Questions about status while waiting for PR

[luna_pond]

I am a US citizen. I have been in Canada since June 2017. My 6 months is up in December 2017. I'm getting married next weekend. My fiance is a Canadian citizen. The plan is to apply for spousal sponsorship/PR after the wedding. I have a few questions:

1. Do I also need to apply to extend my stay as a visitor when w do the sponsorship app or will I have implied status?
2. Is it advisable to mention that I'm extending my stay because I'm waiting on a decision to be made for PR?
3. Can I submit the sponsorship app without the marriage certificate and submit it later when I receive it? Or should I wait until I have it to submit the application?
4. I have seen so many different opinions regarding applying inland v. Outland. I'm so confused about which is truly best. Advice?
5. Can you please share your experiences w me if your situation is similar? I'm a bit anxious about all of this...
One more:
6. What if I apply to extend my visit and it's denied? Is it likely that I'll be ok if they see that I've applied for PR?

I've seen a few people say that when you apply to extend your stay that you shouldn't say anything regarding marriage because they might think that you have no intention of returning to the US...therefore it will be denied. But... obviously if you're applying for PR, you're trying to do it the right way and maintain status. So I don't know. I just need reassurance and advice. I want to make sure that I have all the info and do this the right way. Thanks!

 

[kcward7]

I am a US citizen. I have been in Canada since June 2017. My 6 months is up in December 2017. I'm getting married next weekend. My fiance is a Canadian citizen. The plan is to apply for spousal sponsorship/PR after the wedding. I have a few questions:

1. Do I also need to apply to extend my stay as a visitor when w do the sponsorship app or will I have implied status?
2. Is it advisable to mention that I'm extending my stay because I'm waiting on a decision to be made for PR?
3. Can I submit the sponsorship app without the marriage certificate and submit it later when I receive it? Or should I wait until I have it to submit the application?
4. I have seen so many different opinions regarding applying inland v. Outland. I'm so confused about which is truly best. Advice?
5. Can you please share your experiences w me if your situation is similar? I'm a bit anxious about all of this...
One more:
6. What if I apply to extend my visit and it's denied? Is it likely that I'll be ok if they see that I've applied for PR?

I've seen a few people say that when you apply to extend your stay that you shouldn't say anything regarding marriage because they might think that you have no intention of returning to the US...therefore it will be denied. But... obviously if you're applying for PR, you're trying to do it the right way and maintain status. So I don't know. I just need reassurance and advice. I want to make sure that I have all the info and do this the right way. Thanks!

1 and 3. No, you need to marriage cert. We were in the exact same boat as you so we extended as a visitor while we waited for it.
2. We did.
4. Streamlined both inland and outland to reach 12m target. Many apps will be processed on a faster basis but it is really case by case. Main differences: inland you can apply for a work permit, outland you cannot. If you're rejected on an inland application, you cannot appeal. Outland you can. We are outland Ireland and 8.5 months in, straightforward app. It's been slower than we anticipated and in hindsight we wished we had done inland so my husband could work. It's a personal decision.

Sounds like our situation is almost identical to yours. The visitor visa was extended for us no problem for 1y and we didn't even ask for it to be extended that long.

 

[luna_pond]

1 and 3. No, you need to marriage cert. We were in the exact same boat as you so we extended as a visitor while we waited for it.
2. We did.
4. Streamlined both inland and outland to reach 12m target. Many apps will be processed on a faster basis but it is really case by case. Main differences: inland you can apply for a work permit, outland you cannot. If you're rejected on an inland application, you cannot appeal. Outland you can. We are outland Ireland and 8.5 months in, straightforward app. It's been slower than we anticipated and in hindsight we wished we had done inland so my husband could work. It's a personal decision.

Sounds like our situation is almost identical to yours. The visitor visa was extended for us no problem for 1y and we didn't even ask for it to be extended that long.

Thanks so much! Ok, so our wedding is on 11/18. So, I can apply now to extend my stay and then submit my PR app? Or should I submit both at the same time? Thanks for your help!

 

[luna_pond]

1 and 3. No, you need to marriage cert. We were in the exact same boat as you so we extended as a visitor while we waited for it.
2. We did.
4. Streamlined both inland and outland to reach 12m target. Many apps will be processed on a faster basis but it is really case by case. Main differences: inland you can apply for a work permit, outland you cannot. If you're rejected on an inland application, you cannot appeal. Outland you can. We are outland Ireland and 8.5 months in, straightforward app. It's been slower than we anticipated and in hindsight we wished we had done inland so my husband could work. It's a personal decision.

Sounds like our situation is almost identical to yours. The visitor visa was extended for us no problem for 1y and we didn't even ask for it to be extended that long.

Oops...nevermind. I'm clearly not awake yet. I need my marriage certificate to apply for PR and sponsorship so I have to wait. So...I can apply to extend my visit and say what? That I plan on submitting my PR app? I may be confused.

 

[kcward7]

Oops...nevermind. I'm clearly not awake yet. I need my marriage certificate to apply for PR and sponsorship so I have to wait. So...I can apply to extend my visit and say what? That I plan on submitting my PR app? I may be confused.

K so we got married on Dec 17 and my husbands visitor visa was expiring in January. In Ontario it can take up to 4 months to get the marriage cert.

We applied to extend the visitor stay early December. I explained we were to be married and would be submitting spousal PR pending the marriage cert.

The extension was granted for one year.

Additionally, I wrote to Service Ontario explaining the urgency of getting the marriage cert. It really depends on who's hands it ends up in because technically spousal PR is not an emergency situation but they sent me the cert in 3 weeks.

 

[luna_pond]

I'm thinking of applying to extend my visit, selecting other as the reason and then I can say that I am recently married but waiting on marriage cert to apply for sponsorship/PR. Is that ok? Or do I just extend as a visitor and use a different reason?

 

[luna_pond]

K so we got married on Dec 17 and my husbands visitor visa was expiring in January. In Ontario it can take up to 4 months to get the marriage cert.

We applied to extend the visitor stay early December. I explained we were to be married and would be submitting spousal PR pending the marriage cert.

The extension was granted for one year.

Additionally, I wrote to Service Ontario explaining the urgency of getting the marriage cert. It really depends on who's hands it ends up in because technically spousal PR is not an emergency situation but they sent me the cert in 3 weeks.

Got it! Ok, awesome. Thanks for your help. Yes, our situation is practically identical. Now I know what to do and it's lessened my anxiety

 

[kcward7]

I'm thinking of applying to extend my visit, selecting other as the reason and then I can say that I am recently married but waiting on marriage cert to apply for sponsorship/PR. Is that ok? Or do I just extend as a visitor and use a different reason?

I can't tell you what to do I can only tell you what we did.

My husband has been in Canada for the last decade on work permits. He was not able to get anymore work permits so he got a visitor visa when we got engaged. Then when we went to extend it we were definitely worried they may not since he's been here so long. So, we submitted the request for extension with an explanation of the situation. Honesty is the best policy I think and we had no issues. It can be difficult for many to get a visitor visa in the first place as often times they are worried the individual will come to Canada and not leave, but if you've already been granted one just like we had, I wouldn't overthink it too much.

 

[luna_pond]

You're right. I'm just imagining worst case scenarios. And I can't imagine what I'd do if I couldn't stay. It would be devastating. Thanks for your help. I have a lot of paperwork and questions in my future.

 

[kcward7]

You're right. I'm just imagining worst case scenarios. And I can't imagine what I'd do if I couldn't stay. It would be devastating. Thanks for your help. I have a lot of paperwork and questions in my future.

Honestly, the process is really, really stressful. Go into it knowing that. Don't let it take away from your wedding (congratulations, by the way). Try to remember that worrying gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.

It's good to be informed but don't psych yourself out.

At the end of the day, you have each other, and that's what's most important...you'll get through it regardless of what comes your way.

Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

 

[luna_pond]

Honestly, the process is really, really stressful. Go into it knowing that. Don't let it take away from your wedding (congratulations, by the way). Try to remember that worrying gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.

It's good to be informed but don't psych yourself out.

At the end of the day, you have each other, and that's what's most important...you'll get through it regardless of what comes your way.

Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

I know it'll be stressful but worth it. No doubt. I'm going to try not to freak out too much because you're right..it won't get me anywhere. Thanks for your help. I'm sure you'll hear from me again. Lol

 

[kcward7]

I know it'll be stressful but worth it. No doubt. I'm going to try not to freak out too much because you're right..it won't get me anywhere. Thanks for your help. I'm sure you'll hear from me again. Lol

Cheers good luck!

 

[luna_pond]

Cheers good luck!

So you got an extension for a year? Did you just ask for 6 months? Trying to decide if I want to ask for 6 months or a year. Was thinking 6 months and then they may just give me a year.

 

[kcward7]

So you got an extension for a year? Did you just ask for 6 months? Trying to decide if I want to ask for 6 months or a year. Was thinking 6 months and then they may just give me a year.

The first one we got was 6 months by default maybe...or we just assumed we could only get 6m. When we asked for an extension they just gave us a year, we didn't ask. If you can get a year might as well