breach of residency - chances

[sminti123]

Hi. I need your expert advice on my position and will be grateful for your inputs.

Myself and my husband have got PR cards issued in sept 2009 and they are expiring in sept 2014. I have completed 425 days , while my husband has completed 380 days in Canada. If i include the remaining days till expiry i will complete appx 610 days while my husband will complete 570 days. We are intending to come to Canada via road from the USA via Detroit. We had to leave because we could not find decent jobs and returned to the U A E from where we migrated. We now realize that this was a mistake and we should have stuck it out thru tough times.

we have been out of Canada for 3 months now. What do you feel are our chances of not getting reported via the land border. We have heard that the crossing via land border is easier compared to the airport but do not know about recent changes in monitoring residency requirements.

thank you

 

[newtone]

You should not worry, as long as you have valid PR you should be fine. CBSA is very lenient. They will just give you a warning, thats all

 

[sminti123]

Thank you for your quick reply. Based on our chats with friends in Canada we had estimated our chances to be pretty slim. Do you have any experience on what questions that the agents may ask ? We intend to be very truthful and direct to their questions but are unsure whether this will go against us. We have most certainly put ourselves in harms way but really had a very tough 1.3 years where we were mostly unemployed and severely under financial stress.

 

[newtone]

Its always best policy to be truthful. The financial stress is really not going to fly with immigration cause its very subjective. Everybody has financial stress, even in Canada, you really cannot prove that in anyway. Thats not a reason to skip your residency obligations. Although if you could show that you were taking care of a sick relative or a family member that might work.

 

[Leon]

Where were you staying for 1.3 years that you were mostly unemployed?

If you want a job, it will be easier to find one where unemployment is low like Alberta or Saskatchewan. You can start with a survival job while working to find something better, re-train, do an apprenticeship if you want.
You have plenty of options. Once you have Canadian experience and marketable skills, you can think about moving to another province if that is what you want.

Starting out in a high unemployment area when you are a new immigrant is very difficult. You are competing with Canadians for the few jobs there are and of course that is not going to be easy.

If you manage to enter without getting reported, you should stay for 2 years straight before you attempt to renew your PR card.

 

[sminti123]

Hi Leon

We were based in Toronto and were mostly getting minimum wage temp jobs. However, we now have 1 year of "Canadian experience " and worked on our education too. Our mistake was that we should have stuck around for another 10 months and then renewed our PR. Its hard with kids , no help and expensive day care.

What do you feel about our chances to get in without being reported ?

 

[Leon]

Hi Leon

We were based in Toronto and were mostly getting minimum wage temp jobs. However, we now have 1 year of "Canadian experience " and worked on our education too. Our mistake was that we should have stuck around for another 10 months and then renewed our PR. Its hard with kids , no help and expensive day care.

What do you feel about our chances to get in without being reported ?

You could not have renewed your PR cards after 10 more months because you can not renew a PR card until it's less than 6 months away from expiring.

I think your chances depend on the immigration officer you get and how their day is going. They have the right to report you and they might or they might not. You can only hope that you get lucky.

 

[Msafiri]

No one can tell you your chances of being reported or not. It depends on who you find at the border. Like any job some CBSA agents are sticklers for the rules others just want their shift to end without the hassle of paperwork. Your odds of passing through are improved if you have a PR Card and then further improved the longer it has left on the validity. Again there is no given statistic/ percentage improvement factor but there is one.

You may want to further improve your odds by entering at different occasions such that if one person gets in ok they can sponsor the other person that wasn't as lucky. Playing roulette with the RO has risks...you can avoid it now but one day you gotta take your chances!

By the way Windsor CBSA are on the ball...maybe reconsider your entry point!

 

[Leon]

If you enter at different times and one gets reported, the other should still not take any risks but stay in Canada for 2 years straight without applying for anything, to put their PR status back in good standing.

The one who got reported should appeal for their PR. During the appeal, you can stay together in Canada. Processing the appeal may take 12-18 months, possibly even longer. By the time the reported one would lose the appeal and be asked to leave, the other might almost have their two years done.

Sponsorship of the one who lost their PR would not be possible until the sponsor meets the residency requirements again. Trying to sponsor while you don't meet the residency requirements would result in immigration becoming aware of your situation and they could then revoke your PR as well.

 

[sminti123]

how about crossing from the blue water bridge border crossing ie port huron , michigan. do you think it is better to go from a high traffic border crossing or relatively low traffic one ? also , we are intending to cross on a weekend ...does this in any way help due to the high frequency of vehicles ?

 

[sminti123]

another query. we left canada via air 3 months ago. how does cbsa land border know this ?

thanks in advance

 

[diver55]

I've got an experience entrying in YVR, after the scanner, the custom officer just glance at our PR, probably checked only the PR validity date, and quickly collected the custom docs; did not even checked my pport; all happened in less than 10 seconds...

 

[Alurra71]

another query. we left canada via air 3 months ago. how does cbsa land border know this ?

thanks in advance

Likely because CBSA is CBSA. No matter if you came in or left via air or land, they are still only one agency sharing information.

 

[Newbie2014]

another query. we left canada via air 3 months ago. how does cbsa land border know this ?

thanks in advance

If you use commercial transportation (airplane, bus, train), they provide your information to the CBSA. So information on your arrival/departure was definitely captured. For example, see scylla's response in: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/cbsa-tracking-exits-over-air-is-it-true-t190289.0.html

It used to be that if you travelled by car, departures were not captured. However, with implementation of the new information sharing initiative between the U.S. and Canada, this information is now tracked: http://www.allpointbulletin.com/news/article.exm/2014-02-06_u_s__and_canada_set_to_share_traveler_information

U.S. and Canada set to share traveler information
Published on Thu, Feb 6, 2014 by Meg Olson

By midsummer, U.S. and Canadian border agencies will be sharing information on all travelers crossing the border, so that entering one country will provide a record of leaving the other.

The Beyond the Border Action Plan and declaration, agreed to by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2011, committed both countries to begin implementing a data exchange system.

Implementation began in September 2012 when the countries started exchanging biographic information on third-country nationals and permanent residents of the U.S. and Canada at selected ports of entry. By June 2013, the system was due to be in place at all land border ports, and the plan calls for the exchange of data on all travelers by June 2014.

“Our governments are committed to establishing a coordinated entry and exit information system that bolsters security and improves the efficiency of our shared border,” said Canadian minister of public safety Vic Toes at the launch of phase two of the program. A Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) fact sheet stated the program would be “closing the loop on an individual's travel history.”

A joint U.S./Canada report on phase one of the project stated the program had identified “persons detected overstaying their authorized periods of stay,” indicated “whether an individual complied with the terms of his or her admission/entry,” and identified “persons subject to a removal or departure order.”

The report stated the two countries could meet this need for additional information “through mutual collaboration and without expensive new infrastructure or unnecessary processing that would slow down trade and travel between the two countries.”

U.S. Congress first mandated an “automated entry and exit control system” as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

Border officials have considered various ways to implement such a system, including inspection booths for travelers leaving the country, but frequently met with local concerns that it would unduly hamper legitimate trade and travel. “I think most people would agree this was a more innovative, sensible approach to satisfying the entry/exit mandate,” said Hugh Conroy with the International Mobility and Trade Corridor program and the Whatcom Council of Governments.

Privacy has been a concern on both sides of the border. When asked which agencies within the Canadian government would have access to information collected, CBSA representative Maja Graham stated that under phase two, which is currently underway collecting information on third-country and permanent residents, there would be “no systematic disclosure of entry/exit information to U.S. and Canadian federal government departments or agencies.” Requests would be handled on a “case by case basis.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection media representatives for the Beyond the Border Action Plan in Washington, D.C. did not return calls for comment. Their press release stated, “the process of collecting and sharing information will be done in accordance with each country's privacy laws and policies.”


If you lie, and the CBSA digs further into your case (the case by case basis referred to in the article above), they would be able to detect it very easily. It would have very serious repercussions on your PR status, and future citizenship application. Keep it honest, and hope for the best....

Cheers!