Out of Status affecting physical presence

There is another thread where this is discussed in some depth. Cannot recall which one it is off the top of my head.

There are different opinions here as to this. Most, it appears, say "no."

I think otherwise, but would caution that just because it can be counted (actually I am fairly confident that the issue is whether one was living and present in Canada, not what one's status was, so long as the entry itself was unlawful) does not mean it is a good idea to submit the application based on a residence calculation relying on that time. It is possible that relying on such time may invoke a request for proof of being in Canada during that time and proof of the lawfulness of the entry, which request might very well be part of RQ ... that is, relying on such time may invite increased odds of RQ, even though it can be counted.

Again, I believe I am in the minority (perhaps a small minority) who think that being "out-of-status" does not preclude counting that time toward the citizenship residency requirement. Main example is probably the thousands of inland spousal sponsored PRs who were out-of-status while being processed via the inland route, oft times for well over a year, even two years, who in turn later apply for citizenship ... there is no hint in any of the research I have done that these individuals are precluded from counting their time prior to landing simply because they were out-of-status pending the outcome of their PR applications.

i.e you could have been a visitor, a student, a refugee or out of status, but physically present in canada !

Kal,

Again, I do not think that being out-of-status precludes counting the time.

I do think that being obviously out-of-status sends the wrong sort of signal (especially to the more anal-retentive bureaucratic sorts), so even if not technically a problem, it could be one of those makes you smell not so good scenes.

One distinction worth emphasizing though: just being physically present in Canada is not the issue. It is still about "residency," just that one aspect of what is considered important toward showing residency is physical presence. In other words, it is time that one was living in Canada not just "present" in Canada that really counts. See the cases in the other thread I link to in a post above. This is not to say that one is not living in Canada just because they are in Canada on visitor status ... many people do live somewhere temporarily ... but status does not definitively dictate whether one is living somewhere or not.

I suspect that other aspects of the applicant's history and case will loom as much larger factors than merely some time out-of-status prior to landing as PR.

In the beginning when I was getting my PR, I was sure to get a visa extension in case they wanted to count me as out of status.