What To Do After Overstay During PR Application Process

[cometSuicide]

Hello all! I wanted to run this by you good folks here for your opinions;

In Oct. 2014 I landed in Canada as a US citizen to stay with my gf (now common-law partner) to complete the one year of living together needed to apply for family class PR. When my six months of status from my passport was up, we applied to extend visitor status for another six months and were approved. When the final six months came close to being over, we submitted our application with only a few days left to spare. Concerned about my status, we called the CIC and asked if I should leave, or extend my visitor status again. We were told while the application was in process that I would have 'implied status' and not to worry about it.

Fast forward to November, 2016. Everything was going well until our PR application was refused due to 'missing documents' (which we supplied on three separate occasions while begging for specifics of what they needed/wanted.) Lawyers were contacted. Options were weighed. We were told our best rout would to be completely reapply. But now we had the dilemma that my status was O U T and status information is required on the application. Despite never receiving a removal notice, we gathered the required paperwork and I left Canada voluntarily on Jan. 18th 2017. That same week we reapplied with an Outland application.

Now, only a handful of months back in the US, and we are having a tremendously rough time. Despite my ongoing efforts I have yet to find a job and my partner and I are hemorrhaging money keeping me down here. I want to return to Canada, but we're worried about our Outland application, my accidental overstay, and a variety of other things. My specific questions are;

If I apply for a visitor visa, what are my chances of being accepted despite my overstay during our PR application period?

If I don't apply for a visa for an early return, what are my chances of being stopped at the Canadian border after the six-month required period of me being out of Canada?

And finally, will my returning to Canada hinder our now-Outland application?

Any insight to our problem will be most appreciated, thank you!

 

[scylla]

You don't need a visitor visa as an American and getting one will give you no benefits. A visitor visa certainly doesn't guarantee entry into Canada. You'll use your US passport to enter Canada.

I'm not sure what you're referring to when you talk about the six month period required for you to be outside of Canada. Were you specifically told you needed to remain outside of Canada for a six month period?

Your return to Canada won't have any impact on your PR application.

 

[cometSuicide]

Ah so a visitor visa would not help my chances of being stopped at the border due to my overstay, correct?

I read somewhere that once you stayed in Canada and left again you must wait 6 months to re-enter, but I'm not sure where I read that so I may be mistaken!

 

[scylla]

Correct - a visitor visa will be of no help. It will be no different than using your passport to cross.

There is no six month rule.

It's possible you may be able to enter without issue or it's possible they may examine you more closely due to the overstay. Impossible for any of us to say unfortunately since that's really up to the immigration officer you encounter at the border. If you are sent to secondary inspection, you'll want to be carrying proof you've submitted and paid for the sponsorship application. If possible, you'll also want to provide evidence that you have some kind of ties to the US (e.g. property) - but that may not be something you have given your immigration history.