Need help/advice urgently regarding returning to Canada with an ARC application

[Josephmyatt1996]

Hey Guys. A little bit of an embarrassing post.



I moved to Canada from Australia in 2017 on a two year working holiday visa. Was only planning on staying six months but ended up meeting my now fiancé and stayed alot longer.

We ended up building a life together through covid. And we all know how impossible covid made returning home anywhere in the world.

I overstayed my visa and was given a one year exclusion from Canada on December 15th 2022.

I’ve now been back in Australia away from my fiancé and our family since that time. And it’s killing me.

My fiancé just came to visit me in Australia for five week, and in that time she has fallen pregnant. Which is probably one of the most exciting things that’s ever happened to me.



I need to be back in Canada, but If I wish to return before the one year exclusion is up, I need to apply for an ARC (authorization to return to Canada). I just have no idea how to go about it or where to start. And was really hoping someone in here could share some tips/similar experience/advice.

It would mean the absolute world.

 

[Josephmyatt1996]

Must I mail it with a visa application? I have been in the express entry pool since January.

 

[Josephmyatt1996]

Any reply and/or advice would mean so much.

 

[scylla]

Hey Guys. A little bit of an embarrassing post.



I moved to Canada from Australia in 2017 on a two year working holiday visa. Was only planning on staying six months but ended up meeting my now fiancé and stayed alot longer.

We ended up building a life together through covid. And we all know how impossible covid made returning home anywhere in the world.

I overstayed my visa and was given a one year exclusion from Canada on December 15th 2022.

I’ve now been back in Australia away from my fiancé and our family since that time. And it’s killing me.

My fiancé just came to visit me in Australia for five week, and in that time she has fallen pregnant. Which is probably one of the most exciting things that’s ever happened to me.



I need to be back in Canada, but If I wish to return before the one year exclusion is up, I need to apply for an ARC (authorization to return to Canada). I just have no idea how to go about it or where to start. And was really hoping someone in here could share some tips/similar experience/advice.

It would mean the absolute world.

So my honest two cents is that chances are likely high that you won't be able to return to Canada until the exclusion order is over in December.

You can try applying for a TRP (temporary resident permit) which is for people who are inadmissible to Canada but have a need to be in Canada. Unfortunately processing times are generally quite long and chances are that your exclusion order will be over before there's a decision on the TRP application. Having said that, you can certainly try. Since you are from a visa exempt country, you will need to check with your local visa office on how to submit the TRP application. See more information here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...admissibility/temporary-resident-permits.html

You can also try applying for the ARC to remove the inadmissibility. Similar to the TRP, processing times for ARCs tend to be on the long side. Instructions on how to apply for the ARC are in the following link. Yes, you must mail in the application. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...y/reasons/authorization-return-canada.html#a3

If you really want to give it a shot, then you can try applying for both the TRP and the ARC and hope one of them comes through in just a few months.

Good luck.

 

[scylla]

Must I mail it with a visa application? I have been in the express entry pool since January.

I'm not sure what you are asking here. You cannot submit an Express Entry application until you receive ITA. Have you received ITA?

Also, one other piece of advice. When you apply for the TRP and/or ARC, do not mention COVID as the reason why you fell out of status. The reason you fell out of status is that you failed to apply to keep your status in Canada valid. You need to take full responsibility for this. IRCC tends to react badly when people don't take responsibility for their actions. Flights were also possible well before 2022, especially for citizens returning home.

 

[scylla]

Hey Guys. A little bit of an embarrassing post.



I moved to Canada from Australia in 2017 on a two year working holiday visa. Was only planning on staying six months but ended up meeting my now fiancé and stayed alot longer.

We ended up building a life together through covid. And we all know how impossible covid made returning home anywhere in the world.

I overstayed my visa and was given a one year exclusion from Canada on December 15th 2022.

I’ve now been back in Australia away from my fiancé and our family since that time. And it’s killing me.

My fiancé just came to visit me in Australia for five week, and in that time she has fallen pregnant. Which is probably one of the most exciting things that’s ever happened to me.



I need to be back in Canada, but If I wish to return before the one year exclusion is up, I need to apply for an ARC (authorization to return to Canada). I just have no idea how to go about it or where to start. And was really hoping someone in here could share some tips/similar experience/advice.

It would mean the absolute world.

One other question. Assuming you and your fiance have lived together for at least one year continuously, has she submitted an application yet to sponsor you as her common law partner? If not, why is that? IMO your ARC and TRP applications will be weaker if you are common law but she hasn't submitted the application to sponsor you yet.

 

[Josephmyatt1996]

Hi there. I appreciate your honest and open response. Means a lot to me. Especially about myself taking full responsibility.
I have not received an ITA. Need to get my point score higher I believe to really give me a chance. Just can’t seem to figure out how.
As for the sponsorship route, we have only just discovered it in the last couple of weeks that it is an option. Possibly our best one.
Once we have applied for that though. It would not make returning to Canada any faster would it?
My partners mum knows the MP of British Columbia who works in Ottawa, so we reached out recently to see if there was anything they could do to help. His assistant offered her help. She reached out to the IRCC and asked about my situation. The IRCC agent said she did not see anything on my file that would prevent me from returning to Canada. (Keep in my mind I was issued a one year exclusion on December 15th 2022). I thought this was strange but gave me some hope. If an IRCC agent does not see anything like that on my file, Would it give me problems returning to Canada almost immediately? Or would that be a problem with the CBSA upon arrival at the airport customs.

 

[Josephmyatt1996]

One other question. Assuming you and your fiance have lived together for at least one year continuously, has she submitted an application yet to sponsor you as her common law partner? If not, why is that? IMO your ARC and TRP applications will be weaker if you are common law but she hasn't submitted the application to sponsor you yet.

I posted my reply in the thread sorry. Didn’t realize I didn’t reply directly.

 

[scylla]

Hi there. I appreciate your honest and open response. Means a lot to me. Especially about myself taking full responsibility.
I have not received an ITA. Need to get my point score higher I believe to really give me a chance. Just can’t seem to figure out how.
As for the sponsorship route, we have only just discovered it in the last couple of weeks that it is an option. Possibly our best one.
Once we have applied for that though. It would not make returning to Canada any faster would it?
My partners mum knows the MP of British Columbia who works in Ottawa, so we reached out recently to see if there was anything they could do to help. His assistant offered her help. She reached out to the IRCC and asked about my situation. The IRCC agent said she did not see anything on my file that would prevent me from returning to Canada. (Keep in my mind I was issued a one year exclusion on December 15th 2022). I thought this was strange but gave me some hope. If an IRCC agent does not see anything like that on my file, Would it give me problems returning to Canada almost immediately? Or would that be a problem with the CBSA upon arrival at the airport customs.

- I'm not sure who your MP contacted. If it was the IRCC call centre, they have access to liminted information and will also sometimes give wrong answers. I wouldn't trust anything they say. If you have a letter stating that you have an exclusion order, then you have an exclusion order and you should expect to either be refused boarding when you try to fly to Canada or refused entry when you arrive by CBSA and sent immediately home. You would need an eTA to fly to Canada. I suppose you could try applying for an eTA and see what happens. I think it should be refused. Make sure you answer all questions truthfully in the eTA application. I believe there are some questions there around overstaying your visa.
- Also note that MPs cannot influence immigration decisions. They can enquire on your behalf but cannot change a decision or remove an exclusion order. So they can't help to change your situation.
- Processing times for spousal sponsorship applications are around 14 months right now. So no, submitting this application will not allow you to return to Canada within the next few months. However if you want to try to apply for a TRP for example, I think you will have a much stronger argument / case to make if you have already submitted a spousal sponsorship application.
- To get ITA, you need a score of around 486+ right now. It's quite competitive. There are a number of ways to increase your score, generally all of them take time. This includes making sure you have maxed out your English language scores, learning French, getting more work experience, getting a higher level of education. Even if you were to get ITA soon, the processing takes time and it would still be quite some time before you are able to come to Canada (plus you would need an ARC if you want to try to return before the exclusion order expires).

 

[canuck78]

Would suggest that your fiancée Alesia explore coming to live in Australia if you want to be together earlier. Many examples of spouses being denied entry to a Canada to be with the pregnant partner so agree that I think chances of not having to complete the one year exclusion order are pretty low. You should also plan on increased scrutiny when arriving in Canada on any future visits. There is a good chance that you will face more scrutiny at the border when entering Canada and will have to prove that you will follow immigration rules this time.