please help! very complicated case!!

[jin2jy]

Hi guys,
I have a very complicated case.i cant seem to find sure answers please help me out. Currently my wife is in canada w her family. She is a natural born canadian citizen. We got married in vegas about 2 years ago. Im a south korean citizen residing in usa w pending permanent residency. I do not have a visa or a passport due to my countrys stupid law. Any male under the age of 35 are required to join the army and serve for 2 years and 2 months. Im 25 years old. From what i know i also can not get a police cert due to this. I moved to us when i was 13 lived here til now. my wife in canada can not come back into usa due to her overstaying hete for two years. We were young knew nothing. I called couple immigration lawyers they say that my situation would not even matteras long as my wife gets approved as a sponsor and if all goes well me not having visa or passport dont really matter if i could make border officers understand. What should i do??!! would it be possible to get rid of my wifes overstay? am i eligible to get sponsored? At this point i just wanna see her..i also heard it would be possible for her to come to buffalo n i go to buffalo to see her even for a day. Please any comments or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HoneyBird]

Well, I don't think she will have a problem in sponsoring you once she has some sort of income and ties to Canada. I don't think anything w.r.t. her problems with the usa will be flagged for her to sponsor you. Perhaps you and your wife needs to review the documents w.r.t. her application for you and see that the information requested from her is generally basic compared to what you need to put on your application.

I honestly don't know about how you will be meeting...I am stumped.Because you can't even leave the states due to no passport or visa and she can't come to america? which begs the other question...you have not seen her in 2 years! As part of the application, you need to have lots of supporting documents proving without doubt your relationship is genuine.

BTW how long again do you think for your permanent residency for the States?

AND have you thought about approaching the Canadian Embassy in the States to find out about entering canada without a passport issued from your home country? Just to hear what their response is?

 

[jin2jy]

Thank you so much for your input. she left usa 4 months ago to be exact i have been married to her for two. i found out that if only sponsoring goes well iwould have no problem crossing canadian border without a visa or a passport. I can not get anything from korea or go back is because first they will only issue me a returning visa to korea nothing elsen second if i go to korea it is guaranteed i have to join the army without my consent. Only way out of all this is my Pr in usa or Pr in canada. Im at the final stage for my Pr in usa but it stayed that way for about 3 years therefore im not even certain. Also a main reason i sent my wife back to canada to see her family.........

 

[RobsLuv]

I'm not sure where you got your information that as long as sponsoring goes well, you would have no problem crossing into Canada without a passport or a visa. The fact is that you cannot get permanent residence through sponsorship unless you have a valid passport, and with the new border rules, it's next to impossible to even enter Canada without a passport. Besides that, if you left the US, you'd never get back in . . . so that would eliminate your option for permanent status there and there are no guarantees you'd get it in Canada either. Having a wife in Canada is not an instant ticket to Canadian status.

You're really in a tough situation and, unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the lawyers you've been talking to have been very well informed. You were taken from your country of birth when you were a minor without anybody doing what was necessary to eliminate your military obligation. Apparently that leaves you with no way to get a passport, so you are a man without a country . . . basically a refugee. But I suspect your current (positive) situation in the States could affect your ability to apply for refugee status in Canada. Your wife should contact a Canadian immigration lawyer who is qualified in this area and who knows how the laws work when people are in your situation. That would be the best way to find out what options may be available to you.

In the meantime, it's unfortunate that your wife overstayed her temporary status in the States and now can't come there to see you. Unless Canadian Immigration provides some avenue for you to come to Canada without having a passport, your best option (as I see it) for being together is for you to wait for your permanent status in the States, and then apply to sponsor her for permanent status in the US also. There is no quick solution. As far as what you've been told about her being able to go to Buffalo and you going to Buffalo to see her . . . there is no "magic" neutral ground in Buffalo that would allow her to go there when she can't otherwise enter the US. If you can't get into Canada because you don't have a passport, and she can't get into the States because she is under some type of exclusion due to her overstay, then the only way the two of you can spend time together is to meet in some neutral country . . . but doing that would - again - undoubtedly jeopardize your US PR application. You REALLY need some qualified advice!! Don't let your longing to see one another be the thing that drives you to make decisions without knowing what the repercussions will be or you could get messed up for years to come. Honestly, this is way over our heads. Have your wife get in contact with a reputable immigration attorney . . . she may be able to get recommendations through her Member of Parliament . . . but, for now, don't make any rash decisions or moves. You really need to proceed carefully. As I see it, right now your best chance at a normal life is that permanent resident application you have in process in the States. If you hadn't fallen in love with a Canadian, you'd be sitting tight waiting for that to happen. Don't let the emotion of this relationship be the thing that drives you both further away from what you need to accomplish to be together.

There's some interesting information about the mandatory military service requirements at this link to a page on the South Korean Embassy website. Honestly, I really think you're on the right track with your application for permanent status in the States and you'd be wise to wait that out and then sponsor your wife to come there. If you really want to live in Canada rather than the States, she'd be able to sponsor you for permanent status once you have US citizenship (with a US passport) . . . but that's probably a long way away. If the point is to be able to be together, the more immediate solution is you staying there and her getting status there. I just hope that hasn't been messed up by her overstay.

 

[canadianwoman]

I called couple immigration lawyers they say that my situation would not even matteras long as my wife gets approved as a sponsor and if all goes well me not having visa or passport dont really matter if i could make border officers understand. What should i do??!! would it be possible to get rid of my wifes overstay?

Either you misunderstood these lawyers or they don't know what they are talking about. Sometimes people are just waived through on land border crossings between the USA and Canada, but you can't count on this. If you do manage to cross into Canada illegally, without a visa to get back into the USA you will ruin your US PR application.
Your wife won't be able to go to Buffalo either if she has been banned from entering the USA.
Your wife will most likely be able to sponsor you, but you need a passport to get the Canadian PR visa.
You definitely need a good lawyer.
Good luck.

 

[jin2jy]

Thank you so much guys for all your help !! Ill take all your advices thankfully snd proceed with caution. Are there any lawyers that you guys highly recommend?? Thanks