Duckman

I'm going to be very clear here - this isn't for me, I'm fully legit and awaiting citizenship. I met someone at a party a few weeks, and was chatting about immigration, and found out her husband wasn't legal (probably for the best that I don't remember her name now..lol).

He originally came as a student, they got together and got married, and then he just stayed, without filing for PR.. as someone who enjoys filling in forms, I can't imagine that, but there he is. He apparently does online work for a US company, which is almost certainly off the books for the IRS too.. but at least he's not illegally working here?

It got me thinking - how do you get out of that situation, both legally and from a relationship point of view? Assumedly once the person comes to CIC's radar, he would be excluded from Canada, but not for life? How to do you take your medicine and start your exclusion from Canada? Head down to the border and admit what you've done? Once back in the US, he wouldn't have an income history, so couldn't immediately sponsor her to the US, and Canada wouldn't want him back for a while either, so they'd be doing a LDR for a few years at least..

tl;dr: do your paperwork..

Siouxie

I believe they would apply for spousal sponsorship.

IP08 http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc...p/ip08-eng.pdf

Under the current Regulations, applicants in this spouse or common-law partner in Canada class must have a valid temporary resident status on the date of application and on the date they receive permanent resident status to be eligible to become members of the class.

However, applicants who lack status as defined under the spousal public policy (see Appendix A) may be granted permanent residence so long as they meet all the other requirements of the class, i.e., they are not inadmissible for reasons other than "lack of status".

Applicants who do not have temporary resident status and who cannot be granted positive consideration under the spousal public policy can be removed at any time. Further, the spousal policy does not change the requirement to seek necessary authorization to visit Canada or to work or study here.

If the applicant cannot be exempted from the legal temporary resident status requirement under the spousal public policy (Appendix A) and request an exemption from the requirement to have temporary resident status in Canada based on H&C consideration, please refer to Section 15.

Jo&Alex

I know a girl in that exact situation. Met a guy, got pregnant, got married... And the guy just stayed in Canada with no status.

The kid is 9 years old now, and they finally got the courage to file his PR paperwork, inland sponsorship. He just received his temporary work permit a few weeks ago, so I'm assuming it's going OK.

I don't think any of us, including the happy couple, realized how much this whole situation was weighting on his shoulders. He is a different person now, he just has this perpetual smile on his face. They are now planning a trip so that the kid can go and meet his grandparents.

So yes, there seems to be a route for people who are eligible for spousal sponsorship even when they are in Canada without status.

Duckman

I bet you'd be relieved! I think I've heard of people coming to the attention of immigration when they have children, because there's some need to prove status when you register a birth?