Need advice for a big mess

[racerfb1]

I am a uk. citizen living in the usa for the past 25 years,( except for a brief trip back to england in 94) was caught for over extending my visa back in 96, I got married before my court date and when went to court the judge granted me legal residencey. During the next process while waiting for my green card, my wife wanted a divorce (we were married for 3 years), it got ugly and she took to writing letters to the INS saying it was a marriage of conveniance and withdrew her petition without me or my lawyer knowing. After we divorced we moved back in with eachother and lived together for 13 years platonically. In 2006 my lawyer recieved an email fromthe INS saying they had deported me back to the uk. (obviously that didn't happen). My ex wife had forgotten what she had done and blamed it on her being upset at the time. I am now waiting for the government to re-open my case, my lawyer has no idea when this will happen, until it does I really do not exist in the governments eyes.
Here is my dilemma, in 2009 I met my canadian girlfriend while she was visiting the USA, since then I have flown her over here for several trips for the last 2 years. We now want to get me to canada to live together, she has 2 young children but has never been married, we want to get married and live together as a family. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated, she is 43 I am 47 ( not that that makes a difference)

 

[parceromiguel]

As far as i know, Canada will need verification that you are in the USA legally (green card, work permit, license) otherwise they will ask you to go back to your home country and apply there.

If you apply here and 6 months later they tell you to go back to your home country and apply, those 6 months are wasted. The application will start all over again.


Do not take this as valuable information.
I have read and asked many questions related to the same topic.

I am just giving you my personal opinion.

 

[Leon]

Your Canadian girlfriend can sponsor you if you get married or if you manage to live together for a year which would make you common law partners. You can ask for processing in Buffalo if you were at some point legally in the US for a year. The magic question is "If the above address is not in the country of nationality of the person you are sponsoring, has that person been lawfully admitted for a period of at least one year in the country where he or she is living?". There are a few possible ways to understand that but according to experience of members of this forum who have asked, that is how they choose to interpret it. If you were called for an interview, which is absolutely not certain, it would happen in one of the visa offices in the US if your application is being processed there. You could also asked to be processed in London.

 

[racerfb1]

yes Leon I have been here legally for more than a year, i live in california my girlfriend in Alberta. Obviously if I leave the USA my case will be permantly closed. Is Buffalo the only place and what is the process, time etc. We want to get married but understandably my girlfriendwould find it very hard to go back to Canada alone while the process goes through.

 

[Canadian_girl]

You can apply through the London visa office while living in the USA without status. If you were ever ordered to leave and didn't, it can be a criminality issue. A problem that may arise if you apply through London while living in the US without status is if you have to attend an interview in London. While they are rare, it is possible to be called for an interview, in which case, you must attend it in London. After that, the US government may not allow you back in, so that can be a problem; however it should not impact your Canadian pr application.

 

[racerfb1]

I was never ordered to leave, according to the government I was deported in 2006, but obviously they had the wrong person. This is why my lawyer is waiting for them to reopen my case. As the title says a big mess. What would happen to me if I tried to visit Canada now?

 

[scylla]

No one can predict what will happen if you try to visit Canada now. You might very well be let in for the standard six month visit, you could also be allowed in for a shorter period of time - or you might be denied entry (this doesn't happen very often, but it is possible).

Do you have legal status in the US right now?

 

[racerfb1]

as far as legal i do not know, the government says i was deported, and i am now waiting for them to reopen my case.

 

[scylla]

I think it's very important you determine what your status is in the US before you go anywhere. If you don't have legal status (and haven't had legal status for a year or more) and you leave, this will trigger a 10 year ban from the US.