Overstay

[hellonew 0]

This question is from my uncle, he is getting to know someone in Canada. He is US born and lives in MI. She voluntarily left NOV of 2007 and USCIS is aware of her illegally living in the USA for 2 years. (I dont know how she entered the USA, legally or illegally).She will be recieving her Canadian citizenship Jan 2011. The question is how long if any is she "banned" from entering the USA. Also, if it is possible and he decides to "bring" her to the USA, what would be the best route, K1, K3, etc...

All info would be greatly appreciated. Any questions please ask asap. Thank You

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If she was in the US illegally for 2 years, then she is already dealing with an automatic 10 year ban on re-entry that kicked in when she left the US. Your Uncle and she can petition/ apply for a fiancee visa for her or they can get married and petition/apply for a CR-1. The K-3 is another option if you are married but it is no longer a good option - it was put in place when the CR-1 was talking a long time as a way for a spouse to 'wait' in the US for the greencard process to finish. K-3s and CR-1s now take about the same amount of time and the K-3 still has a heap of paperwork to do after they get to the US that a CR-1 doesn't.

Regardless, whatever process they use, the application will be denied because of the 10 year ban. When it is denied, your uncle will then need to apply for a 'hardship waiver' proving why he cannot move to Canada to join her there and why she needs to come to the States. These are not easy to get for a Canadian as it is difficult to prove hardship to the US citizen if they have to move to Canada.

It might be a more viable option for them to explore him moving to join her in Canada once she gets her citizenship. She can apply to sponsor him as her husband (not as a fiance as Canada doesn't have fiance visas) once they are married.

(duplicate of this thread in Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits has been moved here and merged with this thread as this is the more appropriate forum)

Edited January 4, 2010 by Kathryn41

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

This question is from my uncle, he is getting to know someone in Canada. He is US born and lives in MI. She voluntarily left NOV of 2007 and USCIS is aware of her illegally living in the USA for 2 years. (I dont know how she entered the USA, legally or illegally).She will be recieving her Canadian citizenship Jan 2011. The question is how long if any is she "banned" from entering the USA. Also, if it is possible and he decides to "bring" her to the USA, what would be the best route, K1, K3, etc...

All info would be greatly appreciated. Any questions please ask asap. Thank You

If USCIS is aware of her being in the US illegally for 2 years then she most likely has a 10 year ban. Whatever visa she applies for, it will be denied. After that, she can submit a petition for a waiver. A good immigration lawyer is needed, because these waivers are difficult to get.

Whether she entered legally or illegally generally only affects whether she can adjust status while she's still in the US. The point is pretty much moot, since she's no longer in the US.

[justashooter 430]

just blows my mind when people move from BF-egypt to canada and call themselves "canadian". doesn't change what they really are.

[Darnell 8,478]

I think better he move to Canada to live with her.

If that seems too hard, suggest both of them move to Malaysia, work there for 10 years, then have him do a DCF'd 130 in Kuala Lumpur.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

just blows my mind when people move from BF-egypt to canada and call themselves "canadian". doesn't change what they really are.

Having a bad day . . . or bad memories in regard to Egypt?

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Really? So what are they then?

just blows my mind when people move from BF-egypt to canada and call themselves "canadian". doesn't change what they really are.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

just blows my mind when people move from BF-egypt to canada and call themselves "canadian". doesn't change what they really are.

It does if they have become Canadian citizens. Being a Canadian citizen, though, doesn't negate any ban due to a previous overstay.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Carlawarla 1]

I'd be interested to know how you can become a Canadian citizen in 2011, if you've been living illegally in the U.S. for 2 years. I'm sure there would be residency restrictions for gaining Citizenship, just like here in the U.S.

[justashooter 430]

I'd be interested to know how you can become a Canadian citizen in 2011, if you've been living illegally in the U.S. for 2 years. I'm sure there would be residency restrictions for gaining Citizenship, just like here in the U.S.

citizenship in canada is a cakewalk compared to citizenship in America.

it is much easier to immigrate to canada and then to America, than to just immigrate straight to America.

this is why so many chinese, indians, paki, and other second worlders use this "backdoor".

[Dakine10 5,452]

I'd be interested to know how you can become a Canadian citizen in 2011, if you've been living illegally in the U.S. for 2 years. I'm sure there would be residency restrictions for gaining Citizenship, just like here in the U.S.

Does illegal presence accumulated in the USA have an effect on Canadian citizenship now?

I haven't been in Canada for a few years now but this was never the case in the past. It was easy enough to get illegal presence in Canada forgiven.

citizenship in canada is a cakewalk compared to citizenship in America.

it is much easier to immigrate to canada and then to America, than to just immigrate straight to America.

this is why so many chinese, indians, paki, and other second worlders use this "backdoor".

So they should have barged through and broken down the front door like the Europeans did?

[Carlawarla 1]

Does illegal presence accumulated in the USA have an effect on Canadian citizenship now?

I haven't been in Canada for a few years now but this was never the case in the past. It was easy enough to get illegal presence in Canada forgiven.

So they should have barged through and broken down the front door like the Europeans did?

I have no idea. Whether it's illegal or legal, I just would have thought that you'd have to be present in the country to which you were applying for Citizenship, without too many days absent. 2 years of absenteeism seems like a lot. Was just asking in case anyone here knew.

[Dakine10 5,452]

I have no idea. Whether it's illegal or legal, I just would have thought that you'd have to be present in the country to which you were applying for Citizenship, without too many days absent. 2 years of absenteeism seems like a lot. Was just asking in case anyone here knew.

I suppose it is 2010 already. I was up kind of late so it seems I lost track of both time and date there I guess.

Probably 2012 or 2013 at the earliest.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I'd be interested to know how you can become a Canadian citizen in 2011, if you've been living illegally in the U.S. for 2 years. I'm sure there would be residency restrictions for gaining Citizenship, just like here in the U.S.

If she moved to Canada in November 2007 as a Landed Immigrant, she is eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship after 3 years living in Canada (yes, there are residency requirements). 2007 to 2008, 2008 to 2009, 2009 to 2010 - she would be eligible to apply in November 2010. Citizenship takes about a year to obtain (or was taking that long when I was still in Canada) so taking the oath for Canadian citizenship in January 2011 is certainly possible.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

citizenship in canada is a cakewalk compared to citizenship in America.

it is much easier to immigrate to canada and then to America, than to just immigrate straight to America.

this is why so many chinese, indians, paki, and other second worlders use this "backdoor".

Actually, it is not 'easier' to immigrate to Canada than to the US. The US has far more categories of immigration options than Canada does. The US allows more types of family members to immigrate than Canada does, and for non-family based applicants, look up the 'point system'. Any intending immigrant requires a pass of 70 % to qualify for an interview which then determines how well the potential immigrant will adapt to Canadian society. Canada is, however, more welcoming of immigrants having realized a number of years back that Canada depends upon the influx of immigrant to support and maintain the tax-based social support networks (ie heath care, seniors' care, child care, etc.) as the current population ages.

Interestingly, until about 6 or 7 years ago when Canada and the US made an agreement that refugees could only claim status in the first country they entered and not apply to either Canada or the US from the other country, 70% of refugee applicants came to Canada from the US. Somehow - they were able to get physical presence into the US far more easily than they could into Canada - and no, the majority of them were not Mexicans.