Applying from within Canada as overseas status

[majordoxa]

My husband is British. He's coming over to Canada soon on a student visa and we're both going to start school in Sept. Can we apply for immigration under the family class sponsorship as an overseas applicant even though he'll be in Canada studying? I went to see a consultant and he said we could do that and it would expedite the process and my husband wouldn't even have to fly back to England. We'd like to get it done April/May 2017, partly to save on the cost of paying foreign student fees for this program. An additional question is whether forking out $3000 for an immigration consultant for our particular case is worth it. There are no guarantees we could get the PR within 8-10 months.

 

[ImABule]

My husband is British. He's coming over to Canada soon on a student visa and we're both going to start school in Sept. Can we apply for immigration under the family class sponsorship as an overseas applicant even though he'll be in Canada studying? I went to see a consultant and he said we could do that and it would expedite the process and my husband wouldn't even have to fly back to England. We'd like to get it done April/May 2017, partly to save on the cost of paying foreign student fees for this program. An additional question is whether forking out $3000 for an immigration consultant for our particular case is worth it. There are no guarantees we could get the PR within 8-10 months.

You do not need to hire anyone to apply, it can be done on your own and it is rather straight forward.


Yes, you can submit an outland application while he is in Canada.

 

[majordoxa]

Would he have to fly back to England at any point? He's going to be swamped with school work as we apply for his PR do he can't be flying back and forth. Would 8-10 months be a realistic timeline?

 

[canadianwoman]

He would only have to go back to England if the visa officer wants to interview him. An interview is unlikely. If you have a lot of proof that your relationship is genuine, and no obvious problems, then an interview is extremely unlikely for someone with a UK passport.
10 months is possible. The timeline will depend on the specifics of each case, of course.

 

[frege]

My husband is British. He's coming over to Canada soon on a student visa and we're both going to start school in Sept. Can we apply for immigration under the family class sponsorship as an overseas applicant even though he'll be in Canada studying? I went to see a consultant and he said we could do that and it would expedite the process and my husband wouldn't even have to fly back to England. We'd like to get it done April/May 2017, partly to save on the cost of paying foreign student fees for this program. An additional question is whether forking out $3000 for an immigration consultant for our particular case is worth it. There are no guarantees we could get the PR within 8-10 months.

Often you don't need full PR to be exempted from foreign student fees, depending on the regulations of the particular province and university. For example, if you apply inland then in Quebec you're eligible as soon as you have a CSQ (which is issued shortly after you get "approval in principle" (AIP) federally). I imagine that in most provinces the requirement is AIP, though you'll want to check this in your own province. You shouldn't necessarily trust the first answer you get from people you talk to on the phone, because most administrative staff in universities have no idea about things like AIP. You'll also need to find out how late in the term you can have your tuition category changed based on a change in status.

So in deciding whether to apply inland or outland, you'll most likely want to carefully compare typical complete processing times at the London office vs. how long it takes to get AIP inland. You can get this information in the threads for the London visa office and for in-Canada applicants.

 

[majordoxa]

I was living in Vietnam when I met my husband. I don't have a criminal record or any papers, other than my visa and entry stamps on my passport, and my work contract and payslips for the time I was there. Would I have to fly back to Vietnam to obtain a criminal record check? It would be nearly impossible as I left in Sept. 2014 and getting anything done in through authorities in Vietnam takes a long time.

I'm just wondering how particular is CIC about a paper trail for all of my residency.

 

[MilesAway]

I was living in Vietnam when I met my husband. I don't have a criminal record or any papers, other than my visa and entry stamps on my passport, and my work contract and payslips for the time I was there. Would I have to fly back to Vietnam to obtain a criminal record check? It would be nearly impossible as I left in Sept. 2014 and getting anything done in through authorities in Vietnam takes a long time.

I'm just wondering how particular is CIC about a paper trail for all of my residency.

If you are the sponsor (Canadian citizen or PR), then you do not need to obtain any criminal record checks. If your husband lived there for 6 months or more, then he will need one.

 

[majordoxa]

Hi there,
Thank you very much for your help. It's comforting to know we may be able to tackle this without forking out a huge chunk of money.