anafaery

hello. i am a canadian citizen (born and raised in bc) who married an american man last october. he is in the states again right now, and we have a lot of problems preventing him from coming back. i will cut and paste from another forum i went to rather than type it all again. the other forum is mostly american immigration issues but a person there referred me here.

anyway i know its long, and im sorry. i tried to give only information that i thought was relevant, but its a really messed up situation because cic didnt tell us the truth about a few things.

ooooh... ok. how can i keep this as brief as possible.

i am a canadian citizen born and raised. my husband is american, also born and raised. he came here last year on a three month visitor visa. we werent married at the time. we hadnt met in person before. it was an long term internet relationship. *sigh* i know those arent looked at too seriously, but ours worked out. at least in the sense that we love each other. anyway,

he was open with the guy at the border upon entry, who kept him there for hours and phoned me to verify and ask me if i would be responsible for him. the border guy asked my not-yet-husband if he was planning to stay, my husband said maybe, he didnt know what would happen. the border guy said that if he stayed it would be easy as pie to get a work permit, just fill in the form and send the 150$ and hed be good to go. he also told my husband that if he was planning on staying longer, then he should apply for an extension and was very clear about the date, it had to be in the mail before his last legal day here. these turned out to be lies, probably just ignorance.

anyway soon to be husband gets here. everything is great. we had it planned that if he wanted to stay, and if it worked out between us, he would get the permit then work to save enough for the landed status (he didnt want to give up his usc completely, but thats a moot point anyway). i would then sponsor him.

ok so, i am on disablity benefits. i present as an average able bodied person, i have ptsd and anxiety disorder, i was a victim of two crimes, one when i was about 7 years old and one when i was 19. it was just my bad luck i guess. i do not have enough money to support *myself* much less him, or pay hefty immigration fees. theres no one who could help us either. we thought we would be fine, because well, hed be working. we found out when we were looking into the work permit, that it was only useful if you had an employer who would fill out a 4 page form saying that they could not find a canadian to fill the job, and that they had registered with hrdc and advertised for one, and had to recruit from out of country. so, we were screwed and didnt even bother. my husband is not a nuclear physicist, he is a regular guy. he doesnt have education but is a very good worker and has had a lot of job experience, just nothing unique or necessarily in high demand. so-

we got married anyway. we were (and are) in love, its that simple. he loves his country, but he loves me more (and i really do not want to leave canada for various reasons). we applied for the extension of the visa, and sent the application on the day before he was required to leave. thats what the guy at the border said to do, and i ALSO called canada immigration at least a couple of times to verify, as i am very firm on getting a 'second opinion', especially when its a governmental agency. i was told that that was correct. so, of course it gets denied, and he gets a letter saying that he is to depart immediately, and that it was denied because you are supposed to apply a month before you are supposed to leave. we were not told this, in fact we were told contrary! i made SURE of it, and that is what i was told, more than once. believe me, i know to do immigration things btb (by the book), its a serious issue and you dont want to screw up. anyway we were really disappointed. we went to the border and flagpoled (i live in british columbia 20 mins away from the bdr). he got a temp visa for 1 month and we had to apply for sponsorship by the last day, or he was gone. we just couldnt raise the money... and it was the saddest thing in the world when i drove him to wa state to stay at a homeless shelter. since then hes tried to find a decent job but theres nothing. hes been working commission making barely enough to eat. bellinghams economy is bad right now...

anyway, does ANYONE know if theres anything like compassionate circumstances if a spouse is in distress, and how one would go about getting it? ive asked, they are close lipped. i am SUFFERING without him here. i have no one else in my life, no one to help or support or whatever. its killing us financially in many ways. he cant send me any money cause hes a step away from homelessness, and in fact he quit his commission job as it was one of those ones that the employer takes advantage of you. hes looking for another, but times are really tough. he cant save any for immigration fees, or lawyer for that matter. hes trying really hard to find a decent job there but its not been fruitful. he cant go back to boston either, or to any other family. hes asked, theyve said they cant help him. he doesnt have that much family anyway.

youd think canada would let him the hell in, hed be supporting me if they gave him permission to work, and id be off the public payroll, and hed pay the fees then! argh! they even took my gst credit away! they want me to verify that he never worked here. how in the hell do you verify that you *didnt* work? get a paper signed by every business in the whole country? they want to know how much money he made in the states before we met, in 2001! he didnt make anything (he had a bad year with family problems) and i cant prove that to get my gst! im DYIN here. i really have a sour taste in my mouth because of my country right now, even though i LOVE canada, with all my heart!

ive been trying to think of work i could do but my disability limits me in many ways. havent found anyone willing to make use of my talents, capable mind and willingness to work hard, yet give me a little understanding about the disability i deal with on a daily basis. im trying though, really hard.

he also has a juvinile record. he hasnt done anything since, and never will again, it was a combination of being pretty much parentless and falling in with the wrong crowd. it was a rough time for him, and hes stayed out of trouble since, and i can guarantee he wouldnt again.

also because in the flagpole incident we didnt manage to get the application off, and he returned to the us, he isnt allowed to come and see me for even a weekend! neither of us have cars but he can get a ride from friends hes made down there, but he stays in a house with a family, and i cant really politely visit him there. it would be far better for him to visit here. this places a huge strain on our relationship and individual lives. i feel like i am a 'jail wife'.

there just doesnt seem to be much hope for us, and all we want is what everyone else wants in life. to live with our spouse, work and eventually buy a house someday.

any ideas? thank you and take care

~ana

Alfaris

It is a very touching story, but like Andrew Miller would say, it is irrelevant in the eyes of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. CIC has no face, no heart and no soul. Immigrants and foreigners are powerless to change it, since they have no right to vote. And unfortunately, most citizens choose to ignore the flaws in their country's immigration system until they are faced with it directly when trying to sponsor their spouse, for example.

Since he is not able to enter Canada as a visitor, the only choice you have is to sponsor him for PR in Canada while he is outside Canada. Go to http://www.cic.gc.ca, click on applications and forms, then on applications for people outside Canada. Scroll down to sponsorship applications and choose "Spouse, Common-Law or Conjugal Partner and Dependent Children". The application fee is $550 CDN, and your husband will also need to have a valid passport, police certificates obtained, medical examination performed and probably there are some other requirements. If he has a criminal record, immigration may not be possible until he obtains a pardon from the authority that convicted him, unless the crime was committed so long ago that he is deemed rehabilitated. Check the application guide for more information. Just before he receives the immigrant visa, you will be required to pay $975 CDN, which is the Right of Permanent Residence fee. It is explained that Citizenship and Immigration Canada collects this fee because permanent residence in Canada gives the subject significants rights and privileges, and they simply cannot give this away for free. The entire outside application process may take anywhere from 6 to 18 months.

There is usually no way to make it faster, and you do have to come up with the money for the fees, since fee waivers and loans are only available te refugees.

Good luck,

Alfaris

Simon House

Hi,

I'm not quite sure what to say to help you, apart from echo what Alfaris
said.

Are you sure he cannot come to at least visit you again? Its not as if
he has been deported (did I read your post correctly?).. as a US
citizen he should be able to visit Canada as and when he pleases,
providing he does not enter giving false information, and leaves when
the visa expires.

- Immigration Lawyers, Consultants and CIC will just tell you how the
law is as written, and unfortunately, apart from those who have been in
similar situations it's difficult for others to understand. You could
petition your local MP, but most of the time they seem to be powerless
to do anything.

You need to hang in there, as despite your current issues with
immigration, true love conquers all - and eventually you will find a way
to be together.

Good luck

P.S. - why not try raising funds through a web site? people have made
money for alot less legitmate reasons !!

anafaery

hello, and thank you for your support.

i am well aware that cic doesnt give a damn. its only too bad that THEIR AGENTS misled us in the first place. i am very scared to deal with them again, i do NOT trust them. thats why if a miracle happens and either of us gets some income right now and saves the money, we are doing it through a lawyer. i will gladly pay for not having to deal with cic directly. one lawyer told me $2000, so i guess thats what we are going to have to work towards (plus of course the cost of the med exam and crim record checks etc). whats ridiculous is that ive looked at the help wanteds in bellingham, and there is NOTHING. i look all the time at the help wanteds in my town, and theres always TONS of jobs, that he could do!

the sad thing is that this provincial govt has taken away every support system i have had. i had a community support worker to help me do certain things, and i cannot get another (i also have a really bad back). i cant get a rent subsidy, because theyve taken that away too. life has been very hard and i am sitting here with disconnection notices for my dial up, my phone, and my power. i want to work so bad. theyve taken away most chances i have to get support to get out into the workforce. ive only got about 150$ a month after the rents paid.

the thing is, i KNOW that they have the ability to let someone in for compassionate and humanitarian reasons. it IS possible, but we are mere common folk and doing anything to help us probably wont get them much good publicity.

i have seen a case here in the news where they gave a korean exchange student and her whole family citizenship because she was attacked here by a canadian, and will be in a wheelchair and require constant care for her whole life. they gave her subsidized housing within months (ive been on the waiting list for 10 years, and i was harmed by a canadian too *sigh*, i know, i understand... but still) and they also pledged to pay all her medical and care costs for her entire life. if they can do all that for her (and they should! its only fair!) then they could give me the small courtesy of letting my husband come back and work so that *we* can have a half decent life and get me off the public payroll. its possible, i just dont know how, nor if my circumstances are dire enough to warrant it.

i just really dont want to get a divorce because my country denies me the right to be married to the one i fell in love with. i dont know if we could wait 10 years. i think anyone would go crazy in that circumstance. in the meantime, i just hope for some positive things to happen regarding finances.

my husband went to the border yesterday to ask about visiting. see, we had mailed that extension of visitor application, and when it came back denied, we were in shock and NOT ready for that. it took us a couple of weeks to figure out what to do. he was never deported, but was informed to leave this instant, in the denial. we tried to do what we could, and then we did that flagpole thing. so we did do what was right, i took him back to the states. when he asked the immigration guy yesterday if it would be a problem to visit, the guy said that considering the circumstances (my husband is considering going to alaska for 4 months to work in a fish processing plant) that we havent seen each other for 2 months, and probably wouldnt for another 4, that he could come and spend a weekend with me. so hes going to try that today. i dont know if he will get through the border or not. im hoping. the border guy did say though that it wouldnt be an everyday thing. basically only this one little weekend would be all we would be allowed, how gracious of them. im sorry, im just too bitter. we will see when he tries to cross. he might get a jerk border person (it happens) and might not be allowed to visit me at all.

please cross your fingers or say a prayer if you are the praying type.

as far as website, thats actually a good idea. i would have to find someone to help me... im ok at coding etc but not perfect. i dont know what i would do on a website either, save for detailing our circumstances. i just dunno. solicit donations? that seems a little forward to me, i dunno if i could ask for money from people. im very independant, being on disability is a severe blow to my self esteem. :/

i am thinking i might try to take this into the public eye... however i dont like being a focus of attention, im pretty shy. but maybe i could make a petition and solicit signatures or something... get the situation out there. put some pressure on. then take it to a mp or something. argh i just dont know what to do.

thank you so much for reading and offering advice. that means a lot to me. i feel very discouraged right now, and very alone.

Simon House

I am actually waiting for one of the resident newsgroup experts to reply
to your post, since I was under the impression that persons not
requiring an entry visa will always get the standard 6 month stamp.

Before I got applied for residency here, I was going backwards and
forwards all the time between Canada and England - each time I got a new
stamp for 6 months ! No questions on why I had been here so often -
just "Welcome to Canada, enjoy your stay!" ..




anafaery wrote:
    > hello, and thank you for your support.
    >
    >
    >
    > i am well aware that cic doesnt give a damn. its only too bad that
    > THEIR AGENTS misled us in the first place. i am very scared to deal
    > with them again, i do NOT trust them. thats why if a miracle happens
    > and either of us gets some income right now and saves the money, we are
    > doing it through a lawyer. i will gladly pay for not having to deal
    > with cic directly. one lawyer told me $2000, so i guess thats what we
    > are going to have to work towards (plus of course the cost of the med
    > exam and crim record checks etc). whats ridiculous is that ive looked
    > at the help wanteds in bellingham, and there is NOTHING. i look all the
    > time at the help wanteds in my town, and theres always TONS of jobs,
    > that he could do!
    >
    >
    >
    > the sad thing is that this provincial govt has taken away every support
    > system i have had. i had a community support worker to help me do
    > certain things, and i cannot get another (i also have a really bad
    > back). i cant get a rent subsidy, because theyve taken that away too.
    > life has been very hard and i am sitting here with disconnection notices
    > for my dial up, my phone, and my power. i want to work so bad. theyve
    > taken away most chances i have to get support to get out into the
    > workforce. ive only got about 150$ a month after the rents paid.
    >
    >
    >
    > the thing is, i KNOW that they have the ability to let someone in for
    > compassionate and humanitarian reasons. it IS possible, but we are mere
    > common folk and doing anything to help us probably wont get them much
    > good publicity.
    >
    >
    >
    > i have seen a case here in the news where they gave a korean exchange
    > student and her whole family citizenship because she was attacked here
    > by a canadian, and will be in a wheelchair and require constant care for
    > her whole life. they gave her subsidized housing within months (ive been
    > on the waiting list for 10 years, and i was harmed by a canadian too
    > *sigh*, i know, i understand... but still) and they also pledged to pay
    > all her medical and care costs for her entire life. if they can do all
    > that for her (and they should! its only fair!) then they could give me
    > the small courtesy of letting my husband come back and work so that *we*
    > can have a half decent life and get me off the public payroll. its
    > possible, i just dont know how, nor if my circumstances are dire enough
    > to warrant it.
    >
    >
    >
    > i just really dont want to get a divorce because my country denies me
    > the right to be married to the one i fell in love with. i dont know if
    > we could wait 10 years. i think anyone would go crazy in that
    > circumstance. in the meantime, i just hope for some positive things to
    > happen regarding finances.
    >
    >
    >
    > my husband went to the border yesterday to ask about visiting. see, we
    > had mailed that extension of visitor application, and when it came back
    > denied, we were in shock and NOT ready for that. it took us a couple of
    > weeks to figure out what to do. he was never deported, but was informed
    > to leave this instant, in the denial. we tried to do what we could, and
    > then we did that flagpole thing. so we did do what was right, i took him
    > back to the states. when he asked the immigration guy yesterday if it
    > would be a problem to visit, the guy said that considering the
    > circumstances (my husband is considering going to alaska for 4 months to
    > work in a fish processing plant) that we havent seen each other for 2
    > months, and probably wouldnt for another 4, that he could come and spend
    > a weekend with me. so hes going to try that today. i dont know if he
    > will get through the border or not. im hoping. the border guy did say
    > though that it wouldnt be an everyday thing. basically only this one
    > little weekend would be all we would be allowed, how gracious of them.
    > im sorry, im just too bitter. we will see when he tries to cross. he
    > might get a jerk border person (it happens) and might not be allowed to
    > visit me at all.
    >
    >
    >
    > please cross your fingers or say a prayer if you are the praying type.
    >
    >
    >
    > as far as website, thats actually a good idea. i would have to find
    > someone to help me... im ok at coding etc but not perfect. i dont know
    > what i would do on a website either, save for detailing our
    > circumstances. i just dunno. solicit donations? that seems a little
    > forward to me, i dunno if i could ask for money from people. im very
    > independant, being on disability is a severe blow to my self esteem. :/
    >
    >
    >
    > i am thinking i might try to take this into the public eye... however i
    > dont like being a focus of attention, im pretty shy. but maybe i could
    > make a petition and solicit signatures or something... get the situation
    > out there. put some pressure on. then take it to a mp or something. argh
    > i just dont know what to do.
    >
    >
    >
    > thank you so much for reading and offering advice. that means a lot to
    > me. i feel very discouraged right now, and very alone.
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Alfaris

I don't know if this is appropriate for your situation, but you may want to try http://www.cyberbeg.com - There you can get your story listed without the technical knowledge, for a fee. And they also provide a means for you to collect donations (via credit cards).

Good luck,

Alfaris

Stupid guy

Its a very touching story !!! May God bless you both.

....but has he talked to George Bush about it? May be GW can channel some $$ to his pocket or the local economy instead of wasting millions of $$ in bombs to kill camels, women and children in Iraq. I say where is that Hussien guy they were suposed to get huh? and the WMD's and all that crap ??

anafaery

ack! i was wondering why i hadnt gotten any more replies (i have it set up to email me when someone responds) and i came even though i didnt have that email... and i see replies. grrr. oh well, at least im here ^_^

i was going to make a post asking about amnesties. i want to know how long someone has to be here illegally before they can get an amnesty. it was just out of curiosity. im not currently planning anything.

i have to go right now but i will come back in awhile to comment on the replies. THANK YOU both for your help though! im so grateful!

my husband is here right now! a friend drove him up here, and the cic doesnt even know hes in canada. they werent even asked for id at the border. typical. its AMAZING to see him and sleep in the same bed! i had forgotten what it was like to not live alone, lol! so he is going to stay the weekend, and actually we have been thinking about him staying a whole week. we just really need this the cic doesnt even know hes here so whats the harm.

im so happy right now but i dont like to have it hanging over my head that we might get into trouble... otherwise id tell him to just stay and we would work something out somehow. i dont think i can do that though. i dont want there to be anything we could get into trouble for. its not worth it in the end.

im still here and still looking for ideas. thank you for caring!

gotta run and make my fella his dinner *so happy*

~ana

anafaery

oh btw... thank you stupid guy for your comments and your blessings. i wont be commenting on them though because i just really dont want to get into politics in this thread (unless its directly related to my post). my views on the subject you brought up have nothing to do with my immigration problem and i dont want to take the focus away from my original post.

know though that i understand what you are saying and i understand your frustration having to helplessly watch as terrible things are going on in this world... and theres no way to prevent them. take care.

~ana

anafaery

wow simon, i wonder if its because you are british. we are still tied to britain after all. i bet you wouldnt have been treated that way if you were from india or certain other countries. he was only able to stay 3 months on visa. i was under the impression too that a foreigner could stay 6 months a year without penalty, yet they gave us three and that extension was denied (and they kept our money of course).

at this time i have half a mind to tell him to stay illegally and just damn the torpedoes... i just really dont like breaking laws. if you get caught, its far too late to repent your actions at that point, and the consequences make a situation far worse. i just am really frustrated with the way things are. its so bloody unfair. i dunno what to do now.

have you gotten any information from the newsgroups?

oh alfaris, thank you for that link, ill give it a look. thats kind of you, thank you

i am also going to try to earn some money through www.keen.com. i can provide certain advices, and ive been told i have a very um... nice voice. so who knows? maybe that will work out. I WANT A JOB.




[QUOTE]Originally posted by Simon House
I am actually waiting for one of the resident newsgroup experts to reply
to your post, since I was under the impression that persons not
requiring an entry visa will always get the standard 6 month stamp.

Before I got applied for residency here, I was going backwards and
forwards all the time between Canada and England - each time I got a new
stamp for 6 months ! No questions on why I had been here so often -
just "Welcome to Canada, enjoy your stay!" ..[.quote]

anafaery

ack couldnt find an edit button... meant to fix that edit tag.

also i didnt mean id be doing phone sex at keen, lol! that sounded bad the way i wrote it. ive actually considered the possibility of doing phone sex but i am married (it would be cheating to me even though i wouldnt want to), and the thought of doing that sort of thing in any case makes me sick to my stomach. id cry so much. i am not a prostitute. i just need to make some money, and my options are limited.

Zack-9

Simon House, I was told the same method of acquiring permanent
residency in Canada from Liberians and Americans who acquired
permanent residency and then citizenship. All about the CiC? Hire a
lawyer is an alternate way of saying "**** Off Hitler". I have seen
about 15 Hidden-Video tapes made by my friends of these assholes
during interviews or whatever they call it, and holy shit they are
nothing more than terrorists heavily into harassment hitler style.
These CiC personnel are maniacs way ****ing overboard molesting your
emotional and mental. Thank God I know about the legal loop-holes...
I love visiting Canada and love the country sides and most definitely
the people, and The government setup is so very excellent, but the
CiC are irritants that will place you through more extreme hell than
ever, ever, ever needed, like get a ****ing life CiC!

I never had to deal with them, CiC, but those videos are insane and
I can not imagine how they actually get away with the horse-shit
they shove into peoples heads!!!

BTW: Any one who supports these hitler ****s are liers, cause we have
the tapes hidden in a lawyers volt setting up a joint lawsuit, very
much deserved. Oh, wait a minute... I forgot to take my Schizophrenic
medication... Wow, no wonder, right? Now aren't I nuts?


PS



>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon House wrote:
    > I am actually waiting for one of the resident newsgroup experts to reply
    > to your post, since I was under the impression that persons not
    > requiring an entry visa will always get the standard 6 month stamp.
    >
    > Before I got applied for residency here, I was going backwards and
    > forwards all the time between Canada and England - each time I got a new
    > stamp for 6 months ! No questions on why I had been here so often -
    > just "Welcome to Canada, enjoy your stay!" ..
    > -----------------------------------------
--
================================
Paul Stryker,
Yo, no front'in Dog --woof --woof !!!

My website URL is:
http://yo-Mama.is-a-Geek.Net
================================