overstayed in canada

[jsrnm]

hi guys!!! i was wondering if anyone could help me. i am a British citizen i have a Canadian boyfriend of almost 5 years and we have 3 year old son together. in the summer of 2012 i came to Canada to visit and i am still here with no status. i intend to leave Canada in December back to the uk. i have found flights but there is a connection flight in the USA. i read that if i go to the states that Canada will find out i overstayed is this true?? will i have to find another way home in order not to ruin my chances of entering Canada again. i plan do my sponsorship to Canada next year. please help

 

[zardoz]

Canada will find out anyway. All flight passenger lists are available to CBSA/CIC.
So, you will have to declare it in your future application anyway, as if you don't and they pull you up on it...

 

[jsrnm]

Aww god I messed up. I didn't need a visa to enter does that make a difference? They probably won't let me back in then right?

 

[zardoz]

It depends on what your long term plan is... This isn't a "show stopper". How are you intending to return, as a visitor or a PR?

 

[jsrnm]

I intend to return as a visitor. I will be travelling with my 3 year old son. Who is Canadian. I just don't want trouble at the border. Am I right though about travelling back to the uk via the states I will have problems. I have not decided about PR yet I am still trying to decide where to live the uk or Canada. If Canada my partner will sponser me. But it's a visit for now next year

 

[Leon]

So you've been "visiting" for well over a year? If your partner had applied to sponsor you, you would have your PR already. Why doesn't he apply to sponsor you now? You have lived together for more than a year so you qualify as common law. If you hang around in the UK too long, it would mean a break in your living together so you may not qualify as common law any more. He could apply outland through the UK so even if you were denied entry to return, you would still get your PR in a few months.

 

[jsrnm]

Leon thank u so much for reply the reason we didn't apply because the plan was to go to the uk the 3 of us. But as u may know the immigration rules are almost impossible back home. There are thousand of families separated. It's only now I have decided to give up with uk and try to keep my family together in Canada.. I have been travelling since my almost 4 year old son was born in order for him to stay bonded with his Canadian dad. I thought the uk was best for us. It's not Canada is. I will leave December but I am looking at putting the application ASAP. Canada is wonderful country it's where my son belongs

 

[zardoz]

Use the Surinder Singh route? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surinder_Singh_route

 

[margobear96]

Unlike the US (and maybe the UK?), there's no automatic bar for overstaying in Canada. Assuming you haven't worked illegally during that period, which CIC takes very seriously, and committed no crimes, you cure your overstay by simply leaving. However, the next time you enter Canada it's more dicey. You've overstayed previously, you'll be accompanying a Canadian citizen child "visiting" his father, no employment to return to in the UK...obviously, oodles of concern that you'll overstay again. This is less of a problem if you're applying for PR -- you have a kid together, there's no question that your relationship is genuine -- and plenty of visa-exempt spouses wait out their outland applications in Canada.

It sounds like you're already common law if you've been living together since summer 2012. Get your application together ASAP. It's best if you mail in your application well before your next trip back to Canada, but at the very, very least pay the filing fees online so CIC has some proof that you're serious about applying for PR. If you're nervous, fly into the US and have your boyfriend meet you in the car and drive back across one of the larger border crossings. Having your Canadian spouse/sponsor with you is helpful and crossing into Canada by land is generally considered more lenient than flying in. They can always refuse you; there is no "right" to visit Canada. However, in the latter situation (land border, accompanied by sponsor, application mailed in, visa exempt) I think refusal is unlikely. Also, keep in mind Canada is extremely lenient about PR residency obligations. You only have to live in Canada 2 out of every rolling 5 year period AND every day you live abroad with your Canadian citizen spouse counts for residency purposes...really, you can get Canadian PR and still dither about for quite some time about whether to live here or in the UK without losing it.

Flying out via the US generates "proof" of when you left Canada since the border agencies share data (as opposed to flying directly to the UK), but honestly, I think that's something they'd find out only after digging into the records. I don't think it automatically triggers something in your file that will be visible to the agent the next time you cross the border. But you did overstay. And though you shouldn't volunteer that information, if they start asking questions, you certainly can't lie about it.

BTW, I overstayed by about a year. Left to visit my parents with the kids. Hubbie filed the PR application while I was out of Canada (and therefore no longer noncompliant). We flew back to the US, he met us and drove us back across the border. In secondary the agent told me the sponsorship had already been approved and gave me a 1 year visitor record (so I didn't need to extend or leave again). You can see my timeline on the left.

 

[petersiddle28]

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/pia-efvp/atip-aiprp/ee-es-phase-2-eng.html

So far the entry/exit system is between US/Canada that too started in 2013

 

[jsrnm]

@zardoz Surinder Singh I have looked into for almost a year until I found out its for married couples only. I was told this by Europa. @ petersiddle I guess I will find another route. Thank u guys for your replies much appreciated