Unauthorized work before Inland spousal sponsorship application

[mouseinthenight2]

Hi everyone,
My visitor visa expired in december 2025 and i stayed without status and did unauthorized work until last month, when my girlfriend took financial charge of me before our wedding in october. we then want to apply for PR under the inland spousal sponsorship. Our relation is genuine and started before i lost my status.
Should I declare my 8 months unauthorized work? will i be protected in the PR process ? is the fact that i stayed without status AND did unauthorized work will lead to a refusal even if our relationship is genuine?
Many thanks to you all please share your experiences of similar situations

 

[canuck78]

Hi everyone,
My visitor visa expired in december 2025 and i stayed without status and did unauthorized work until last month, when my girlfriend took financial charge of me before our wedding in october. we then want to apply for PR under the inland spousal sponsorship. Our relation is genuine and started before i lost my status.
Should I declare my 8 months unauthorized work? will i be protected in the PR process ? is the fact that i stayed without status AND did unauthorized work will lead to a refusal even if our relationship is genuine?
Many thanks to you all please share your experiences of similar situations

Did you ever have status to live and work in Canada? A visitor visa does not entitle you to remain in Canada until the expiry of the visa. When did you enter Canada as a visitor and were you given a 6 month stay upon entry? You are out of status so could be removed at any point. You should consider applying for Outland sponsorship in case you are removed during the sponsorship process. You will not qualify for an OWP until you receive AIP from a spousal sponsorship. There will be additional scrutiny of your relationship given your lack of status in Canada. It will be fairly obvious that you worked illegally unless you can show significant savings you lived off of so it is best to be honest.

 

[CanGoldDigger]

Hi everyone,
My visitor visa expired in december 2025 and i stayed without status and did unauthorized work until last month, when my girlfriend took financial charge of me before our wedding in october. we then want to apply for PR under the inland spousal sponsorship. Our relation is genuine and started before i lost my status.
Should I declare my 8 months unauthorized work? will i be protected in the PR process ? is the fact that i stayed without status AND did unauthorized work will lead to a refusal even if our relationship is genuine?
Many thanks to you all please share your experiences of similar situations

IRCC is quite lenient towards unauthorized work and overstays within spousal sponsorship applications and it doesn't trigger significant issues, there's a public policy covering that.

 

[canuck78]

IRCC is quite lenient towards unauthorized work and overstays within spousal sponsorship applications and it doesn't trigger significant issues, there's a public policy covering that.

Does depend on the circumstances and we are seeing less lenience than we used to which is why applying Outland is the best option in case you do have to leave Canada. Have seen a few cases where spouses applying for sponsorship tried to stay their removal and it was denied. In general these days I would follow the immigration rules if at all possible and not work illegally.