Overstay in the United kingdom

[ashihopeful]

Hi I am asking this question for my best friend who has instilled in me the dream of migrating to Canada. But of late he told me that he has a problem. He had overstayed his student visa to the UK for 2 years. He departed from the United Kingdom and he was not checked or his passport stamped at london heathrow on exit.( UK immigration as i understand very rarely does this). He has already got a PCC with no live trace(no convictions) from ACPRO UK(he knows that he has to do it again though). He has asked me whether or not to show his overstay while applying to Canada. I said he might not even be eligible to apply because of overstay, but saw contradictory statements on this forum.

I feel for him as otherwise he has 71 points as per the new points scale. Would any respectful senior be able to help. As a newbie i would much appreciate your replies.

 

[Karwa Sach]

Hi I am asking this question for my best friend who has instilled in me the dream of migrating to Canada. But of late he told me that he has a problem. He had overstayed his student visa to the UK for 2 years. He departed from the United Kingdom and he was not checked or his passport stamped at london heathrow on exit.( UK immigration as i understand very rarely does this). He has already got a PCC with no live trace(no convictions) from ACPRO UK(he knows that he has to do it again though). He has asked me whether or not to show his overstay while applying to Canada. I said he might not even be eligible to apply because of overstay, but saw contradictory statements on this forum.

I feel for him as otherwise he has 71 points as per the new points scale. Would any respectful senior be able to help. As a newbie i would much appreciate your replies.

well now here is one more contradictory statement I can c in ur post

He has already got a PCC with no live trace(no convictions) from ACPRO UK
He has asked me whether or not to show his overstay while applying to Canada.

if he has a PCC from UK ,how come he can erase his overstay?
never ever hide this true fact ,be straight forward and mention all of history to avoid any future embarrassment.

 

[ashihopeful]

well now here is one more contradictory statement I can c in ur post

He has already got a PCC with no live trace(no convictions) from ACPRO UK
He has asked me whether or not to show his overstay while applying to Canada.

if he has a PCC from UK ,how come he can erase his overstay?
never ever hide this true fact ,be straight forward and mention all of history to avoid any future embarrassment.

Hi Sir,

Firstly thanking you so much for the reply. He applied for PCC just to make sure that if the MET would issue that he had overstayed his visa on it. I have seen this PCC and it does not mention anything about his overstay but says he has no live trace in UK which means he has no convictions. He has to apply again as this PCC i believe is only valid for 6 months. We wanted to know if his overstay in itself would be a hindrance to get PR. I advised him not to apply in May in the first place but on research in this forum i believe i read an overstay in itself is not a problem as long as you have no other convictions.

Thanking you again.

 

[Centaur]

During application stage, one needs to send photocopies of all pages of passport. Including old passports too. From the entry stamp into India, it would be clear, when he returned from UK. If UK visa is tallied against the return date, wont match. Just a point in hindsight. May make sense to disclose the fact to avoid future complications as misrepresentation or falsifying information.

Also, if during security check(In the event it went that far to check stay in UK), since his exit is not recorded in UK, could possibly ring bells.

Hi Sir,

Firstly thanking you so much for the reply. He applied for PCC just to make sure that if the MET would issue that he had overstayed his visa on it. I have seen this PCC and it does not mention anything about his overstay but says he has no live trace in UK which means he has no convictions. He has to apply again as this PCC i believe is only valid for 6 months. We wanted to know if his overstay in itself would be a hindrance to get PR. I advised him not to apply in May in the first place but on research in this forum i believe i read an overstay in itself is not a problem as long as you have no other convictions.

Thanking you again.

 

[ashihopeful]

Thank you Centaur,

So as far as i get it as long as he mentions his period of stay in status and out of status that would not be a problem is it? We can only guess and everything depends on the officer in charge. In no way he should lie in the application. I read on some threads that since he is applying for PR overstay in itself will not be an issue as long as there are no convictions or cautions which he has not. I understand work permits and student visas would be an issue though. Any further suggestions would be highly appreciated. This blog is proving quite useful in so many ways. All of you here are a brilliant bunch.

By the way though i am from India he is from Sri Lanka. But even then he would have an entry stamp in Colombo airport. We have been living in the UK together during our initial days at University and have made a strong bond. I believe he screwed himself, though i feel sorry for him.

Regards.

 

[SABU79]

In my understanding, ACPRO doesn't have any connection with overstaying. However Immigration does have.
By the way if his application was under processing and he left the country while processing, what would have happened? Would it be overstay?
Thank you.

 

[Cappuccino]

The golden rule is never write anything untrue in an application.

That doesn't mean you need to volunteer every molecule of information unless CIC ask for it, just answer all questions truthfully.

Now, given that your friend will have to list all his addresses since 18 (I think), he will have to show he was living in the UK all that time.

Remind me, on the forms are there any specific questions which ask if you have lived anywhere out of status?


If not then your friend isn't REQUIRED to tell CIC it was out of status. However, if they find this out during the security checks it will look very bad. It will look less bad if your friend volunteers the information first. So from that point of view it may be worth explaining the situation in an accompanying letter, since your friend voluntarily letting CIC know that he was out of status is far better than their finding out on their own.

Bottom line is your friend broke the law by staying in the UK out of status and has already dug himself into something of a hole. Straight choice between volunteering the information about being out of status, and hope that honesty is reflected kindly by the visa officer. Or choosing not to mention it and hope they don't find out during security checks.

It's a dice roll either way.

If it were me I'd be up front and explain the situation in a letter with the application.

Wayne.

 

[prmalr]

Hi I am asking this question for my best friend who has instilled in me the dream of migrating to Canada. But of late he told me that he has a problem. He had overstayed his student visa to the UK for 2 years. He departed from the United Kingdom and he was not checked or his passport stamped at london heathrow on exit.( UK immigration as i understand very rarely does this). He has already got a PCC with no live trace(no convictions) from ACPRO UK(he knows that he has to do it again though). He has asked me whether or not to show his overstay while applying to Canada. I said he might not even be eligible to apply because of overstay, but saw contradictory statements on this forum.

I feel for him as otherwise he has 71 points as per the new points scale. Would any respectful senior be able to help. As a newbie i would much appreciate your replies.

Hi,
i guess and hope there is no column in the application for fsw asking about overstays in any country.
i presume they don't look for overstays, they look for convictions, crime, police records of arresting etc, as of now you don't have to panic,
they ask for the period of stay in any foreign country so all you have to do is mention only the time you stayed in any country,
if you want to make things clear ask any Canadian lawyer or good consultants they might help.
regards.
t

 

[ashihopeful]

Hi Cappuccino & prmalr,

Thanks to you both.
I believe they do ask for period of stay and what you were doing in the country of residence in form IMM5669E (background declaration) section 8.
They also ask about status in im0008 sectionn12. I think these were the last years application forms. Can anyone please verify.

Regards.

 

[geethu6]

Hi ashihopeful did your friend finnally got his PR ?