Advice Needed - Planning a honeymoon while OUTLAND application is processing

[tom_from_sk]

Good Evening Everyone,

I received some great advice last week on the OUTLAND process (once my fiance and I are married). I have been reading the posts this week and am grateful for the information available on here.

I am the groom and looking to do some honeymoon planning (outside of Canada) while we are waiting for the application process to go through.

We are planning to get married in July (in the US) and then have her come with me back to Canada immediately (as a visitor) and apply with the Outland process as soon as it is practical back in Canada (hopefully 1-2 weeks after we are married). She is a US citizen and I am a Canadian citizen.

That being said, I would like to plan a honeymoon to either Europe (for the fall) or Asia/South Pacific (for the winter/new years).

From what I read, the OUTLAND application should be fairly straightforward as a US citizen with a clean record/health and will hopefully go through Ottawa.

What kinds of issues would we need to be concerned about with booking an international honeymoon while the process is going on?
If we are away and they ask for an interview... will they be able to reschedule with a good reason? If her application is completed while we are overseas, do we need to come back immediately? We will have email access while away, but maybe not great phone access.

We are thinking of being away for 2-4 weeks total, depending on the destination. Please let me know what kinds of things I should consider while trying to book this trip, which will take considerable research and money. I don't want to be overseas and have to cut the trip short. I am hoping this won't be a big deal with the OUTLAND process.

Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[MizAngel]

I don't know about the interview thing, but when her application is completed, you will not have to return immediately, unless the expiry date on her CoPR is too soon. Generally from what I've seen on the forums, the CoPR expiry date is around the same time as the medical would expire (my husband had until a couple weeks after his medical would have expired), so as long as that is far enough in advance you should be fine. For example, my husband had his medicals in February, and when he got his CoPR in August, I think the expiry date was March sometime so he had plenty of time to land. Your fiancee's CoPR will be mailed to whichever address you put as hers and you can pick it up and use it to land at any time up until it expires. It's hard to know what the processing times will be next year.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

What kinds of issues would we need to be concerned about with booking an international honeymoon while the process is going on?
If we are away and they ask for an interview... will they be able to reschedule with a good reason? If her application is completed while we are overseas, do we need to come back immediately? We will have email access while away, but maybe not great phone access.

Hi

There aren't any issues with planning your honeymoon during the sponsorship process. Unless you have some major red flags in your file, there is pretty much no chance of an interview. The COPR will be valid for around one year after the medical is done. Try to do the medical as close as possible to the actual submission date so you can ensure that she has plenty of time to land.

 

[tom_from_sk]

Thank you for the advice. I did not know the CoPR was tied to the medical exam. That is great to know.

Any other people advice out there? Did anyone have a similar situation?

 

[Kayaker]

I think you should have no problem - if you get the medical in June or July, she should have until that time next year to land.

I wouldn't worry about an interview, though they do not reschedule interviews for any reason, apparently. I just think it's really unlikely that they will ask for an interview.


My one (small) concern would be, if they asked you for additional documents or something, but you were away and didn't check your email or mail (they Might send something by mail? I don't know) and/or you couldn't comply within the time they give you because you were gone.

But I think that's preventable if you make sure that all the forms you fill out are up to date, no signatures or info missing, correct documents included, good relationship proof submitted, etc. Also, if you get a request for additional documents and you think or know that you won't be able to meet the deadline, if you contact them immediately and explain the situation and tell them you'll do it as soon as possible, they will wait for you. For example, a lot of people have been asked for FBI police certificates within 30 days or so, but the FBI takes 12 weeks now. So the best thing to do is to send them proof that you've applied, such as a copy of the application form, proof of payment, etc. Or my VO asked me for a Russian Police Certificate within 45 days, but the Russian Consulate says they take 60 days. I sent my VO a screenshot of the consular website saying it takes 60 days, along with proof that I applied and paid the fees. We asked for confirmation that the deadline would be waived, but heard nothing back. But when I ordered my case notes (GCMS notes) I saw that they duly noted in their system that my certificate would be late. Eventually I sent in my certificate a month late, but I got COPR soon after that. The only cases I've heard of where the VO closed (rejected) a case because of this was when the applicant did not send any communication at all.

 

[keesio]

I don't see much of an issue here. US citizens (with no big red flags) almost never get an interview. Other than an AOR letter very early that my application was received, all other correspondence was done via e-mail until the actual COPR came in the mail. So just keep checking your e-mail. As kayaker said, just send in as complete an application as possible with RPRF paid in front. Given current Ottawa timelines and your plans of vacation, it is quite possible you will get COPR in the mail while you are away. But as canuck_in_uk mentioned, as long as you land before expiry of COPR, you are fine (though you may want someone checking your mailbox while you are gone).