Using already-obtained visitor visa to wait in Canada for outland PR approval

[pat2]

Hi all! Hoping to bring my wife to Canada on her visitor visa while we wait for her PR approval. I'm a Canadian citizen, and she is Chinese. She already has a visitor visa, and we applied for spousal sponsorship outland. A few questions:

1) We are currently living together in China, and our mailing address on her spousal sponsorship is listed in China. Can we change the mailing address to my family home in Canada? Or would this imply that she is "living" in Canada, as opposed to visiting while she also happens to be waiting for her PR. Is this a big no-no, or is waiting for PR a somewhat acceptable use of a visitor visa? Of course she knows she will have to leave Canada and re-enter if the PR does not come within her 6 month visitor visa stay.

2) If the answer to (1) is no, and we must keep the mailing address listed in China while we wait: when she is approved, and her PR card or whatever is sent to her family address in China, can we have her family mail this to us in Canada? Any problem with doing this? Once it arrives in Canada, would she have to leave Canada again then re-enter to "land" (doing this cheaply would require that she get an American visa as well...)

Any other advice? She already has a visitor visa, she expects to be approved for PR in < 6 months, and we would really like to move to Canada now while we wait.

Thanks!

 

[Novel]

Hi all! Hoping to bring my wife to Canada on her visitor visa while we wait for her PR approval. I'm a Canadian citizen, and she is Chinese. She already has a visitor visa, and we applied for spousal sponsorship outland. A few questions:

1) We are currently living together in China, and our mailing address on her spousal sponsorship is listed in China. Can we change the mailing address to my family home in Canada? Or would this imply that she is "living" in Canada, as opposed to visiting while she also happens to be waiting for her PR. Is this a big no-no, or is waiting for PR a somewhat acceptable use of a visitor visa? Of course she knows she will have to leave Canada and re-enter if the PR does not come within her 6 month visitor visa stay.

2) If the answer to (1) is no, and we must keep the mailing address listed in China while we wait: when she is approved, and her PR card or whatever is sent to her family address in China, can we have her family mail this to us in Canada? Any problem with doing this? Once it arrives in Canada, would she have to leave Canada again then re-enter to "land" (doing this cheaply would require that she get an American visa as well...)

Any other advice? She already has a visitor visa, she expects to be approved for PR in < 6 months, and we would really like to move to Canada now while we wait.

Thanks!

Hi Pat2,

In a very similar situation here, except that my wife is from a 6 month visa-exempt country (Taiwan). We are a few months into the application and also expect her PR to be approved within 6 months so we are planning for her to come to Canada while we wait for the approval.

I spoke to a call centre agent yesterday about this matter and was told that it would be wise for my wife to have a return ticket on hand when she arrives in Canada to wait for the PR approval. Waiting for on a PR application while in Canada qualifies as "Dual Intent", and will be subject to scrutiny by the immigration officer upon arrival. Really just means they would want proof of a return ticket.

On a related note about the subsequent "landing" issue, I also asked about possibility of providing proof of leaving the country through the US border instead of getting a return ticket to Taiwan. The agent said it could work, though it would be considered less persuasive proof to the immigration officer in comparison to a return ticket to the country of origin. So no guarantees there?

About the answer to the mailing address situation, I think it would depend on when you actually receive the request for passport. According to the following thread it seems that you could be given the option to give your Canadian mailing address for the COPR if you still have 3 months or more left on your wife's visa - you will find this thread useful: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/final-request-email.500670/

Hope this helps!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

1) We are currently living together in China, and our mailing address on her spousal sponsorship is listed in China. Can we change the mailing address to my family home in Canada? Or would this imply that she is "living" in Canada, as opposed to visiting while she also happens to be waiting for her PR. Is this a big no-no, or is waiting for PR a somewhat acceptable use of a visitor visa? Of course she knows she will have to leave Canada and re-enter if the PR does not come within her 6 month visitor visa stay.

2) If the answer to (1) is no, and we must keep the mailing address listed in China while we wait: when she is approved, and her PR card or whatever is sent to her family address in China, can we have her family mail this to us in Canada? Any problem with doing this? Once it arrives in Canada, would she have to leave Canada again then re-enter to "land" (doing this cheaply would require that she get an American visa as well...)

Hi

1. If she comes to Canada, she should change both her residential and mailing address to her Canadian address. There is no issue with this. She is allowed to be in Canada while the outland app processes. If her PR app is still in process when her visitor status is close to expiry, she can apply online to extend her stay; this is safer than doing a border run.

2. The PR card is issued AFTER landing. She will be able to submit her passport to Ottawa for stamping and it will be returned along with her COPR to her Canadian address. She can then flagpole at the Canada-US border to land as a PR; flagpoling does not require a US visa.

 

[pat2]

Great responses, thanks so much for the help! I hadn't even realized that she might be able to extend her visitor visa past 6 months, and if she can flagpole the Canada-US border that saves an expensive return trip to China or somewhere else!

 

[Strongandfree]

Hi Pat2,

In a very similar situation here, except that my wife is from a 6 month visa-exempt country (Taiwan). We are a few months into the application and also expect her PR to be approved within 6 months so we are planning for her to come to Canada while we wait for the approval.

I spoke to a call centre agent yesterday about this matter and was told that it would be wise for my wife to have a return ticket on hand when she arrives in Canada to wait for the PR approval. Waiting for on a PR application while in Canada qualifies as "Dual Intent", and will be subject to scrutiny by the immigration officer upon arrival. Really just means they would want proof of a return ticket.

On a related note about the subsequent "landing" issue, I also asked about possibility of providing proof of leaving the country through the US border instead of getting a return ticket to Taiwan. The agent said it could work, though it would be considered less persuasive proof to the immigration officer in comparison to a return ticket to the country of origin. So no guarantees there?

About the answer to the mailing address situation, I think it would depend on when you actually receive the request for passport. According to the following thread it seems that you could be given the option to give your Canadian mailing address for the COPR if you still have 3 months or more left on your wife's visa - you will find this thread useful: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/final-request-email.500670/

Hope this helps!

You can try "flag polling". Its perfectly legal. I confirmed with CBSA. You can go to any Canada/US border and land there when you get PPR