Overstay

[Sami777 0]

Hey everyone.

I'm a Canadian who overstay in the USA for 6 years.

Right now I'm in Canada and would like to know what my options if I want to go there visit my family. 

Also, i never got a stamp when I entered usa and left to Canada.

Thank you very much.

[Going through 5,671]

Are you a Canadian citizen, or did you cross into the US with some sort of visa and overstayed on that?

[Sami777 0]

Hey.

I'ma Canadian citizen and passed the border only with my passport.

[Going through 5,671]

3 minutes ago, Sami777 said:

Hey.

I'ma Canadian citizen and passed the border only with my passport.

Even if your passport was never stamped (Canadian passports generally are not stamped) the US is able to track exit/entry data through information submitted by airlines and Canadian authorities, and also by scanning your passport at the POE (Canada and the US share border, immigration and criminal information).

 

It's quite possible they will have a record of your overstay on the B1/B2 visa, and also quite possible that they won't.  Best bet is to be honest if questioned at the border.  An overstay as long as you did would incur the 10 year ban, I believe.

 

Edited September 23, 2017 by Going through

[az2014 381]

2 minutes ago, Sami777 said:

Hey.

I'ma Canadian citizen and passed the border only with my passport.

How did you cross the border? Did you receive an i94?

[Sami777 0]

No. Just my Canadian passport. 

[Mollie09 1,543]

15 minutes ago, Sami777 said:

Hey.

I'ma Canadian citizen and passed the border only with my passport.

You overstayed for over a year and so have a 10 year ban, waiverable only with an immigrant petition.

[Coco8 1,042]

For some Canadians, it could be possible that the US never figured out your overstay. I'd try to cross the border with your car and see if they allow you to do that or they tell you that you have a ban. At least you would know if you do.

[Sami777 0]

Thank you 

[geowrian 22,337]

If they did not issue an I-94 (not uncommon years ago), then as a Canadian you are granted Duration of Stay (D/S) and therefore would not have a 10 year bar. However, staying that long in the US in the past is likely to raise suspicion at POE of trying to do that again.

Edit: I also suggest checking if you were issued an electronic I-94 and what it says: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/

Edited September 23, 2017 by geowrian

[Going through 5,671]

29 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If they did not issue an I-94 (not uncommon years ago), then as a Canadian you are granted Duration of Stay (D/S) and therefore would not have a 10 year bar. However, staying that long in the US in the past is likely to raise suspicion at POE of trying to do that again.

Edit: I also suggest checking if you were issued an electronic I-94 and what it says: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/

Duration of Stay on a B1/B2 Canadian passport is 6 months in the United States.  OP stayed illegally in the US for roughly 5.5 years after that.

If POE is able to determine the OP overstayed illegally before for 5.5 years, they can get a 10 year bar from re-entering the US...it's happened to Canadians before.

Edited September 24, 2017 by Going through

[geowrian 22,337]

40 minutes ago, Going through said:

Duration of Stay on a B1/B2 Canadian passport is 6 months in the United States.  OP stayed illegally in the US for roughly 5.5 years after that.

If POE is able to determine the OP overstayed illegally before for 5.5 years, they can get a 10 year bar from re-entering the US...it's happened to Canadians before.

Whoops....I meant Duration of Status, not Duration of Stay (I need more coffee...).

 

Okay, let me clarify - for anybody who enters as D/S, unlawful presence does not start accruing until an immigration judge or IO determines that they are unlawfully present in the US. I'm not referring to the maximum period of an authorized stay. A Canadian who is admitted without being issued an I-94 is admitted as D/S.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/2009/revision_redesign_AFM.PDF

Page 25:

(b)(1)(E)(ii): Nonimmigrants Admitted for Duration of Status (D/S):

...If an immigration judge makes a determination of nonimmigrant status violation...unlawful presence begins to accrue the day after the immigration judge's order. It must be emphasized that the accrual of of unlawful presence neither begins on the date that a status violation occurs, nor on the day on which removal proceedings are initiated. See 8 CFR 239.3.

 

(b)(1)(E)(iii): Non-controlled Nonimmigrants (e.g. Canadians B-1/B-2):

"Nonimmigrants, who are not issued an I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, are treated as nonimmigrants admitted for D/S for purposes of determining unlawful presence."

 

https://www.shusterman.com/unlawfulpresence-canadians/

"As in duration of status cases...who is found to have violated status and be removable by an Immigration Judge, or found to have violated status, by an INS officer, in the course of adjudicating a benefit, such as an extension of stay or a change of adjustment of status, is unlawfully present. The unlawful presence commences on the date when the immigration judge, or INS officer, makes the ruling, not the date the status violation began."

http://srwborderlawyers.com/blog/2012/6/26/cbp-finds-canadian-citizen-inadmissible-to-the-us-for-unlawf.html

https://www.temple.edu/isss/immigration/overstay.html

https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/will-i-be-denied-a-k-1-visa-or-barred-from-the-u-s-982101.html

 

Edited September 24, 2017 by geowrian

[caliliving 606]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

If they did not issue an I-94 (not uncommon years ago), then as a Canadian you are granted Duration of Stay (D/S) and therefore would not have a 10 year bar. However, staying that long in the US in the past is likely to raise suspicion at POE of trying to do that again.

Edit: I also suggest checking if you were issued an electronic I-94 and what it says: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/

THIS IS TRUE! happened to me so you can message me for any questions:) but canadians without an i94 which 6  years ago  you didnt get you are admitted for D/S and therefore NO OVERSTAY ban will occur!!! the thing is, maybe the US knows you are here, maybe not, so next time you cross you could have problems and then be denied entry and if they suspect you worked here, they could deny you back in!!!

 

[caliliving 606]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

If they did not issue an I-94 (not uncommon years ago), then as a Canadian you are granted Duration of Stay (D/S) and therefore would not have a 10 year bar. However, staying that long in the US in the past is likely to raise suspicion at POE of trying to do that again.

Edit: I also suggest checking if you were issued an electronic I-94 and what it says: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/

I doubt she got an electronic one, they didnt issue those 6 years ago except for plane crossings. again, it will raise suspicion to get in again. but if they let you in, you are fine. but why take that chance? if it is a huge issue dont leave. if you have a way to AOS dont leave. but again, i had the issue and all was well in the end bc i was never given a i94 and actually flew thru the border and was given a D/S stamp - which after 2013 they no longer give. 

[Going through 5,671]

1 hour ago, caliliving said:

maybe the US knows you are here, maybe not, so next time you cross you could have problems and then be denied entry and if they suspect you worked here, they could deny you back in!!!

caliiving brings up an interesting point.  OP, how did you support yourself for almost 6 years in the US?  Did you work, pay taxes, etc.?  These are questions that could come up at the border if you are put into secondary questioning.