Out of status applicants and letter of explanation

[Quelaag]

Hello there,
This is mainly for those who have been out of status in Canada for a few years. My inland application says to include a letter explaining my lack of status.
The truth is that I failed to find a job to apply for LMIA during my Working Holiday year and since then I was just too scared to do anything about it and kept postponing it for a few years. Depression and anxiety from the move and complete change of lifestyle was definitely a major culprit, but I've never been officially diagnosed. Also, the fact that my SO's parents really hated our relationship at the beginning and gave us a lot of stressful nights did not help either. Simply put, things didn't go well the first year after I arrived (except our relationship which has always been rock solid) and since then we have been postponing our application because we can't imagine it getting rejected and us being away from each other.
BUT, is it a good idea to actually mention all these legit reasons in my letter of explanation? Should I leave out the fact that our relationship with my sponsor's parents is quite strained and we are actually considering moving to a different province so we don't have to deal with them?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Calm2019]

Just be true on your letter of explanation what exactly happened on why you overstayed

 

[Quelaag]

Thanks, will do!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello there,
This is mainly for those who have been out of status in Canada for a few years. My inland application says to include a letter explaining my lack of status.
The truth is that I failed to find a job to apply for LMIA during my Working Holiday year and since then I was just too scared to do anything about it and kept postponing it for a few years. Depression and anxiety from the move and complete change of lifestyle was definitely a major culprit, but I've never been officially diagnosed. Also, the fact that my SO's parents really hated our relationship at the beginning and gave us a lot of stressful nights did not help either. Simply put, things didn't go well the first year after I arrived (except our relationship which has always been rock solid) and since then we have been postponing our application because we can't imagine it getting rejected and us being away from each other.
BUT, is it a good idea to actually mention all these legit reasons in my letter of explanation? Should I leave out the fact that our relationship with my sponsor's parents is quite strained and we are actually considering moving to a different province so we don't have to deal with them?
Thanks in advance!

Why did you not apply to change your status to visitor before your IEC expired? Why did you not apply for Restoration within 90 days of your status expiring? Why did you not leave Canada instead of staying here illegally for years? This is what you need to explain. Your relationship with your partner's parents really has nothing to do with why you overstayed.

 

[Quelaag]

Why did you not apply to change your status to visitor before your IEC expired? Why did you not apply for Restoration within 90 days of your status expiring? Why did you not leave Canada instead of staying here illegally for years? This is what you need to explain. Your relationship with your partner's parents really has nothing to do with why you overstayed.

I don't really have answers to all these questions. Like I said, depression played a big role, followed by fear of not being able to come back if I decided to leave when it was too late to apply for any extensions or restorations. I will try to explain those in my letter.

 

[qingyunlan]

I don't really have answers to all these questions. Like I said, depression played a big role, followed by fear of not being able to come back if I decided to leave when it was too late to apply for any extensions or restorations. I will try to explain those in my letter.

pat pat. Hope you're all well now. It's nice that you both have each other's back despite everything else.

 

[Quelaag]

pat pat. Hope you're all well now. It's nice that you both have each other's back despite everything else.

Thanks! I got my PR at the beginning of this year (around 7 months after I sent the application). I included everything I could think of, even a little essay about our relationship, and was never asked for any additional documentation. They approved me as soon as I passed my medical exam and background check.
If there is anyone in a similar situation, just know that you can do it too!

 

[Copingwithlife]

Getting rewarded with PR after basically not following the rules, yup, sounds about right

 

[qingyunlan]

Thanks! I got my PR at the beginning of this year (around 7 months after I sent the application). I included everything I could think of, even a little essay about our relationship, and was never asked for any additional documentation. They approved me as soon as I passed my medical exam and background check.
If there is anyone in a similar situation, just know that you can do it too!

I'm also out of status and have already applied for a restoration in time. But I'm not sure on what grounds it was turned down: probably because I got the "purpose of visit" wrong (entered "visitor" instead of "other: apply for spousal sponsorship"). Should I apologize after describing matter of facts (date of refusal and restoration application)? Should I apologize (for what tho)？

 

[Quelaag]

I'm also out of status and have already applied for a restoration in time. But I'm not sure on what grounds it was turned down: probably because I got the "purpose of visit" wrong (entered "visitor" instead of "other: apply for spousal sponsorship"). Should I apologize after describing matter of facts (date of refusal and restoration application)? Should I apologize (for what tho)？

I'd say you need to send in an inland PR application as soon as possible. At this point you might not be able to restore your status anymore until after your whole PR application is approved.
Just make sure to attach a letter of explanation that you made several mistakes applying for status restoration and that you did not realize you had been already in a common-law relationship. I still sometimes get confused too when I'm asked about my status since there is no common-law in my country of origin.