American husband - advice needed

[canusa13]

Hi everyone! We are new to this forum and feel a bit overwhelmed. I need a bit of advice before I start digging deeper into old threads.

I'm a Canadian citizen, my husband is American. We've been married for over 2 years and have one child together. We got married in the US and lived there following our wedding. Our child was born in the US and I obtained green card.

The three of us moved to Ontario in September of this year. I applied for my child's proof of citizenship in August. I will apply for my husband's papers as soon as I receive my proof of citizenship (I'm a naturalized citizen and lost my citizenship certificate). My question is - should we apply for him inland or outland? We really don't want him to leave Canada after the 6 month visitor period expires, as we are worried that he will have issues at the border (and we don't want to be apart for the duration of the proceeding, especially that we have a small child). We would rather have him stay here and not work until he gets his work permit. We don't really have a place for him to stay in the US either. We're not really concerned about not being able to leave Canada (we're ok with not travelling for a while). Is that going to be a problem? Any advice?

I hope that some of you who are or were in the same boat can offer some insight.

TIA!

 

[andrew-brit]

Apply outland. From application received to decision made should be under a year, most likely 6-10 months.

As a US citizen his application will be processed in Ottawa.

You send the whole application to Mississauga and after stage 1 (sponsor approval) the application will be sent to Ottawa for stage 2 (applicant approval).

Towards the end of his 6 months visitor stay you can apply online for an extension. You should have applied for PR by then so in the application to extend his visitor record you can include proof of your PR application (such as the sponsor approval letter, copy of the fee receipt, etc).

You can ask for a year when you apply for the extension. They may give you less, such as 6 months which could be enough time for his PR to come through.

The benefit of Outland is he could return to the US if need be and not jeopardize his application.

 

[canusa13]

Thank you so much. That's very helpful. I didn't know that you can apply for an extension of the visitor's visa.

 

[andrew-brit]

Yes, you can do it online, it costs $100.

Being an american citizen he should not have any trouble getting the extension. I am British and have been extending my visa for over a year now. If you provide proof that your application has been received/in progress then they are very unlikely to deny the extension.

Here is a link to a thread specific for those applying through Ottawa.

Good luck!

 

[canusa13]

Thank you! I really appreciate it. I'll go read that thread now

 

[SuiGeneris]

Thank you for all the great info andrew-britt! Just a question. My husband and I plan to do exactly what you advised. He's American, I'm Canadian, CIC received our app on September 30. I'm with him right now in the USA, been here for 5 1/2 months and we're going to Canada together to "visit" this weekend. We want to be together for the entire process. But crossing the border, we've been considering fibbing and telling the officer that he's just staying for the holidays so as to not cause problems. Is this good or bad idea? I really don't want them to suspect that we have illegal intentions and limit his visiting time...

Should I just be blunt and honest with the border officers and tell them this, "We applied for spousal sponsorship on Sept 26. We plan on having my husband visit for about 6 months and applying for an extension later on, we should receive CoPR during that period. We just want and need to be together while it processes, we've been in a long distance relationship for 3 years and don't care to be apart anymore. We have good intentions, he will not partake in any illegal activity such as working, etc." And I'd bring proof like a photocopy of our application receipt?

 

[SuiGeneris]

I'll actually just make a thread and see the varied opinions lol.

 

[canusa13]

Thank you for all the great info andrew-britt! Just a question. My husband and I plan to do exactly what you advised. He's American, I'm Canadian, CIC received our app on September 30. I'm with him right now in the USA, been here for 5 1/2 months and we're going to Canada together to "visit" this weekend. We want to be together for the entire process. But crossing the border, we've been considering fibbing and telling the officer that he's just staying for the holidays so as to not cause problems. Is this good or bad idea? I really don't want them to suspect that we have illegal intentions and limit his visiting time...

Should I just be blunt and honest with the border officers and tell them this, "We applied for spousal sponsorship on Sept 26. We plan on having my husband visit for about 6 months and applying for an extension later on, we should receive CoPR during that period. We just want and need to be together while it processes, we've been in a long distance relationship for 3 years and don't care to be apart anymore. We have good intentions, he will not partake in any illegal activity such as working, etc." And I'd bring proof like a photocopy of our application receipt?

They didn't ask us any questions. They didn't even ask for how long are we planning to visit Canada.