Refused at the Canadian border, what now?

[yamchoo]

Hello,

My fiance drove from Colorado Springs to Vancouver BC this week, we were planning on getting married and starting an in-land sponsorship process. But things did not go according to plan.

When he got to the border, he was turned around for having insufficient proof that he would return to the US (no proof of residency, employment, or sufficient funds to support himself). They turned him around as someone who “withdrew” application.

Truth be told, we did research and found that people strongly advised against telling the truth in this situation (even though it is completely legal). So we decided to present his crossing the border as a *visit* to his girlfriend (me), and that he would return to Denver after a month to look for a job and live with his sister there.

Because he was unable to produce any concrete guarantee that he would return (such as a lease or employment), and because he had already 5 visits to Canada on his passport this year, he was refused entry.

What are our options?

Should I go down and marry him in Washington? How can we get him to Canada? I am committed to supporting him until he gets a work permit. We just want to be together. What can we do?

Any advice would be so appreciated. :'(

 

[scylla]

If he's American then you should be applying outland. You could be done in as little as four months. You will hate life if you apply inland.

Go down to the US and marry him there - and kick off the outland application while he's still in the US. At the same time, your fiance should work to establish ties to the US (job, rental property, etc.). Once he has sufficient ties established, he can attempt to visit again - this time bringing evidence of his ties. I'd recommend he come for a short visit (e.g. week or so). A month-long visit would once again demonstrate a lack of ties and potentially cause another refusal.

 

[YYC787]

If he's American then you should be applying outland. You could be done in as little as four months. You will hate life if you apply inland.

Go down to the US and marry him there - and kick off the outland application while he's still in the US. At the same time, your fiance should work to establish ties to the US (job, rental property, etc.). Once he has sufficient ties established, he can attempt to visit again - this time bringing evidence of his ties. I'd recommend he come for a short visit (e.g. week or so). A month-long visit would once again demonstrate a lack of ties and potentially cause another refusal.

This...applicants from the States are lucky, cause it takes no time at all to process an application. Meanwhile, the rest of us have to wait a year and a half, and it's still not done!

 

[epmarshall]

Sorry you are in this situation, but at least one good thing has come out of it. You now know to apply outland instead of inland; outland is much faster so your life in Canada can begin much sooner that way.

Follow Scylla's advice. Marry him in the US and start outland PR. Another thing that might help is have your husband bring the PR fees paid receipt next time he attempts to cross the border. I've read on the forum before that CBSA is more lenient on couples who have already paid the fee, as it shows they are going to follow the legal process. That way CBSA knows that you don't want to jeopardize your PR by overstaying.

I was turned away at the border once back in 2014 when attempting to visit my boyfriend. My home is far from Canada in the south and I didn't want to go back, so I gathered some evidence, got a hotel for the night, and attempted again the next morning. They ended up letting me through. In your case, however, trying the very next day is probably not a good idea since he already brought all his evidence the first time, I think.



Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Aquakitty]

He had 5 visits since the start of 2016? I think the issue was this along with saying he was going to go get a job and live with a family member, it doesn't sound likely if he's been visiting that much. But anyways, it's not that big a deal. Get the outland PR started before he visits again. Maybe you can go visit him down there and get married, then cross into Canada together. Being with a spouse and having a PR in process when he crosses will help.

 

[Zake424]

Definitely apply outland. I just received my COPR last Saturday and it only took 5 months. I'm an American married to a Canadian.

 

[canadaguy238]

The same exact situation happened to us last month! My spouse actually made it into Canada through the airport. Our lives changed when we stupidly went across the border to the USA, just to eat dinner! Then we drove back over the land border and got red flagged at the border. My spouse was denied entry because they did not believe she was just coming as a visitor. The airport is so much easier to get through than the land border. Once you've been denied, things get tougher.

Basically your options are to apply from Canada or apply from the USA. If from Canada, you will need to produce documents proving your spouse will leave, even if he intends on staying, you have to prove to the officer he intends on leaving. Its really really stupid because Canada allows inland applications, but only if you are on a tourist visa. Its a huge pain I know! Then on top of this, your spouse cannot leave Canada for 26 months until he is approved for PR. He wont be able to get a health card for like 7 months either. You will have to extend his tourist visa a couple times which costs $100 each time. Huge hassle, I know.

I think the government is working on speeding this up, but this is how it stands as of today.

Your other option is to do what we are doing. We are applying for permanent residency from the USA because apparently it only takes about 6 months. Its a huge pain because we have to find a place to live and pay more to live in a country we don't want to live in (The USA). At least the USA is tolerable to live in temporarily. Im literally preparing our application right now. Everyone on here recommends to apply outland from the USA, so that is what we are doing. I hate to be in the US for even 1 more day, but being stuck in Canada for 26 months without leaving is a burden too.

I hope this helps!

 

[Decoy24601]

I also had a similar issue, but I was never completely refused entry. I was given a "voluntary" withdrawal (they might as well not even call it voluntary). I was visiting my husband (then boyfriend) for a couple months in the summer before I had to go to a university and I went across the border to visit my mother who lived nearby for a couple days and when I tried to re-enter, that happened. One of the rudest women I have ever met questioned me for hours, half of that time I was sitting down waiting for her to call me back up. She asked much too personal questions about our relationship and went as far as googling the forum we met on and asking for the specific sub-forum and thread we met on (the latter I didn't remember because it was a while ago, and really?). I've never had someone roll her eyes at me so many times, it was one of the most humiliating experiences I've had. This was at the Peach Arch crossing. I'm really considering taking a landing interview when my PR application visited because I don't think I can walk back in that building without breaking down. She seized my passport and allowed me 3 days back in Canada. When I came back to the building, she gave me a voluntary withdrawal before giving me my passport back. She wasn't satisfied I had enough ties to the US because I had found out during my trip that I couldn't attend university for unforeseen financial reasons (financial aid with the university and some scholarships fell through).

However, my initial entry to Canada was a breeze. I asked for 3 months of entry and explained I wanted to visit my boyfriend during the summer before I had to move to another state for university. I didn't even get a secondary. I had flown into YVR.

When I went to visit my husband after we had gotten married I took the train across and had no issues, even though we ended up in a secondary. CBSA is much much more lenient on people who are married and have a PR application in process.

Either way, definitely apply outland. After you are married and have a PR application in process he can try to visit you, although he might still be denied entry. To do that, he will still likely need to have proof of employment and a lease/utilities to an apartment or something, especially since he has already been refused entry. The worst that can happen is that he is denied entry again.