U.S. citizen with Common law illegally in the U.S.

[tgurl]

Ok guys here is the deal, my girlfriend is a US citizen and she is graduating with her bachelor's next spring. After she gets 2 years of experience we'll be able to apply for a skilled worker visa for PR in Canada. The problem.... I've been in the U.S. since 2001 legally until last year I was in a work visa L2 derived from my father's L1, I aged out. Oh... yeah by then I'll be an R.N. but anyway... How is this going to affect our application process? Are we even going to be able to apply? And if there are others like us that have gone through the application process successfully I would like to hear from you.

Thanks!

 

[bla333]

You should be okay, the rules for canadian immigration states that you only have to prove that you were legally in the US for at least one year.

 

[tgurl]

thanks! now how do I prove this with the 6month tourist visa and then the adjustment to the L2? sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure we cover all the loopholes.

Tgurl

 

[Yojimbo]

You also have to prove your legal status in your country of residence. It sounds like you can prove you've been in the U.S. legally for more than a year, but currently the "legal" part is no longer the case...

If you're not legal, it will be an obvious no-no for CIC, regardless of your girlfriend/wife/mother/twin sister being a U.S. / Canadian citizen with diplomatic inmunity.

good luck with loophole #2

 

[tgurl]

Ok now I'm confused one of you says its ok as long as I can prove 1 y. the other says i have to prove 1 yr. And prove the current status. Which one is it?

 

[Yojimbo]

If you apply from the U.S. that means that you plan to apply through Buffalo, right? If it's the case that your applying for permanent resident as a skilled worker, you can check out the check list for the requiered documents.

#4.2 goes like this:
If you live in a country different from your nationality, include a photocopy of your
visa for the country where you currently live.

You can induce (or deduce, which is it?) if it's O.K. or not from this requirement...

 

[thaiguy]

As long as you were legally admitted to the U.S. for a period of at least 1 year (i.e., student visa, work visa, etc. - not tourist visa), you will be ok. You simply provide a copy of that visa along with the copy of the first page(s) of your passport.

CIC will probably ask you why you overstayed your visa, but they won't deny your application for the overstay.

So as long as you are otherwise qualified, you'll be ok.

Best of luck.

 

[Yojimbo]

Well, I haven't read or heard of any experiences similar to this situation; and I don't know any 'inside' information. But considering the requirement to send your current visa, I assumed that you had to have a valid visa for your country of residence.

So, that was only my assumption - perhaps it's not a requirement and you'll be OK.

Regarding your status in the U.S., you should have in mind that the process takes years...

good luck

 

[tgurl]

Thanks guys
I understand the risk Yojimbo. I want to make sure I have everything together to apply. There is no point to apply if I already know they are going to deny it. All the info I can get helps. Thanks!