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Best Options for PR Application? (US Spouse/Student)

noreaster

Newbie
Sep 19, 2015
2
0
Hello

My wife and I are preparing to start the immigration process and I’m hoping to tap into some of the experience and knowledge on these boards before going ahead. Here is our background:

-I am a Canadian Citizen and will sponsor my wife
-My wife is an American Citizen, who is also an International Student here in Canada
-We met while I was working in USA in Nov ’13
-She arrived in Canada under a 2 Year Study Permit in Aug ’14
-I remained abroad while she studied in Canada until I joined her in Dec ’14
-She is continuing her studies while I work in Canada until present
-We married Aug ’15 in Canada
-She graduates in Jan ’16 (3 semesters total in Canada)


We initially were considering an inland application, so she could have an open work permit at some point during the process (after the AIP if I understand correctly).

However, we read about the possible issues with travelling out of country (if she is denied entry for whatever reason, the application will be deemed abandoned). We plan visit her family in USA at some point during the application process, plus there is the possibility I will have some temporary work in the USA (1 year or so) after she graduates (after which we would return to Canada).

So, we then considered applying outland, which solved the travelling issue but also had its own set of drawbacks. The wait times listed online were very long for the visa offices in LA and NY (27 and 39 months, respectively), which means she would not be able to work for 2 or 3 years in Canada.

It was looking pretty grim but I think I may have found the ideal solution:

As it turns out, there appears to be an “Outland” processing centre in Ottawa (CPC-O) who can process outland applications for applicants who have been inside Canada for at least one year. The current processing time is only 17 months, much faster than LA or NY, and also faster than the current 26 months for an inland application.

As for the inability to work in Canada, I believe we can apply for a Post-Graduate Work Permit, which should allow her to work for at least a year and a half while we wait for the outland application to be processed.

My main questions are:

Are we indeed eligible to apply Outland at CPC-O?

Will there be any conflicts or issues which may arise if we have both the Permanent Residency and Post Graduate Work Permit applications in the system at the same time?

Any other advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks,
Pat
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,553
7,205
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
noreaster said:
Are we indeed eligible to apply Outland at CPC-O?

Will there be any conflicts or issues which may arise if we have both the Permanent Residency and Post Graduate Work Permit applications in the system at the same time?
All US apps are processed in Ottawa anyways.

No, there is no issue with doing both apps at the same time.
 

BeShoo

Champion Member
Jan 16, 2010
1,212
36
Gatineau
Category........
Visa Office......
CPP-Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
29-01-2014
AOR Received.
28-02-2014
File Transfer...
03-03-2014
Med's Request
19-06-2014
Med's Done....
07-08-2014
Interview........
None
VISA ISSUED...
02-04-2015
LANDED..........
13-04-2015
99% of American citizen outland applications are processed at CPC-O. You don't get to choose. It's only very unusual, problematic cases that are sent to LA or NY and that's why those ones take so long. When they tell you 17 months (or whatever time), that's kind of an outside limit within which 80% of cases are finished. 50% of cases are finished in maybe half that time, and unusually easy cases may be finished in as short as 4-6 months. There are a lot of variables, but they tell you 17 months to try to prevent you from constantly harassing them about why it's taking so long. If it gets up to 17 months are you're still not done, you need to ask what is going wrong.

Definitely go with an outland application. The AIP for an inland application always takes a long time and there is not the kind of variability that comes with the complete approval of an outland application.

There should be no problem applying for two things at once, and should she not get a Post-Graduate Work Permit, she should have no problem getting a visitor permit (but then she couldn't work for a while).

If you are working outside Canada at any point, you may have to be concerned with proving that you will return to Canada immediately when the PR is approved or at least when she "lands."