Voluntary departure from US applying for work permit

[Srinivas12]

Hello,
I overstayed my visa in the US, I was on h1b-visa. I have paid taxes all the years I was there, I have proof for that, I don't have a criminal record. I was unfortunate enough to be subject of a detailed check and they saw my expired visa (4 years expired). I was put in a immigration center, and appeared in front of a judge, and I got granted voluntary departure. I got offered a job in Canada and I need to apply for a work permit. Is this something that will jeopardize my application ? It will show up? It happen 2 years ago. I want to be truthful and speak about it, but on the other side I don't want to be miss-interpreted. Should I say something about it? Or it's just a non-sense worry of mine. It was not a forced departure, it was voluntary departure and I have documents to prove that.
Thank you.

 

[scylla]

Hello,
I overstayed my visa in the US, I was on h1b-visa. I have paid taxes all the years I was there, I have proof for that, I don't have a criminal record. I was unfortunate enough to be subject of a detailed check and they saw my expired visa (4 years expired). I was put in a immigration center, and appeared in front of a judge, and I got granted voluntary departure. I got offered a job in Canada and I need to apply for a work permit. Is this something that will jeopardize my application ? It will show up? It happen 2 years ago. I want to be truthful and speak about it, but on the other side I don't want to be miss-interpreted. Should I say something about it? Or it's just a non-sense worry of mine. It was not a forced departure, it was voluntary departure and I have documents to prove that.
Thank you.

You must declare this in your work permit application to Canada. The US and Canada share immigration information so you should assume Canada will find out even if you don't say anything. If you fail to declare this, you'll be putting yourself at high risk of a misrepresentation finding and a 5 year ban from Canada.

The short answer is that an overstay in the US and voluntary departure can certainly impact your work permit to Canada. This demonstrates that you have previously violated the terms of a visa to another country and creates concerns you may do the same in Canada. However you have no choice but to declare them in your work permit application to Canada.

If the work permit is refused, research applying to immigrate and become a PR instead. Overstays are forgiven in PR applications as long as they are declared.