clactonlad

Hi,

I am really desperate. Me and my wife are going through the spousal sponsorship application. She has been approved as my sponsor and our application has been sent on to Buffalow.

However i have had to return to the UK until the application has been approved, and i have my PR. What has happened was the following:

I was over here on a 6 month visiter visa, which i applied to extend before it expired. During this time me and my wife got married. The application to extend my visiter visa was reject around the middle of December but by this point we had already hired an immigration lawyer to help us with our application for PR. He told us that i was allowed to stay in the country while the PR was being processed. So i stayed. However when my wife got approval of her sponsorship last Monday, our lawyer told me i had to return home as he made a mistake and i was illegally in the country and it could jeopardize our application. To make matters worse we had requested the application be processed in London - from Missisaga, however as i said above, the application has been sent to Buffalow. So i was told to return home and provide my flight ticket etc as evidence that i have returned home while our application is processed, but our laywer is sending a letter to Buffalow stating he advised us wrongly and i have now returned home, here is the evidence, and also a mistake has been made, as we requested the application be processed in London.

I am so desperate, i just want to be with my wife, i miss her so much, is what i have been told correct, and i now have to remain in the UK untill i get my PR, or can i go back to Canada on another visiter visa, or any other type of visa? I m just desperate to be with my wife, i am so sad, i miss her so much, someone please help me, i feel so lost, worried and confused.

christmasoompa

Out of interest, why can't she come to the UK to be with you while you wait? If you really don't want to be separate but you can't go back to Canada because you were there illegally, is that not an option?

clactonlad

It is, but she has university which i don't want her to drop out of.

BristolUK

Hmmmmm.....My wife sponsored me and I remained in Canada while the applications were processed.

According to a (then) recent change it was perfectly in order to do this without the need for extending a visa. Trouble is, not everyone knows all the rules and often the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

During the wait, CIC wrote to me and mentioned that they'd noticed my visitor visa had expired and I should renew it. This confused me for two reasons; one because it ignored the recent change and, two, because I'd read that a visa had to be renewed before it expired and mine expired some months earlier.

Having discovered by now that accountability and efficiency were in short supply in Government departments in Canada, I went ahead with a renewal application and paid the appropriate fees. But I also included a letter about the recent change, stating my belief it wasn't necessary to renew.

They agreed, cancelled the application to renew and refunded the fee.

I'm not so sure the phrase would normally be "illegally" in Canada so much as being in Canada "without status" with the possibility of "removal" for a visitor as a result.

But that removal would probably require some sort of wrong-doing of the kind that would result in removal of someone with visitor status anyway.

But the fact is I remained, without status, with the full knowledge and agreement of CIC.

What probably complicates things for you is having been refused a renewal visa. The reasons may have some relevance as to whether you could stay on as I did.

I'm wondering if you'd have been better off not applying for the renewal and just staying on as I did.

christmasoompa

Ah, I see. Hopefully one of our regular immigration experts will be along to advise shortly, and Bristol has given you some words of wisdom too.

Best of luck.

Robin (The Gadget family)

Someone I know in Canada has just got married AND had his visitors visa extension application refused, (mind you, he applied for that before they decided to get married), AND he has stayed in Canada pending the spousal application process that he and his wife have just submitted. He just won't leave the country whilst it is being processed. Can't see why it can't be done this way if you guys are married.....Can't you now return to Canada, albeit on a visitors permit?

pip_is_fab

It sounds horrible being separated all that time, but on the plus the spousal visa is supposed to be processed very quickly as they want to reunite families as quickly as possible so at the very worst it may only be a few months ( providing the application is relatively straigtforward)

I suppose you could try re-entering Canada on another visitor visa but if they saw the previous refusal and refused entry anyway, it might not look to good to the immigration official delaing with your application.

I am no expert though, so dont take this as 100% accurate, just my view.

I hope your application is processed as quickly as possible though!!

chumley

what was the reason fro refusal of the visitor visa extention this seems very strange indeed?

I got a years extentsion as a visitor with no family tie or anything????

did you provide proof of funds and med care? if you did just cant see why they would refuse??

AllyS

Clacton lad - why did you need to have a visitor visa if you are British?

I'm confused as to what temporary visas should be applied for.

pip_is_fab

I believe a visitor visa is what you are automatically on when you visit Canada for a short term visit, i.e holiday, it is also used for some people who are in the process of being sponsored into canada by their huisband/wife/partner in the interim period before getting full PR. It is usually 6 months in length, but you can apply to extend this.
You cant work on a visitor visa or claim medical benefits so if you were in canada for an extended period you would need to have adequate private cover.

In terms of working temporary visa i believe the most common (for under 30's) is BUNAC: open work permit, or Temporary Work Permits, which are job specific, and involve needing a job offer in a lot of cases.

I am not applying for a work permit, so i may not have got the above details correct.

AllyS

Thanks Pip-is-Fab - so if the visitor visa is automatic as a British citizen and they just stamp your passport upon entry into Canada, then how do you get it extended?

ALSO, what happens when the 6 months is nearly up?

Do they try and contact you, or do you voluntarily contact them and apply for the extension?

cornmatthew

This post is not legal advice. Rely on it at your own risk.

Clactonlad: it sounds as though your extension was refused before you got married and applied for PR. So your situation is quite different now from when you were refused the extension.

You are free to travel to Canada and seek admission as a visitor so that you can be with your wife while you await processing of your PR application. This is a perfectly acceptable reason to 'visit'; see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc.../enf04-eng.pdf, page 57. It's possible you'll be refused entry, in which case you'll be out an airline ticket and your time. A refusal shouldn't affect your PR application if it's for lack of ties to your home country.

You have a lawyer. Has your lawyer advised you not to go back as a visitor? If so, what reason did he give?

gemmie

Hmm, all I can tell you is that I am english, in Canada now on a 12 month visitor visa, and being sponsored by my husband for permanent residency. I came over and visited last year in August and we got married, and then I went home for a while. Found, like you, that I missed my other half too much to cope, and so came back. At customs I told the officer my situation, and that my husband was going to sponsor me for PR, and he offered to give me a 12 mth visitor visa right then and there (to which I obviously agreed), in case the visa took longer than 6 mths to process.
Seems that you have every right to be in Canada with your wife while your application is processing, so long as she doesn't mind putting you up while you can't work
If I were you I'd seriously look into coming back to Canada... have you tried ringing the CIC? I know it's a hassle, but if you persevere until you get through to a real person, they may be able to advise you.
Good luck mate

BristolUK

...depending on the reason behind the visa refusal.

kosh

Yes I`m sure you can stay in the country while an inland application is being processed. Even if your status has expired, I think they call it a "stay" until CIC has made a decision on the PR application.

My own inland spousal application, my status expired but I was given a stay while the application was completed, but they made sure I understood I could still be removed. CBSA would have the final say I guess and if they want you gone, you`re gone!

Ps. Sorry just realised you applied at Buffalo. One of the benefits of applying inland, once your sponsor is approved you can apply for an open work permit which is what I did. Visited the local CIC office with my sponsor approval letter, proof of employmeny offer, payment and was given a work permit in ten minutes.