Polish Canadian returning to US?

Adrian

New Member
Hello everyone. Here is the problem I am facing. I will try to make my story as short as possible. My wife traveled with her parents from Poland to USA on her tourist visa in 2003. They have been granted I94 document for 6 months. They ended up overstaying their visa and leaving USA to Canada using skilled trades program in late 2011. While leaving to Canada their visa was was still valid but the I94 was expired. My wife was 20 years old when she migrated to Canada. As of last week she became Canadian citizen and she already got her Canadian passport. It's also worth mentioning that she switched her last name as well. She has been living here for 5 years since they left US and now she is canadian citizen with different last name. She also has valid Polish passport with expired tourist visa to the US.

Question time:

Would it be a good idea to cross the border since she is canadian now with a different last name?

What could be our consequences if things would go bad on the border?

If I forgot to mention any crucial information please ask so I can add whatever needs to be added.

We spoke to lawyer added he told us to try crossing and if the things get bad or we will turn around then we will have to apply for some kind of waiver.

Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!
 
Probably the worst thing that can happen is she is denied entry.

Technically, she has a 10-year 9B ban, which will last until 2021. For her to waive the ban to visit, she would have to file I-192 with the CBP at any port of entry.

Legally, it makes no difference that her last name is different now. If she is asked any questions, either on a form or in person, she has to answer honestly, and not just pretend that things that happened while she had a different last name didn't happen; that would be lying. But if she isn't asked, she doesn't have voluntarily tell them anything. It is possible that her having a different last name now means they will not be aware of her past history, and just let her in without many questions as Canadian citizens visiting the US don't usually get many questions.
 
Thank you for your help. If let's say we would get turned around, would that mean that we would just have to wait till 2021 or would there be other problems coming with that? Would she just have to wait till her ban is over or have to apply for waiver?

Also what could possibly happen if we would cross the border multiple times and somehow border agent would find out about that fact even after the bar expires? If they would let us thru, t hat could lead to possibly more problems in the future, correct?
 
Thank you for your help. If let's say we would get turned around, would that mean that we would just have to wait till 2021 or would there be other problems coming with that?
Probably no other problems. Technically, they could "remove" her, which would trigger a 5-year 9A ban. But usually they would let someone voluntarily withdraw the application for admission instead of "removing" them, especially someone coming in at a land border. Also, she could try to fly into the US, going through pre-clearance in Canada, and there is no possibility of "removing" her at a pre-clearance point of entry if she is denied (because she is not in the US).

Would she just have to wait till her ban is over or have to apply for waiver?
If her ban is over then there is no ban to waive. It's only before the ban is over that she would need a waiver.

Also what could possibly happen if we would cross the border multiple times and somehow border agent would find out about that fact even after the bar expires?
Nothing

If they would let us thru, t hat could lead to possibly more problems in the future, correct?
Not that I can think of
 
Thank you a lot! Making my mind clear. I am just trying to make up possible scenarios. Let's say that we crossed the border few times successfully and after 15th time they find out that my wife has the Bar on her, what possibly could have happened?

Or after her bar is over if the border officer would find out that we were crossing during the bar time?

Now again if they pull us on a side during first cross and started asking questions should we just play stupid that we didn't know that she has bar?

Also if we got "removed " triggering the 5 year ban, would that be on top of the 10 year bar? How would that work knowing that 5 years have already passed?

Is that the case that if you apply for a waiver once you have to do it for the rest of your life?

We are just trying to find out if it's worth crossing in our situation and what could be possible consequences?

Thank you very much for your help! Much appreciated!!!!
 
Thank you a lot! Making my mind clear. I am just trying to make up possible scenarios. Let's say that we crossed the border few times successfully and after 15th time they find out that my wife has the Bar on her, what possibly could have happened?
They could deny entry. Note that even if she didn't have a bar she can always be denied entry on immigrant intent. The fact that she had overstayed in the past could be a negative factor for them to deny her entry at any time in the future.

Or after her bar is over if the border officer would find out that we were crossing during the bar time?
Again, they could always deny entry on immigrant intent, based on the fact that she overstayed in the past.

Now again if they pull us on a side during first cross and started asking questions should we just play stupid that we didn't know that she has bar?
A lot of people don't know. It's not a problem to not know.

Also if we got "removed " triggering the 5 year ban, would that be on top of the 10 year bar? How would that work knowing that 5 years have already passed?
It would be 5 years from the time of removal. Each ban is independent.

Is that the case that if you apply for a waiver once you have to do it for the rest of your life?
A waiver is only for a certain amount of time. After that, another waiver is needed. But after the ban is over, no waiver is needed. Note that if she is denied for immigrant intent (which is the default reason for denying entry), there is no waiver. She can only try again. Only if she is not denied for immigrant intent, but denied for the ban, would a waiver help.
 
Thank you Newacct!

Based on everything that got explained to me by Newacct, in worst case scenario we might just get turned around and trigged 5 year ban which would force us to wait 5 years. We don't really want to apply for any waivers, we can simply wait that amount of time and try to cross when everything becomes clear.

We should also prepare folder that could help us proving our roots in Canada, correct?

Now one of the silliest questions... what would you do if you would be in our case? :)

Once again. Thank you for all.your help and time!
 
Attempt an entry with two basic rules:-
(1) Do not volunteer any information
(2) If questioned, do not lie under any circumstance
Best of luck!

Now one of the silliest questions... what would you do if you would be in our case? :)
 
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