Spousal sponsorship

[England To Quebec]

If I come to Montreal on a visitor visa and I get married and my sponsor begins an inland spouse application while I’m there does this qualify me to stay in the country until a decision has been made on the application?

 

[Ravs1988]

If I come to Montreal on a visitor visa and I get married and my sponsor begins an inland spouse application while I’m there does this qualify me to stay in the country until a decision has been made on the application?

You would be able to apply for OWP with a valid visitor permit. & if not granted you would need to extend your visitor permit

 

[England To Quebec]

You would be able to apply for OWP with a valid visitor permit. & if not granted you would need to extend your visitor permit

In the first post of this thread it says that OWPs may take 2 years to arrive in the event that an interview is required. Can I be sure that my visitor visa will be extended while I wait?

 

[Ravs1988]

In the first post of this thread it says that OWPs may take 2 years to arrive in the event that an interview is required. Can I be sure that my visitor visa will be extended while I wait?

If you have valid status when you apply you should be granted a permit to work around 4 months apply for it together with your spousal application. if you don't qualify then you have to wait for approval in principle. Which right now my husband has to wait for approval in principal as he went out of status and applied for a visitor permit and was granted he was previously on post grad work permit that was denied due to having it already 2x .he has a visitor permit until June 30 2018 we applied June 6 2017 spousal inland so they gave enough time for the application to finish. They will see you have one in process so yes it's possible. We also provided proof of funds for visitor status while I'm Canada

 

[Ravs1988]

In the first post of this thread it says that OWPs may take 2 years to arrive in the event that an interview is required. Can I be sure that my visitor visa will be extended while I wait?

Also processing time is 12 months inland.

 

[spicysank]

From the spreadsheet it looks like the AOR1/SA time is close to two months now. You should be getting something by the first week of Feb 2018!!

You will receive your AOR1 soon. Currently, CPC - Mississauga is processing the applications they received by the end of November, 2017. There is nothing to do with local VOs, because your application is till at CPC-Mississauga. When the time you receive your ARO2, then it is the time that your application is transferred to the local VO.

 

[Miraclejj]

From the spreadsheet it looks like the AOR1/SA time is close to two months now. You should be getting something by the first week of Feb 2018!!

AOR1 yes, SA is slightly different. Somebody receive SA in the next day of ARO1, somebody receive AOR1 month or two after AOR1, it really dependents.

 

[Emaan3]

hi everyone
i have a question about gckey linked application.
so i linked my application and then i received a message to send them pictures they needed.i sent pictures via POST because i wasnt sure of how to send it via gckey.
but i still have a notification on gckey account asking for pics.it says**replacement needed**required**
what does this mean ?? they didnt received/accept my pics sent via post ??

 

[catriona67]

Hi All,

I have a strange situation and I am hoping someone might have an answer that might help us.

I need some advice regarding spousal sponsorship. I am currently involved with an American who we have decided we would like to get married. we have been visiting each other for 3 years and are in a committed relationship. My problem is I was in a common law relationship with my previous partner.
We ended our relationship 5 years ago but we left everything status quo so we would not hurt each other financially. We still own our townhouse (we live in Vancouver where housing is a mess) and we get along amicably and are working together to pay down our debts. He lives in his room, I live in mine. I have just taken the steps to list myself as single so we can dissolve our relationship formally. Including income tax for last year. However we are continuing living together but separate as friends. He and my fiance get along and there are no issues when my fiance comes to Canada to visit. My fiance and I would like to get married in May and then apply for sponsorship. Will this be a problem?
How much would it cost for services for a situation like ours to sponsor him here. I will not go to the US. We have a legit relationship. We have photos, letters, phone bills, friends willing to attest and travel logs. Just wondering how big a problem this will be. I saw on the declaration it saying we have not tried to live together. We do live together but separate with our own lives.

 

[alibra22]

Anyone going through Los Angeles Visa Office?

 

[Lmac4]

So you are in the situation that you want to sponsor your foreign spouse for permanent residency of Canada and don't know where to start. Here are some tips:

Married, common law or conjugal partners

First you need to pick an application class. There are three of them: married, common-law and conjugal. For all of them, you need to prove the genuineity of your relationship. For common-law, you need to prove that you have lived together for 12 months or longer. For conjugal, you need to prove that you have combined your affairs as much as possible but there are real immigration barriers or other barriers preventing you from living together or getting married. Conjugal is the hardest to prove. For example, if your partner could get a visit visa to come to Canada for 6 months and then apply for an extension to get the full year, even though they will not be allowed to work, that is not considered an immigration barrier. An immigration barrier is if your partner tries to get a visit visa to come to Canada and is repeatedly refused. Some people have had luck with the conjugal class but try to avoid it if possible.

Outland or inland?

Now you need to decide if to apply outland or inland. If your spouse is not in Canada and can not get a visa to go to Canada, you must apply outland. That means that you will send your application to Mississauga and they will approve you as a sponsor. The time that takes is usually 1-2 months to but current processing times can be seen here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#sponsorship After that, the application is forwarded to your local visa office. If your spouse is residing in a country other than the country of their nationality, you can pick which of the two visa offices you want. Otherwise it will be processed in their country of nationality. You can see the processing times here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp

If your spouse is staying in Canada as a visitor or on some other visa, you can pick whether you want to apply outland or inland. Outland is generally faster and has appeal rights but a downside to outland is that if an interview is required, your spouse will have to travel to the visa office in the country where it's being processed. Inland has the downside that it's generally not advised that your spouse travels while you are waiting for your processing because it is a requirement of inland that they reside in Canada and if they are denied entry at the border for some reason, your application is gone. If an interview is required for inland, you may also have to wait a long time for it. The inland application would be sent to Vegreville and if all goes well, you would get a first stage approval, usually in 6 to 8 months. The current processing times can be seen here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#perm_res Then the file is forwarded to your local CIC office where you live and they will contact you for a landing appointment. Getting the PR with inland usually takes 12-18 months. If an interview is required for inland, Vegreville will not give first stage approval but instead will forward the application to the local CIC office without it and you will have to wait for them to have time for your interview. In some cases that can take a year or two. If you do get the first stage approval, your spouse will usually be eligible for health care and an open work permit. It is actually a good idea when applying inland to send an application form for a visit visa extension as well as the open work permit to be given at first stage approval all in one package so it's tied together.

Which method to pick depends on your situation. If your spouses country of nationality has a long processing time or your spouse does not want to have to travel there for a possible interview, then inland is the way to go. For faster processing and freedom of travel during the processing time, outland would be better. You can find the application forms for inland at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp and the application forms for outland at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

Avoiding potential problems with your application

The most common reason for people to be called for an interview is that the visa officer has doubts about the relationship being genuine. It is up to you to send immigration some quality data, emails, chat logs, phone records, photos, letters and other material to prove to them that your relationship is the real thing. Other reasons you might have problems with is eligibility of the sponsor. The sponsor can not be on social assistance, can not be bankrupt and can not have a record of violent crimes or crimes against family members. If that is the case, better talk to a lawyer and get that cleared up before attempting to apply.

Dependent children

If your spouse has dependent children, they must be included in the PR application, even if they are not coming to Canada. They will need to have medicals as well to keep the option open to sponsor them later. The only way that immigration will accept the application without those medicals is if the children are no longer minors and refuse to have it or if the children are in the full custody of their other parent who refuses to make them available for medicals. In that case, your spouse needs to sign a statement stating that they know that they will never be able to sponsor these children to Canada in the future.

Dependent children are classified as single and either under 22 years of age or if they are older, they must have been full time students since before age 22 or dependent on their parent due to a disability or medical problem.

Refusals due to income and medicals

You will be asked to provide information about your income but you will not be denied to sponsor your spouse and dependent children because you do not make enough money. It is possible though that if you make absolutely no money at all that immigration may ask you how you plan to support yourselves.

Spouses and dependent children are also exempt from the clause about excessive demand on health care so you do not have to worry about them being refused for that reason.

Sponsoring your spouse while living in another country

If you are a Canadian citizen, you can sponsor your spouse without being in Canada but you do then have to prove that you are planning on moving to Canada when your spouse gets approved for permanent residency. Such proof can include having arranged jobs, being accepted to college, having arranged housing or letters from friends & relatives stating that they know of your plans and that you can stay with them while you look for housing etc.

If you are a PR, you must reside in Canada in order to sponsor your spouse. You can chance short vacations (remember that a Canadian vacation is generally no longer than 2 weeks) but if immigration finds out that you are not in Canada, you risk getting your application refused.

Hi Leon,

Question/need some advice!

This post is extremely helpful, and I just have a few questions in regard to the INLAND VS. OUTLAND options. I am currently on a TN visa in America with my American fiancée.Ultimately, I don't care how long this whole process takes... my goal was to be back in Canada in the 2018, I ultimately don't see that happening anymore. But my main hopes is to move back to Canada ASAP, and have my fiancée working ASAP.

Based on your experience, what would be the better option.. inland or outland?

1) Is it better to head back to Canada, do an inland application, as well as (apply for a visit visa extension, and an open work permit) all at once- based on your advice above... wait for the first stage approval so we can get the work permit at the same time (hopefully 6-8 months)
2) Wait, stay in America - (I am on a Visa here), while we both work, do the outland application (have it be done a little sooner), so when we move back to Canada he can begin work right away?

Just looking for some more insight on the two options considering we are together in America, and both working...

 

[England To Quebec]

If you have valid status when you apply you should be granted a permit to work around 4 months apply for it together with your spousal application. if you don't qualify then you have to wait for approval in principle. Which right now my husband has to wait for approval in principal as he went out of status and applied for a visitor permit and was granted he was previously on post grad work permit that was denied due to having it already 2x .he has a visitor permit until June 30 2018 we applied June 6 2017 spousal inland so they gave enough time for the application to finish. They will see you have one in process so yes it's possible. We also provided proof of funds for visitor status while I'm Canada

Thank you for your help so far, Ravs1988.

Would me being in Montreal as a visitor amount to "valid status"? I had always heard that it was not possible to go directly from being a visitor to any other visa and that it was necessary to leave the country to apply for another visa.

 

[Ravs1988]

Thank you for your help so far, Ravs1988.

Would me being in Montreal as a visitor amount to "valid status"? I had always heard that it was not possible to go directly from being a visitor to any other visa and that it was necessary to leave the country to apply for another visa.

Yes a Visitor permit is valid status to apply for the OWP along side the spousal sponsorship it is a pilot program going on since 2016 you do not have to leave and re-enter Canada. You need to apply while your CURRENT visitor permit is valid and not expired. We learned the hard way that you can not apply under implied status for this OWP you will get stuck waiting until first stage approval 11 months in. Make sure your application is sent before that expires

If you were not applying for spousal sponsorship you would not qualify for this as you need to be also applying to be "sponsored by a spouse"

Working in Canada While Spousal Sponsorship Application is Pending
If you are applying for permanent residence from Canada, also called inland sponsorship or "spouse in Canada class," you may apply for an Open Work Permit at the same time as you apply for immigration, or you can even apply online. Once you receive a Canadian Open Work Permit, you may work in the country while your application is pending; however, you may not work in Canada until you actually receive it. Although there is no guarantee that your application will be approved, work permit approvals are quite common, and it is one of the primary advantageous of applying for spousal sponsorship inside Canada.

 

[pedrojorge]

Hi everyone.
I sent my application last week but now I'm a bit paranoid. On the checklist there is an item called "National Identity Card", but my consultant said it was not necessary since I was already submitting a copy of my passport and my birth certificate with a certified translation. And some people from the same country (Brazil) said they also did not submit (or only submitted a simple copy, without certified translation) this document and had no trouble.

However, some people say it is mandatory. I only submitted a copy with a simple translation (not certified) and now I am worried. I know it might depend on the mood of the officer, but I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about it and can help me to calm down.

I know there's not much to do now, but I wanna know other people's experiences with that. Thank you

 

[thebusysingh]

I have a serious question here. I sent my application in December and haven't got Application number yet.
I accidentally marked "YES" on No. 4 Previous Relationships - Are you (the sponsor) currently married to anyone other than the person you are sponsoring? It was suppose to be "NO".

How can I update it with CIC?