URGENT! Please help! Misapplied conjugal b/c MP's advise, visitor visa expiring

[yukonash]

My name is Ashley I was born and raised in Whitehorse Yukon, my boyfriend, Sean is from South Carolina. We met online last May and have been dating almost a year, he has bought engagement ring for me but has yet to propose as we wanted to get married on our terms. He came to Canada September 5th 2014 and his point of entry was Vancouver, they did not stamp his passport, held him up for over two hours and caused him to miss his flight here. A staff member at our MP office told us to wait until he go there to apply inland and that she would help us with the forms when he got here. We went in and met with her September 9th. She told us that conjugal was that we are not yet common law (as if it meant dating) and to put this on our sponsorship form. She also told us to send the work visa application after we send the sponsorship form (as we didn't have money for that one yet). We sent in a work visa form around the end of October. We received both the work visa application and the sponsorship back in the mail in December. The sponsorship was because it was not completed correct and we needed to fill out the family declaration part. She went thru each page of our application with us and ensured us that we were in the right and that what we had was good, no way to be turned town... We tried several times to get in touch with CIC and had no luck, at all. There is no immigration office in the Yukon, Vancouver is the closest to us. When we finally got a hold of someone in December they advised us that we were on the right track and should re-send the work application and that there was plenty of time.The visa was returned because it was sent to the wrong address, we corrected the address, filled the right form and sent them both back. In early February we received the work visa back saying it was the wrong one and to do a application to change conditions, extend my stay or remain in Canada as a worker. Again we called CIC and they told us that if we sent in this form with a letter saying that we had already sent in a sponsorship form and were waiting for that to be approved he could be working in 3-4 months. This is when we wore told about implied status and that he had nothing to worry about as long as they received the paperwork before his 6 months was up. We expressed posted this one as Sean's 6 months in Canada was nearly up (March 5th), they received the paperwork before the date and he was under implied status. We just received this form BACK on May 4th, the letter is dated April 23rd. It says that the work permit is 255$ where we have only sent out $155 and that he is now over his 6 months and he needs to do a restoration of temporary resident status (which is 200) and to resubmit this form within 90 days... Which means we now have LESS than 20 days. We really are out of options at this point, we made a gofundme to help send these forms, but now we are faced with all of this new information and he is nearly an illegal here. We are desperate at this point, I really do not want this to cause him to get deported or something like that... This was not our fault we were misinformed time and time again. Any ideas, help at this point. I just don't know where to go from here, what should be our next steps to keeping him here!! I know we have to withdrawal the sponsorship ASAP but what happens about his status here, about him staying here with me...

 

[taffy7]

I will start and others can add.
First of all you need to restore his status as a visitor.

You can not apply for conjugal and you do not qualify until end of Sept to qualify for common law.

You either wait for you to become common law or get married to apply.

There is only one number to call for CIC and it doesn't matter what part of Canada you live.

As you are going to withdraw your application ,i\m not sure how much of a refund you will get back ,and never go back to that MP again. Come here first,better advice than any lawyer .

Others will chime in and hep you out more .

 

[Amalthea]

Hi Ashley, so glad you made a post.

I met Ashley thru a friend of a friend, and tried to help her figure out what was going on. This is how we found out that they had applied conjugal. They are going to withdraw, and get married and reapply! But I encouraged her to check out these forums for information, and to ask for help, because the knowledge and support here is invaluable! And ya'll are much more informed than I

Anyway, her MP and CIC's Call Centre gave her so much BLATANTLY FALSE information - it's absolutely infuriating. For example, they told her INLAND would be faster than Outland overall.. And that SA for Inland was getting approved in 2-3 months. Ugh!!!! But at this point, they still want to withdraw and re-apply Inland again because funds are tight and the OWP is a priority.

Here's what we've been thinking..

Step 1: Apply to reinstate visitor status before 90 days are up!
Step 2: Withdraw conjugal spousal application (We aren't sure exactly how this is done, will be doing more research. Any advice appreciated, thank you)
Step 3: Get married!
Step 4: Re-apply Inland with OWP Application


Thank you so much for any and all help, everyone. I know nothing about Inland, withdrawing an application, or restoring visitor status after it has expired but before the 90 days and Ashley and Sean are good people who are just trying to fix this mess.

PPS: Restoring visitor status during the 90 days is the -same- application forms as the ones to -extend- a visitor visa, correct?!

Just making sure we are understanding correctly. I don't want them to go through anymore grief due to misinformation like they have at the hands of their MP. Onwards and upwards!

 

[taffy7]

We need one of the more experience members to help us on this one ...May be tomorrow you will get some good advice .Way out of my league.

 

[Amalthea]

I concur Given tomorrow is Mother's Day, I have faith that we'll have some answers and some advice by Monday. Really grateful for a second opinion though, Taffy! Thank you so much.

 

[scylla]

Step 1: Apply to reinstate visitor status before 90 days are up!
Step 2: Withdraw conjugal spousal application (We aren't sure exactly how this is done, will be doing more research. Any advice appreciated, thank you)
Step 3: Get married!
Step 4: Re-apply Inland with OWP Application

Step 1-3 is correct. To withdraw the application they simply send an email to Mississauga stating they are withdrawing the application and the reasons why (i.e. they don't qualify under conjugal and are going to resubmit the application as a married couple). I would follow this up with a letter mailed to Mississauga as well saying the same. It may be a few months before their application package is returned.

For Step 4 - they should consider outland as an option as well. There will be no open work permit. On the other hand, the overall processing times will be significantly shorter.

 

[taffy7]

Scylla you are amazing ...Happy Mothers Day

 

[katathfx]

Hang in there Ashley! I completely understand how over whelmed you must feel right now. We did the same thing and applied under conjugal as well... So yeah I know.

You will get the best advise and understanding from members here. Apply to restore status, get married and then decide whether to apply inland or outland. Inland will take much much longer and he will have to remain in canada but he should be able to obtain a work permit. Outland is a lot shorter and he will not be permitted to work, but he can stay here in canada with you while it is being processed (as a visitor).

 

[Ponga]

I'll just follow-up by saying that applying for Restoration of Status, would not necessarily qualify him for the pilot program OWP, since the implied status would not be the same. During the ROS period (awaiting a decision) he doesn't really have the same type of implied status.

I say this, because more than one member here was told that they did not qualify for the OWP, because of their temporary lack of status, during the ROS phase.

This really should be a moot point anyway, because Outland really is the way to go.

 

[Sheps]

Do they have to formally withdraw the application? It seems like they returned the application, which would mean it is not in process.

Did the whole application package get returned or just the owp form?

 

[scylla]

Do they have to formally withdraw the application? It seems like they returned the application, which would mean it is not in process.

Did the whole application package get returned or just the owp form?

Yes - they need to formally withdraw the entire application. They don't qualify under conjugal. So they need to withdraw the conjugal application, wait until they are either married or common law, and then re-submit the application as either a married or common law couple.

Only the OWP was returned.

 

[Sheps]

Alright, that makes more sense.

It was just hard to follow the initial post.

 

[Amalthea]

They had the OWP part returned, because the fee went up from $155 to $255.

And, at that point, his visitor visa expired. So he has to apply for restoration of status, first.

Then they have to manually withdraw their conjugal application so they can reapply Spousal (after marriage)

Hope that makes sense!

Also um their MP told them they could go to any doctor and get a physical... sigh

Thankfully, they found a CIC Panel Physician in Whitehorse.

They are basically starting from square one again, which I can't imagine how frustrating it as after forms sent and sent back, but they have the best attitude about it! It will really keep ya sane throughout this process!!!

Right now they are considering applying Outland, since they would be done with the whole thing so much faster.

 

[yukonash]

Thank you everyone for all of the help.
We have decided that Outland would be the best option for us, even thou funds are very tight at the moment. We are going to send the application for an extension express post hopefully later this week as time is of the essence and we only have until June 5th. We will be going for the FBI check after that which I understand takes at least 3 months and while we wait for that to get back we will do his medical check and gather the rest of the documents... We wanted to get married on our terms and have an amazing wedding like I have always dreamed of, but we most likely will have a small ceremony and possibly have a larger celebration or something at a later date.

I really do appreciate all of your help.