Sticky Situation

[onlyaskingforfamily]

I have a cousin who is about to marry his fiance who is a canadian citizen and are looking at their options on what to do for my cousin.

My cousin entered the United States legally but overstayed and therefore, now living in the US illegally. Will he be able to get sponsored by his spouse from US to Canada or would he have to go back to his country and start from scratch? He has no criminal records or what so ever.

 

[scylla]

Yes - he can apply from the US. However since he is in the US illegally he will have to select his home country as his visa office. If an interview is required, it will be held in his home country (not in the US). Make sure he is honest in his application about his illegal status in the US when he submits his application for Canada.

Note that depending on how long he has been without status in the US, he may end up with a ban from re-entering the US as soon as he leaves. This bad will remain in place even after he gets Canadian PR (even citizenship).

 

[iqbalcheema]

Its not at all sticky, living in US illegally has no bearing on Canadian sponsorship - all he has to do his show his FBI clearance and possibly state ( if asked ) and both can be applied by anyone even if they stayed illegally

Simply goto a affiliated fingerprint agency, apply for it and get it mailed, send with app

More so, the onus of the app is actually on genuine relationship rather than his status in US

You might wonder what he says in the form, you need to fill whats asked

Lived in a country for more than 5 years - Y/N if yes, what date entered to current
Provide job activities, for al dates and addresses

There is no provision for are you staying or stayed there illegally

 

[scylla]

There is no provision for are you staying or stayed there illegally

Incorrect. The background declaration form makes you indicate your status in your current country of residence. In this case the right answer would be "no status" or "without status". This is the nice way of saying "illegal".

 

[bobbyinvisalia]

Incorrect. The background declaration form makes you indicate your status in your current country of residence. In this case the right answer would be "no status" or "without status". This is the nice way of saying "illegal".

Let me update you on this, since my brother was in the same situation and he is a Canadian citizen now.
OP will have absolutely no impact on his application, living illegally in the states as cic looks on the relationship rather than the legal status of the applicant.
However two things are needed.
1. FBI clearence
2. PCC (police clearence certificate) from applicant's native country.

 

[onlyaskingforfamily]

Iqbalcheema, did your brother get banned
to enter the US and was his place of interview held in his homeland? I appreciate all your answers, really!

 

[scylla]

Let me update you on this, since my brother was in the same situation and he is a Canadian citizen now.
OP will have absolutely no impact on his application, living illegally in the states as cic looks on the relationship rather than the legal status of the applicant.
However two things are needed.
1. FBI clearence
2. PCC (police clearence certificate) from applicant's native country.

You've completely misinterpreted my response. I never said that having illegal status would create problems for an application (I agree it won't). What I said was that it was important that a person's status be honestly declared in the Canadian application. If you look above, you'll see someone responded and said there was no place on the application where a person has to state their current status. I was correcting this error since this information does in fact have to be mentioned in the background declaration.

 

[iqbalcheema]

Where exactly in Schedule A does t

Incorrect. The background declaration form makes you indicate your status in your current country of residence. In this case the right answer would be "no status" or "without status". This is the nice way of saying "illegal".

The status part is within Personal History - which can be either Visitor during times he had status and then " Out of Status " ( again a very diff scenario where there is provision for putting a petition etc, and in technical terms they are not out of status or something to that effect, depends on what the case is ) . What I mean is that applicant doesn't need to go out of way to explain it and if CIC really wants to know, they can see docs of entry to US and lack of extensions but again their concern is criminal and relationship

Iqbalcheema, did your brother get banned
to enter the US and was his place of interview held in his homeland? I appreciate all your answers, really!

Not sure how you got the idea that its my brother or he got banned but I had a friend who lived in US for 5 years and his US wife sponsored him after he left the country for more than 4 years
..and this was US itself, they just had to say the truth, OPs case is still simpler being Canada

 

[Rob_TO]

Where exactly in Schedule A does t
The status part is within Personal History - which can be either Visitor during times he had status and then " Out of Status " ( again a very diff scenario where there is provision for putting a petition etc, and in technical terms they are not out of status or something to that effect, depends on what the case is ) . What I mean is that applicant doesn't need to go out of way to explain it and if CIC really wants to know, they can see docs of entry to US and lack of extensions but again their concern is criminal and relationship

There are 2 separate forms in the application guide where they will need to indicate they are out of status in US:
Generic App Form IMM0008, Question 12.
Schedule A Background IMM5669, Question 8.

Suffice to say, CIC will know they are currently out of status in the US. As long as CIC is satisfied the relationship is genuine, then being out of status will not be an issue. And this is probably what happens in most cases.
HOWEVER if the proofs of relationship are weak, or CIC suspects a marriage of convenience say due to a quick relationship and then marriage, then the fact the applicant is out of status could play in a role in the final decision. It could be seen as an indication the applicant really really wants to live in either US or Canada and will do anything to not go back to their home country.

 

[MK88]

Yes, but what happens if they apply at immigration office at US and leaves back to his own country then he gets banned from US and is called to interview in US... what will happen then? I got a friend in same situation.

 

[Rob_TO]

Yes, but what happens if they apply at immigration office at US and leaves back to his own country then he gets banned from US and is called to interview in US... what will happen then? I got a friend in same situation.

He can not be processed from a US office (or CPC-Ottawa). CIC will send his application based on his citizenship, so in case of interview it will be in his home country, not the US.

 

[MK88]

He can not be processed from a US office (or CPC-Ottawa). CIC will send his application based on his citizenship, so in case of interview it will be in his home country, not the US.

Once they shift the case to his home country does that mean it will follow his home country's timeline then?

 

[truesmile]

Once they shift the case to his home country does that mean it will follow his home country's timeline then?

Yes.

 

[MK88]

Yes.

But Considering that he applied from Malaysia and his case is processing in Singapore so even if he gets banned from Malaysia can't he request to come to Singapore for interview? since he can go to Singapore on visit visa.