I'm an undocumented immigrant. AMA

[TheBeastInMsRooneysRoom]

Just that really. We saw an opportunity and took it because we knew it would benefit out children and we were willing to pay the price if we got caught (deportation, not jail).

Are you in the UK?

How do you survive here? Are you very much under the radar? Can you get NHS care, can your kids go to school?

What country are you in, and where did you come from?

I’d like to know everything!

Where did you come from?
What push and pull factors influenced your decision?
Did you consider many countries when making your decision?
How was the journey?
How did you arrive?
How have you felt since you’ve arrived?
Have you felt welcome?
Have you felt able to make a (fulfilled) life here?
Would you do it again?

Do you have jobs? What do you do for money?

DH is legal and has permanent residency, so he works and supports us all. We can't access health care.

We are from the UK and live in Canada.

We feel so welcome. I'm actually not very discreet about it. We've now submitted all our paperwork so we can start the process of becoming legal residents, but DH needed 2 years in the country before he could sponsor the rest of us. We didn't want to live apart, so we just tagged along! Fully intended to return to UK regularly and remain 'in status' but once we had started building a life here, we didn't want to risk not being granted re-entry (once your spouse lives here you're considered at risk of overstaying), and a border agent advised me to stay put. She said she would allow me in, but the next one might not, so wait it out.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

My kids can go to school. We were prepared to homeschool (we did in the UK - I am outing myself so much) but it turned out that if your the child of a resident, you don't need to prove your own status to access education. The schools are incredible so they do go.

The only tricky things are healthcare and driving. We pay if we need to see a doctor (although depsite me explaining and asking for an invoice, I didn't receive one ) and I have an international licence which will expire in November. I will reapply and renew it by posting the entire application pack to family in the UK, who will post it for me inland. My car insurance is through the roof.

I hope you get your residency. I am in the US and it makes me cross when I see people say 'they should have come the legal way'. There is no legal way here if you don't have family to sponsor, a job with a work visa or a lot of money. What are people's attitudes to illegal immigrants in Canada?

Hmm. I'll be honest. My white skin and British culture means that I've had a very easy time. Nobody cares that I did this. I'm not treated poorly at all. Canada is a generally more liberal country, but I live in a very conservative pocket. If it would have been a problem socially anywhere, it would be here, but it hasn't been. Canadians do have an affinity for Britain though it seems.

do you work? wont your visa application be denied because you are an “overstayer”?

I don't work. And no, because my DH is a permanent resident who is NOW in good standing (although he wasn't when we entered - you need to spend 2 years out of the last 5 in the country to meet the residency requirement) our application can't be refused under Canada's public policy.

www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/immigration-refugee-protection-act-spousal-policy.html