Questions about aspects of sponsorship process

[CanaDutchy]

Hi all,

I have various questions about aspects of the spousal sponsorship process. Mostly regarding what would be possible or give us problems in our preferred situation.

Some details about us:

• I am a dutch citizen and have been a Canadian PR for 5.5 years currently.
• My girlfriend is a Mexican citizen and has been approved for ETA.
• We are both in the second half of our 30s and would like to start a family within the next years
• We met 10 years ago and reconnected last year and have been in a serious relationship since august 2024
• She joined me in Europe while I was visiting my family form Aug - Oct
• I lived with her in Mexico from Nov - Mid March

Our preferred plan:

My girlfriend comes to Canada in May to stay with me this summer and to experience living in Canada. If everything goes well we would get married in Canada (very low key) in the late summer / early fall and send in the PR application (Outland, since process is less long). After we would send in the PR application we would like to leave for 2-3 months during the winter, while we await the AOR. Since we are both avid travellers we would like to do one last big travel before we start our family and have little one(s) to take care of. At the end of our travel we would like to do a wedding celebration for both our families in Mexico since we can get way more bang for our buck there, and we can give our families / friends enough time to prepare to be there (coming from many different countries). After we do the wedding celebration and received the AOR we would return to Canada to apply for her OWP and wait for the PR application to be approved. We would like to start a family soon after we come back (since our clocks are ticking) but will have to take into account the PR process and health care coverage etc.


My questions are:

• Does my girlfriend have to say she is visiting her boyfriend if questioned by border security and could this be a problem for her being able to enter Canada with ETA?
• Would it be a problem for our PR application if we did not do a celebration when we get married in Canada and not until after we have applied for PR? (Our reasoning would be that it would be a lot harder to get our families to Canada for a wedding and they will need ample time to get time off work etc)
• What if there would be no family at our wedding in Canada (none of our family lives in Canada)
• Would it be a problem for me to leave Canada for 2-3 months during the PR application since I am not a citizen.
• Is it possible to get health care coverage before PR has been approved, while having the OWP. Would this cover pregnancy / childbirth? (I am located in AB)

Thanks for your time!

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

I have various questions about aspects of the spousal sponsorship process. Mostly regarding what would be possible or give us problems in our preferred situation.

Some details about us:

• I am a dutch citizen and have been a Canadian PR for 5.5 years currently.
• My girlfriend is a Mexican citizen and has been approved for ETA.
• We are both in the second half of our 30s and would like to start a family within the next years
• We met 10 years ago and reconnected last year and have been in a serious relationship since august 2024
• She joined me in Europe while I was visiting my family form Aug - Oct
• I lived with her in Mexico from Nov - Mid March

Our preferred plan:

My girlfriend comes to Canada in May to stay with me this summer and to experience living in Canada. If everything goes well we would get married in Canada (very low key) in the late summer / early fall and send in the PR application (Outland, since process is less long). After we would send in the PR application we would like to leave for 2-3 months during the winter, while we await the AOR. Since we are both avid travellers we would like to do one last big travel before we start our family and have little one(s) to take care of. At the end of our travel we would like to do a wedding celebration for both our families in Mexico since we can get way more bang for our buck there, and we can give our families / friends enough time to prepare to be there (coming from many different countries). After we do the wedding celebration and received the AOR we would return to Canada to apply for her OWP and wait for the PR application to be approved. We would like to start a family soon after we come back (since our clocks are ticking) but will have to take into account the PR process and health care coverage etc.


My questions are:

• Does my girlfriend have to say she is visiting her boyfriend if questioned by border security and could this be a problem for her being able to enter Canada with ETA?
• Would it be a problem for our PR application if we did not do a celebration when we get married in Canada and not until after we have applied for PR? (Our reasoning would be that it would be a lot harder to get our families to Canada for a wedding and they will need ample time to get time off work etc)
• What if there would be no family at our wedding in Canada (none of our family lives in Canada)
• Would it be a problem for me to leave Canada for 2-3 months during the PR application since I am not a citizen.
• Is it possible to get health care coverage before PR has been approved, while having the OWP. Would this cover pregnancy / childbirth? (I am located in AB)

Thanks for your time!

Your girlfriend should answer any questions CBSA asks honestly.

It is recommended to do some minimal celebration. Even if that's a small dinner out with a few family members and friends who came to the small wedding. If you don't, quite possible this may not be a show stopper. However better to do something even if very very small.

It's fine to have no family member at the wedding. Assume you will have at least a few friends attend.

Since you are a PR, you need to be living in Canada to sponsor. Two to three months will put your application in jeopardy. Either apply after the 2-3 month trip or shorten the trip significantly.

 

[CanaDutchy]

Thanks for your reply Scylla!

Honestly as in “I am visiting my boyfriend” or as in “I am visiting my boyfriend and plan to get married and apply for PR while I am here (and extend visitor record)”?

We would do a little celebration with friends of course but any family is at least a 5 hour flight away and might not make it on short notice and when we have a big celebration planned.

If a longer trip is really a problem we would likely postpone that until her application is approved. Would it still be a problem for me to leave after she is approved but before she has landed? We could do the trip and she can land on our return.

Would a short trip during the application (for our wedding celebration) be a risk for her to enter Canada again? At this point we would be married and we would have applied for PR, but spending months apart is of course not what we would prefer and since I will have to stay in Canada I also can’t go to her.

 

[scylla]

Thanks for your reply Scylla!

Honestly as in “I am visiting my boyfriend” or as in “I am visiting my boyfriend and plan to get married and apply for PR while I am here (and extend visitor record)”?

We would do a little celebration with friends of course but any family is at least a 5 hour flight away and might not make it on short notice and when we have a big celebration planned.

If a longer trip is really a problem we would likely postpone that until her application is approved. Would it still be a problem for me to leave after she is approved but before she has landed? We could do the trip and she can land on our return.

Would a short trip during the application (for our wedding celebration) be a risk for her to enter Canada again? At this point we would be married and we would have applied for PR, but spending months apart is of course not what we would prefer and since I will have to stay in Canada I also can’t go to her.

I don't know how you are defining a short trip and a long trip so hard for me to comment.

 

[CanaDutchy]

By short trip I mean just for the wedding celebration and seeing her family. Between 1-3 weeks. Seems like there is no clear specification of how long I can leave during the application…

 

[scylla]

By short trip I mean just for the wedding celebration and seeing her family. Between 1-3 weeks. Seems like there is no clear specification of how long I can leave during the application…

IRCC has never specifically stated. However based on experiences on this forum over the years, a trip of 3 weeks or less doesn't create issues. That seems to be the super safe length of time.

 

[CanaDutchy]

Ok. What about issues for her to return to Canada as a visitor and apply for an OWP and stay the rest of the time till PR is approved? Also would it make any difference if we have or havent received the AOR yet?

 

[scylla]

Ok. What about issues for her to return to Canada as a visitor and apply for an OWP and stay the rest of the time till PR is approved? Also would it make any difference if we have or havent received the AOR yet?

You need AOR before you can apply for the OWP.

 

[CanaDutchy]

You need AOR before you can apply for the OWP.

Yes I understand that. But is it likely we are going to encounter problems with her return to Canada, when she leaves canada after we apply (for the wedding celebration). And would it be better to plan this after we have received AOR or would it be smartest not to risk it at all.

We would love to have a great wedding celebration with our families, but if it means that she might not be able to return to canada until after she receives PR and we would have to be apart for 6+ months we would probably prefer a smaller celebration in Canada.

 

[canuck78]

Yes I understand that. But is it likely we are going to encounter problems with her return to Canada, when she leaves canada after we apply (for the wedding celebration). And would it be better to plan this after we have received AOR or would it be smartest not to risk it at all.

We would love to have a great wedding celebration with our families, but if it means that she might not be able to return to canada until after she receives PR and we would have to be apart for 6+ months we would probably prefer a smaller celebration in Canada.

Would not suggest leaving Canada right after you apply for sponsorship. This would be planned absence for a wedding and would not look good to apply for sponsorship and leave the country before you had even received AOR. Would suggest waiting until she has OWP before leaving for under 3 weeks. Nobody can 100% guarantee you will not run into issues.