HELP! Need advice. Sponsor an overstay

Hello Everyone,

I am posting on this site because I have gotten a little desperate in my quest for information .  My husband has overstayed his temporary work permit and now we are trying to figure out what is the best option for us.  He is currently with me in Canada right now but obviously out of status. 

We met 4 years and 3 months ago when he was still legal on his temporary foreign work permit (in the summer of 2008), of which he'd already had one before that as well.  At the end of that second work permit (summer 2009) he was almost going to have enough time accumulated in Canada to apply for permanent residency on his own however his work permit was going to expire just before so his boss told him to apply for another work permit.  My husband (though he was my boyfriend at the time) did apply for another work permit but the application came back refused due to a lack of information and an LMO on his employer's part.  So my husband asked his boss about it and his boss said that he'd in fact just applied to renew his LMO so to wait a week or 2 and then send in another application.  My husband did this and the application came back refused again for the same reason.  Soon after that his work permit expired and his boss told him that he hadn't actually reapplied for a new LMO and so sorry and a whole bunch of stuff like that.  So at the time we didn't know that you could actually apply for a restoration of status within 90 days so we kind of just let it be.  My husband had planned on going back to Mexico and then trying to come back again with another employer but things ended up happening in our lives at the time with my daughter's father (my ex) and he didn't feel like I would be safe if he left me alone here to deal with all of the problems.  There was also the fact that we had just had a baby of our own that summer, which added to the stress that I would have had to face alone at the time . 

Fast forward 3 years to now and he has been an overstay and has managed to stay under the radar.  We've been married for a year now, we have our daughter, he has adopted my daughter as his own and I may be pregnant again actually.  Because of this we are getting to the point where we realize we really need to do something about his status.  He's also getting frustrated because he has an engineering degree from his country but he can't work to support us.  We just don't know what option is best for us.  Much like before he doesn't want to leave us here and go back to Mexico but at the time he doesn't want us to go there either because he is from a very dangerous part of the country.  We are wondering if it would be better for us to apply inland or outland.  We don't know which one is faster or which one will cause more problems for us.  We're afraid that if we apply inland that they will find him, he will get deported and we'll have to start all over again outland.  But if we apply outland he's afraid of spending that much time away, and if it turns out that I'm pregnant then he doesn't want to miss the birth of the baby .  I also don't want to go to Mexico because our daughters have certain medical needs and it's best if we stay where we've known their doctors for years.  We've also wondered about the possibility of him leaving and then applying to come back as a visitor and then I can apply to sponsor him while he's here as a visitor.  But in that case we don't know if he ask to seek some sort of pardon for overstaying (though he's never been given a deportation order).  Another scenario we were thinking of is him trying to find another employer, maybe through a skilled position, given that he is an engineer.  But we don't know how slow that is or if, again, he would have to apply for a pardon of some kind.

We are totally lost and stressed out and haven't met anyone else with a case like this .  We also can't afford a lawyer so we've been trying to gather info were we can.  I've tried calling CIC but they haven't been much help beyond telling us what sort of programs are available.

If anyone has been through something like this before or has any advice they can offer it would be greatly appreciated .  Also if someone wants to send me a private message with more specific advice that would be appreciated as well.

Hello Cduquett,

To my understanding, your case is very complicated - I had a friend here in Canada with a similar situation (Mexican as well), and even though her husband tried by all means to make her stay (he is a successful business person, and was willing to pay thousands to bail her out), CBSA ended up removing her (she was detained for 2 weeks, while he appealed the removal before the Federal Court, but not even that stopped her deportation ). I suggest you to consult an immigration lawyer, as you will need an expert's opinion before you flag out your husband's information with CIC.

This is my humble opinion, based on my friend's experience.

Good luck and God bless us all!!!

COMPUTERGEEK WROTE ON 06 NOVEMBER 2012
"Spouses and common‑law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are no longer required to have legal immigration status provided that they have an eligible sponsor. All other eligibility requirements continue to apply."

"The Canada Border Services Agency has agreed to grant a temporary administrative deferral of
removal to applicants who qualify under this public policy."

How do both laws apply THIS YEAR.....and IF the CBSA has already issued a 'voluntary departure' to an OVERSTAY who applies for INLAND spousal sponsorship a week later? No criminal or misdemeanor record applies ONLY the overstay. How can the 'out-of-stay' person appeal the voluntary departure?