weigh the consequences.

 

[Karlshammar]

She wouldn't be able to file with Buffalo anyway since she is out-of-status, so she doesn't have much choice, but Delhi does tend to be faster as you say.

Processing at New Delhi Office is much faster than Buffalo. She should file from New Delhi.

 

[job_seeker]

There is another member who posted that he was able to sponsor his wife even with a record of overstaying in the US:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/overstayed-visa-in-the-usa-t29367.0.html;msg171167#msg171167

Your friend might get lucky too.

 

[ariell]

I don't understand how the person in the other thread was able to have their application processed in the US when they were out of status for 4 years! There must be something more to the story because technically, they should not have processed the application in the US when the applicant had no legal status there.

ssanndy: Your friend could always try requesting Buffalo as the visa office to process her PR application, but just be aware that they are under no obligation to follow her request and will very likely forward her application to the visa office responsible for her country of citizenship.

 

[PMM]

Hi

I don't understand how the person in the other thread was able to have their application processed in the US when they were out of status for 4 years! There must be something more to the story because technically, they should not have processed the application in the US when the applicant had no legal status there.

ssanndy: Your friend could always try requesting Buffalo as the visa office to process her PR application, but just be aware that they are under no obligation to follow her request and will very likely forward her application to the visa office responsible for her country of citizenship.

1. Applicants for visitor/work/study permits must be in status.
2. PR applicants can be out of status and still apply only IF THEY WERE ORIGINALLY ADMITTED for 1 year or more.

PMM

 

[Karlshammar]

When the consulate receives your passport they will check to make sure that you are in status, or they will not help you. When I was at the consulate general in Buffalo one man was almost turned away since his status had expired. He had a receipt that he had applied for an extension, though, and after that they served him.

The being said, some statuses, such as F-1, are admitted as "Duration of status" and there is no exact time-limit visible in the passport or on the I-94. In that case they are not considered to accrue unlawful presence (even though they are technically out of status) until they are determined to be there illegally either by an immigration judge or by the service in connection with an application for some benefit.

 

[ariell]

Hi


1. Applicants for visitor/work/study permits must be in status.
2. PR applicants can be out of status and still apply only IF THEY WERE ORIGINALLY ADMITTED for 1 year or more.

PMM

Good to know! PMM, where would someone find a reference for that information?

 

[Karlshammar]

I believe the information stating that you have to have been admitted for 1 year is on the application form itself.

 

[kitui]

the question is about getting to Canada...........not about legality in the US.?????

Processing at New Delhi Office is much faster than Buffalo. She should file from New Delhi.

Assuming India is her country of citizenship, of course!

ssanndy: Whether your friend can or cannot stay in the US has nothing to do with Canada Immigration. That's a matter for the US immigration officials. There are alot of consequences of overstaying a US visa which may include being declared unlawfully present by the Dept. of Homeland Security which could lead to being deported. Having said that, there are probably millions of people visa overstays in the US so she'll have to decide how much of a risk there is for her. Also, overstaying a US visa can mean that she will have serious difficulties trying to ever get a US visa again in the future. So I would suggest that your friend get information on what overstaying her visa can mean and weigh the consequences.

 

[Karlshammar]

Your status in a country can affect which visa office you can apply through, which may have an enormous effect on your application to go to Canada.

the question is about getting to Canada...........not about legality in the US.?????

 

[ariell]

I believe the information stating that you have to have been admitted for 1 year is on the application form itself.

No, it doesn't mention the fact that you can be OUT OF STATUS in a given country and STILL apply in the visa office responsible for that country if you were ORIGINALLY admitted for a period of at least one year. That's what PMM stated and I wondered where that is written.

 

[ariell]

the question is about getting to Canada...........not about legality in the US.?????

No, the question was: Can she stay in the U while he files?