Retaining Legal Status

[Prelude]

Hello! I tried calling the CIC directly about this issue, but the call centre person I got was pretty short with me and still didn't really clarify things. :T Sorry in advance that this is so long, wow.

When my wife came into Canada from the US, we explained our situation (married, applying for PR from inside Canada), and they stapled a visitor record to her passport. The visitor record gives the following conditions.

1 - Prohibited from engaging in employment in Canada.
2 - Prohibited from attending any educational institution and taking any academic, professional, or vocational training course.
3 - Must leave Canada by June 30, 2015.
4 - Must furnish proof of compliance on June 30, 2015 at Nelway.

Nelway was our border crossing, but the border agent said he didn't have the ability to change it (on the sheet) to any other locations, and it was fine for us to "furnish proof" with another CIC location. He recommended Vegreville, as we will be living in Calgary. The proof in question is that she's submitted a PR application. When I explained this to the CIC call centre, I was told this doesn't make sense and that she needs to apply for her visitor extension through the website as is typical.

When I attempted to go look up this process, it made us fill out a questionnaire first, then told us to apply for PR instead.

We really, really don't want to have any legal issues in our application. We have a photocopy of this visitor record, which we were going to include as her current proof of status in the PR application, but we don't want her status to run out and the website apparently doesn't want us to apply for a visitor extension. What do we do?

How do we apply for the extension? And if we do it like the call centre told us to, will the current visitor record cause us some kind of additional problem, since it mentions furnishing proof at the border? We're pretty worried about this.

Thank you in advance for your insight.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hello! I tried calling the CIC directly about this issue, but the call centre person I got was pretty short with me and still didn't really clarify things. :T Sorry in advance that this is so long, wow.

When my wife came into Canada from the US, we explained our situation (married, applying for PR from inside Canada), and they stapled a visitor record to her passport. The visitor record gives the following conditions.

1 - Prohibited from engaging in employment in Canada.
2 - Prohibited from attending any educational institution and taking any academic, professional, or vocational training course.
3 - Must leave Canada by June 30, 2015.
4 - Must furnish proof of compliance on June 30, 2015 at Nelway.

Nelway was our border crossing, but the border agent said he didn't have the ability to change it (on the sheet) to any other locations, and it was fine for us to "furnish proof" with another CIC location. He recommended Vegreville, as we will be living in Calgary. The proof in question is that she's submitted a PR application. When I explained this to the CIC call centre, I was told this doesn't make sense and that she needs to apply for her visitor extension through the website as is typical.

When I attempted to go look up this process, it made us fill out a questionnaire first, then told us to apply for PR instead.

We really, really don't want to have any legal issues in our application. We have a photocopy of this visitor record, which we were going to include as her current proof of status in the PR application, but we don't want her status to run out and the website apparently doesn't want us to apply for a visitor extension. What do we do?

How do we apply for the extension? And if we do it like the call centre told us to, will the current visitor record cause us some kind of additional problem, since it mentions furnishing proof at the border? We're pretty worried about this.

Thank you in advance for your insight.

1. You apply for an extension of her visitor status to Vegreville by paper or on line.

 

[Ponga]

How soon will you be applying for her PR?

You are planning to submit an Outland application (even though she is IN Canada), right? An Outland application for most Americans is actually processed entirely in Canada (Mississauga for stage one, followed by Ottawa for stage two) and the entire process takes less than 12 months (some say closer to 6-8 months), versus 2 years +/- for an Inland application. Seems like a no-brainer, right?


Even if you can't get the application submitted before her status expires, you could at least pay the fees ($1040 total, but only $550 is actually required up front). This could help her to get the extension.

If you are near a land border, you could save yourselves the expense of the extension. Just present your proof to the CBSA officer and ask for a new visitor record, based on the fact that you now have proof that the application has been started.

 

[Prelude]

PMM: It apparently won't let us do it online, since the first step was filling out that questionnaire, and then it just told us to apply for PR and provided no means to apply for a visitor extension through the site. It's pretty silly.

Ponga: Absolutely! I've been on a quest to find more info about the process of applying outland, but I'm having a little trouble. Is there any specific place I can read up on it? I've only seen it vaguely mentioned in the guides on the CIC site. Also, re: CSBA, the CIC call centre person said that extending status through the border was incorrect, but do you think it would be a good idea to just go down to a border crossing anyway and request an updated visitor record?

Also, do you think submitting the copy of the current visitor record in with the PR app will cause a problem because of the date? (Unrelated, but seeing your replies on people's topics always makes me super happy because you're so friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you!)

 

[Ponga]

I suggest that you post something to this thread:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/us-outland-applicants-thread-t106068.4035.html

There are many people there that have submitted an Outland application even though they are in Canada.


Oh...and thanks for the kind words. I'm still a junior member here when it comes to having much knowledge and am grateful to members like PMM that are true legends here!