US citizen Living Ilegally in Canada

Hello I been trying to follow some of this forum posts and I have a simple question for you guys or well probably not so simple  and your input would be greatly appreciate it and helpful... I am a US citizen and I been living ilegally in canada for about 4 years living in a common law relationship ...I entered canada through the border and I been working under the table and getting paid with checks under my gf's name (she's first nations)...now a couple of days ago i had a really bad high blood pressure problem and I end up in the hospital. and the bills are going to be disgustingly ridiculous so now i have  to apply for residency  from within what are my chances? .I know  the MP and MLA of my area and they want to help me out but Im still skeptical... they make it sounds like is as easy as a sending my inland application and then just getting it a couple of days later when I know a letter of deportation might be on my mail box anytime soon after i do... but im not sure of my chances  soo... RIght at this moments things dont look good and they feel pretty grim... any helpful input would be great and hugely appreciate it... thanks :)

scylla wrote: You should submit the application as soon as you can so that you can start the process of legalizing your status. Pity you didn't do this sooner - but that's water under the bridge now. And yes - Canada does forgive overstays. My first recommendation is that you apply outland rather than inland. Inland does not take "just a couple of days". Step 1 of inland takes 11 months to complete and then the second stage takes anywhere from a few weeks to over a year (published time is 8 months). Since you have overstayed it is very likely your application will be sent for further scrutiny before first stage approval. Long story short, I think it could take several years for an outland application to be approved for you. You can apply outland while staying in Canada. Typically this route is much faster for Americans. It also allows appeals in the event the file is for some reason refused (the inland process does not). Plus, if you are asked to leave the country, leaving during an outland application won't cancel the application.

Scylla means it could take several years for an inland application to be approved for you because of the fact that you are illegally in Canada at this point.  There is, typically, also no advantage to any American citizen to apply for Canadian PR via the inland process.  You do not want to call attention to the fact that you have been in Canada all this time illegally.  Although I don't support you continuing to do what you are doing, it is not something that would affect the processing of an outland application - you are not required to be outside Canada to apply via the outland process, and where you are has no bearing on the processing of the ap.  The issue will be if someone gets wind of the fact that you are not only in Canada illegally (having overstayed) but you are also working illegally.  This could get you deported and ruin your chances of being sponsored at all. 

My suggestion would be that you return to the US with your girlfriend and get married (having to prove common-law qualification will, most certainly, expose you for having been living in Canada illegally and that could complicate your processing, even if it doesn't disqualify you).  Getting legally married eliminates the need to prove you have cohabitated - spouses are not required to have been living together in order to be eligible to apply.  Once you are legally married, your new wife will accompany you back to Canada and if you're smart and don't mention you've just spent the past 4 years here, with her "vouching for you", you're likely to be issued a Visitor Record that enables you to stay in Canada as a visitor for as long as it takes for your outland permanent residence ap to be finalized.  Read through the information on the US2Canada website about Visiting and Visitor Records for more information on how your new wife/sponsor can help you get extended status to stay in Canada legally until your outland ap is finalized. 

Note: you don't have to get married in the US, but you do have to leave Canada and be accompanied back into the country by your eligible sponsor in order to be pretty much assured of being issued new status to remain.  Remember, they don't know that you haven't been at home in the States all along, but the advantage of having your spouse accompany you is that you don't have to prove you have a place to live and a job at home ("sufficient ties") in order to get back into Canada again.  Leaving the country automatically puts you back in compliance (as long as you're not ordered to leave), but getting back in typically requires that you prove you intend to go back home again.  As a new spouse who will be sponsored for permanent status, you are able to have  your partner help you get status on entry that you probably could not get on your own.   


Edited by RobsLuv - 24 Jul 2012 at 4:11pm

I went to the hospital a couple of days ago because I was really sick... so im sorta in the system of the hospital.... I am going to pay the bills which they are rather high but would that be a problem...... any advice is greatly appreciate it