trying to become legal canadian

[inkedkiwi]

Hello,
i have been living in Canada now for 14 1/2 yrs. Unfortunately 13 of those years have been illegally due to being i got stuck here without any help to get home .For the past 8 yrs i have been living with my now fiancé and we now have 3 kids together (1 almost 4 yrs old & 2 yr old twins).I have never been able to get a work permit because they say i am too old (applied when i was 31).I would like to know how i can become a resident of Canada or at least for now get a work permit so i can legally work to support my family and finish paying the lawyers so everything can become legal and get my citizenship.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Leon]

Is your fiancé a Canadian or a PR? If yes, she can sponsor you for PR as a common law partner. There is no specific income requirement but she can't be on welfare or in active bankruptcy.

There is no such thing as too old for a work permit but in order to get a work permit, you would have to be outside Canada and have an LMIA.

The route to citizenship takes a bit longer. First you need to have PR and then you need to live in Canada for another 4 years before you can apply.

 

[kriv]

Hello,
i have been living in Canada now for 14 1/2 yrs. Unfortunately 13 of those years have been illegally due to being i got stuck here without any help to get home .For the past 8 yrs i have been living with my now fiancé and we now have 3 kids together (1 almost 4 yrs old & 2 yr old twins).I have never been able to get a work permit because they say i am too old (applied when i was 31).I would like to know how i can become a resident of Canada or at least for now get a work permit so i can legally work to support my family and finish paying the lawyers so everything can become legal and get my citizenship.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Why Now? You should hav done it years back...with the same options available today some of which are:-
1)if a failed refugee claimant: pr in h&c category
2)if your partner is permanent resident or citizen: inland sponsor

 

[Ponga]

Is your fiancé a Canadian or a PR? If yes, she can sponsor you for PR as a common law partner. T

Hi Leon,

Do you happen to know if the public policy, regarding those without status being eligible to apply for spousal sponsorship, has recently expired?

CIC changed the language in their In-Canada Guide that now states that a person must have legal status to apply. The change was made within the last month.

It now reads:
Maintaining legal status

Spouses and common law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are required to have legal immigration status in order to qualify under the Spouse or Common-law partner in Canada class.


The previous version of this guide indicated that a person no longer needed legal status, providing they had an eligible sponsor.

Any thoughts?

 

[Leon]

Hi Leon,

Do you happen to know if the public policy, regarding those without status being eligible to apply for spousal sponsorship, has recently expired?

CIC changed the language in their In-Canada Guide that now states that a person must have legal status to apply. The change was made within the last month.

It now reads:
Maintaining legal status

Spouses and common law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are required to have legal immigration status in order to qualify under the Spouse or Common-law partner in Canada class.


The previous version of this guide indicated that a person no longer needed legal status, providing they had an eligible sponsor.

Any thoughts?

I haven't heard of any changes. At http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-who.asp it still says :

"You can apply to sponsor your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or dependent children to immigrate to Canada. It does not matter if they live in or outside Canada. If they live in Canada, they do not need to have legal status to be sponsored."

In the manual for inland at http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/resources/manuals/ip/ip08-eng.pdf you can read about lack of status in section 5.27, page 21 :

5.27. Legal temporary resident status in Canada

Under the current Regulations, applicants in this spouse or common-law partner in Canada class
must have a valid temporary resident status on the date of application and on the date they
receive permanent resident status to be eligible to be members of the class.

However, under the spousal policy, applicants who lack status as defined under the public policy
(see “What is lack of status under the public policy” below) may be granted permanent residence
so long as they meet all the other requirements of the class (i.e., they are not inadmissible for
reasons other than “lack of status.”)

 

[Ponga]

I haven't heard of any changes. At http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-who.asp it still says :

"You can apply to sponsor your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or dependent children to immigrate to Canada. It does not matter if they live in or outside Canada. If they live in Canada, they do not need to have legal status to be sponsored."

In the manual for inland at http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/resources/manuals/ip/ip08-eng.pdf you can read about lack of status in section 5.27, page 21 :

5.27. Legal temporary resident status in Canada

Under the current Regulations, applicants in this spouse or common-law partner in Canada class
must have a valid temporary resident status on the date of application and on the date they
receive permanent resident status to be eligible to be members of the class.

However, under the spousal policy, applicants who lack status as defined under the public policy
(see “What is lack of status under the public policy” below) may be granted permanent residence
so long as they meet all the other requirements of the class (i.e., they are not inadmissible for
reasons other than “lack of status.”)

When I saw that the language in the In-Canada [Inland] guide had intentionally been changed, I looked to see if ip08 had been updated as well, but did not find any Operational Bulletins describing the expiration of the Public Policy.

Perhaps this is the beginning of such change. There must have been a reason for CIC to make (or authorize the technical writer to make) such a major change.

 

[Leon]

When I saw that the language in the In-Canada [Inland] guide had intentionally been changed, I looked to see if ip08 had been updated as well, but did not find any Operational Bulletins describing the expiration of the Public Policy.

Perhaps this is the beginning of such change. There must have been a reason for CIC to make (or authorize the technical writer to make) such a major change.

In the operational manual, it actually says all over that you must have legal status, however it also says that exceptions can be made when and if. In any case, they need to try. Worst case if they are told he doesn't qualify, he can leave and she can sponsor him outland. There is no future in just continuing to stay in Canada illegally for years to come. If he gets caught and deported, he will get a ban and that will make it a lot harder.