Restoration of status - how long do they give you after restoration?

[begaana]

Hello,

My wife is applying for restoration of her status as a visitor in Canada because she has unintentionally overstayed her visa. We're quite confident that we can prove that she did not violate the conditions of her visa intentionally, but we're looking at the forms now and we're quite confused.

The major question in my mind is, when they restore my wife's status, how much longer will she be able to stay in the country? Obviously we would need some time to allow her to book her ticket out of the country to avoid overstaying again. If this seems paranoid, consider that the CIC sent us a letter dated Jan. 22 rejecting her study permit application, and telling her that she was out of status as of...Jan. 22nd. Of course the letter took 3 days to reach us, so she could not possibly have left the country on time without a time machine. I do NOT want this to happen again. Ideally I'd like to have a month so that we can book affordable tickets for her (and me, ideally, as I'd like to accompany her if I can take the time off work).

Is there a standard amount of time that they give you after your status has been restored, if you have overstayed?

 

[begaana]

One other thing: A restoration of status application can only be made from within the country, and therefore my wife should stay here in Canada until she hears back from CIC about her restoration, correct?

 

[ssparkles]

Hi Begaana,

I've restored my status one or two times in the past and its not a problem at all if your application is complete for the status you are restoring to. So you have to assess if your wife applied for a study permit what are the chances that she will get it? Were you able to submit all the documents? The main ones being enrollment letter, proof of funds etc. If her application was complete for the study permit, her status will be restored to that and you just have to wait. You just have to pay an extra fee for restoration.

Once they restore the status, they will restore it to the length of the course she is doing or till the time her passport is valid. Whatever comes first.

In the worst case scenario of it being rejected, they do not give you a fixed time to leave the country. You just have to do it as soon as possible but as far as I know there is no fixed timeline for it. She is on implied status until she gets a response from CIC so she can stay until she hears from CIC.

Ssparkles.

 

[begaana]

Thank you very much ssparkles! That answers my question very well. As it happens, in desperation we've sought out a lawyer and he has advised us to apply for both a restoration of status and an extension of her visit visa. I don't think we're going to try to have her re-apply for the study permit for which she was rejected.

If I have the time, as I learn more I'll detail our progress, the process and the outcome for others who might be in this sort of situation. As you say, it seems quite routine, but it's a bit scary and we've spoken to a lawyer because we want to get everything EXACTLY right. Fingers crossed.

 

[begaana]

Well, it has been a week; we've given all of our documents to the lawyer, he has given us an estimate of the legal fees and I have said that I'm looking forward to seeing the precise amount. No communication since then. I would have liked to at least have an agreement with this lawyer so that we know that he is really willing to deal with this case. Otherwise, we've lost a week, within which we probably could have sent out the application ourselves, however imperfect. I emailed him yesterday to see what is up and to remind him that we only have 90 days (about a third of which is now up). One would think that he would be happy that we are eager to pay quickly. Probably he'll get back to me by next week, but the suspense is killing me.

Our problem really boils down to a few fields on form IMM5708, Application to Change Conditions, Extend My Stay, or Remain in Canada as a Visitor or Temporary Resident Permit Holder. In the initial consultation, the lawyer who has now disappeared advised us to apply both for relocation of status and extension of her visit visa. There are just some date fields that we are confused about. Namely:

PERSONAL DETAILS, 7. Current Country of Residence: We're not sure about the From-To dates. My wife has been in Canada since 06/30/2012, that's clear enough. But since her status expired 01/22/2013, we're not sure what to say under "To." The form will not allow us to enter a date in the past. So should we wait till we're ready to submit, and enter a date that is a few days after the date of submission? Or do we enter the date until which we would like my wife to be able to stay?

DETAILS OF VISIT TO CANADA, 2. Indicate how long you plan to stay: This is the "extension" part of it. Again, the From-To dates are giving us a headache. In this case the "To" date is fairly clear; ideally we'd like her to be here until the end of September, by which time the decision on our sponsorship application will have come (we hope). But what about the "From" date? Should this be the day that she lost her status in Canada, i.e., 01/22/2013, or maybe the date that we submit the application, or what? We're really not sure.

Does anyone out there have any ideas?

 

[ssparkles]

Thank you very much ssparkles! That answers my question very well. As it happens, in desperation we've sought out a lawyer and he has advised us to apply for both a restoration of status and an extension of her visit visa. I don't think we're going to try to have her re-apply for the study permit for which she was rejected.

If I have the time, as I learn more I'll detail our progress, the process and the outcome for others who might be in this sort of situation. As you say, it seems quite routine, but it's a bit scary and we've spoken to a lawyer because we want to get everything EXACTLY right. Fingers crossed.

Begaana,

Did you mean an extension of her visitor 'status' or 'visa'? there is a difference. Please clarify.

Ssparkles

 

[ssparkles]

Well, it has been a week; we've given all of our documents to the lawyer, he has given us an estimate of the legal fees and I have said that I'm looking forward to seeing the precise amount. No communication since then. I would have liked to at least have an agreement with this lawyer so that we know that he is really willing to deal with this case. Otherwise, we've lost a week, within which we probably could have sent out the application ourselves, however imperfect. I emailed him yesterday to see what is up and to remind him that we only have 90 days (about a third of which is now up). One would think that he would be happy that we are eager to pay quickly. Probably he'll get back to me by next week, but the suspense is killing me.

Our problem really boils down to a few fields on form IMM5708, Application to Change Conditions, Extend My Stay, or Remain in Canada as a Visitor or Temporary Resident Permit Holder. In the initial consultation, the lawyer who has now disappeared advised us to apply both for relocation of status and extension of her visit visa. There are just some date fields that we are confused about. Namely:

PERSONAL DETAILS, 7. Current Country of Residence: We're not sure about the From-To dates. My wife has been in Canada since 06/30/2012, that's clear enough. But since her status expired 01/22/2013, we're not sure what to say under "To." The form will not allow us to enter a date in the past. So should we wait till we're ready to submit, and enter a date that is a few days after the date of submission? Or do we enter the date until which we would like my wife to be able to stay?

DETAILS OF VISIT TO CANADA, 2. Indicate how long you plan to stay: This is the "extension" part of it. Again, the From-To dates are giving us a headache. In this case the "To" date is fairly clear; ideally we'd like her to be here until the end of September, by which time the decision on our sponsorship application will have come (we hope). But what about the "From" date? Should this be the day that she lost her status in Canada, i.e., 01/22/2013, or maybe the date that we submit the application, or what? We're really not sure.

Does anyone out there have any ideas?

Begaana,

If your lawyer is not replying to you I would quickly find someone else to keep as a backup. Atleast you will have started the process of getting another lawyer if you haven't already paid. Your time is on the clock not his. Also I never wanted to spend on a lawyer as they were so expensive and found my own ways through this forum and by calling CIC multiple times and figuring things out. Anyway it is your choice. I'll help you with what I know.

As I understand you will be applying for 1) Restoration of status and (2) extending status as a visitor (not a visitor visa)*

*extending status as a visitor is given to you under reasons that you are waiting for your PR application outcome while you wait in canada.

PERSONAL DETAILS, 7. Current Country of Residence: We're not sure about the From-To dates. My wife has been in Canada since 06/30/2012, that's clear enough. But since her status expired 01/22/2013, we're not sure what to say under "To." The form will not allow us to enter a date in the past. So should we wait till we're ready to submit, and enter a date that is a few days after the date of submission? Or do we enter the date until which we would like my wife to be able to stay?

For this, if the form is not letting you enter the date her status was expired which was in the past I would try leaving it blank and attach a separate letter explaining the situation. If it doesn't let you leave it blank I would put either the current date or the date when I submit the application and still attach a letter explaining the situation.

DETAILS OF VISIT TO CANADA, 2. Indicate how long you plan to stay: This is the "extension" part of it. Again, the From-To dates are giving us a headache. In this case the "To" date is fairly clear; ideally we'd like her to be here until the end of September, by which time the decision on our sponsorship application will have come (we hope). But what about the "From" date? Should this be the day that she lost her status in Canada, i.e., 01/22/2013, or maybe the date that we submit the application, or what? We're really not sure.

For this question I'm not sure if this will apply to everyone but this is how I did it. I applied for extending my status while my work permit was valid so in the 'From' field I gave the date my work permit was going to expire. So for your wife's application it would be good to give the date her status expired. To be extra careful attaching a letter explaining that you have applied to restore status as well and details on why it expired in the first place might help.

As for the 'To' field do not Estimate when you will get your reply by. It is a very SLOW and unpredictable process as far as time line goes. We all hope for the best but should be prepared for the worst. I would apply for the to date 1 yr from the time her status expired, that way they are likely to give you 6 months or so. if you apply for 6 months you could actually get even less time.

I hope his was helpful and that you're able to send out your application soon.

Ssparkles

 

[begaana]

You're wonderful, ssparkles. God only knows why the lawyer is missing in action. I imagine he must simply be busy and, as you say, they can afford to spend our time. I remember now that during the initial consultation the lawyer said, "Well, you have 90 days from the date she lost her status; plenty of time," and I thought, "Well...but what if there is an error and the CIC doesn't get back to us about it until after the 90 days? We should file ASAP so that there is time for them to catch errors." To do him justice he told us it was quite straightforward and we didn't need a lawyer. If it were for myself, I would forgo the lawyer, but the way I see it, my wife's gone through a lot for our sake, and even though it's a lot of money, she deserves to have this done correctly.

What troubles me is the fact that I'm spending time on this forum, and trying to get in touch with CIC for answers, but this lawyer is probably going to finally get back to me, say, next week, and I'll kick myself for not letting him do the work instead. I wish he would just send me a note saying that he needs a bit of time.

For this, if the form is not letting you enter the date her status was expired which was in the past I would try leaving it blank and attach a separate letter explaining the situation. If it doesn't let you leave it blank I would put either the current date or the date when I submit the application and still attach a letter explaining the situation.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I'll say that she is resident in Canada until the day we submit the application, and of course there will be a letter explaining the whole situation, including the fact that her status expired on Jan. 22.

For this question I'm not sure if this will apply to everyone but this is how I did it. I applied for extending my status while my work permit was valid so in the 'From' field I gave the date my work permit was going to expire. So for your wife's application it would be good to give the date her status expired. To be extra careful attaching a letter explaining that you have applied to restore status as well and details on why it expired in the first place might help.

Okay, that's very helpful. Going by your precedent it seems as if the "From" date for the extension should be the date my wife's status expired, i.e., Jan. 22nd, and I'll explain it in the letter. This is really the safest thing to do, I think.

As for the 'To' field do not Estimate when you will get your reply by. It is a very SLOW and unpredictable process as far as time line goes. We all hope for the best but should be prepared for the worst. I would apply for the to date 1 yr from the time her status expired, that way they are likely to give you 6 months or so. if you apply for 6 months you could actually get even less time.

Ah...really.... Well, this is good to know. In your case, how long did it take them to give you a decision? One year from the expiration of her status seems like a long time; I wonder whether they won't be annoyed at that or find it unusual. But you're probably right. Thanks for all the advice.

Just to be extra safe I'm going to have my wife get in touch with CIC about all this. If they respond in a comprehensible way I'll post their reply here.

 

[begaana]

PS: Once the lawyer comes back from Hawaii or wherever he is and gets in touch with me again, perhaps I'll ask him to give ssparkles 50% of the legal fees.

 

[ssparkles]

lol You're giving me too much credit. It's just that people in this forum helped me when I really didn't know much and now after all this time I find myself in a position to help others back.

Ah...really.... Well, this is good to know. In your case, how long did it take them to give you a decision? One year from the expiration of her status seems like a long time; I wonder whether they won't be annoyed at that or find it unusual. But you're probably right. Thanks for all the advice

I got my response in around 6-7 weeks. The reason I gave my time line as one year is because the processing time said 15 months, so you should consider how much time you have left in that processing time and apply accordingly. Apply for a little more time as they give you less than what you ask for. Also this is not a regular visiting visa, you are asking for a status to stay because you are waiting for your PR and they know that and can see how far along your application is. Anyway you have to do what you feel is best for your application and consider all other information you get as a guideline.

I really hope your lawyer resurfaces soon. Do update when you hear anything new at your end. 8)

 

[begaana]

Just updating: The lawyer has completely disappeared and we're doing everything ourselves. I've taken ssparkles' advice and explained our answers on the form in the letter.

My wife emailed CIC about this some weeks back. No reply...of course.

We've been trying to submit online, but the online system has been having technical problems for more than a week, so as of yesterday we've decided to do a paper application instead.

 

[ssparkles]

Hey Begaana,

Good to hear from you again however its unfortunate (or fortunate) that the lawyer route didn't work out.

Its good you're applying yourself. Also if this is of any help, the processing time for the extended status as a visitor has significantly increased. I applied for the 2nd time in November and received the response in March!!!! Its ridiculous. Just check your processing time before applying as that's how long you'll be on implied status. Depending on your own specific standing with this whole situation this could either work for you or against you.

Anyway I hope it all works out soon x_x

 

[begaana]

That's really ridiculous, but since the point is to keep her in the country, I imagine it works in our favour. I hope we'll be able to pay online send out the (paper) application by tomorrow. We're just paranoid that we may have made some mistake! Wish us luck.

 

[ssparkles]

Good Luck !!!! Its so hard not to stress when you really don't know what the outcome will be. You do the best you can and then you just wait and see what happens. There is only so much you can do. Good wishes your way.

 

[begaana]

Thanks so much! Well, we're fairly confident that she'll have her status restored and (hopefully) extended, but the uncertainty is awful. And then there's the question of how much longer the spousal sponsorship is going to take, and what the outcome of that will be.