PR resident of Canada stuck in the US while trying to get paperwork sorted out!

[buster4ever]

Hello Everyone,

I really need some help here...

I have been doing research all morning when I came across this forum. I am a 30yr old German lady who moved to canada with her mom and step dad (military brat) in 1994. I am a PR resident of Canada....although wishing I would have become a canadian citizen so I wouldn't have to go through this pain of a rear situation now.
A year ago I decided to travel to the states to visit my partner. During my visit I lost my wallet that contained my renewed pr card along with my social insurance card etc....WHAT A NIGHTMARE. I made the HUGE mistake of staying passed my visa waiver that i got when entering the us because i was too involved with taking care of my partners son and everything got put on the back burner. I definitely realize how irresponsible that decision was on my part. I did call the canadian immigrations office to let them know that my PR was lost and I have also reported my Social security card lost. Also, during my stay in oregon my german passport expired. So as you can imagine I have put myself entirely alone in a very difficult situation.

Because I don't want to be illegal in the states (being aware that I am at this point) and I know I need to correct the situation. I have been in contact with the canadian immigrations office here as well as the german consulate. In order for me to re enter canada i need to have a valid passport so I went and applied for a temporary 1 year german passport. I then can go to the immigration office in my area and apply for a travel document so i can re enter canada.

I can't replace my PR card unless I am physically in canada.

I was told that if i don't use a commercial carrier such as a plane, train, bus i would not need a travel doc. only a valid passport ( along with other papers I might have....I do have a certified copy of my birth certificate, landing papers from when i came to canada with my family as well as my PR card numer and a few other documents....I even have some pay stubs from right before i entered the states. As well as my expired passport which they didn't require from me when i went to renew it here). Is there anybody out there who could give me some advice?

I have been on the phone with immigrations, the embassy, the consulate for months...it's all a catch 22 phrase at this point.

I am doing what I am supposed to be doing and am obviously not trying to ignore the law here but in fact trying to correct my situation.

step 1 report to the canadian official that I have lost my PR card. ( I even explained that i have stayed passed my visa)
step 2 go to the german local consulate and deal wit my passport ( I am waiting to hear back from them and my new passport)
step 3 go to my local canadian immigrations office ( waiting on my passport so i can make appointment with them)

I feel like I am doing whatever i possibly can here...but at this point I feel stuck here...because of having to wait for responses, papers etc. I am as you might be able to tell obviously frustrated.

Basically I've been ready to just take my behind to the border and deal with these consequences. I need to get back to my Mom as she needs me and that means I need to have this dealt with asap. I am all she has in canada and being the only child I MUST find a way to return home.

any advice would be soooooooo greatly appreciated.

thank you so much for reading this...and don't worry, any critic is welcome. I definitely know that i have made a huge mistake by staying passed my visa waiver. Just trying to correct this situation and move on now.

regards,

PS. Another quick question, let's say that I try to re-enter canada via car...what would happen to me? Am I going to get arrested/detained? I have no prior record or anything. My situation is explained above. I am just curious...I have all sorts of ideas going through my head and because it seems to be next to impossible to get one straight answer maybe posting on here will help clarify some of my fears and anxiety about this entire situation.

 

[scylla]

Hi there,

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions. (Hopefully someone else will be able to help.)

However I wanted to make sure that you were aware of the US overstay rules and what will happen if you leave.

How long have you been out of status in the US? If it's less than 180 days, then you should really try to leave the US and re-enter Canada before you hit this number to make sure your ability to visit the US in the future isn't impacted.

The overstay rules for US are as follows: If you have overstayed for 180 days or more, then you will be automatically banned from the US for a period of three years as soon as you leave. If you have overstayed 360 days or more, then you will be automatically banned from the US for a period of ten years as soon as you leave. This is why it's so important to leave before you accumulate the 180 days.

Again, just wanted to make sure you were aware of the above.

 

[buster4ever]

Hello there,

Thank you for the reply!!! I am aware that after a certain amount of days I will automatically be banned. I definitely have been here for more than 180 days. With this waiting process for my papers which has been months my situation is definitely not going any more smooth. Luckily I have a partner/friend here who is supporting me through this. At this point I don't even care about being allowed back into the states. Don't get me wrong I LOVE LOVE LOVE absolutely love it here but reality has it that I won't be able to return for years and years to come. (I will look into getting some legal advice once i safely return to Canada. Maybe there is a way to speed up the not being banned for 10years).
We have even paid for expedited processing for my german passport etc which doesn't really seem to make a difference.

I guess I could have just gone to the border and dealt with it that way? Although, the thought of doing that is very frightening to me and just seems brutal. Doing things the proper way was the more responsible choice for me considering me being a PR of canada.

Thank you again for the response. It's greatly appreciated!

 

[rjessome]

Ok, calm down. You need the passport. That's it. You are visa exempt so you don't have to apply for a travel document, no matter what your method of travel is. Nobody is going to stop you from boarding a plane, train or bus to Canada from the US with a German passport. You DO need to identify yourself as a PR of Canada upon entry, show them your Record of Landing (which you say you have), and advise them that you lost your PR card. If you've reported it lost to CIC, there should be a record of that in your file notes that they can access. You might get a bit of hassle, especially if they think you may not have met your residency obligations, but they will still allow you entry into Canada. The worst thing that would happen is that they issue you a Section 44 report and you will have to prove that you met the residency obligations to maintain PR. That shouldn't be a problem if you were only gone for a year and probably highly unlikely they would do that anyway.

 

[buster4ever]

Hey again,

This is the best news I have received. I definitely sound like I over reacted in my last message on here. Sorry about that. It's all that frustration I think. Yes, I definitely have my record of landing and am just waiting for my new temporary 1 year passport to get to me. Also I have called CIC to report my card lost etc.
I feel a lot more calm knowing that I can actually go ahead plan my trip back. Thank you so much!