Nellyboyo

Hi Everyone,

First off thanks in advance for having such a great forum available to offer advice, I'm hoping it can help me with what is proving to be a difficult situation. I'll start my story from the beginning...sorry for the short novel.

In 2016 I travelled Canada for 6 months and met a girl, who is now my partner. I returned a couple times on short visitor visas for the next couple years.
In Feb 2018 I moved to BC after being granted a 2 year International Experience Canada Work Permit. In March of that year I move in with my girlfriend and secure a job working for a local large horticulture company as a divisional manager in Langley, BC near Vancouver. I work at this company for almost the entirety of the 2 years (other than for a 3 month break in the summer of 2018 where me and my girlfriend go traveling through Europe).
In April 2019 I start my Express Entry PR Application. I take the CELPIP English test and pass which gives me a CRS of 341 making me eligible for Canada Experience Class and am entered into the pool, however at the time I don't get my education assessed (rookie error....more on that later) and for the following months I am continually not invited to apply for Express Entry.
In November 2019 I pay for consulting advice from a local immigration attorney as to the best route to take in order to gain residency (BCPNP / Express Entry / Spousal Sponsorship) they advise that I get my education assessed and continue down the route of Express Entry as once assessed I should be deemed as a preferable applicant and be invited to apply.
Dec 2019 I retain the World Education Service to complete to my education credential assessment (which becomes difficult as many of my schools no longer exist as well as the UK having a different setup in terms of education bodies vs schools holding transcripts etc).
In Feb 2020 my consultant advises me to apply for an extension in the form of a visitor permit to give me implied status and temporarily bridge my work permit that expires at the end of February that year, remaining hopeful I will still receive an invitation to apply for Express Entry as soon as my education assessment arrives from World Education Services.
March 2019 COVID-19 happens and lockdown brings the processing of all of my applications and documentation to a halt (including the processing of my ECA from WES - I received an email from the courier and WES saying that all of my packages have finally been delivered however the WES won't process them due to COVID-19).
March 2019 I contact my local MP regarding the CERB / EI to see if I am eligible regarding COVID-19 as I have pair into the system for the 2 years I was here; they say I am eligible and recommend me to apply, so I do.
At the end of April 2019 I receive an email from IRCC stating that my Express Entry application has expired but I still have an active application to remain as a visitor.
I hear nothing from the government until the beginning of June when I receive an email from IRCC saying that they are still working on my Express Entry (which is confusing as the last I had heard from IRCC was that my EE application had expired?).
I enquire with IRCC as to the message regarding my EE and they just respond saying the information I have recently provided is different to that they have on file. I provide them the information they request.
At the beginning of June I also receive an email from WES saying that they have started processing my education documents for an application which may or may not have expired at this point.
A few days later I receive an email from IRCC refusing my application to remain as a visitor on the grounds of:
1 reason for original entry and reason for extension
2 ties to country of permanent residence (employment, family, citizenship)
3 financial means for extended stay and return home
4 travel documents
5 probability to leave Canada after the end of authorized stay
I am told to leave the country immediately if I have received this letter after the expiration of my current travel document - PANIC SETS IN!!
The next day I receive an email from IRCC in answer to my enquiry regarding my EE, referring me to the denial of my visitor visa and the expiration of my express entry and do not acknowledge or explain the message sent to me regarding the email I received from them saying they are still working on my express entry application.
On Friday 12th June, 2020 I contact the IRCC asking for more information regarding the reasons behind my refusal for extension and to clarify what this means for any future applications I make and what it means for me to be asked to leave during a pandemic.
I am still waiting on my ECA from WES.
...and that is my current situation.

I would very much like to talk to the IRCC regarding my situation however the offices are on skeleton staff and from what I can find online you can't currently make appointments to talk to some one face to face or even talk on phone to
someone. The only way to discuss the situation is via email or mail.
I have been looking online for advice and have found that I can possibly request a reconsideration and if not possibly reapply if circumstances have changed.

Here are my questions:

Does anyone know of anyway to discuss this with the IRCC (ideally in person - although I know that is big ask currently)?
Does "leave the country immediately" have a specific time attached to it? (I found online this possibly means 30 days - would anyone be able to verify this please)?
Does​ anyone have any general knowledge or a similar experience with this style of situation (during or outside of the COVID-19 circumstances)?
Do the IRCC take into account extenuating circumstances/force majeure of COVID-19 when considering the delays of applications / documents and the outcomes?
I have read that I have 90 days to challenge/appeal this decision from the date of receiving the letter. Does anyone have any experience with this and does anyone how the 90 days to challenge / appeal apply if you do not currently have an active permit?
Should I have some sort of application in currently and if I start a new one how does it work applying if you do not have an active permit but are applying for one from within Canada?
Are there any other options open to me so that I may remain in Canada?

I​ am currently 31 years old and have spent more than 2 years in Canada establishing a life for myself alongside my partner. My girlfriend and I are looking into Inland Spousal Sponsorship; we have lived together for 2 years and have filed our taxes together for 2 years and she was a registered beneficiary on my plan for the time that I was employed.

Apologies again for the massive letter. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I really appreciate any advise that anyone can offer!

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

I'm very surprised that the Immigration consultant didn't immediately suggest you apply under Spousal Sponsorship (Inland) - the requirement to live 'as if married' for a minimum of 12 months appears to have been met and you could have had an open work permit issued in time for the expiry of your IEC work permit had you applied in October / November of 2019 (it usually takes 4 months). You would have had status as a visitor until your OWP was finalised.

With 341 CRS points you would have been very unlikely to receive an invitation from the Express Entry pool (unless you are classed as a trade and hold a Certificate of Qualification for BC)- or were you hoping for Provincial nomination via your employer to get enough points for an invitation?.

I sincerely hope that you didn't continue to work after your IEC work permit expired - they are not usually extendible and a bridging work permit would only be possible under specific circumstances.. When you apply for a visitor extension you have to show that you have ties to your home country (reasons to return, basically) and that you have sufficient financial means to pay for everything in Canada whilst you are here, without working.... perhaps a letter from your common-law partner stating they will be fiscally responsible / would support you and you supplying a statement showing you have sufficient 'room' on a visa card to get a flight back to the UK or show you have a return ticket.

As to what to do now.. Calling the 'misinformation line' won't help you at all, and I don't think there's any chance of an appeal working as you haven't met the requirements, the only thing it might do is buy you some time.

I can only suggest that you put together your application for Inland Spousal Sponsorship (PLEASE read our most excellent Wiki section on spousal sponsorship - it guides you through step by step explaining how to fill it out and what supporting documents to supply) and submit it asap, you can submit an application for an OWP at the same time.. the risk of this though is that if you do have to leave Canada and can't re-enter your application could be deemed abandoned as you have to be IN Canada to finalise it. OR you could put in an application for an Outland spousal sponsorship, get a flight back to the UK and as soon as Sponsorship Approval is given fly back and enter under Dual Intent (meaning you come as a visitor with the intention to become a Permanent Resident). - it's all explained in our wiki. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...sorship-Canada and https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...lication_Forms

Hopefully Former Lancastrian / Snowy / PMM / Christmasoompa will be along to give you more knowledgeable advice on what your next steps should be.. in the meantime try not to stress.

If you received a departure order (IMM 5238) you would usually have to leave within 30 days..

Best of luck and I hope you can work something out.

christmasoompa

Yep, what Siouxie said. Your immigration consultant is an absolute muppet if they didn't suggest spousal sponsorship, and they suggested you would benefit from Implied Status from an IEC (see sticky thread above, not possible). As Siouxie said, hopefully you didn't continue to work after your IEC expired?

Unfortunately you have no option but to comply and leave Canada now, there is nothing to appeal as no mistakes were made with the refusal. But you do have routes to PR, you've not been given an exclusion order, so it's not problem to apply for PR and go back to Canada at a later date. Just do it properly next time, don't apply for something you're not eligible for anyway, and don't use that consultant again!

What will you score on the CRS once you have your ECA? Will it be enough to get you PR (approx 460 or above)? If not, is marriage an option with your Canadian partner?

Nellyboyo

Hi Siouxie and Christmasoompa

Thanks you for both of your responses on this. No I didn't continue to work after my permit had expired, I was advised against it as the implied status I had was as a visitor. I resigned from my job with my last day working being a couple of days prior to the expiration of the work permit.

We did discuss the option of spousal sponsorship amongst others however we decided against it at the time as I already had an application in for express entry and was waiting for my education credential assessment from WES to go alongside my express entry profile so that itIit wouldwwould boost my score and I would be selected from the pool and invited to apply.

So other than asking for a reconsideration there isn't much I can do to remain in Canada? I really don't want to go back to the UK, especially during a pandemic. Is there anyway I can apply for residency again from within Canada?​ My education credentials finally arrived today after waiting 6 months so I do have new evidence/documentation to go alongside my application.

I'm not sure what my score would be after adding the education. I currently have my GCSEs (Canadian secondary equivalent), A-levels (Canadian University Preparation equivalent), and BTEC (Canadian 2 Year Diploma equivalent - major in hospitality).

Does anyone know of anyway I can talk to someone to discuss my situation as from what I can find all of the regular offices are currently unmanned?

Thanks again for all of your help. I really just want to stay with my girlfriend however possible, any of dead at greatly appreciated.

Thanks

christmasoompa

Hmmmm. That just confirms my view that your consultant was a muppet. If you paid them for any advice I'd ask for a refund! You say you've got a CRS score of 341 without education, and you're only likely to get points for secondary education on your ECA, so another 28 points. Which gives you a total of 369, nowhere near enough to get an ITA. Any consultant should have been able to work that out in about 5 minutes and told you that EE wasn't an option, and advised spousal sponsorship as your best/quickest/only route.

You can certainly apply for PR under spousal sponsorship, but it doesn't help you stay in Canada. The only way you could stay would be on another status whilst you wait for PR i.e. visitor, but you've already had that refused. Sorry to be blunt, but you need to get out of Canada, and you need to do it quickly or risk any future application. You were told to leave the country immediately, if you don't leave fairly soon you're at risk of having a Removal Order issued, which you really want to avoid if your plan is to move back to Canada as soon as you can.

Personally, in your situation I would get married asap, so that you can apply under spousal sponsorship as married rather than risking common-law status when you return to the UK.

Even if the offices were open, they don't discuss individual cases or give immigration advice. You'd need an immigration lawyer for that, but needless to say, a different one from the one you consulted last time!

I wish you the best of luck, remember that you can get PR and move back to Canada fairly easily, so don't despair.

​​​​​​​

Former Lancastrian

If I am reading this correctly your IEC work permit has expired and your application to extend your stay as a visitor has been denied. You have received a letter from IRCC requesting that you leave Canada. If all this is correct then currently you have no legal status in Canada. On this fact alone you could be arrested by any Police Agency or CBSA. You will be reported for being an overstay and issued an Exclusion Order. Dependent on the circumstances you will either leave Canada voluntarily or be escorted back to the UK. You have no right of Appeal however you could apply to the Federal Court of Canada for an application for leave and Judicial Review which would end up costing you a small fortune.

My advice Get the hell out of Dodge asap. That Exclusion Order if issued is for 1 year which means cannot return to Canada for 1 year without written consent Authority To Return To Canada which is also highly unlikely to be issued to you within the 1 year ban.

BTW that info I have given you has just saved you several hundred dollars.