Overstayed my tourist visa by a year pleas HELP

[Seriousness1]

So Hi last year i came from an European country with a family of 4 to see my sister. we got a 90-day visa but overstayed it by a year. there was a crisis going on because my sister was very sick i stayed with her. I totaly forgot about extending my visa (stupid me). now i want to leave December 2012. just to make sure i am taking my flight from another city ?

Pleaasssss HELP :'( :'( :'(


Now i got 2 questions is there going to be any exit control when i leave Canada?

And what can i expect to happen when i want to leave Canada ?

How can i get punished if they see that i overstayed that long ?

 

[computergeek]

There are no exit controls in Canada, although they will have a record of your departure from the airlines.

Nothing will happen - your overstay is "cured" by your departure.

They would issue you a removal order - probably a departure order - and require that you leave Canada within 30 days.

Good luck!

 

[Seriousness1]

So there are not going to stop me and ask me a lot of questions like where did you stay ?
and who provided for you ?
Or even take my fingerprint or something what is going to happen to my kids ?
do i have to pay a fee ?

Ps. Sorry for all the questions i'm just kind of nervous and i want enough info as i can. ;D ;D
:-\

 

[computergeek]

So there are not going to stop me and ask me a lot of questions like where did you stay ?
and who provided for you ?
Or even take my fingerprint or something what is going to happen to my kids ?
do i have to pay a fee ?

Ps. Sorry for all the questions i'm just kind of nervous and i want enough info as i can. ;D ;D
:-\

Unless you have been given a removal order, they aren't going to ask you. You won't speak with anyone from Canadian immigration before you depart normally. No fingerprints, no lecture, no questions.

 

[Seriousness1]

Do you have any facts to support this statement ?
in other words are you 100% sure ?

 

[computergeek]

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/776350--canadian-border-has-no-exit-controls

Or:

Unlike some countries, Canada has no exit controls. That means, when you leave Canada, you will not be inspected by Canadian immigration officials who might discover your overstay in Canada.

Source: http://www.justlanded.com/english/Canada/Articles/Visas-Permits/Exit-strategy-needed-for-illegals

The issue of no exit controls is well-known in Canada. However, the information on your exit is available to the government:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tracking-measures-will-tell-ottawa-whos-coming-whos-going-and-where/article548007/

Note that this still doesn't constitute an "exit control" as is practiced by a number of countries. I have a passport filled with entry and exit stamps.

Oddly, one of the "issues" when leaving Canada so you may process your paperwork at the border is that Canada doesn't stamp your passport on exit and the US may not stamp your passport on entry. I landed last month and I needed to have evidence that I was outside Canada. So I had to get my passport physically stamped for entry to the US. Someone on a non-exempt passport could have simply picked up a piece of paper stamped with a date and an "administrative refusal". They couldn't do that for me because a US citizen has a legal right of entry into the US. They don't stamp the passports at land border crossings. I had to physically go into the secondary inspection area and get that stamp, then turn around and go right back to Canada (to process my permanent residency paperwork).

The information is all in the computer, but someone has to go look for it to find it - you don't interact with a Canadian border officer when you leave Canada.

I've departed from Canada dozens of times and never had my passport stamped.

So yes, I'm 100% sure - as long as you haven't received a departure order, you won't have an exit stamp. On the other hand, if you DO have a departure order, you must track down a CBSA officer to get your departure order finalized so they know you left.

 

[Seriousness1]

But you have a US passport and i have a European passport. as you can can see my English is not that good could you please explain it more basicThanks

 

[computergeek]

But you have a US passport and i have a European passport. as you can can see my English is not that good could you please explain it more basicThanks

It doesn't matter. Canada does not have exit controls. You will not be interviewed by a CBSA officer. And your overstay is resolved as soon as you leave.

Bottom line: even with your overstay, all they would do to "punish" you is issue you a departure order, which would require that you leave. But that's what you are doing anyway.

You will be fine.

 

[rustyshackleton]

I had a similar problem myself..Had overstayed my visa by 7 months and was issued with a departure notice. Got the letter to my home address but a few weeks went by and had received no contact to my work, my home or my cell so I decided to stick on a few more months work before I was to start university back home in Ireland in Sept, which turned into 11 in the end. I left last august and came back home to ireland. On leaving Canada I had no problems leaving the country and made it home safe. What my issue is that i'm hoping to go back over this summer for a few months. My question is will I encounter any problems when entering the country this time?

 

[computergeek]

I had a similar problem myself..Had overstayed my visa by 7 months and was issued with a departure notice. Got the letter to my home address but a few weeks went by and had received no contact to my work, my home or my cell so I decided to stick on a few more months work before I was to start university back home in Ireland in Sept, which turned into 11 in the end. I left last august and came back home to ireland. On leaving Canada I had no problems leaving the country and made it home safe. What my issue is that i'm hoping to go back over this summer for a few months. My question is will I encounter any problems when entering the country this time?

Yes, you will have a difficult time returning to Canada. Because you failed to leave within 30 days of your departure order, it became a deportation order. You are now prohibited from returning to Canada for life unless you are granted an "Authorization to Return to Canada" (ARC).

 

[rustyshackleton]

Holy shit, prohibited for life....are you sure? How difficult is it to get this ARC?

 

[scylla]

Holy *censored word*, prohibited for life....are you sure? How difficult is it to get this ARC?

Departure orders automatically turn into deportation orders if you don't leave. Yours definitely crossed into deportation. You need an ARC to return. Expect months (possibly up to a year) of processing to obtain the ARC. As with all things immigration, no guarantee of approval. More information on ARCs here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/arc.

I would say that your plans to return by summer are probably a bit ambitious.

 

[scylla]

Just to add... On the link I posted you will see the words below (this is the scenario that applies to you):

b) If you left the country without verifying your departure, or more than 30 days after the Departure Order was issued, the Departure Order automatically becomes a Deportation Order and you need to apply for an ARC (see point 3 below).

 

[iktheone]

Hi guys, my brother in law whose student visa expired has overstayed since 2011. Till now he did not get any intimation from Canada Immigration to leave the country. Is it possible that he leaves Canada and comes back to his home country and then apply for a Student Visa or Work Permit and go back or will he be banned for life?

 

[scylla]

Hi guys, my brother in law whose student visa expired has overstayed since 2011. Till now he did not get any intimation from Canada Immigration to leave the country. Is it possible that he leaves Canada and comes back to his home country and then apply for a Student Visa or Work Permit and go back or will he be banned for life?

If he's from a non visa exempt country (i.e. if he needs a visa to visit Canada), then I don't think there is any chance he will be approved for a student or work visa. To be approved for either of these, you must prove that you have strong ties to your home country and won't abuse your visa priviledges (i.e. will return home at the end of your trip). He has severely abused his visa priviledges and for this reason it's very unlikely Canada will issue him another one.

If he wants to return to Canada and be here legally, his only hope is to leave and then apply to immigrate.