SOWP rejected at port of entry and ban from reapplying for 6months

[SALLYMA]

I am currently on my PGWP. I recently visited India in January 2019. My boyfriend applied for Canada visitor visa in Feb 2019 from India. Visa accepted (he did not mention my name in his visitor application and he just mentioned he is coming here for tourism) He came to canada as tourist on 24 June 2019.we got married in canada on 30 June 2019 applied for sowp at the border on 1st August with all required documents of my NOC B category job with 3 paystubs.

Visa interview for sowp at the border was very intimidating. First they called us together and then separately to see if our and match later they took our phone and password.
Initially she was checking and focussing on the genuineness of the relationship.
She scanned our phones completely. Unfortunately she came across an email in my husband mobile where it proved that he worked for one day. It was a casual job for one day at the wedding ceremony. And he actually worked for just one day.
We accepted our mistake and told her we were not aware that such casual job will cost him so much.

She told us I can deport you, but I am not you can stay here on visitor visa until your 6month period, but you can only apply for any kind of visa after 6months from the last worked day that was 27 july 2019.

His 6months of valid visitor visa permit is till 24 December 2019 and he can apply for SOWP after 27 January 2020

We both have valid usa visa. He is with me herein can and planing to go end of this month back to India.

Now my question is when we reapply after 6months which of the following is the best way and what are the chances that he will get his visa approved or even allow him reentry after 6months to canada as visitor. (There is no ban on visitor visa, just ban on apply for any kind of visa)

1. Should he apply online SOWP from India
2. should he apply online SOWP after coming back to Canada after 6months of his stay in India on visitor status.
3. Should he apply for SOWP at the airport when he comes back to canada on visitor status
4 we both go to usa after 6 months-he comes form India to usa and I go from canada to usa and apply at the port of entry canada. In this way at least i am with him to support.

Please help!!
What are the chances of approval and by which way should we apply?
Thank you for any kind of suggestions in advance.

 

[SALLYMA]

Your best bet is to leave Canada for now and apply from overseas after 6 months. You can assume that the 6 month ban is recorded as a refusal of SOWP and stays on immigration record so any future applications whether online or at POE will be scrutinized by CIC but doesn't mean it won't be accepted.
Also illegal work is illegal, doesn't matter if it was for a day or a year so you should consider yourself lucky as they didn't try to remove him from Canada.

Thank you so much for the reply. Are there any chances that if he leaves canada this month (that will be 2month of stay in Canada since his arrival) when he comes back as a visitor after 6month, his visit will be restricted at the airport or worse if they cancel his visa?? Is there a possibility??

 

[21Goose]

Thank you so much for the reply. Are there any chances that if he leaves canada this month (that will be 2month of stay in Canada since his arrival) when he comes back as a visitor after 6month, his visit will be restricted at the airport or worse if they cancel his visa?? Is there a possibility??

Possible, but unlikely. If he is complying with the rules, they are not likely to cancel the visa just for the sake of it.

However you can expect that he will be taken to secondary screening and asked more questions about the purpose of his visit, whether he is planning on working illegally, whether your relationship is genuine, etc. If this was a one-time mistake, and you both are in a real relationship, they will probably be satisfied.

 

[SALLYMA]

Thank you so much, yeah it was a one time stupid mistake. And we regret it more than anything else. But it was so sensible of us to accept it and not argue with the officer anymore or she would have sent him home by now. I will make sure my letter of explanation is on the spot next time we apply. I have also applied for ATIP Notes, once I get them I will share so I know what all should I mention in the next application.

I also have one more question, next May I will be eligible to apply for express entry would this have any effect on my PR application since I am planing to apply for for my husband under my file. S

 

[21Goose]

Thank you so much, yeah it was a one time stupid mistake. And we regret it more than anything else. But it was so sensible of us to accept it and not argue with the officer anymore or she would have sent him home by now. I will make sure my letter of explanation is on the spot next time we apply. I have also applied for ATIP Notes, once I get them I will share so I know what all should I mention in the next application.

I also have one more question, next May I will be eligible to apply for express entry would this have any effect on my PR application since I am planing to apply for for my husband under my file. S

No, if your husband maintains a clean immigration record from now on, this will not affect your Express Entry application next year. If he somehow becomes inadmissible (or you do), then it will affect your application.

Basically, don't do anything stupid for the next year and you'll be fine.

 

[Buletruck]

I don't agree with the idea that one day's illegal work is the same as one year's illegal work. It is common sense that the penalty has to be proportionate to the severity of the violation. A 6-month ban is too much for a single day's casual work.

It’s illegal work one way or another, whether it’s a day or a year. 6 months is probably the minimum permissible for the infraction. And if 1 day isn’t enough to justify CBSAs position, how many days are in your mind? Where do you draw the line when it’s clearly stated that working on a TRV is illegal.

 

[21Goose]

Does that mean the 6-month ban is not equal to becoming inadmissible?

Inadmissibility has a specific meaning under the IRPA (the law governing immigration). Read Section 33-42.
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/page-8.html#docCont

The 6-month ban makes him inadmissible for 6 months under S.41, but that's only for six months. After six months, he will again become admissible, except if he does something else. He's not inadmissible for life because of something like this.

 

[21Goose]

Thank you for your reply.

I just still don't understand why some people can still get their work permit (especially PGWP) after having slightly breached a condition imposed on their previous permit (for example, student working a little more than 20 hours a week). Does this mean the officer has a lot of discretion/flexibility?

Also, my initial understanding is that an inadmissible person is not permitted in Canada, but this case shows that he is still allowed to stay here, and the only limitation is he was not allowed to apply for any study or work permit. This is like a new finding....

I see that you've started studying immigration law. All this and more will be explained in your course.

In general, though, the answer is that yes, there is some amount of discretion that is available to IRCC. You should also read up on "liability", and the different standards of liability (absolute, strict, general, etc). This goes beyond immigration law, and is applicable to most laws. In fact, most offenses under most laws have a broad range of discretionary punishments where a judge/officer can decide what punishment to apply, usually within a minimum-maximum range.

There are public policy considerations that apply, and many immigration offenses can be mild in the grand scheme of things.

Take your argument of someone on a PGWP who accidentally worked a little more than 20 hours a week for a few weeks. This is a person who is statistically likely to become an asset to Canada as they are educated here, will presumably become a PR, get a job, contribute to the country, become a citizen, etc. A major thrust of Canadian immigration policy (source below) is to try and attract people like this to Canada. Weigh their lifetime value to Canada vs the offense they committed by working a few extra hours by accident. And even here, an officer can and will cancel their PGWP if they determine that the person willfully intended to break the law.

Of course there are offenses that immediately attract the harshest punishments, and rightfully so (serious criminality, genocide, human trafficking, etc), but accidentally working a few hours without a permit is clearly not the same as killing someone.

Sources:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/campaigns/immigration-matters/system.html

We select immigrants for their economic contribution, for their humanitarian needs and to reunite families.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/campaigns/immigration-matters/track-record.html
Thanks to immigration, Canada’s labour force continues to grow by a small amount every year. If it weren’t for immigrants, employers would have trouble finding enough qualified workers to fill available jobs. This is because Canadians are living longer and having fewer children. More of us are retiring, and there are fewer students in our schools. As a result, the pool of Canadian-born existing and potential workers is limited.


Immigrants contribute to our economy, not only by filling gaps in our labour force and paying taxes, but also by spending money on goods, housing and transportation.