Multiple Questions on Possible Complications

[Ryissa]

Hey all.

I'm a US citizen trying to immigrate to Canada. I am married to a Canadian. I understand that my husband will have to sponsor me, and we were told to use an out-of-Canada sponsorship. We are now in the process of filling out all of the forms for permanent residency.

My first complication is that I am legally disabled in the US from a pain condition. I do some work for my dad, but it's not an official job and definitely not sustainable (in Washington state you can work while disabled up until you earn a certain dollar amount). Should I even put this on my application since there will be no record of this work other than my dad's word that I do work for him?

Also, same kind of applies to my next question. I did have a lawyer that told me I'd need any visa or anything, just fill in the sponsorship and permanent residency forms. Well, the customs agent I came across this last time did NOT like that I didn't have a visa and forgot to bring a copy of my marriage license. Plus we were in the middle of completing the permanent residency application and didn't have that on-hand either. Now my name is flagged and I have to go back to the US way before I was prepared to.

What should I do now? I've pretty much fired my lawyer. Will I be denied a visitor or temporary resident visa because of my health? I don't need lots of treatment funny enough - only some medications and the occasional visit to a massage therapist or chiropractor. I would like anything that would get me up with my husband ASAP because I currently don't have a place to stay in the US for more than a couple days at a time.

Next time I do come up I will of course have my marriage certificate and permanent resident application with me. What else should I bring with me on visits that will assure I will go back? US disability (SSI) does not want me out of the country for more than 30 days at a time, plus I am required to go back once a month anyway to see one of my doctors for medication refills. Will a doctor's note be worth anything?

Sorry this is so long! There's a lot going on right now. Any help would be appreciated. I'm wary of lawyer's services now, but if anyone knows a GOOD one near Vancouver I'd be open to working with them.

 

[Leon]

Your disability will not cause you to be refused for PR because spouses are exempt from such conditions. As for needing a visa or not, there really is no visa that at US citizen can apply for because US citizens are visa exempt. However, each time you enter Canada, it is up to the immigration officer if they allow you in or not. If a person shows up at the border, even if they are visa exempt, and the immigration officer believes that this person may overstay or work illegally, they are allowed to deny them entry or allow them to enter but for less time. You can not move to Canada on a visit status so if you show up at the border with too much of your belongings with you, that is also a red flag for them.

 

[Ryissa]

Your disability will not cause you to be refused for PR because spouses are exempt from such conditions. As for needing a visa or not, there really is no visa that at US citizen can apply for because US citizens are visa exempt. However, each time you enter Canada, it is up to the immigration officer if they allow you in or not. If a person shows up at the border, even if they are visa exempt, and the immigration officer believes that this person may overstay or work illegally, they are allowed to deny them entry or allow them to enter but for less time. You can not move to Canada on a visit status so if you show up at the border with too much of your belongings with you, that is also a red flag for them.

Thank you for the information. The bolded part is what just happened now. I have an order to leave by the 20th (I was planning on staying until the 30th). I'd brought a couple things from home as well just to have up at my husband's when I visited, and that for sure is what must have made them unhappy as well.

Since I don't need a visa for visiting, I guess what I'm looking for is what other proof can I bring with me that will assure the immigration officer that I need to go back home? I wish I had real paystubs from my dad but he pays me in cash.

Also, two more odd things I'm not clear on. One officer told me a while ago that if I stay six months total out of the year and not just consecutively that it's not okay. However, I'm not sure if I'd need some kind of permit/visa or if it meant I can't visit for the rest of the year. The other odd thing was I visited the month of January from the 13th through the 22nd, but they seriously have no record of me crossing at all. What in the world should I tell them when asked when I've visited Canada? To tell them I didn't visit in January would be a lie and I don't want to do that, but since they have no record of me crossing (which is the most bizarre thing for immigration to lose people's records) I probably look like I'm lying to them anyway.

 

[Leon]

As a visitor, you may stay 6 months at a time or cumulatively 6 months over a year with many visits but it is still always up to the immigration officer if they allow you to enter or not. Once you have been flagged, they will probably always give you a hard time. However, outland sponsorship through the US doesn't take very long. A few months and you will have your PR.

 

[Ryissa]

Thanks again for the info. My husband and I are thinking it may be emotionally easier on me (I get legit panic attacks from harsher interrogations... never helps my case) if I found a safe place stay in the US and not visit Canada at all until I get my PR. It'll be really hard to not see him those months as his schedule allows for very little vacation time, but looking like a panicked freak in front of immigration officers is the last thing I want to do when I've got my name flagged.

I saw 54 business days as the estimate for a PR card on the CIC's website. Is that generally correct?

 

[scylla]

Thanks again for the info. My husband and I are thinking it may be emotionally easier on me (I get legit panic attacks from harsher interrogations... never helps my case) if I found a safe place stay in the US and not visit Canada at all until I get my PR. It'll be really hard to not see him those months as his schedule allows for very little vacation time, but looking like a panicked freak in front of immigration officers is the last thing I want to do when I've got my name flagged.

I saw 54 business days as the estimate for a PR card on the CIC's website. Is that generally correct?

The 54 day estimate is for the issuance of the PR card once you have landed. These timelines don't apply to you.

You should be looking at the timelines on the following pages.

Stage 1 of processing for outland applications is 86 days at the Mississauga office:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

Stage 2 processing time for Americans is officially listed as 12 months but many/most get through significantly faster:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp#west

 

[SenoritaBella]

1. You said that you have to go over to the US for refills, right? I'm assuming you need check ups before getting refills? If so, get a letter from the doctor to this effect.
2. You also said US disability does not want you out of the country for more than 30 days - get a letter to this effect. It could be your eligibility form or the letter of approval with the conditions on it.
As for the money from your dad, do you include it when you file taxes? In anycase, it's not a very compelling reason like the first two.

Earlier this year the US and Canada signed an agreement to share entry/exit information on visitors. Do not be fooled that they have no record of your entry. If you were in Canada in January, be honest about it and provide debit/credit card statments or receipts of any purchases you may have made at the time.

It doesn't help either to panic during interrogations as it raises suspicion. The best remedy in my experience is to come prepared and to remember that the worst that could happen is they can deny you entry, in which case you will simply return home. Goodluck and hope it all works out for you so that you can be reunited your Canuck husband soon.

Since I don't need a visa for visiting, I guess what I'm looking for is what other proof can I bring with me that will assure the immigration officer that I need to go back home? I wish I had real paystubs from my dad but he pays me in cash.

 

[Ryissa]

scylla - Thanks, I'll bookmark those for future reference. Now am I correct in understanding I can actually stay in Canada after Stage 1 and not just visit?

SenoritaBella - Unfortunately "Simply returning home" is the source of these panic attacks (I have GAD - so it's not just simple nervousness). At this very moment, partially because of what my idiot lawyer advised me, I'm effectively homeless in the US. When I go back to the US on the 20th I'll be staying at friend's houses until I can get the US government to help assist me in some way so I can get into a cheap roommate situation somewhere.

I was living with my family until I became seriously ill because of the mold they have in their house. They refuse to take care of it, and I had to trash almost all my belongings because they'd become contaminated, and I'd become deathly allergic. My lawyer made it sound like it was perfectly okay for me to spend time up with my husband for most of the month, come back just a few days, and then go back up. Rinse and repeat every month because of the doctor checkups and rules on disability. Had he advised me correctly I would have sought US government help much earlier for housing.

Is this whole process doable without a lawyer even when you've got a lot of health complications like I do? I feel like I'm really going to mess things up being unfamiliar with the gritty details of immigration laws, but I don't want to get burned by another scam artist lawyer.

Gah, and one more question: Since my husband and I were JUST married, all of my IDs have my maiden name on it. Should I continue to fill everything out using that name until I get my PR, then change it after? We're scrambling to finish the paperwork today, but when I go back to the US I will need to update all my info, including all my IDs.

 

[scylla]

scylla - Thanks, I'll bookmark those for future reference. Now am I correct in understanding I can actually stay in Canada after Stage 1 and not just visit?

Unfortunately receiving stage 1 approval for outland doesn't change anything. You can still only visit Canada.

 

[Ryissa]

Unfortunately receiving stage 1 approval for outland doesn't change anything. You can still only visit Canada.

Thanks for the info. That's is pretty unfortunate to put it mildly.

Now I'm running into problems with my contact information... normally I would have listed my family's address, but as mentioned previously I basically don't have a real home to go back to, only friend's places. Correspondence will go to my email, but should I just put that old address down anyway since it's what's currently on my ID?

 

[scylla]

Thanks for the info. That's is pretty unfortunate to put it mildly.

Now I'm running into problems with my contact information... normally I would have listed my family's address, but as mentioned previously I basically don't have a real home to go back to, only friend's places. Correspondence will go to my email, but should I just put that old address down anyway since it's what's currently on my ID?

Even with an email address, there are still things they mail to you (at least that was my experience). So you need a valid address for physical mail. I would recommend that for a mailing address, you use your husband's address in Canada. This will ensure nothing that comes by mail is lost/missed. As for a residential address, you should ideally have an address to use in the US. Where was the last family/friend place you lived? Maybe use that?

 

[Ryissa]

Yeah, I'll use the last address I was at.

Now on the IMM 5669 form in question 6 they ask if I have been ordered to leave Canada, and if I have had any serious disease or physical/mental disorder. Is this limiting of my recent stay here considered "ordered to leave"?

And is my disability considered "serious"? I won't die from my disability or anything, but the pain it puts me in is just bad enough to prevent me from earning a wage even close to livable. My current treatment for it is just taking medicine and seeing chiropractors and RMTs to control the pain.

 

[Creampop]

No you have not been ordered to leave Canada, they are referring to a deportation order... and no your disability will not effect your application. Your applying Fam class so excessive cost is waived and I seriously doubt your disability will cause an outbreak and put Canada into quarantine so you won't have to worry about being a danger to public safety.

anyways after reading your original post I wanted to give you some words of encouragement... I think you were limited on your entry for one simple reason... you were not prepared... You did not have the most important piece of information your marriage certificate... you had no proof of your intention to file a PR app. and thats why your stay was limited, if you had the proper documents you most likely would have gotten a visitor record for atleast 6 months... I have 3 red-flags on my passport and have been into immigration everytime I have crossed the border since 2007 (when I got my first red-flag I've been crossing since 1999) when you get an IO with a god complex it happens... but this last time I crossed was the easiest in years even having to go into immigration. and I honestly believe thats because after reading here I was completely prepared when crossing... Have you considered applying for an extention including all the proof you didn't have when crossing?

 

[Ryissa]

You know I've been trying to contact someone about an extension, but I haven't found a number to call that can put me through to someone. All I've been doing for the past hour or so is calling the CIC Call Centre which has been really frustrating... spend about 5 minutes going through the menu each time only to have the system hang up on me if there isn't an agent immediately available (I guess they don't put you on hold?).

I'm not sure how to apply for an extension when I don't even have a visa of any sort? Is there any other number I can call that's easier to get ahold of a real person instead of an automated system?

Edit: I don't think I can even apply at all because I have orders to leave in 7 days can I? I could only apply if they let me in for more than a month at a time?

 

[SenoritaBella]

1-888-242‑2100 is the only number, unfortunately. You have to keep trying and they say Thursday is a good day to reach agents because it's less busy.