It's sure being a bumpy road for DS trying to get his work visa and stay in Canada while he's waiting. I questioned him a couple of months ago if he would be able to stay longer than 6 months as a visitor (which would've been the end of December) and so he supposedly checked into it and they said it was ok. He also said that when he crossed the border last September to go back up there, they asked how long he was staying and he said he didn't really know - he had just applied for his work visa. They said nothing and stamped him through.
Well, he flew back up there New Year's Eve night and going thru customs/immigration they decided since he doesn't work and doesn't have thousands of dollars in the bank to support himself that they are only letting him stay for 2 weeks. He has to be back out by the 15th of January. He said the 3 people in front of him were turned away and had to go back right then. He has been telling us all along that once he gets his work visa he doesn't have to come home to the States and then go back (like he did to apply). Now he is telling us he does. I have a feeling he knew this all along and since (he feels) he is getting close to having his visa approved, then what was the point of going back up there now? He might as well have waited the time here, if he was going to have to come back home soon anyway.
At this point we are just letting him figure this out. He got enough money from Christmas and selling that old laptop that he can pay for his flight back home. It's looking to be about $330 one way. The immigration even called the guy he stays with to verify his story and he told them they are supporting him while he is there and waiting for his work visa. Now I guess the plan is that guy and his wife are going to see if they can vouch for him to stay longer......but I don't really see the point of trying to do that, if he has to come back to the states once he gets his visa approved anyway....other than he has a girlfriend up there now......that's a whole other story.......
We have a similar situation going on here with our twenty something son. He needs to figure something out on his own and quickly because the bank of Mom & Dad is closing. lolz
ReplyDeleteIt's hard transitioning to being a grown up but sometimes you have to let them fall or fail on their own.....
After he called yesterday to tell us, DH and I went into "let's help fix this mode" but then we stopped and both said we need to just let him deal with this and figure it out. I have a feeling half of the problem is either him not telling us how it really worked on the visa and him staying up there or him just not checking into it all as well as he should have. Either way - his fault and time for him to start taking care of his own problems and the consequences of them.
DeleteIm not sure how it goes from US to Canada but for work visas from Canada to US (or people from any country coming to the US) the process is long and cumbersome. Also, once a person is in process for a work or other visa (fiance, spouse, etc), they may have problems entering the country on a tourist visa. They also have issues coming into the country when they have no visible means of support (means the person might come here and work under the table) or if they say they are staying with a girlfriend (means the person might not want to return when their visa expires). So...probably not helpful but it is important to follow the visa application steps exactly when wanting to work in another country.
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