immigration to canada after violating status in the u.s

[allaincc]

i'm on h1b here in the u.s.; my wife worked without authorization as she was on h4, was not able to extend her h4 and now out of status.
would her visa violation here in the u.s. prevent us from immigrating to canada?
we would appreciate any info on this... thanks in advance

 

[Leon]

No, it would not prevent her from moving to Canada. You should be fine.

 

[allaincc]

thank you for your info leon. we're planning to apply for permanent residence in canada as we have enough points under the current system. and i know soon we have to submit a police clearance of some sort, wouldn't that expose her visa violation in some way?

 

[Leon]

I guess you'll have to see the police clearance to find out. I've heard of other people doing this and not having a problem. You do know that the "current" system is already operating under new rules that haven't been published yet?

 

[allaincc]

i see. i didn't know they're operating on new rules now. do u have any idea how i can get a hold of this changes in rules? are the changes that drastic?
tnx

 

[Leon]

You can find some news about that on the CIC website if you look carefully. There is a FAQ at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/laws-policy/irpa-questions.asp For some reason they seem to be not posting too much about it which I think is unfair since people may be wasting their time applying if they don't qualify under the new rules.

There is more about it at http://www.canadavisa.com/canadian-federal-skilled-worker-applicant-occupation-080904.html and http://www.canadavisa.com/immigration-priorities-federal-skilled-worker-applicants-released-fall-080818.html which is the website of the immigration lawyer who runs this board. According to that, well, you can read it yourself, but they are planning to publish a list of 38 needed occupations and if yours is not on the list, you have to find another way to immigrate. According to CIC, applications since Feb 27 2008 go under the new rules because that is apparently when they announced they were changing them.

 

[todiefor]

Applying for a police/FBI clearance is not issue even if you violate your status in the US. I believe the Canadian immigration is only after if you have a criminal case or any warrant of arrest on your record, other than that you should be fine.

 

[allaincc]

tnx for your reply todiefor... we appreciate it.

 

[mjsantos]

allaincc, since you are out of status here in the US, did you apply here in the US or back in your country?

 

[roto chris]

so does this mean, you can still immigrate to canada even if you're out of status? or violated any US immigration law?

 

[todiefor]

so does this mean, you can still immigrate to canada even if you're out of status? or violated any US immigration law?

yes, as long as you have a 1 yr. continuous legal stay in the US before you became out-of-status.

 

[mjsantos]

roto chris,

Are you going to apply here in the US or back in your country?

Thanks.

 

[roto chris]

i will apply soon to immigrate in canada. i'm in status as an international student here in united states and will apply to immigrate to toronto.

by the way, can i use my cousins in toronto as my relatives to get some points in the application??

mjsantos, you can apply even if you're here in united states. it doesn't matter. but i don't know about being out of status, i'm not a professional to tell you you can but if you are in status, yes you can. but as i see on this thread, they said it's possible as long as you've stayed here for a year legally.

but honestly, i have no idea about the canadian immigration.

chris.

 

[roto chris]

todiefor,

what if let's say, i'm an international student here in united states for 2 years. and currently, my application is in process for canada. and decided to drop my status. would that affect my application for canada and get rejected?

chris.

 

[todiefor]

todiefor,

what if let's say, i'm an international student here in united states for 2 years. and currently, my application is in process for canada. and decided to drop my status. would that affect my application for canada and get rejected?

chris.

that would still OK because you have fulfilled the requirement of 1 yr. continuous legal stay in the US.