Hello!
As the title said, I’m applying for the holiday working visa program but I have previously overstayed my visitor status and also worked illegally.
Here’s the details about the illegal work and overstay
a) Working Holiday wasn’t available for my country at the time. I entered Canada to take a 1 month course and then decided to get a part-time job just so I could stay for a little longer and get to know Toronto. I only worked part-time jobs and for about 5 months total.
b) My passport expired a few months after entering the country and so did my eTA and it happen on the same month I met my boyfriend and I didn’t rush to get my documents done until the following month, and in my head I was still thinking of leaving soon so none of these issues sounded like problems to me at the time (working/overstaying).
It wasn’t until things got more serious between us that I realized the mess I was putting myself in. That was also when we started reading about our options (he always said he wouldn’t move permanently to my country) to have me legally immigrating to Canada.
I quit working around then (after 5 months of working illegally) and had been out of status for about 3 months. I didn’t leave until 4 months after that, but returned to Canada 2 weeks later, with a new eTA.
I wasn’t caught working illegally or overstaying and after those two weeks I was allowed back in. Me and my boyfriend were already living together then and hoping that we’d be able to work things out in order to qualify for common law a few months later, which we barely did because since I wasn’t working and I moved in with him, there was no lease or bills under our names let alone joint bank accounts to prove cohabitation.
Anyway fast forward to today, I am back to my country because I didn’t want to overstay another visa and since I didn’t want to lie in my visa extension application, I figured it would get rejected so might as well just go back *home* and figure out what the next steps are.
This was when I came across the working holiday program, that started being available for citizens of my country late in 2018. It was a random search and the pools were opened so I decided to create a profile. I was eligible and was invited to apply for the work permit the next day.
So here’s my deal:
I wrote down all my work history truthfully and I don’t intend to lie to immigration and I am definitely attaching a cover letter explaining and apologizing for the situations I mentioned above.
I need some kind of enlightenment on what might happen to my application and the chances of it getting approved or rejected, or certain things that I should have in consideration and prepare myself for.
My boyfriend and I are still together and ideally, I would be able to join him in Canada in about 5 months to work legally for at least a full year until we gather enough proof that we cohabited for that year continuously and then apply for a spousal sponsorship. Is this the kind of information that I should also provide at the border? They know I have a partner in Canada and therefore that I have a strong tie to the country.
As the title said, I’m applying for the holiday working visa program but I have previously overstayed my visitor status and also worked illegally.
Here’s the details about the illegal work and overstay
a) Working Holiday wasn’t available for my country at the time. I entered Canada to take a 1 month course and then decided to get a part-time job just so I could stay for a little longer and get to know Toronto. I only worked part-time jobs and for about 5 months total.
b) My passport expired a few months after entering the country and so did my eTA and it happen on the same month I met my boyfriend and I didn’t rush to get my documents done until the following month, and in my head I was still thinking of leaving soon so none of these issues sounded like problems to me at the time (working/overstaying).
It wasn’t until things got more serious between us that I realized the mess I was putting myself in. That was also when we started reading about our options (he always said he wouldn’t move permanently to my country) to have me legally immigrating to Canada.
I quit working around then (after 5 months of working illegally) and had been out of status for about 3 months. I didn’t leave until 4 months after that, but returned to Canada 2 weeks later, with a new eTA.
I wasn’t caught working illegally or overstaying and after those two weeks I was allowed back in. Me and my boyfriend were already living together then and hoping that we’d be able to work things out in order to qualify for common law a few months later, which we barely did because since I wasn’t working and I moved in with him, there was no lease or bills under our names let alone joint bank accounts to prove cohabitation.
Anyway fast forward to today, I am back to my country because I didn’t want to overstay another visa and since I didn’t want to lie in my visa extension application, I figured it would get rejected so might as well just go back *home* and figure out what the next steps are.
This was when I came across the working holiday program, that started being available for citizens of my country late in 2018. It was a random search and the pools were opened so I decided to create a profile. I was eligible and was invited to apply for the work permit the next day.
So here’s my deal:
I wrote down all my work history truthfully and I don’t intend to lie to immigration and I am definitely attaching a cover letter explaining and apologizing for the situations I mentioned above.
I need some kind of enlightenment on what might happen to my application and the chances of it getting approved or rejected, or certain things that I should have in consideration and prepare myself for.
My boyfriend and I are still together and ideally, I would be able to join him in Canada in about 5 months to work legally for at least a full year until we gather enough proof that we cohabited for that year continuously and then apply for a spousal sponsorship. Is this the kind of information that I should also provide at the border? They know I have a partner in Canada and therefore that I have a strong tie to the country.
