itiswhatitis

Hello everyone! I am hoping for some guidance on what could be a horrible situation my husband and I have gotten ourselves into!

We were married Aug 2011. He has been basically living here in Canada, exiting every six months to keep his status. So he has/had visitor status. We had not put in our PR application until recently. During the lead up to the application (outland thru London) I had read (on another, what I thought was reliable message board) that as long as we're married, he would have implied status through the PR process. Well, just recently I came across this forum and have been reading on bringing across British Pensions ect and in reading throught different posts, I see that this only applies if it was done inland and if he had current visitor status. Well... now, the 90 day window to apply for an extension has passed... PR outland is in. What do we do? My questions are: Can we still send away and try and apply for an extension? Will this affect the PR application in away way? All other documentation is in order and there should be no reason to deny the PR. Do we zip down to the US border and go over and back? Does he fly back to the UK for a few weeks and try and re-enter? If he does leave Canada... what does he say when he comes back? The extension takes about 3 months by mail in which time we should have our PR. What a mess we've put ourselves into! We are kicking ourselves plenty and it has caused quite a few tears on my end! Thank you in advance for any guidance and advice! Greatly appreciated!

ninaDGBCA

Sorry can't help but wish you both luck and hopefully one of the experts will be on shortly.

itiswhatitis

Thank you! Me too!

Former Lancastrian

Going to the US has its risks as if he has no legal status in Canada then he could be refused entry. Going back to the UK and then coming back in has less risks as he will be entering from overseas and requesting admittance as a visitor.
He could always show them by documentation that he is married to a Canadian citizen and has an application in for spousal sponsorship and is requesting a 12 month stay as a visitor.
When did his current status expire?
Sending off an extension after the 90 day time frame is dealt with by CIC and while waiting for a reply he won't have IMPLIED STATUS as he missed that boat.
Of course you can do the please please please at the border and explain the circumstances and hope you get a BSO who can use common sense given the fact that you have produced evidence of the spousal sponsorship application being submitted and he is married to a Canadian citizen.
Im assuming you are a Canadian citizen as your post doesn't make it clear though you do say putting in our PR application which could indicate you are not a Canadian citizen.

itiswhatitis

Thanks for the info Lancastrian! I am a Canadian Citizen... my husband is British.

Of course, with just myself supporting us financially while he's been here... booking a flight back to the UK isn't going to be easy, but may be the safest bet and we'll just have to figure out a way to get that done since we've put ourselves into this difficult situation!

What if we plan his trip back to the UK and in the meantime his PR comes through... should he still head back to to the UK to obtain legal status before he flagpoles?

One more question... does this hurt his PR application in any way?

Thank you SO MUCH for your time!!

Former Lancastrian

As you are a Canadian citizen the chances of a spousal sponsorship refusal are minimal unless he is found inadmissible for criminality, security or health reasons.
Without knowing when the COPR forms for PR will be issued then every day without legal status in Canada could become problematic.
It will only hurt the PR application if he is reported by CBSA/CIC for non compliance with the Act i.e being an overstay.
Once he has the COPR forms then he can officially land and get PR status but your problem is not knowing when the forms will be issued. How long as he been out of status i.e when did his last visit commence and was he issued a visitor record with an expiry date? If he was just stamped in then he will have been given 6 months.
I have no way of knowing what a BSO working at a land POE would do if you took a trip down to the border and explained the situation as they have several options available to them.

SchnookoLoly

I can't help with the legal side, but there's a spreadsheet linked in my signature which might help give an idea of when your PR might come through.

Good luck!

itiswhatitis

Thanks everyone for your help! Hard lesson learned for us... no Christmas this year as it looks like a flight to Scotland will be booked instead! The last thing we'd want is a guy showing up on our doorstep to collect my husband!