If I was refused entry to Canada once and Refused an Extension, could my BOWP be refused?

[verysadgirl]

I know the title is a handful and I've looked around all over the website and I cant seem to find anyone that has the same issue as me.

Short backstory: I met my husband (then boyfriend at the time) online and after being together for 2 years, I decided I wanted us to be together in person. I didn't really understand how immigration and all that worked. I thought I could just drive over the border, tell them I wanted to stay for six months while we got married and filled out our spousal sponsorship application and then leave while we waited for it to be approved. Since I was planning on staying for six months, I quit my job back home and since I lived with my parents and had no job, I was denied entry under the pretense that i didnt have 'reason to return to the us' and since I clearly had an intent to move to canada, they didn't think it was a good idea. I was refused entry and drove back home (This was in April) After a month of crying and hating my life we decided to hire an immigration lawyer to help us and she even told me I said way too much at the border. With her help and a lot of begging and tears, I was allowed entry to canada in July when flying in through Toronto. We married and after many roadbumps we took, forever to get our stuff together for our Inland Spousal Application.

My six month visitor status expire on January 24th and I applied for an extension on Dec 26th or so, so a month in advance like recommended on the website but to much dismay my extension was refused this morning, I'm assuming bc of my history and being turned away at the border even thought it was an honest mistake. In the refusal letter, it says that they dont believe I have reason to return to the us when my extension is over (fucking obviously, I'm literally in the process of moving here why would I want to leave) but our lawyers have submitted our sponsorship application and BOWP together om Feb 12th. My lawyer say's I'm still under implied status for that application but I read online that I'm not under implied status.

I'm extremely confused and waiting for her to reply, but I dont think I'll get a response till morning and even then it'll do little to make me feel better.

My question will my history of being refused at the border and having my extension refused affect my BOWP application? Like could I get refused for it just bc I was refused for the other two?

I'm very desperate to not leave my husband. After not being able to be together for about two years and then coming here and being with him for the past six months, it's gonna be extremely difficult for me to leave him and on top of that have to go back to my parents and just...wait.

Does anyone have any advice or kind words of encouragement? My husband and I feel very alone right now and since it's taking my lawyer so long to reply to my email with a bunch of questions (her office is two hours ahead of our timezone and he works nights so we're not usually up till the afternoon when its already sort of late for her) it's giving me more anxiety and I feel like I'm just staring at a scary void.

Edit: I should have included my husband is a white Canada Born citizen from Nova Scotia (his family didnt move here from a different country or anything like that) and I'm a naturalized US Citizen of 4 years

 

[EstherBarros]

Do you mean you applied for the Spousal open work permit? if you never had a work permit before, why would you be applying for a bridging work permit?

I *think* you are under implied status because of the inland application, and also *think* that if you mean you are waiting for the spousal work permit the extension denial should have no impact on that. I'd love to know what you mean by "BOWP" though, as that is not the spousal WP for inland applications.

Whether your husband is white/Canadian born doesn't really matter the fact you are American might mean the application will be processed faster than average, just because Canada and the US have agreements to share information. If you have history/security checks to be done in other countries (as you said you're naturalized American), this might not apply, as they will need information from other countries and that might take a while

 

[verysadgirl]

Do you mean you applied for the Spousal open work permit? if you never had a work permit before, why would you be applying for a bridging work permit?

I *think* you are under implied status because of the inland application, and also *think* that if you mean you are waiting for the spousal work permit the extension denial should have no impact on that. I'd love to know what you mean by "BOWP" though, as that is not the spousal WP for inland applications.

Whether your husband is white/Canadian born doesn't really matter the fact you are American might mean the application will be processed faster than average, just because Canada and the US have agreements to share information. If you have history/security checks to be done in other countries (as you said you're naturalized American), this might not apply, as they will need information from other countries and that might take a while

I moved to the US from Bosnia as a refugee in 1994 when I was about 2 years old so I dont think they should have any security checks to do there since it was over 20 years ago and I doubt as a baby I was committing crimes (LOL) but yeah I heard as a US citizen it takes around 6 months instead of the 12 other people wait.

As for as the BOWP I'm not sure, I never heard that before. But that's what my lawyer referred to is as when she emailed me. She submitted our application and I remember just filling out like a relatively standard open work permit form and she said they usually submit together so I'm sure she knows something I dont, I dunno. I just know I'm trying to stay positive but it's hard in a case like this. Since it's so late today I'm not expecting a reply from her till Monday, I tried to call earlier and just got the office closed message so I'm not sure.

I appreciate the reply Hopefully my work permit gets approved.

PS Kind of a dumb question but if you have an open work permit do you HAVE to get a job? Since i havent been able to work I've been just housewife-ing and he said I dont have to get a job right away if I dont feel like it but I'm wondering if I'm required to under the work permit

 

[scylla]

I know the title is a handful and I've looked around all over the website and I cant seem to find anyone that has the same issue as me.

Short backstory: I met my husband (then boyfriend at the time) online and after being together for 2 years, I decided I wanted us to be together in person. I didn't really understand how immigration and all that worked. I thought I could just drive over the border, tell them I wanted to stay for six months while we got married and filled out our spousal sponsorship application and then leave while we waited for it to be approved. Since I was planning on staying for six months, I quit my job back home and since I lived with my parents and had no job, I was denied entry under the pretense that i didnt have 'reason to return to the us' and since I clearly had an intent to move to canada, they didn't think it was a good idea. I was refused entry and drove back home (This was in April) After a month of crying and hating my life we decided to hire an immigration lawyer to help us and she even told me I said way too much at the border. With her help and a lot of begging and tears, I was allowed entry to canada in July when flying in through Toronto. We married and after many roadbumps we took, forever to get our stuff together for our Inland Spousal Application.

My six month visitor status expire on January 24th and I applied for an extension on Dec 26th or so, so a month in advance like recommended on the website but to much dismay my extension was refused this morning, I'm assuming bc of my history and being turned away at the border even thought it was an honest mistake. In the refusal letter, it says that they dont believe I have reason to return to the us when my extension is over (fucking obviously, I'm literally in the process of moving here why would I want to leave) but our lawyers have submitted our sponsorship application and BOWP together om Feb 12th. My lawyer say's I'm still under implied status for that application but I read online that I'm not under implied status.

I'm extremely confused and waiting for her to reply, but I dont think I'll get a response till morning and even then it'll do little to make me feel better.

My question will my history of being refused at the border and having my extension refused affect my BOWP application? Like could I get refused for it just bc I was refused for the other two?

I'm very desperate to not leave my husband. After not being able to be together for about two years and then coming here and being with him for the past six months, it's gonna be extremely difficult for me to leave him and on top of that have to go back to my parents and just...wait.

Does anyone have any advice or kind words of encouragement? My husband and I feel very alone right now and since it's taking my lawyer so long to reply to my email with a bunch of questions (her office is two hours ahead of our timezone and he works nights so we're not usually up till the afternoon when its already sort of late for her) it's giving me more anxiety and I feel like I'm just staring at a scary void.

Edit: I should have included my husband is a white Canada Born citizen from Nova Scotia (his family didnt move here from a different country or anything like that) and I'm a naturalized US Citizen of 4 years

You are out of status in Canada since the extension has been refused and because the PR application & OWP were submitted after your allowed stay had ended.

You can remain in Canada without status to wait for the application to be processed. However this means you won't qualify for the open work permit pilot - which means the work permit will take around 10 months to be approved rather than 4 months.

You should try applying to restore your status. If approved, that would get your work permit approved sooner.

 

[scylla]

I moved to the US from Bosnia as a refugee in 1994 when I was about 2 years old so I dont think they should have any security checks to do there since it was over 20 years ago and I doubt as a baby I was committing crimes (LOL) but yeah I heard as a US citizen it takes around 6 months instead of the 12 other people wait.

As for as the BOWP I'm not sure, I never heard that before. But that's what my lawyer referred to is as when she emailed me. She submitted our application and I remember just filling out like a relatively standard open work permit form and she said they usually submit together so I'm sure she knows something I dont, I dunno. I just know I'm trying to stay positive but it's hard in a case like this. Since it's so late today I'm not expecting a reply from her till Monday, I tried to call earlier and just got the office closed message so I'm not sure.

I appreciate the reply Hopefully my work permit gets approved.

PS Kind of a dumb question but if you have an open work permit do you HAVE to get a job? Since i havent been able to work I've been just housewife-ing and he said I dont have to get a job right away if I dont feel like it but I'm wondering if I'm required to under the work permit

Lawyer is using the wrong name. You don't qualify for a BOWP. BOWPs are for individuals who have applied for PR through an economic immigration stream like Express Entry. What you applied for (I assume) was a plain OWP (open work permit) tied to the inland spousal sponsorship application. Sort of sad your lawyer doesn't know the difference.

 

[scylla]

Also note that you should expect the application processing to take the full 12 months. Yes - Americans often end up experiencing faster processing but only if they apply outland. You've applied inland - so expect a full 12 month wait.

 

[EstherBarros]

Oh I didnt realise the application was filed after status was expired =/ scylla is correct, definitely apply for a restoration of status!
Also, I would educate myself a bit more on the process and terms, just so you can make sure the lawyer is doing their job correctly (I only say this because they mention BOWP which has nothing to do with your case).
And no, it is definitely not mandatory to work if you have a work permit!

 

[verysadgirl]

You are out of status in Canada since the extension has been refused and because the PR application & OWP were submitted after your allowed stay had ended.

You can remain in Canada without status to wait for the application to be processed. However this means you won't qualify for the open work permit pilot - which means the work permit will take around 10 months to be approved rather than 4 months.

You should try applying to restore your status. If approved, that would get your work permit approved sooner.

If I am out of status but I can stay during my application, does that mean I'll be less likely to have everything get approved for being here illegally?

 

[scylla]

If I am out of status but I can stay during my application, does that mean I'll be less likely to have everything get approved for being here illegally?

No - not necessarily. As long as IRCC sees your relationship is genuine you should have no issues being approved. We've seen plenty of people approved on this forum who were out of status in Canada. The big downside is that you have to wait much longer for the work permit. There is also some very small chance CBSA could remove you from Canada - however this happens very rarely.

It's a shame the PR application and OWP wasn't received by IRCC before Jan 24th - then you wouldn't be in this situation. But what's done is done.

 

[verysadgirl]

scylla and esther

I went on the CIC website and looked up the form that they have you fill out during sponsorship for a work permit and it's the exact same one I filled out buy mine had a sixth page that had a bunch of barcodes on it

I'm assuming she called it by the wrong name as you say but is it not the same form?

Even more stressful to think I'm wiping my ass with thousands of dollars to have them tell me the wrong information...

 

[verysadgirl]

No - not necessarily. As long as IRCC sees your relationship is genuine you should have no issues being approved. We've seen plenty of people approved on this forum who were out of status in Canada. The big downside is that you have to wait much longer for the work permit. There is also some very small chance CBSA could remove you from Canada - however this happens very rarely.

It's a shame the PR application and OWP wasn't received by IRCC before Jan 24th - then you wouldn't be in this situation. But what's done is done.

I will admit I was very cross with my lawyer for not sending me the full list of stuff we needed before I entered canada. As soon as I stepped foot into the country a timer started ticking and it would have been nice to get as much of the stuff as I could before I got here instead of spending months waiting for it. And on top of that it would have been in before January 24th if I had realized that there was an extra $800 fee we needed to pay so we had to wait the extra two weeks for his next paycheck. I assumed the government fees were included in the application fees by the lawyer, but evidently those were just retainer fees. Extremely aggravating. I've been annoyed on more than one occasion but at this point it's too late to change lawyers/law firms. We're already waist deep in the process.

 

[scylla]

I will admit I was very cross with my lawyer for not sending me the full list of stuff we needed before I entered canada. As soon as I stepped foot into the country a timer started ticking and it would have been nice to get as much of the stuff as I could before I got here instead of spending months waiting for it. And on top of that it would have been in before January 24th if I had realized that there was an extra $800 fee we needed to pay so we had to wait the extra two weeks for his next paycheck. I assumed the government fees were included in the application fees by the lawyer, but evidently those were just retainer fees. Extremely aggravating. I've been annoyed on more than one occasion but at this point it's too late to change lawyers/law firms. We're already waist deep in the process.

Most people do it without a lawyer because it's relatively easy to do it yourself and the lawyer fees are so expensive. If your lawyer is expecting you to pay more money for more help, you can stop using her services and manage the rest of the process yourself. Anyway - good luck. Hope it all works out.

 

[verysadgirl]

Most people do it without a lawyer because it's relatively easy to do it yourself and the lawyer fees are so expensive. If your lawyer is expecting you to pay more money for more help, you can stop using her services and manage the rest of the process yourself. Anyway - good luck. Hope it all works out.

Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate the reply, you guys managed to put me slightly more at ease. I have a lot more questions to ask my attorney before this is over. I hope for the best as well. <3