Quebec spousal sponorship or Federal?

[Angads]

Hey Guys , i am in a dilemma and i need your advice.. So, I recently got married in Feb this year in India. I am a permanent residence since May 2018 and have been living in Montreal since. With this whole covid situation, everyone has been telling me that it is taking longer then usual for family ( spouse) sponorship and with quebec its even taking longer since the file gets approved by federal first and then it goes to Quebec. My sister who is living in saskatchewan has offered me to come live there because spousal P.R take less time there( she also said that she will put my name in water and electricity bills) . Also i am not going to stay in Quebec after couple of months since i lost my job because of Covid and i am thinking of moving to Ontario or something. Now my question is what should i do? Since all my taxes, earnings and identity proof's are all from quebec, should i apply from here or should i move to saskatchewan for now, get my id there, stay there for sometime and apply for her spousal P.R from there? which route will be quicker? Please advice. Thanks in advance

 

[MidoRafa]

Hey Guys , i am in a dilemma and i need your advice.. So, I recently got married in Feb this year in India. I am a permanent residence since May 2018 and have been living in Montreal since. With this whole covid situation, everyone has been telling me that it is taking longer then usual for family ( spouse) sponorship and with quebec its even taking longer since the file gets approved by federal first and then it goes to Quebec. My sister who is living in saskatchewan has offered me to come live there because spousal P.R take less time there( she also said that she will put my name in water and electricity bills) . Also i am not going to stay in Quebec after couple of months since i lost my job because of Covid and i am thinking of moving to Ontario or something. Now my question is what should i do? Since all my taxes, earnings and identity proof's are all from quebec, should i apply from here or should i move to saskatchewan for now, get my id there, stay there for sometime and apply for her spousal P.R from there? which route will be quicker? Please advice. Thanks in advance

I think you should first figure out what it is you want to do (stay in QC, move to SK, move to ON/elsewhere), do it, and then apply based on that. It may take you a couple of months to do it (for the actual move, establishing the proper paper trail, etc) but it will be better than applying right away (say through the QC stream) then finding yourself in a position where you either have to (almost) restart everything a few months later because you moved out of the province (and having to supply those new documents anyway), or have to lie about where you are just to keep the process going, which is untenable and can very easily backfire. You are within your rights to move to a different province, so having a QC history (taxes, employment history, ..) shouldn't be a problem as long as you can prove you're living elsewhere now. (Maybe they will look more closely to your file, but if you're really living there you shouldn't have a problem).

There are delays involved either way (with QC possibly being the slower route nowadays), but in the grand scheme of things taking a couple extra months to sort out your life won't make a huge difference in the end.

 

[Angads]

Thanks for your reply Mido. I have one more question. Is is true that spouse visa would take more time in Ontario then Saskatchewan considering they are different states and obviously there would be a lot more files in ON then SK. Does it depend state wise and where you are applying from?

 

[Copingwithlife]

Thanks for your reply Mido. I have one more question. Is is true that spouse visa would take more time in Ontario then Saskatchewan considering they are different states and obviously there would be a lot more files in ON then SK. Does it depend state wise and where you are applying from?

Does matter , and don’t refer to provinces as “ states “, it’s incorrect
You’ve been in the country two plus years

 

[MidoRafa]

Thanks for your reply Mido. I have one more question. Is is true that spouse visa would take more time in Ontario then Saskatchewan considering they are different states and obviously there would be a lot more files in ON then SK. Does it depend state wise and where you are applying from?

You're welcome.
I don't know for sure, but I know that all outland spousal applications are sent to the same office and then they get distributed to the respective visa office for further processing.
I don't think the province of residence influences processing time (excluding Quebec obviously), since: a) IRCC is a federal agency, and b) anecdotal evidence from this forum suggests processing time is consistent regardless of where the sponsor lives.

 

[Angads]

Hmmm Thanks for your insight It really helps. Would you know how long would be the average time for spousal sponsorship in all this pandemic. On IRCC's website it says 12 months but when you call them, it also says that it hasn't been updated. The waiting times i have heard has been quite tough, so just wanna take the quickest route possible. I mean who wants to stay away from loved ones when you just got married .

 

[Angads]

Does matter , and don’t refer to provinces as “ states “, it’s incorrect
You’ve been in the country two plus years

sure thing

 

[Angads]

Does matter , and don’t refer to provinces as “ states “, it’s incorrect
You’ve been in the country two plus years

You said " It does"... So you're implying that SK will be shorter route than ON?

 

[MidoRafa]

Hmmm Thanks for your insight It really helps. Would you know how long would be the average time for spousal sponsorship in all this pandemic. On IRCC's website it says 12 months but when you call them, it also says that it hasn't been updated. The waiting times i have heard has been quite tough, so just wanna take the quickest route possible. I mean who wants to stay away from loved ones when you just got married .

Pre-Covid average was around 11-12 months for a straight-forward Federal application, and maybe 14-16 for a Quebec one.
Due to Covid, however, there was an almost complete standstill from March till late August (approximately), which obviously added some 6 months to most people's wait time. Processing (in and outside Canada) seems to have resumed recently, so hopefully that should drive processing times down again.

Unfortunately, there isn't much one can do other than following the process and hoping for the best while being prepared for the delay. If your fiancee can qualify for a visitor visa (tricky but not impossible), then she can travel to Canada as a visitor meanwhile and avoid the separation. Best of luck.

 

[Angads]

Hmmm Thanks for your reply Mido. Yes, we applied for her visitor visa couple of months back and we are still awaiting response. We thought that if she gets a visitor visa, she can come here and then i can apply her spousal file with open work permit since she'll be in Canada. I know cannot apply for her open work permit if she's outland. One more thing, right now i am in quebec but i got a job offer in Toronto for April. So if i dont want to delay the file and apply from quebec, will that be ok? and if i move to toronto in April and if i do move and notify cic, will that delay my process further???

 

[MidoRafa]

Hmmm Thanks for your reply Mido. Yes, we applied for her visitor visa couple of months back and we are still awaiting response. We thought that if she gets a visitor visa, she can come here and then i can apply her spousal file with open work permit since she'll be in Canada. I know cannot apply for her open work permit if she's outland. One more thing, right now i am in quebec but i got a job offer in Toronto for April. So if i dont want to delay the file and apply from quebec, will that be ok? and if i move to toronto in April and if i do move and notify cic, will that delay my process further???

I am not sure what you mean by "apply from quebec". Apply via Quebec's sponsorship program now? Or apply through the non-Quebec stream while you're still living in QC?
They are two different processes (Quebec vs non-Quebec), each with its own set of requirements, document checklists, and processing steps.
a) Can you apply now through the non-QC stream instead of waiting until you actually move? I guess. As long as you fulfill the requirements (and have all the supporting documentation) to be a sponsor through that stream, and -I assume- as long as you can explain & demonstrate that you'll be moving out of the province "soon" so that it doesn't seem like you're trying to game the system. I don't have any personal experience or knowledge of how easy or difficult this is. Totally unrelated general tip though: avoid trying to game the system .
b) Can you apply through one stream and switch to the other later? Sure. If you have a reason and, again, the required documentation. I don't think you'd be saving any time by doing that, though.

I would just go through the instructions, checklists, and forms, and see whether/how you qualify as a sponsor and start building the application..

 

[Angads]

Hi Mido, thanks for your response. I completely understand what you're saying. It mite look like " gaming the system" but i am actually trying to explore all avenues and what will be the best possible route for me. I live in quebec at the moment but i have a job offer for February in Toronto, so thats why i asked this question. That if i was to apply for Quebec spousal sponsorship right now( since i dont want to wait till February), will it be ok to switch later on if i move to Toronto in February or if there are any problems that can arise. or should i wait until February and apply from ON itself. But then again i dont want to wait another 5 months to begin the process. I hope you understand my concern .