Hi everyone ,
I just wanted to thank you for this thread. That helps to have an overview of the process.
I am a permanent resident living in Montreal. I recently got married, and my wife is currently outside of Canada.
I wanted to ask about your experience: Did you obtain a visitor visa for your wife before applying for her sponsorship or how do you proceed ?
Whether or not you apply for the visitor visa depends on two things 1. what country your wife is coming from, and 2. whether you would like to apply inland or outland.
I would recommend inland because it will have a shorter wait time for processing the PR application, but employment while waiting for permits to process can be burdensome on the family if your wife does not have a job already lined up. As a US resident, my passport allowed me to enter canada for up to 6 months at a time, and when my status came into question at the border, I was able to obtain a visitor record and then subsequently renew my visitor record at the port of entry. It was very easy and low-stress. But, this may not be so easy if your wife is from a country other than the US or Mexico. If that is the case, then in order to apply inland, you would need a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) which can take several months to get.
That's where you'll wanna start!
