Help! My sponsored husband has a warrant to go to Border Services

[Anne27]

Hello all,
I need some urgent advice regarding the situation I am in. My husband was a political asylum seeker in Canada whose claim was rejected, but he stayed in Canada past the date he was supposed to return to Eastern Europe, which was beginning of 2013. We then met, married, and I sponsored him to stay in Canada as my husband middle of 2013. I am a Canadian citizen. We thought everything was fine, but then we received a letter last month asking him to present himself at the border services to "rectify his immigration status". Apparently there is a warrant for him to leave Canada, and that trumps the sponsorship application I started for him. We are very scared that he will get deported if he shows up to that office. Also, apparently until the warrant is not removed, the sponsorship application will remain on hold. I am not pregnant yet but want to, however I am wondering if getting pregnant and showing up at the border services with him won`t be the only way to remove this warrant and allow him to stay with me in Canada. Please, any suggestions are very much welcomed!

 

[zardoz]

It will make no difference if you turn up pregnant or not. The "due process" has to run its course.
He has to turn up and take whatever happens. If he doesn't, there may be an arrest warrant issued instead.

 

[Anne27]

From my understanding, there is already a warrant. But if I would be pregnant, would the border services deport him anyway? He is my husband after all, and I need him with me.

 

[on-hold]

I completely understand how frightening this is, having an unstable or questionable status in a foreign country is destabilizing and dreadful. Zardoz is right, though, the absolute worst thing that you can do now is complicate things by seeming to negotiate: e.g. showing up on your own terms two months late, having him leave the country and pretend nothing has happened, or get pregnant and try to use it to bargain. Border Services has a process that they are going to apply; if you cooperate with them as they apply it, you will maximize your chances of being able to go through other processes (e.g. spousal sponsorship) that you choose yourself. Collect all of your information that relates to your application for his immigration, your marriage, and other materials, and find out where he needs to present himself. When you go, don't argue with them, but ask questions. If you're told that he's going to be deported, ask them if there is a way to appeal while your sponsorship application is decided. If there is no way to appeal, ask if your sponsorship can still go ahead while he is abroad. If he's banned from Canada for a certain period of time, ask if that is in effect even if your sponsorship is approved. If he is required to leave, ask them that if he leaves promptly on his own if they can refrain from banning his return as a sponsored spouse. Things like that.

Note that I have no idea if these things are likely or not, just that they might be possibilities.

 

[on-hold]

From my understanding, there is already a warrant. But if I would be pregnant, would the border services deport him anyway? He is my husband after all, and I need him with me.

Yes, they would. Not deporting someone in this situation would essentially mean that knocking up a Canadian woman could give any man who is out of status here the right to stay indefinitely. And would you want him to have to leave after you give birth? One month later? Three months later? These are all equally difficult . . . Plus, Border Services would probably argue that you have medical care, a place of your own to live, many women give birth without a man in their lives, and that your 'need' is actually a 'want'.

 

[Anne27]

We hired a very expensive lawyer and that is exactly what she told us. Apparently once the warrant is removed, we can continue the sponsorship application from Europe. However, that would mean him being deported for more than one year, and that is a very distressing scenario. Sure we can appeal if he is deported, but that would involve more money which we don't have right now.
We are also upset at this lawyer, who never informed us that this may be a possibility.
What are the chances of us showing to the border services and him not getting deported but having the warrant removed because of the sponsorship application?

 

[Anne27]

That is very bad news. Sure I can give birth while he is away, but that would be very distressing. I already suffered from a mental illness in the past, and more stress is not the best thing for me to do.
Again, we never knew that this would turn like this. Our lawyer told us that the sponsorship application would trump his illegal status.

 

[zardoz]

There is always a chance that he may not be deported, IF he cooperates fully.
If he doesn't, it will start to go down hill very fast from there on.
The serious mistake was not doing what was required a year ago... This is no time to make it even worse.
Your lawyer may have been working on the assumption that he was just "out of status" and not that he already had a deportation order issued. A PR application offers NO formal protection, only what CBSA/CIC deem to be "public policy".

 

[on-hold]

That is very bad news. Sure I can give birth while he is away, but that would be very distressing. I already suffered from a mental illness in the past, and more stress is not the best thing for me to do.
Again, we never knew that this would turn like this. Our lawyer told us that the sponsorship application would trump his illegal status.

Your lawyer might be right. There are more knowledgeable people than me on this board who will probably weigh in sooner or later -- personally, I wouldn't assume that your husband is going to be deported, though it is probably a good possibility. All I know is that it is better to do things cooperatively than waiting to be forced.

 

[Anne27]

When his asylum application was denied, he was simply too scared to return. Now if he will be deported he will be forced to return anyway despite having a Canadian spouse. Very sad.

 

[zardoz]

Is this an "inland" or "outland" PR application?

 

[Anne27]

I am a bit confused about the terminology, but I assume inland, as we got married in Canada and did the application for sponsorship from Canada.

 

[zardoz]

Where did you post the application package to? CPC-M or CPC-V?

 

[Anne27]

And let me ask something else, if I may?
Since the warrant was issued a year ago, what are the chances of the border services to find him now if he doesn't show? The only thing that has changed in his status was that he married me.

 

[Anne27]

RE:

Where did you post the application package to? CPC-M or CPC-V?

Vancouver I think