Hey, everyone.
Okay, so here's my situation; I'm a British citizen (by birth, if that makes a difference), and I am looking to leave the UK onto pastures new. In the summer of 2017, I was in New York, and somehow, through clumsiness, managed to overstay by two days. I wasn't aware of this until, in December 2017 I attempted to return to New York to visit a friend only to be turned away by immigration and sent back to the UK on the next flight, due to having overstayed previously. Obviously, this was a heartbreaking and messy situation, and on my return I had discovered that the Customs Officer at US Immigration had taken away my ESTA (Visa Waiver Program), so I am now unable to travel to the US without a visa, and even with a visa, I would struggle to enter due to not being able to prove a certain amount of income, etc (this is what an immigration lawyer told me).
I've always enjoyed travelling, and I lived in Jamaica from 2010 to 2016, returning to the UK due to a marriage breakdown. The UK has never been my place of choice to live, and I've often thought about Canada as being an option. However, due to my newly-acquired "history" of overstaying, I'm wondering if I'd even be allowed to travel to Canada, much less live there. I now have a fear of landing in an airport and being told I'm not allowed to enter the country. I've thought about buying a return ticket to Toronto, only to be put off by the fact that I don't know if what's happened previously is going to be a "black mark" against my name/passport. The utter discomfort of not knowing is really bothering me. Can anyone point me in the direction of where to get advice about this? Is this an issue the Canadian Embassy here in England would deal with?
Any advice/help would be much appreciated - thank you.
Okay, so here's my situation; I'm a British citizen (by birth, if that makes a difference), and I am looking to leave the UK onto pastures new. In the summer of 2017, I was in New York, and somehow, through clumsiness, managed to overstay by two days. I wasn't aware of this until, in December 2017 I attempted to return to New York to visit a friend only to be turned away by immigration and sent back to the UK on the next flight, due to having overstayed previously. Obviously, this was a heartbreaking and messy situation, and on my return I had discovered that the Customs Officer at US Immigration had taken away my ESTA (Visa Waiver Program), so I am now unable to travel to the US without a visa, and even with a visa, I would struggle to enter due to not being able to prove a certain amount of income, etc (this is what an immigration lawyer told me).
I've always enjoyed travelling, and I lived in Jamaica from 2010 to 2016, returning to the UK due to a marriage breakdown. The UK has never been my place of choice to live, and I've often thought about Canada as being an option. However, due to my newly-acquired "history" of overstaying, I'm wondering if I'd even be allowed to travel to Canada, much less live there. I now have a fear of landing in an airport and being told I'm not allowed to enter the country. I've thought about buying a return ticket to Toronto, only to be put off by the fact that I don't know if what's happened previously is going to be a "black mark" against my name/passport. The utter discomfort of not knowing is really bothering me. Can anyone point me in the direction of where to get advice about this? Is this an issue the Canadian Embassy here in England would deal with?
Any advice/help would be much appreciated - thank you.
