Expired visa

[Tara 76]

I'm Canadian, and my wife is Irish. All three children are Irish and Canadian citizens. My wife's visitor visa has expired a long time ago. We have been lazy about following through with the permanent residence visa as we were not sure where we will settle. Now we may have to return to Ireland for a family illness. What can I do now to prevent any possible problems that will cause us trouble leaving and the future return to settle here in Canada

 

[Jalex23]

I'm Canadian, and my wife is Irish. All three children are Irish and Canadian citizens. My wife's visitor visa has expired a long time ago. We have been lazy about following through with the permanent residence visa as we were not sure where we will settle. Now we may have to return to Ireland for a family illness. What can I do now to prevent any possible problems that will cause us trouble leaving and the future return to settle here in Canada

Ireland is a visa-exempt country so she cannot have an "expired visa". Please confirm if she has a visa or what is her status.

 

[Tara 76]

Her visitors visa is expired. We have not reapplied for an extension and are afraid what the implications are. So I' m not sure what her status is. I have been working non stop all the time and just day to day life. We have become somewhat complacent and lazy which is bad.

 

[Jalex23]

Her visitors visa is expired. We have not reapplied for an extension and are afraid what the implications are. So I' m not sure what her status is. I have been working non stop all the time and just day to day life. We have become somewhat complacent and lazy which is bad.

So which country is she from? She cannot be Irish because Ireland is a visa exempt country.

Now, if her visa is expired that is irrelevant to her status, when did her status expire? She can perfectly have an expired visa and a valid status, so maybe she doesn't need to extend her status at all.

Please provide full dates for status visas and her nationality so we can advice accordingly (the information will be on her expired TRV and the stamp on entry).

 

[scylla]

So which country is she from? She cannot be Irish because Ireland is a visa exempt country.

Now, if her visa is expired that is irrelevant to her status, when did her status expire? She can perfectly have an expired visa and a valid status, so maybe she doesn't need to extend her status at all.

Please provide full dates for status visas and her nationality so we can advice accordingly (the information will be on her expired TRV and the stamp on entry).

Even if someone is visa exempt, they are still only allowed into Canada for a fixed period of time (no more than six months). Sometimes they are also issued visitor records. So I think it's safe to assume this person either overstayed their visitor record or overstayed their visa stamp.

OP - The short answer is that you'll have no issues leaving. But your wife may have issues returning as a visitor. She can no longer return on her passport alone since the ETA process has been implemented. She has to apply for an obtain and ETA. It's quite possible an ETA may be refused since she has a record of abusing her visa privileges (it's a shame you didn't take the time to extend her stay and keep her status legal). If you decide to sponsor her for PR in the future, her overstay will not be an issue provided you are 100% honest about her immigration history in the application.

 

[Tara 76]

Thanks. Tara is Irish. We have been married 16 yrs. ive met her entire familyand lived in Ireland for 10 yrs. so yeah , she is Irish. She overstayed her visitors visa time. Yes the Irish need to have a visitors visa for long stays. 6 months. We extended for another 6 then just got into the groove of Canadian living. Work to live. I plan on being nothing but honest as i have always been.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks. Tara is Irish. We have been married 16 yrs. ive met her entire familyand lived in Ireland for 10 yrs. so yeah , she is Irish. She overstayed her visitors visa time. Yes the Irish need to have a visitors visa for long stays. 6 months. We extended for another 6 then just got into the groove of Canadian living. Work to live. I plan on being nothing but honest as i have always been.

To clarify, she has never had a visitor visa. She held visitor STATUS. When she extended her stay, she was issued a Visitor Record extending that status.

She now has NO status.