HELP! International student, FORCED TO SIGN VOLUNTARY WITHDRAW!

[Jonjai]

My girlfriend is a international student in Vancouver, B.C. and she goes to Simon Fraser University. She left Canada on 4/07/2012 return on 6/01/2012. Upon returning back late from her home country she got held by the custom at the airport(YVR) they asked her if she is currently studying, but my girlfriend told them she took a semester off because her mom was very sick and she knew she would be late for the exam which would affect her GPA. That being said the custom started raising up another question and asked if she works in Canada, my girlfriend responded "no", and immediately the custom raised their awareness and went suspicious of my girlfriend regardless of what she said. The agent also threatened my girlfriend and claims that she violated the law and went on going through her cell phone and called a few of her contacts including me(her boyfriend). Calling each and one of us and made up a story assuming that my girlfriend did work and that she quit her job and went back to her country because her mom was very ill. We all answered and said "we don't know". Meanwhile we have no way of reaching my girlfriend, they kept her cell phone away from her reach. After awhile, my girlfriend got a hold of a phone and told me that they decided to send her back to home country and told her that she can return in 6 months and she needs to buy a flight ticket. However we don't have the money at that time and I was buying time for a lawyer to come, I told the agent that the lawyer is on his way. After that being said, he immediately detained my girlfriend again, had her signed the Voluntary withdrawal paper(Paragraph 42(1)) issued by the Canadian&Immigration Agency and a flight ticket was provided by the customs. On the way to departure gates the agent threatened her and said "don't ever expect come back and see us ever again".

What I want to know is:
- does it mean she is redflagged?
- howlong until she can return to Canada?
- would she need to apply for a new Study Visa Permit?
- what documents to bring with her for next entry to Canada?

Thank you for your time, if anyone has the knowledge about this situation please give out a hand!

 

[champ1388]

My girlfriend is a international student in Vancouver, B.C. and she goes to Simon Fraser University. She left Canada on 4/07/2012 return on 6/01/2012. Upon returning back late from her home country she got held by the custom at the airport(YVR) they asked her if she is currently studying, but my girlfriend told them she took a semester off because her mom was very sick and she knew she would be late for the exam which would affect her GPA. That being said the custom started raising up another question and asked if she works in Canada, my girlfriend responded "no", and immediately the custom raised their awareness and went suspicious of my girlfriend regardless of what she said. The agent also threatened my girlfriend and claims that she violated the law and went on going through her cell phone and called a few of her contacts including me(her boyfriend). Calling each and one of us and made up a story assuming that my girlfriend did work and that she quit her job and went back to her country because her mom was very ill. We all answered and said "we don't know". Meanwhile we have no way of reaching my girlfriend, they kept her cell phone away from her reach. After awhile, my girlfriend got a hold of a phone and told me that they decided to send her back to home country and told her that she can return in 6 months and she needs to buy a flight ticket. However we don't have the money at that time and I was buying time for a lawyer to come, I told the agent that the lawyer is on his way. After that being said, he immediately detained my girlfriend again, had her signed the Voluntary withdrawal paper(Paragraph 42(1)) issued by the Canadian&Immigration Agency and a flight ticket was provided by the customs. On the way to departure gates the agent threatened her and said "don't ever expect come back and see us ever again".

What I want to know is:
- does it mean she is redflagged?
- howlong until she can return to Canada?
- would she need to apply for a new Study Visa Permit?
- what documents to bring with her for next entry to Canada?

Thank you for your time, if anyone has the knowledge about this situation please give out a hand!

you need to get in touch with the university authority....and get the document on the university letter head confirming ,from the student services that she is still enrolled with her fees paid however because her mother was sick she had to take off one semester as she had to visit her. make sure you have it on university letter head, file a case with your lawyer to have the detention waived as she still has the valid visa and the fees has been paid to complete her studies.
as far as job is concerened you need to get in touch with the social security department of Canada to get a proof the she never worked in canada, it can be confirmed by her national insurance no.

Please hire a lawyer and file a case to get the detention waived, otherwise her entering Canada as well as other countries is difficult.

 

[Jonjai]

you need to get in touch with the university authority....and get the document on the university letter head confirming ,from the student services that she is still enrolled with her fees paid however because her mother was sick she had to take off one semester as she had to visit her. make sure you have it on university letter head, file a case with your lawyer to have the detention waived as she still has the valid visa and the fees has been paid to complete her studies.
as far as job is concerened you need to get in touch with the social security department of Canada to get a proof the she never worked in canada, it can be confirmed by her national insurance no.

Please hire a lawyer and file a case to get the detention waived, otherwise her entering Canada as well as other countries is difficult.

Thank you, but how to find out her national insurance no.? I don't even know if she has one. The tuition has not been paid because she withdrew from her course knowing that she is not gonna do well because she came back late.

 

[Elect_Engr]

I wanted to take the summer (2013) term off to visit my family during the MEng program that I will be starting in fall 2012. Reading this post makes me very sceptical now.

Is there a process which one can follow to take a term off and not face this kind of problem upon re-entering Canada?

 

[Jonjai]

I wanted to take the summer (2013) term off to visit my family during the MEng program that I will be starting in fall 2012. Reading this post makes me very sceptical now.

Is there a process which one can follow to take a term off and not face this kind of problem upon re-entering Canada?

From what I learned(the hard way), even if you want to take a semester off, you still need to pay for tuition and inform the school of your situation. The Canadian customs are really anal about whether you are attending school ,if you are part time/ full time student or if you paid your tuition. You need to let them know that you have class to attend, unless you come up with a very good reason that is more important that school. They will have all kinds of reason to deny your entry if you do not satisfy the Study Permit requirement.

 

[Inam89]

I wanted to take the summer (2013) term off to visit my family during the MEng program that I will be starting in fall 2012. Reading this post makes me very sceptical now.

Is there a process which one can follow to take a term off and not face this kind of problem upon re-entering Canada?

There is no problem , mostly, on re-entering Canada. I have my friends in Canada who even came back to home countires in their winter break.

 

[Jonjai]

There is no problem , mostly, on re-entering Canada. I have my friends in Canada who even came back to home countires in their winter break.

Would my gf have any problem re-entering Canada with her current situation?

 

[Elect_Engr]

She is deported. Her case is no more simple.

Would my gf have any problem re-entering Canada with her current situation?

 

[scylla]

She is deported. Her case is no more simple.

She was not deported. She signed a voluntary withdrawal paper. This is different than deportation.

Having said that, the voluntary withdrawal is now on her record and I would expect she'll face at least some challenges returning. Probably a good time to consult with a reputable immigration attorney or consultant to understand what she may be facing.

 

[Elect_Engr]

I am sorry for my mistake then. In my mind sending back was deportation. I can see now that in legal terms voluntary withdrawal is different than deportation.

BTW scylla, do you think a student who has LOA (leave of absence) approval from university is safe for taking a term off?

She was not deported. She signed a voluntary withdrawal paper. This is different than deportation.

Having said that, the voluntary withdrawal is now on her record and I would expect she'll face at least some challenges returning. Probably a good time to consult with a reputable immigration attorney or consultant to understand what she may be facing.

 

[Jonjai]

She was not deported. She signed a voluntary withdrawal paper. This is different than deportation.

Having said that, the voluntary withdrawal is now on her record and I would expect she'll face at least some challenges returning. Probably a good time to consult with a reputable immigration attorney or consultant to understand what she may be facing.

If she has the record, do you think I can hire a lawyer and get it waived? The thing is I don't know what evidence I need as I don't know what the reason was? Do you think the Canadian Customs are gonna keep everything private/personal, and as third party I can't do anything about it?

 

[Inam89]

If she has the record, do you think I can hire a lawyer and get it waived? The thing is I don't know what evidence I need as I don't know what the reason was? Do you think the Canadian Customs are gonna keep everything private/personal, and as third party I can't do anything about it?

Man, these are question which will be best answered by a lawyer who has experience of such cases. Don't waste time and consult a lawyer and discuss things with him in detail.

 

[Jonjai]

Man, these are question which will be best answered by a lawyer who has experience of such cases. Don't waste time and consult a lawyer and discuss things with him in detail.

I tried contact lawyer, but I don't know what the reason was behind sending my gf back home. So the lawyer wouldn't talk to me as I have no where to start and have no access to her personal information from the customs.

 

[panasonic]

My girlfriend is a international student in Vancouver, B.C. and she goes to Simon Fraser University. She left Canada on 4/07/2012 return on 6/01/2012. Upon returning back late from her home country she got held by the custom at the airport(YVR) they asked her if she is currently studying, but my girlfriend told them she took a semester off because her mom was very sick and she knew she would be late for the exam which would affect her GPA. That being said the custom started raising up another question and asked if she works in Canada, my girlfriend responded "no", and immediately the custom raised their awareness and went suspicious of my girlfriend regardless of what she said. The agent also threatened my girlfriend and claims that she violated the law and went on going through her cell phone and called a few of her contacts including me(her boyfriend). Calling each and one of us and made up a story assuming that my girlfriend did work and that she quit her job and went back to her country because her mom was very ill. We all answered and said "we don't know". Meanwhile we have no way of reaching my girlfriend, they kept her cell phone away from her reach. After awhile, my girlfriend got a hold of a phone and told me that they decided to send her back to home country and told her that she can return in 6 months and she needs to buy a flight ticket. However we don't have the money at that time and I was buying time for a lawyer to come, I told the agent that the lawyer is on his way. After that being said, he immediately detained my girlfriend again, had her signed the Voluntary withdrawal paper(Paragraph 42(1)) issued by the Canadian&Immigration Agency and a flight ticket was provided by the customs. On the way to departure gates the agent threatened her and said "don't ever expect come back and see us ever again".

What I want to know is:
- does it mean she is redflagged?
- howlong until she can return to Canada?
- would she need to apply for a new Study Visa Permit?
- what documents to bring with her for next entry to Canada?

Thank you for your time, if anyone has the knowledge about this situation please give out a hand!

Dear Jonjai,

I want to know what was the reason behind which alaram the officer at the airport when they stopped your girlfriend. as by now seven months have been passed, how is the situation now with your girl friend? did she find out what actually went wrong there? did university or college people informed something bad about your girl friend? or some one else miss lead them that your girl friend was enganged in some kind of job or something? was her study and entry visa valid or not?

Can you suggest some authentic Lawyer or consultant to me also?
Because I am also doubt full about my status while I am visiting my family back in my home country.
though both my study permit and entry visa are still valid.

 

[just_do_it]

Sounds like typical CBSA on-a-power-trip-scum at YVR, i've crossed paths with them many times.
I've seen them threaten people, go through their personal stuff like messages, emails etc on the phone, yell at people, show disrespect... all in the name of duty. what a bunch of crocks.

Usually, if you have straight forward answers to their questions, you will be fine. It's only when you pause to think (or even if your english is not so fluent that you make a mess of your sentences), they go 007 on you.

I have come back to canada with a permit that would have expired in another 6 days and i was let in no problem because i had an answer for every question (and i even skipped a semester that year), mind you this was back in 2004 so things have probably changed drastically. So has the attitude (or perhaps its the hiring standards at CBSA that have dropped).

Recent example, i came back from australia, early morning flight, walk upto the immigration desk with my passport and PR card and everything. The girl behind the desk is yawning and can barely open her eyes, asks me "Coming back from India?". I go "No, australia". She goes" Really? Don't see a lot of that". I say "Yeah, we do travel to other countries, other than India".. said it as a joke . She gives me a dirty look and sends me to secondary. They waste theirs and my time going through my stuff for about 40 minutes while i stand there and smile and off i go on my way.