This statement is off the CIC website but has me wondering about what it actually means......" On February 18, 2005, the Minister announced a new public policy under which legal immigration status is no longer a requirement for spouses and common-law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada, who wish to apply for permanent resident status provided that they have an eligible sponsor. However, all other eligibility requirements continue to apply."............I guess what has me puzzled is what "legal immigration status" ????,,,,does it mean that people who are in Canada with expired status can still apply for permanent residence without being deported????
ok,,,upon reading some of the other posts regarding this topic I now know that your status MUST be kept in order to recieve permanent residence but why would immigration make a statement like that which would lead people to believe otherwise???,,,doesnt make sense
Hi
Danno Wrote:ok,,,upon reading some of the other posts regarding this topic I now know that your status MUST be kept in order to recieve permanent residence but why would immigration make a statement like that which would lead people to believe otherwise???,,,doesnt make sense
It allowed persons who have no status in Canada to be sponsored in the spousal/dependent child class.
PMM
It can be a bit confusing. But a sponsored spouse inland applicant for PR can be processed and granted PR even though they do not have legal status. However, they must have entered Canada legally. This is an exception to the general rule. Moreover, this exception does not protect an applicant who is not in status from being subject to removal proceedings and deportation, though the technical and practical considerations attendant that often, but not necessarily (more complicated than I am in a mode to go into), mean that many inland applicants are in effect allowed to wait out the process.
It used to be that only people with valid temporary status in Canada could apply for permanent residence from within Canada . . . for example, someone comes to Canada on a work permit, meets and marries a Canadian and wants to apply for permanent status. Prior to Feb 2005, if their temporary status was not extended, they'd have to leave Canada in spite of the marriage - especially when they were non-visa-exempt - and apply outland for PR. The new legislation made it possible for them to apply to extend their status AND apply for PR at the same time . . . supposedly to keep families together. But I don't believe CIC really cares at all about separating families (or keeping them apart) . . . or there wouldn't be so many separated at this moment. I personally think this legislation was approved for the express purpose of "smoking out" at least some of the illegals in Canada by making it possible for them to apply for PR without having to leave.
Although it's now true, because of the legislation, that out-of-status spouse/common-law and dependent applicants can apply (and be approved) for permanent residence, CIC does not make the process that easy for most. Most out of status applicants end up with their applications being transferred to a local CIC office for processing - before they receive Approval in Principle (which reinstates their temporary status). Some local offices are backlogged for up to 2 years - so the out-of-status applicant ends up "stuck" in Canada (they can't leave because, if they do, they'd likely not be readmitted and then their inland PR ap is forfeited). The bad part is that during that time CIC knows exactly where to find them, AND that they're illegal . . . and they're at the mercy of the CIC waiting game for re-establishing their status. Now, CIC is not supposed to be interested in deporting spousal applicants - but I've seen several situations (especially with failed refugee claimants who subsequently marry Canadians) who are deported anyway - even with an inland ap in process. So - although the new legislation has led hundreds (if not thousands) of applicants to believe that it doesn't matter if they have legal temporary status or not . . . it's deceiving. What I find particularly annoying is that many, many of those applicants are US citizens who ARE in Canada legally (under 6 months of stay when they make the mistake of filing inland, believing they have to because they're in Canada) and, because they never GOT documented temporary status on entry to Canada (they were waived through with not even a stamp in their passport), they end up stuck in a local office for years while their temporary status actually DOES run out. In one particular case a US citizen wife of a Canadian (they even had a child together) ended up with her file in Etobicoke simply because she was waived across the border on entry . . . and two years later they were still jacking her around. She ended up having to leave her child and her husband and go back to the States to get herself established so she could apply to sponsor her husband to the US. (US sponsorship has a minimum income/asset requirement). Ever since then I've tried to do my best to caution US citizens especially against filing an inland PR ap.