Illegal Immigrant from USA

[Moody]

Hello Forum,
I have a issue here with my girlfriend, she has lived in Montreal with her ex for 5 years. She came to Canada from The USA as a visitor and didn't leave.
She has a 2 year old daughter(born in Canada) and is now moving in with me. I need to handle this delicately as I do not want to lose her.

She has had no way of making money, getting health care or anything. She has been living off of lies and promises for the last 5 years and I need to get this all straightened out.

I am a student myself born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, I have any money for lawyers or anything like that.. any help would be great.

I am willing to provide any addition information that will help assist in this discussion.

Thank you all for your time.

 

[scylla]

Her options are limited.

The easiest option would be for you to sponsor her for permanent residency. To qualify, you would have to be married or common law (common law means you have lived together for a minimum of one full year).

Even if she were to find an employer in Canada willing to hire her, I don't think the work permit would be approved due to her status and the significant overstay. A student visa is out for similar reasons (plus this would be a very expensive option).

If she has a skilled profession and work experience - or is able to secure a job offer in Canada, she could look into apply for PR through the Federal Skilled Worker category or Ontario Provincial Nominee class. However this won't be a fast or guaranteed option by any means.

 

[Moody]

Her options are limited.

The easiest option would be for you to sponsor her for permanent residency. To qualify, you would have to be married or common law (common law means you have lived together for a minimum of one full year).

Even if she were to find an employer in Canada willing to hire her, I don't think the work permit would be approved due to her status and the significant overstay. A student visa is out for similar reasons (plus this would be a very expensive option).

If she has a skilled profession and work experience - or is able to secure a job offer in Canada, she could look into apply for PR through the Federal Skilled Worker category or Ontario Provincial Nominee class. However this won't be a fast or guaranteed option by any means.

I am a student myself though, I do not make enough money to sponsor her. Can we still get married? would that help?

 

[scylla]

I am a student myself though, I do not make enough money to sponsor her. Can we still get married? would that help?

Getting married alone will make no difference / have no impact on her current situation.

You can in fact sponsor her once you get married. There are no minimum income requirements for sponsoring a spouse. You just can't be bankrupt or on social assistance (welfare).

 

[Leon]

Marry her and apply to sponsor her for PR. Like scylla said, there is no specific income requirement to sponsor a spouse. Immigration just wants to know you will not end up on welfare.

 

[Moody]

Well no, I am a plumbing and gas fitting apprentice, just finishing school the government is paying for. It isn't welfare.
I also am looking for a job as a apprentice and will be going back to forklift driving here while I go to night school, but I understand where they are coming from for sure.
Appreciate your time everyone and thanks.

 

[scylla]

You should be fine to sponsor her as soon as you get married. Good luck!

 

[mic8400]

Good luck, hope it all works out for you. Keep us posted! ;D

 

[T Sweden]

I'm having a similar problem. I'm American and I am getting married in Montreal in two months and i have been here on an expired tourist visa. I recently learned that one must be here legally already (valid tourist visa) to begin the spousal sponsorship application. Does anyone know if this is true? I am extremely worried about re-entering encase i get denied entry and i miss my wedding, loose my job, can't pay my rent, and worst of all get separated from my fiance. Anyone have any advice or info? This is also something that you (Moody) should consider. Thanks so much and good luck to you!

 

[Leon]

If you apply inland, they will process your application even if you are out of status. However, you would want to be as law abiding as possible during your illegal stay in Canada so if you are working illegally, you would want to stop doing that. It's not common for them to deport people who are in the middle of applying inland but if they want to, they can.

 

[scylla]

If you apply inland, they will process your application even if you are out of status. However, you would want to be as law abiding as possible during your illegal stay in Canada so if you are working illegally, you would want to stop doing that. It's not common for them to deport people who are in the middle of applying inland but if they want to, they can.

I agree with Leon's comments. To ad to them, if you are out of status, your outland application will typically take a lot longer and undergo much more scrutiny than it would if you were in status. It's far far better to be in status when you apply. And yes - stop working illegally right now. If you're caught, this will make things far more difficult for you and your fiance.

 

[margobear96]

In addition to applying inland as mentioned above, you also have the option of leaving Canada and re-entering as a visitor to rehabilitate your status (preferably across a land border). It would work best if you got married first, left to visit relatives for a month or so, hubby files the PR application (outland) while you're in the US (or at minimum pays the fees online and gets a receipt), he picks you up in the US and you drive across the border together. At secondary inspection he tells them you'll be visiting while your PR application is being processed. Present evidence that application has been filed/fees have been paid. If they ask you about overstay, answer truthfully of course, but don't volunteer anything until specifically asked. Besides, you've just remedied the prior overstay by leaving voluntarily. They should just give you a visitor record and send you on your merry way.

Obviously with this option you risk getting denied re-entry at the border, but I think the risk is pretty low if you're an American and the PR application has been filed. Also, it would work better at a busier crossing (e.g., Peace Arch versus Abbotsford in BC., I don't know the crossings in Quebec) -- the agents should be more familiar with the concept of visiting while PR is being processed.

Even if you get denied, an outland application for a US citizen is going to be much faster than inland. For a straightforward case (married several years, two kids, hubby living in Canada), my outland application took under 7 months to process even though I had a prior overstay. (I was out of the country when the application was filed and hence was "in-status" for the duration of the application.)

However, I third that YOU NEED TO STOP WORKING ILLEGALLY ASAP. That is way, way worse from a CIC perspective than overstaying. Someone who overstays without working or getting health benefits illegally isn't doing anything more than paying (sales) taxes into the economy. By working illegally, you're "taking jobs from Canadians". People get deported and banned for doing stuff like that.

 

[margobear96]

I thought of one more way to rehabilitate your status in Canada. If your job fits one of the descriptions on the NAFTA list (http://migracion-canada.com/nafta.pdf), you may be able to get a work permit. I believe the process is the same as for a TN visa in the US -- you just go to the border with a job offer letter, no LMO, and you ask for a work permit there. In this case, your employer would need to be on board -- if they don't already know and sympathize with your immigrations issues, I'm not sure how you'd do this.... You'd also need to actually leave Canada and re-enter to talk to Canadian border agents. There's always the chance that during questioning your illegal work and overstay may be discovered.