After landing...

[aliasaid]

Hi everyone,

I sponsored my wife last year, and she landed in Canada last week. We live together in Libya. We came together for only 3 days and went back to Libya because we're not ready to settle in Canada just yet. Everything went well... I just have a couple of issues..

The immigration officer told us that my wife would need to spend at least 2 years of the next 5 years in Canada to remain a PR... but she said that technically, since we're living together outside of Canada, that rule does not apply. She did not elaborate further... I'm not sure what the rule is for families that live together outside of Canada.. does anyone here know?

There was another issue with the customs. We were only coming for a couple of days so we weren't bringing anything. I had made a list of things to follow for when we will eventually settle in Canada. It's mainly just jewelry. I didn't bring pictures with me, so the customs officer told me to bring pictures. I said I was only in Canada for a couple of days and will not be able to bring pictures before I leave. He said since we're not settling yet, there is no need for a 'goods to follow' list, and that we just bring what we will be bringing with us for when we're coming to settle in Canada. Is this information true? I'm worried that my wife will come with her jewelry and have it seized and taxed! Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks a lot!

 

[carolbb23]

Hi everyone,

I sponsored my wife last year, and she landed in Canada last week. We live together in Libya. We came together for only 3 days and went back to Libya because we're not ready to settle in Canada just yet. Everything went well... I just have a couple of issues..

The immigration officer told us that my wife would need to spend at least 2 years of the next 5 years in Canada to remain a PR... but she said that technically, since we're living together outside of Canada, that rule does not apply. She did not elaborate further... I'm not sure what the rule is for families that live together outside of Canada.. does anyone here know?

There was another issue with the customs. We were only coming for a couple of days so we weren't bringing anything. I had made a list of things to follow for when we will eventually settle in Canada. It's mainly just jewelry. I didn't bring pictures with me, so the customs officer told me to bring pictures. I said I was only in Canada for a couple of days and will not be able to bring pictures before I leave. He said since we're not settling yet, there is no need for a 'goods to follow' list, and that we just bring what we will be bringing with us for when we're coming to settle in Canada. Is this information true? I'm worried that my wife will come with her jewelry and have it seized and taxed! Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks a lot!

It's true about the seized and tax part cbsa do not play there and I could be wrong your wife has to be physically in canada to retain her PR status

 

[steve_r]

Hi everyone,

I sponsored my wife last year, and she landed in Canada last week. We live together in Libya. We came together for only 3 days and went back to Libya because we're not ready to settle in Canada just yet. Everything went well... I just have a couple of issues..

The immigration officer told us that my wife would need to spend at least 2 years of the next 5 years in Canada to remain a PR... but she said that technically, since we're living together outside of Canada, that rule does not apply. She did not elaborate further... I'm not sure what the rule is for families that live together outside of Canada.. does anyone here know?

There was another issue with the customs. We were only coming for a couple of days so we weren't bringing anything. I had made a list of things to follow for when we will eventually settle in Canada. It's mainly just jewelry. I didn't bring pictures with me, so the customs officer told me to bring pictures. I said I was only in Canada for a couple of days and will not be able to bring pictures before I leave. He said since we're not settling yet, there is no need for a 'goods to follow' list, and that we just bring what we will be bringing with us for when we're coming to settle in Canada. Is this information true? I'm worried that my wife will come with her jewelry and have it seized and taxed! Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks a lot!

Are you a Canadian citizen? If so, then the immigration officer was right. While the PR rules require your wife to be present in Canada for two years out of five, time spent married to a Canadian citizen counts as time physically present in Canada. However, if you're a permanent resident yourself, then your wife will need to meet the physical presence requirement by actually spending time in Canada or else she will lose her PR status. (I've researched this extensively as we've just started the process for my Canadian citizen wife to sponsor me; like you, we're currently living in the Middle East and likely won't return to Canada immediately after the application is (hopefully) granted.)

 

[steve_r]

Are you a Canadian citizen? If so, then the immigration officer was right. While the PR rules require your wife to be present in Canada for two years out of five, time spent married to a Canadian citizen counts as time physically present in Canada. However, if you're a permanent resident yourself, then your wife will need to meet the physical presence requirement by actually spending time in Canada or else she will lose her PR status. (I've researched this extensively as we've just started the process for my Canadian citizen wife to sponsor me; like you, we're currently living in the Middle East and likely won't return to Canada immediately after the application is (hopefully) granted.)

Actually, after rereading your post I guess you must be a Canadian citizen since I don't think permanent residents can sponsor their spouses from outside Canada. So in that case, your wife is fine.