Visitor Extension Refused While awaiting PR/OWP---HELP

[LexAbes579]

So my husband and I got married in BC in october 2019. I am a US citizen. The last time I entered Canada was Dec, 2019. My husband is a Canadian citizen. We planned to just stay on my passport for 6 months then go back to the States. But due to his fathers health we decided to stay longer and help out here. I applied for a visitor record in June 2020 and we decided to start my PR paperwork. I finally heard back about my visitor record in January 2021 that I had until February 2021. Our lawyers submitted our PR/OWP in February 2021, and they're so backed up due to COVID. We are going to request the GCMS notes to see what the issue was with my extension request (I'm assuming I didn't give enough ties to my home country)

Has this happened to anyone else with positive results?

Is it common for people to get refusals then have restorations with little to no issues? The rejection letter just kind of hit us pretty hard and we don't want to be separated while my PR paperwork is processing.

Info or personal experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[scylla]

So my husband and I got married in BC in october 2019. I am a US citizen. The last time I entered Canada was Dec, 2019. My husband is a Canadian citizen. We planned to just stay on my passport for 6 months then go back to the States. But due to his fathers health we decided to stay longer and help out here. I applied for a visitor record in June 2020 and we decided to start my PR paperwork. I finally heard back about my visitor record in January 2021 that I had until February 2021. Our lawyers submitted our PR/OWP in February 2021, and they're so backed up due to COVID. We are going to request the GCMS notes to see what the issue was with my extension request (I'm assuming I didn't give enough ties to my home country)

Has this happened to anyone else with positive results?

Is it common for people to get refusals then have restorations with little to no issues? The rejection letter just kind of hit us pretty hard and we don't want to be separated while my PR paperwork is processing.

Info or personal experience would be greatly appreciated.

Did IRCC receive your spousal sponsorship application + OWP before your visitor record expired in Feb 2021?

It's not clear based on your post above when you submitted the extension request. I assume before your visitor record expired?

What exactly does the rejection letter say?

 

[LexAbes579]

My spousal sponsorship app and OWP were received Feb 22 and my visitor record expired Feb 19. Our lawyer told us to wait until the last possible minute to do the extension (such a stupid move) so I submitted my extension request on Feb 12.

It says:

This letter refers to your application for a visitor record.

Based on your application and accompanying documentation that you have provided, I have carefully considered all information and I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Your application as requested is therefore refused.

Persons wishing to extend temporary resident status in Canada must satisfy an officer that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay, that they will not contravene the conditions of entry and that they do not belong in a category of persons inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

In reaching a decision, an officer considers several factors, which include the applicant’s:

1. Reason for original entry and reason for requested extension;
2. Ties to country of permanent residence, including:
- employment and study commitments;
- family ties and responsibilities;
- status (citizenship or immigration status);
3. Financial means for the extended stay and return home;
4. Travel and identity documents;
5. Probability to leave Canada at the end of authorized stay.


After considering all the circumstances of your case, I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Act and Regulations.


[X] You are a person in Canada without legal status and as such are required to leave Canada immediately. If you do not leave Canada voluntarily, enforcement action may be taken against you


I'm thinking now because I didn't supply strong enough evidence of my home country ties? All these processes are a bit confusing because in the end I'm wanting my PR to be approved and I can't leave the country because we did Inland, so if I leave, won't that cancel this huge long process we've put time and money into?

 

[scylla]

My spousal sponsorship app and OWP were received Feb 22 and my visitor record expired Feb 19. Our lawyer told us to wait until the last possible minute to do the extension (such a stupid move) so I submitted my extension request on Feb 12.

It says:

This letter refers to your application for a visitor record.

Based on your application and accompanying documentation that you have provided, I have carefully considered all information and I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Your application as requested is therefore refused.

Persons wishing to extend temporary resident status in Canada must satisfy an officer that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay, that they will not contravene the conditions of entry and that they do not belong in a category of persons inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

In reaching a decision, an officer considers several factors, which include the applicant’s:

1. Reason for original entry and reason for requested extension;
2. Ties to country of permanent residence, including:
- employment and study commitments;
- family ties and responsibilities;
- status (citizenship or immigration status);
3. Financial means for the extended stay and return home;
4. Travel and identity documents;
5. Probability to leave Canada at the end of authorized stay.


After considering all the circumstances of your case, I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Act and Regulations.


[X] You are a person in Canada without legal status and as such are required to leave Canada immediately. If you do not leave Canada voluntarily, enforcement action may be taken against you


I'm thinking now because I didn't supply strong enough evidence of my home country ties? All these processes are a bit confusing because in the end I'm wanting my PR to be approved and I can't leave the country because we did Inland, so if I leave, won't that cancel this huge long process we've put time and money into?

I don't think your home ties are the problem. I think the problem is that you've been in Canada for an extremely long time without submitting an application for spousal sponsorship. This has made IRCC question exactly what you are doing and makes it look like you're attempting to live in Canada on visitor status which really isn't the right way to do things if you have a long term view of staying here. Long story short, you waited way too long to apply for spousal sponsorship.

It's a huge shame your spousal sponsorship application arrived after your visitor status expired. If you had managed to get it in before, you would have implied status and be able to stay in Canada legally. But what's done is done.

You need to apply to restore your status to get yourself back into legal status in Canada. I would focus on the fact that you have submitted an inland spousal sponsorship application which demonstrates that you are doing the right thing to be allowed to remain in Canada long term.

Submit the restoration application asap. Don't wait. Waiting will work against you. Show evidence you have submitted the spousal sponsorship application and paid the fees. Provide proof that you or your spouse have the money to support your further stay in Canada. This may be through showing bank balances and/or through showing your partner's employment income in Canada. Include a letter from your partner confirming they have applied to sponsor you for PR, will continue to support you while you remain in Canada, and that they are living with you.

 

[LexAbes579]

Ugh this whole process has been insane especially with Covid. We didn't want to wait that long to do PR but it just ended up taking forever to get everything submitted. We started the process in like September 2020.

We were wanting to get the GCMS notes before applying for restoration, but would waiting the 4-6 weeks be too long?

Also on the IMM5708 form to extend conditions, would I check both boxes of Extend status, and restore status? or just restore status? People keep talking about an application for restoration but isn't it just the same one for extending?

Yes, I plan on submitting my AOR and having my husband write the support letter as well.

Thank you for your responses. We're pretty upset that the firm we used mixed the cut off date by only a couple days.