INLAND APPLICATIONS 2013

[Line.a]

Most federal mail will have a 'do not forward' marked on the envelope. Or at least that is the case in the US. Maybe it's different here, but if it isn't that would explain why you've not yet seen it.

We are still in contact with the landlord thankfully, so I'm gonna have my partner contact him when he gets home later on. Ugh CIC are complicated sometimes!

 

[Cirene]

Hello everyone! I am l long time lurker on this page. It's gotten me through some really tough times. Now that CIC has gotten their groove
back and are actually making some progress, I am starting to get nervous as well as excited. I am sponsoring my American-born commom-law hubby. He arrived on a visitor visa and was denied an extension, therefore, he was out of status for a bit. I know that being out of status does not affect the application but I'm worried that because he was denied a visa and given a date to leave, that this may change things. Any ideas if this makes a difference?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hello there, sorry to hear that. What you can do is apply for a "Restoration of Temporary Resident Status" even tho, when you apply for PR under the family class, you don't need to be in status, but if it brings peace of mind to you and your partner, you can apply for a restoration

You can go here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/visitor.asp

And open the IMM 5708 and then you click where it says "Restoration of Temporary Resident Status as a visitor"

Did you and your partner submit the PR application already?
When was he "supposed to leave Canada" ?

 

[folks-g]

so this is the week of January the 20th its that week where cic will be going all out on April applicants I hope that you guys are ready and excited the good news is expected to keep coming.

 

[ortom]

Hi All,

I just wanted to give an update from my personal experience, on the matter of leaving Canada while having an inland application in progress.

My hubby and I went to FL, USA last week and just returned today through the buffalo land border.When at the border, we gave the passports along with my work permit to the officer; the officer asked us where we live, where were we coming from and what was the purpose of the trip, and we were good to go.

As I had read from other posts, I brought some evidence that we have applied for the inland spousal sponsorship, however the officer did not ask us about the sponsorship.

Please note, that I am on a pgwp, so that might have affected why I was not asked about the sponsorship, the rules for visitor status might be different.

 

[guri3577]

Hello there, sorry to hear that. What you can do is apply for a "Restoration of Temporary Resident Status" even tho, when you apply for PR under the family class, you don't need to be in status, but if it brings peace of mind to you and your partner, you can apply for a restoration

You can go here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/visitor.asp

And open the IMM 5708 and then you click where it says "Restoration of Temporary Resident Status as a visitor"

Did you and your partner submit the PR application already?
When was he "supposed to leave Canada" ?

This^ but, this has to be applied within 90 days after losing status.

 

[Cirene]

This^ but, this has to be applied within 90 days after losing status.

Yeah, you are totally right Guri. I was wondering when was he supposed to leave Canada, maybe they still can do it.

 

[computergeek]

That's what I thought. I did change it on both our ecas and went and paid $50 some dollars to get our mail forwarded! Bah.. Why oh why lol :-X

Don't trust them. I just exchanged messages with someone who was waiting for the local landing appointment and he only found out about it because I'd suggested he check. Indeed, they sent the letter to the old address even though he'd called before, written them, they'd corresponded with the new address AND e-CAS showed the right address.

 

[computergeek]

Hello everyone! I am l long time lurker on this page. It's gotten me through some really tough times. Now that CIC has gotten their groove
back and are actually making some progress, I am starting to get nervous as well as excited. I am sponsoring my American-born commom-law hubby. He arrived on a visitor visa and was denied an extension, therefore, he was out of status for a bit. I know that being out of status does not affect the application but I'm worried that because he was denied a visa and given a date to leave, that this may change things. Any ideas if this makes a difference?

Just to be pedantic: Americans don't need visas. He was probably denied a visitor record extension (which is pretty unusual). If he wasn't given a removal order (just a letter saying "please leave by X date") then he's fine. If he was given a removal order ("departure order") then under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should he leave Canada if he can avoid it (since a departure order turns into a deportation order after 30 days). But usually CBSA follows up on departure orders and schedules a pre-removal interview.

I suspect they just said "no, please leave" in a letter. In that case he's out of status, but his status issue is rectified once he has AIP. Did he include an OWP application with the inland PR application by any chance?

 

[Line.a]

Don't trust them. I just exchanged messages with someone who was waiting for the local landing appointment and he only found out about it because I'd suggested he check. Indeed, they sent the letter to the old address even though he'd called before, written them, they'd corresponded with the new address AND e-CAS showed the right address.

If only I knew better.. I guess we could have saved that money. Good thing is that we still can contact the landlord and get him to talk to his new tenants. Hopefully they didn't toss it away or something like that. Just texted him and hope to hear back real soon.

 

[ruppcs]

Thanks for your help guys! We are way past 90 days. He's been here for a couple of years now. We had no idea about this process when we started. We would have done so many things differently otherwise. Unfortunately Cirene, the letter has been lost! Weird since we're both good with things like that - to lose such an important document. I've looked everywhere. I'm just hoping that it doesn't hurt our case that he was denied a visitor visa extension. I'm usually okay with it - it doesn't seem like they should punish us for trying to go the proper route since you don't have to be in status to apply inland. Every once in a while though, I have a panic attack!

Guri,

Could you please add us to the spreadsheet?

app sent: July 26, 2013
aor rec'd: August 21, 2013
police report and owp sent with app
meds not sent yet

Thank you!

 

[computergeek]

Thanks for your help guys! We are way past 90 days. He's been here for a couple of years now. We had no idea about this process when we started. We would have done so many things differently otherwise. Unfortunately Cirene, the letter has been lost! Weird since we're both good with things like that - to lose such an important document. I've looked everywhere. I'm just hoping that it doesn't hurt our case that he was denied a visitor visa extension. I'm usually okay with it - it doesn't seem like they should punish us for trying to go the proper route since you don't have to be in status to apply inland. Every once in a while though, I have a panic attack!

It's not grounds for refusal. In fact, being out of status is pretty much the ONLY reason for a US citizen to file for inland sponsorship.

Once he has AIP, he should apply for an OWP (if he didn't already). With that, his temporary status issue is resolved.

 

[ruppcs]

Hi computergeek,

Yes, it was a no, please leave. They have not tried to contact us at all in over a year. I don't understand why he was denied either. It did seem like it was very unusual. I suspect it may be due to the hassles he got when he arrived. We made the mistake of not purchasing a return ticket and he was hassled by a border agent. He was barely let in. Good thing his record was clean because he was looking for reasons to send him packing. He came out and interviewed me, it was terrible. And don't worry! We won't be going anywhere until things have been finalized. We're both terrified after that experience!

 

[ruppcs]

It's not grounds for refusal. In fact, being out of status is pretty much the ONLY reason for a US citizen to file for inland sponsorship.

Once he has AIP, he should apply for an OWP (if he didn't already). With that, his temporary status issue is resolved.

Glad to know we did something right by applying inland. ANd yes, we applied for OWP with our application. Thank you for your insights. I feel much better. Now I can just get excited that CIC now has their butts in gear. Woohoo!

Congrats to everyone who has received AIP and DM!

 

[Ponga]

Hi computergeek,

Yes, it was a no, please leave. They have not tried to contact us at all in over a year. I don't understand why he was denied either. It did seem like it was very unusual. I suspect it may be due to the hassles he got when he arrived. We made the mistake of not purchasing a return ticket and he was hassled by a border agent. He was barely let in. Good thing his record was clean because he was looking for reasons to send him packing. He came out and interviewed me, it was terrible. And don't worry! We won't be going anywhere until things have been finalized. We're both terrified after that experience!

It does seem odd that CBSA would issue such a letter and then never follow-up on it at all. As computergeek stated, so long as there has been no `official' action taken by CBSA (i.e. pre-removal interview in-person, by phone or otherwise), he should be ok. BUT, as mentioned, until he has AIP, there are no guarantees.

Ironically, CIC *may be* sympathetic to those in this situation:

(from ip08 page 62)-

Individuals should keep copies of their application forms, fee remittances and mail receipt as applicable, as proof they have filed an application. Such proof in no way guarantees the grant of a deferral of removal (where relevant) however.
Where the deferral period applies, CIC will make best efforts to process spousal sponsorship cases to a step-one decision within 60-day period. (A step-one decision occurs after CIC has received an application which contains evidence that the applicant is married or in a common-law relationship with an eligible sponsor, is living with that sponsor and that the sponsorship submitted is a valid one.). After a positive step-one decision, the R233 stay will be invoked until such time as CIC makes a final decision on whether to grant permanent residence. More details on the regulatory stay are found below.

Wow! You could have AIP in 2 months, rather than ~10?!?!

Good luck!

*edited* I just saw that you applied last summer. I wonder why you did not benefit from the 60-day AIP?

 

[bruneian]

Hi guys, just an update and for those with the wrong info entered in their system.. (I found out after ordering GCMS notes). I wrote a letter beginning of the month to CIC about my husband's birthday (entered as sept instead of aug), thus not allowing us to log into ecas as the sponsor. I also wrote another letter stating that the order of my name is wrong (this is confusing i guess because I have a chinese name as well as a first and last name and always included my chinese name as my middle name, and this has always been the case since i came here 5 years ago on study permit. However, upon graduation, i applied for PGWP and that's when they changed the order of my name by combining my first and last name and have them both as my last name.) However, this is changed now and it only took CIC 2 weeks to change it! wow they are really working fast I hope that means they had received my upfront medical too that i sent later after my app?