Overstayed my tourist visa by a year pleas HELP

[Gem13]

crossing the border and extending holiday visa??

Hi.
I am an English tourist. My 6 month holiday visa is about to run out. I have decided I want to stay in BC for another 3 months. If I cross the border in a car through Blane near Bellingham USA will my passport get stamped to show that I left the country just before my 6 months is up? How likely is it that they will extend my visitor visa?
Help please!!

 

[computergeek]

Re: crossing the border and extending holiday visa??

Hi.
I am an English tourist. My 6 month holiday visa is about to run out. I have decided I want to stay in BC for another 3 months. If I cross the border in a car through Blane near Bellingham USA will my passport get stamped to show that I left the country just before my 6 months is up? How likely is it that they will extend my visitor visa?
Help please!!

Technically, UK Citizens do not require visas to enter Canada - you are "visa exempt". What you may have is a "visitor record" or a stamp in your passport permitting you to remain in Canada for 6 months.

When you enter the US, you will be directed to secondary inspection. Inside, you will complete an I-94W and be asked to pay the fee (US$6). They take your fingerprints and your photograph. The exit copy will be stapled inside your passport.

When you return to Canada, you will be subject to normal inspection, just like any other time you come to Canada. If the border officer has concerns/doubts, she or he will direct you to secondary. They may ask you about the purpose of your visit, duration of your stay, etc . As long as you can demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to support yourself without working (which is illegal without a work permit) and that you intend on leaving at the end of your stay, they will permit you to enter.

Note: you may keep the I-94W in your passport, which will permit easy re-entry into the US (no stop or $6 fee again) for up to 90 days, or you may surrender it to the Canadian officer when you cross back into Canada. If you keep it until you fly out (within the 90 days), you should surrender it to a CBSA officer at the airport and they will arrange for its return to the US. Failing to do so can cause problems in the future because it will make it appear as if you overstayed.

I work with someone in the UK and he routinely flies into Vancouver and we then drive down to Seattle, so I've been through this process (albeit as an observer).

Here's another option: if you have something to document your arrival date (visitor record or stamp in your passport) then you can just apply to extend your stay in Canada. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend/visa.asp

I'd suggest applying via the "paper" route. Send the extension request via courier (you want to have evidence you filed the extension before your current status expires). The current processing time is 102 days, and as long as you don't leave Canada, you remain in what is known as "implied status" - they permit you to stay, without the proper documents "as if" the extension had been granted.

Since 102 days is more than 3 months, even if they refused it, you'd have your 3 months.

 

[mygx]

Hi there! I have a similar issue. I was a temporary foreign workers with work permit back in october 2012 and my permit got expired two years after. At that time, TFW faced a major problem when ministry of labor in alberta decided to remove TFW program and increase high level of qualification on releasing new work permits. My employer tried to get my permit and keep appealing for about a year so I was hanging a year without permit till my employer decided to give up. I stayed over 2 years after my work permit expire and decided to leave in 2016. I never got a problem just like anybody else on my exit. I really like to go back and settled in Canada but I am afraid if i will be able to since my overstay. I was never receive any deportation order or whatsoever. If I find new employer, will I be able to acquire a temporary resident visa?

 

[PandaExpress]

Computergeek is correct. He will not be banned.

Having said that, I think he will have zero chance of ever being approved for a temporary visa to Canada ever again due to his overstay (i.e. he can forget about a work permit, study permit, visitor visa). So focusing on applying to immigrate is the right way to go.

So you mean an overstay is unforgivable??? But the immigration law says you can reapply after 6 months.

 

[scylla]

So you mean an overstay is unforgivable??? But the immigration law says you can reapply after 6 months.

You can certainly reapply for a temporary visa (i.e. visitor visa, work permit, study permit) - however that doesn't mean you'll be approved. Whether you're approved depends on a number of things including the length of the overstay.

 

[PandaExpress]

You can certainly reapply for a temporary visa (i.e. visitor visa, work permit, study permit) - however that doesn't mean you'll be approved. Whether you're approved depends on a number of things including the length of the overstay.

I overstayed for 3 months last year on a study visa but I had a reason(severe disease with diagnosis and doctor's note and everything) but I still got refused 3 times. I want to finish my bachelor's at top 2 university.
I got the offer, the money, everything just expecting the visa. I had rough years earlier and I didn't try hard enough to overcome the hardship. I now hired a iccrc consultant and she will explain my situation to the v.o. , the evidence of the disease have never been submitted to them. Do you think I still have a chance?