American looking to marry Canadian

[taydees]

Hi, I have a couple of questions I'm hoping someone can help me with. I live in Detroit, MI and my gf lives in Windsor, ON. I've been traveling back and forth a couple times a week for over two years now and we're looking to get married. We're planning on doing it at city hall in Windsor. My question is, is there anything out of the ordinary that I would need to bring in order to get married in Windsor? Or can I just show up with my passport and birth certificate? Also, after getting married, we're planning on submitting an application for spousal sponsorship. I've read you shouldn't leave the country during this period and also that's it ok to leave during this period. With my job being only 3 miles away in Detroit, would they make exceptions on a case by case basis? Also, would it be beneficial to apply from within Canada or in the States? Thanks for your time.

 

[BeShoo]

Ontario marriage requirements are here: http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/GetAttachDocs/007-11031E~3/$File/11031E.pdf Assuming you've never been married before, proof of age seems to be the only formal requirement. You should check with Windsor city hall to see if you need to make an appointment for the actual ceremony. I know that when my friends married at Ottawa city hall, they were fairly booked up and it was necessary to make an appointment to book one of the few free time slots during the couple of weeks they wanted the ceremony to be performed.

If you want to apply in-Canada, you are supposed to remain in the country until your case is finished, except for short trips. If, for some reason, you were denied entry back into Canada after such a trip, your entire application could be cancelled. I don't think that's likely in your case, but it could be a risk.

It's likely to be faster to have your case processed through the office in the U.S. in Buffalo, NY (probably about 6 months vs. a year). Also, if they need you for an interview it would be in the U.S. (likely Detroit, unless Detroit is too busy). For an inland application, any possible interview would be in Canada, so not being able to re-enter Canada would be fatal to your application in that case. This is really more of a concern for people from countries who need a visitor's visa to visit Canada. Since the U.S. is visa-exempt and you haven't got far to go, that is less of a concern to you.

 

[taydees]

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Amir Shuval]

It's likely to be faster to have your case processed through the office in the U.S. in Buffalo, NY (probably about 6 months vs. a year). Also, if they need you for an interview it would be in the U.S. (likely Detroit, unless Detroit is too busy). For an inland application, any possible interview would be in Canada, so not being able to re-enter Canada would be fatal to your application in that case. This is really more of a concern for people from countries who need a visitor's visa to visit Canada. Since the U.S. is visa-exempt and you haven't got far to go, that is less of a concern to you.

If you apply in-land you are expected to maintain your Temp resident status throughout the process. It has nothing to do with being TRV exempt or not.


Amir Shuval CCIC
Member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants

 

[BeShoo]

If you apply in-land you are expected to maintain your Temp resident status throughout the process. It has nothing to do with being TRV exempt or not.

Certainly, you must maintain your temp resident status. My point was that the process for visa-exempt individuals entering Canada is generally less formal than the process for those who need visas. If you are visa-exempt, you can usually enter Canada without making a written request for permission, so it may be easier to cross back and forth between the U.S. and Canada. Regardless, you of course can't remain in Canada later than you have specific permission for. The issue here was more a situation of routinely crossing back and forth across the border.

 

[Amir Shuval]

Certainly, you must maintain your temp resident status. My point was that the process for visa-exempt individuals entering Canada is generally less formal than the process for those who need visas. If you are visa-exempt, you can usually enter Canada without making a written request for permission, so it may be easier to cross back and forth between the U.S. and Canada. Regardless, you of course can't remain in Canada later than you have specific permission for. The issue here was more a situation of routinely crossing back and forth across the border.

If you apply in-land the entire discussion is irrelevant because you ain't leaving till you have the PR status.

They can close your file if you show up at a port-of-entry and I know of people it happened to them.

If you need to leave and go back and forth simply apply through the overseas process.

 

[taydees]

Thanks for the help. Isn't 6 months the maximum amount of time I can spend over there without PR status? If that's true, then how do I remain in the country if my application takes longer than that?

 

[AllisonVSC]

To remain in Canada legally after the 6 months, you will need to file for an extension of your temporary resident status. The application costs $75 and takes about 100 days or so to process. While the application for a TRV is in process you will have what is called implied status and can remain legally. If the TRV is granted you will be given a new departure date and if you still don't have your PR by then you can apply for another extension. If the request to extend the TRV is denied they will give you a leave by date.

If you plan to stay in Canada while your PR is in process and at the same time work in Detroit, you may have problems at the border since a TRV is not intended for multiple entries. Maybe another forum member can advise you about multiple entry visas (if such a beast exists).

 

[taydees]

I think I'm going to apply outside the country. I need to be able to cross back and forth for work. So my fiance and I just need to go to the immigration office in Detroit and submit the applications? What's the fee for the applications?

 

[AllisonVSC]

The application for PR is a bit more involved than just going to the Detroit office. It will take you several weeks, probably, to fill the application, gather the necessary documents, get the medical exam and get the police clearances. The total fees for applying are $1040 plus the cost of the medical exam and clearances. Everything you will need to know can be found at the link below.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

 

[BeShoo]

To remain in Canada legally after the 6 months, you will need to file for an extension of your temporary resident status. The application costs $75 and takes about 100 days or so to process. While the application for a TRV is in process you will have what is called implied status and can remain legally....

The current processing time is about 60 days. We are probably not talking about a TRV here since the applicant seems to be a U.S. citizen and would therefore be visa-exempt. We are just talking about extension of visitor status.

[quote author=AllisonVSC]If you plan to stay in Canada while your PR is in process and at the same time work in Detroit, you may have problems at the border since a TRV is not intended for multiple entries. Maybe another forum member can advise you about multiple entry visas (if such a beast exists). [/quote]

There is such a thing as a multiple entry visa, but this is not what he is looking for if he is a U.S. citizen. There may indeed be problems at the border. We are really talking about dozens of short visits rather than a long visit or more than 6 months. However, some people have reported having no problem once they have a visitor record. I think that a visitor record, together with proof of a PR application in process will generally get your through, though you may have to go through secondary questioning often to justify the reason for each trip and to show proof that you will be returning to Detroit. A letter of employment might be handy. If worse comes to worst, you might not be able to visit Canada much until the application is all done. It's probably more important that you can continue working in Detroit. If you don't already have one, look into whether you are eligible for a Nexus card.

 

[BeShoo]

So my fiance and I just need to go to the immigration office in Detroit and submit the applications? What's the fee for the applications?

The fee is $75 for the sponsorship and $475 for the application. Both of these must be paid up front. Once you are approved there is a $490 Right of Permanent Residence Fee which must be paid before the PR visa can be issued. You can pay it with the application or wait until later. Waiting until later may cause a delay of a month or two.

You can expect to pay about $250 to $350 for a medical exam, some blood tests and a chest x-ray and their associated paperwork. That will be paid to the doctor and lab(s), not to the government.

Don't go to the office in Detroit for this. The application gets sent to Mississauga, Ontario, who processes the sponsorship part. Once this is approved, they will forward the application to Buffalo. If Buffalo's case load is too heavy, they may transfer the file to one of the other consulates in the U.S. If an interview is required it will probably be in Detroit if that's what you prefer. It doesn't appear that interviews are done in Buffalo.

As Allison said, it will take you some time to prepare the application. Aside from about 30 pages of forms to fill out, they also want to see evidence that your relationship is genuine and developed over a period of time, so that they are assured that yours is not just a "marriage of convenience" entered into for immigration purposes. They'll want photographs, phone records, records of emails, receipts, etc., showing the times you were together and the times you communicated before the marriage. They'd also like to see wedding invitations, receipts for a reception, photographs of the ceremony, evidence of a honeymoon, etc., whichever of these applies. It's going to take a bit of time and effort to get all this stuff together.