Family Reunification Visitor Visa for Immediate Family

[JCGreen]

Hi,

I want my wife and step children to come and live with me in Canada and I have a question about the process. As far as I understand she need to apply for a visitor visa and it should fall automatically into family reunification as I'm Canadian and we are legally married. How long does she need the visa to be?

I'm a bit confused about how the family reunification terminology is used. Does it mean a family member wanting to visit for a certain amount of time and with a visa 6 months or less or does it mean a family member who intend to actually immigrate here indefinitely and require a visa longer than 6 months?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Ojmai]

My son and I are also waiting to reunite with my spouse in Canada. We've applied for visitor's visa in July 2021. I gave my biometrics in August 2021. How long is it taking for others to get their visitor's visa after giving biometrics?

 

[Naturgrl]

Hi,

I want my wife and step children to come and live with me in Canada and I have a question about the process. As far as I understand she need to apply for a visitor visa and it should fall automatically into family reunification as I'm Canadian and we are legally married. How long does she need the visa to be?

I'm a bit confused about how the family reunification terminology is used. Does it mean a family member wanting to visit for a certain amount of time and with a visa 6 months or less or does it mean a family member who intend to actually immigrate here indefinitely and require a visa longer than 6 months?

Thanks a lot!

If you are Canadian then you should be sponsoring your wife and children, not applying for visitor visas. You say you want them to live with you and visitor visas are for temporary, short-term visits up to 6 months.

 

[canuck78]

My son and I are also waiting to reunite with my spouse in Canada. We've applied for visitor's visa in July 2021. I gave my biometrics in August 2021. How long is it taking for others to get their visitor's visa after giving biometrics?

Is your sponsorship application in process? Is your spouse a PR or Canadian? TRVs are not guaranteed for spouses of Citizens or PRs. It can actually be quite difficult. You may want to reapply for your TRV.

 

[canuck78]

Hi,

I want my wife and step children to come and live with me in Canada and I have a question about the process. As far as I understand she need to apply for a visitor visa and it should fall automatically into family reunification as I'm Canadian and we are legally married. How long does she need the visa to be?

I'm a bit confused about how the family reunification terminology is used. Does it mean a family member wanting to visit for a certain amount of time and with a visa 6 months or less or does it mean a family member who intend to actually immigrate here indefinitely and require a visa longer than 6 months?

Thanks a lot!

They can’t come and live with you. They can visit but children would not qualify to attend school. They will also need permission of the father to travel. Is your wife and her children from a visa-exempt country? Have you started the sponsorship process?

 

[JCGreen]

They can’t come and live with you. They can visit but children would not qualify to attend school. They will also need permission of the father to travel. Is your wife and her children from a visa-exempt country? Have you started the sponsorship process?

Thanks for the reply. They are not from a visa exempt country. We haven't started the sponsorship as it sats it will take a whole year which is completely absurd. I want them to come here instead on a visitor visa and apply for sponsoring from inside Canada. The fastest way to bring them here is to apply for a visitor visa I believe and seek sponsoring once here.

We haven't stated any application yet.

I need to easiest fastest way for th to come here.

Thanks

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for the reply. They are not from a visa exempt country. We haven't started the sponsorship as it sats it will take a whole year which is completely absurd. I want them to come here instead on a visitor visa and apply for sponsoring from inside Canada. The fastest way to bring them here is to apply for a visitor visa I believe and seek sponsoring once here.

We haven't stated any application yet.

I need to easiest fastest way for th to come here.

Thanks

The children won’t qualify for school as a visitor which is a major stumbling block. They also won’t qualify for healthcare. Your wife also may not qualify for healthcare depending on the province. They can certainly try to get TRVs but it is often difficult for spouses of citizens to get approved.

 

[Naturgrl]

Thanks for the reply. They are not from a visa exempt country. We haven't started the sponsorship as it sats it will take a whole year which is completely absurd. I want them to come here instead on a visitor visa and apply for sponsoring from inside Canada. The fastest way to bring them here is to apply for a visitor visa I believe and seek sponsoring once here.

We haven't stated any application yet.

I need to easiest fastest way for th to come here.

Thanks

Actually the chances of approved visitor visas are low because your spouse is married to a Canadian. VOs expect you to apply for spousal sponsorship. Since you are going the visitor visa instead, they need to show that they are only coming to visit (visit for a few weeks), strong ties to home country, good travel history and funds. Assume your spouse has full custody of the children or you do so they can leave the country. As noted, the children can't go to school or access health care until they are PR. If you want them to go to school, they will need approved study permits. So look at private schools.

 

[JCGreen]

Interesting how this all work against us, against actual family reunification. Thanks for your help.

 

[Naturgrl]

Interesting how this all work against us, against actual family reunification. Thanks for your help.

They are for family reunification through sponsorship so your family will have PR and access to all health, education and social services. As visitors they will not and then they still need to wait a year for PR to be processed.

 

[JCGreen]

I've been put off for years at the sponsoring 1 year time frame so i've never done it.

 

[Naturgrl]

I've been put off for years at the sponsoring 1 year time frame so i've never done it.

Are you living in Canada? Putting it off means it will never be done.

 

[JCGreen]

Are you living in Canada? Putting it off means it will never be done.

I'm in Canada yes, sponsoring is too overwhelming.

 

[hodari]

I'm in Canada yes, sponsoring is too overwhelming.

If you don't mind paying, you could always get an immigration lawyer/consultant to help you with the process.

 

[JCGreen]

I was going to do that two years ago, I went to see sn immigration lawyer but she overwhelmed me even more.