Outland application woes : PLEASE HELP

[ROCCOUK]

Not an easy one this (I guess nobodies case is)

My Partner (Canadian) and I (UK) have lived together for almost 3 years now, 1 year in AUZ, UK then this last year with me living in Canada and leaving after 6 months then returning on a visitor visa. When I entered this time I wasn't just given a stamp in my passport i was given a printed document saying the date I entered and the date I must leave. We decided to file our papers outland for Common law BUT was waiting for my Criminal record check to come, its finally arrived but now my visitor stay has expired. Any suggestions, if I apply inland would this be better or apply outland and hope for the best. . .


thanks in advance

 

[surleplateau]

Uh, why didn't you apply for a visa extension before your visitor stay expired?

It is POSSIBLE that you may still be able to apply for a "restoration of status" -- from the first link you can go to Guide 5551 - Applying to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada and it says:

If your status has expired or if you did not respect one of the conditions of your permit or you have worked or studied without a required permit, you have committed an offence under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. You may be subject to an admissibility hearing that could lead to removal from Canada. If your temporary resident status has expired, do not apply for an extension as you are not eligible. However, if you wish to stay in Canada after your status has expired you may apply for restoration of status within 90 days of your offence (loss of status) or you must leave Canada. If you wish to apply for restoration, complete the enclosed application providing full details of how you came to commit the offence. There is no guarantee that your application will be accepted. See the section Restoration of Status.

Please read the whole thing very carefully, not just my bolded part.

If you are within 90 days of your status expiring, put together a very good application to restore your status along with a letter from your partner stating that you are just about to do the sponsorship for PR ASAP and request that you be able to stay together during this time.

You should be able to do this all online, and then once it's in the system, I believe you are considered on "implied status" meaning that you are awaiting a response to your application (for restoration).

The visa (restoration) office is not the same office as the PR sponsorship, but as you should be mentioning your upcoming PR sponsorship, they may sit on your restoration request while your PR sponsorship gets past the first step (Sponsor Approval for Outland, not sure about Inland).

I think Outland would still be faster for you. Just do what you can to maintain status and put together good applications.

My two cents, I'm not a senior member here, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[ROCCOUK]

Id originally planned to only stay 1 week (12th-19th Jan) then we were going to New York for a trip and would then return (so In the part how long do you intend on staying I put 7 days), Unfortunately the trip never materialized and now Ive overstayed. They've stamped Valid from jan 12th - 30th.

so you're suggesting I write to them?

thanks

 

[surleplateau]

I'm suggesting that you read VERY CAREFULLY the links that I put in my first reply. Do the Find out if you’re eligible to apply online questionnaire.

Find out if you can apply for a restoration of status. If you can, do it. Include as a "letter of explanation" a brief/concise explanation about your situation.

I have never applied for a restoration of status before, so I don't know how much it is different from an extension.

 

[ROCCOUK]

If we apply outbound and use my UK address would I have to declare that Im in Canada?

 

[truesmile]

If you want avoid stating you are in Canada, appoint your spouse as an "authorized representative" (one additional form), and then the forms will only ask for his/her address.

 

[surleplateau]

An Outland application does not require you to be outside of Canada.

And INLAND application has a requirement that you be IN Canada (and current changes are pointing towards requiring the principal applicant to maintain legal status, which you don't have at the moment).

You can be in Canada on a visitor visa/status while doing your OUTland application. There's nothing that says otherwise. It's just about which visa office processes your application. Inland gets the long haul (approx 2 years). A straight-forward case from a Westernized country generally doesn't take nearly as long (check the thread for your visa office, I assume it's London, for current details).

From what I've gathered from reading this forum, a little bit of overstay does not, by itself, case major problems, AS LONG AS that's the only issue (no other legal or criminal problems) AND as long as you do NOT HIDE IT.

Lying or hiding information on any CIC application tends to cause major problems. Honesty is the best policy.

 

[ROCCOUK]

If you want avoid stating you are in Canada, appoint your spouse as an "authorized representative" (one additional form), and then the forms will only ask for his/her address.

So I say that I am actually in the UK? I don't have any plans to leave/re-enter Canada in the next few months whilst this is being processed and hopefully the application shouldn't take that long from London. Also about 3 years ago I overstayed for like 1 week would you mention this?



Also instead of just a stamp I got a visitor record form 12th-30th and a stamp, will I be tracked down now? Obviously I haven't left so will they have a record of that?



Ultimately, can i apply for Outbound PR whilst the restoration of my visitor visa process is taking place or while im on implied status?


Thanks for all the help so far

 

[truesmile]

I meant for "address" purposes. It's been a few years, I simply recall that once we appointed myself (sponsor) as a representative I no longer needed to know my wife's foreign address.

Yes, if the question asks, come clean.

Not sure about Canadian exit records.

Yes you can, but there is no implied status with Outland applications, nor OWP's for that matter.

 

[ROCCOUK]

So, Lemme get this straight - since I'm within the 90 days you're both saying apply for restoration of my VISA explaining that a) I was waiting for my police record to come through etc b) I am in the process of applying for PR under common law c) I now have the police record and medical details and this is the only thing holding me back.

I've been reading that the extension/restoration of my Visitor record (if it gets granted) can take a while, don't I have to be of legal status to apply for PR though? As technically if I send my forms in ill be waiting for a decision on if they will extend my visitor visa.

Again, thanks so much guys/gals

 

[ROCCOUK]

Hi, Sorry to bother again but can anyone clarify

Ive breached my Visitor Stay BUT just about to try to restore this as its within the 90 days . . . As soon as Ive applied for restoration of my visitor visa am I on Implied status whilst my Application is being processed? Then does this mean I can send in my outland application for PR and hope the first step gets approved . . . .

i.e. can I send in my outbound application as soon as Ive paid for the restoration of my visitor visa?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Ive breached my Visitor Stay BUT just about to try to restore this as its within the 90 days . . . As soon as Ive applied for restoration of my visitor visa am I on Implied status whilst my Application is being processed? Then does this mean I can send in my outland application for PR and hope the first step gets approved . . . .

i.e. can I send in my outbound application as soon as Ive paid for the restoration of my visitor visa?

You don't need to have legal status to send your outland app. Send it now if it's ready to go.

Though you are allowed to stay in Canada while you await the restoration app decision, you don't have any form of status.

Regarding the address issue, do not use a UK address when you don't actually live there. They will know you are in Canada anyways, so use the Canadian address in your application.

An overstay will have no effect on the PR app, so be honest about it.