Birth certificates and police certificates

[inshadesofgrey]

Hi there,

Thank you for taking the time to read my situation.

I am an MBA student on a student visa in Canada since Jan 2008 valid till Sept 2009. I met my wife in the maritimes in January, fell in love, went on a holiday to India and came back and got married in august end 2008. She suggests that I apply for my PR but now, I am VERY confused about the whole PR thing!! As I dont have money for a lawyer (no surprises there, being a student), I am hoping to get some guidance here. My questions:

1) The spouse sponsorship/PR process from IN-canada takes a long long time, I am told. So am I applicable to apply from Buffalo, which is faster I believe?

2) How do I apply to the buffalo office? I have the forms (from the CIC website), so is it just a matter of filling them, paying the fees and sending all the forms (including medical forms etc) to Buffalo? Or Should I be sending them to vegreville or missisaggua?

3) Do I need any FBI fingerprints or anything? I have never lived in the US (but have a visitors visa till sept '09)

4) how much time would it take from Buffalo?

5) any tips for me?

I would greatly appreciate your help. Both my wife and I pretty confused with this but we learn fast. So your help will be much appreciated

 

[Leon]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

1. For spousal sponsorship, you have the option of having your file processed in your homeland or in Canada. You do not get the choice of Buffalo unless you are living in the US or a citizen of the US.

2. For processing in Canada, you send it to Vegreville. For your homeland, you send it to Mississauga.

3. You need police records from countries where you have lived for 6 months or longer since the age of 18. If you have never lived in the US, you don't need a police report from the US.

4. Within Canada, it takes around 6 months for first stage approvoal, then 1-2 years to get PR. From your homeland, it takes first around 7 weeks in Mississauga, then it gets sent to your homeland and takes time according to what you see here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp

5. Go to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp and read about it there. Read the application guides too.

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

thank you so much for the reply.

I am an Indian citizen. So my file will be sent to India? that means in case of a interview or something, I have to go to India for the same?

I thought Buffalo took applications from citizens of other countries (who haven't lived in the US).

I ask because if buffalo doesn't work out - both the processes will be too long or too impractical (from india, i.e. having to fly there if something else is needed)

 

[Leon]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Buffalo processes skilled worker applications for people who are living in Canada but you are not applying as a skilled worker. Like I said before, you have the option of getting your file processed in Canada if you want. Only it means that your PR will take longer and you are actually not advised to leave Canada while the application is in process. If you apply through India, your application will be faster but you do risk that they might call you for interview and you would have to go to India to have it.

Your other options would include seeing if you can get a post grad work permit after you finish your studies or otherwise a regular temporary work permit and then you can apply for PR under a provincial nominee program. If you did this, at least in AB, it can still take you from 6-15 months to get your PR, other provinces might have different processing times so even then, it might be faster for you to apply for spousal sponsorship within Canada right now. Why do you think it takes too long? You have something pressing that you need to do instead? You are not interested in living in Canada in the future or what?

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Thanks Leon, for your email.

Great help!

The reason I said that I am concerned about the timeline is that my student visa expires in August end 2009 and I am wondering if there's any chance the PR will be done before that.

We are definitely looking to stay in Canada. She doesnt want to leave Ontario. The only thing is that we wanted to get it done from the shortest route possible. As, my wife and I are planning to have a kid and buy a house so we would need to apply for a loan etc in my name (her credit history is quite bad!) and I need to be the PR to get the loan etc.

1) Also, she has a bad credit history (Didn't pay back her student loans, credit card etc a long time ago), and she hasn't done her taxes in a while (though she is thinking of filing her taxes now). would this affect the sponsorship application?

2) I have a pretty good background. 3 years diploma holder from Europe + 6-7 years of work experience with Marriott, Hilton Hotels and now am in an Executive MBA program in the same field. I WILL make a good clear application package. In how much time do you think the IN-Canada process would conclude?

3) Plus, for the medicals, Do I have to have them done NOW and then send it along with the application process?

Thanks again Leon.......you have been a great help!

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

I forgot to mention a VERY important thing.......

Both of us went to India recently for 2 months. Within 15-20 days of our arrival, my mother just passed away. We were planning on getting married anyways and tell them but due to this situation, we couldn't. Both her family and mine is old fashioned and wouldn't approve of a wedding shortly after such a big tragedy. But we had made up our minds and did it anyways with 2 of our close friends. So our wedding pictures is just us and the 2 friends. Our families still dont know and we want to keep it this way for atleast 6 months till the mourning period has passed.

Question:
Would this affect my application?

 

[Leon]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

If you apply within Canada now, you should have first stage approval by in May or so. When your school is finished, you can apply for an open work permit for spouse and you would get it right away because you already have your first stage approval. You might not get the actual PR until a year or 18 months from now. Hard to say but better then than never. You can have a baby without owning a house. Many people do. Heaven and earth will not perish if you do.

For the sponsorship application, your wife should do her taxes to get a tax printout to include. They will not refuse her for income requirements but I believe they still ask for a tax printout.

Yes, immigration might be suspicious that you didn't have a big Indian wedding but make a cover letter to explain why and send your other data to prove your relationship and it should be ok.

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Thanks Leon!

You have no idea how much I appreciate your help!!

Perhaps the last question:
I don't have my birth certificate as it was lost a long time back, and trying to get another from the bureaucratic maze in India is next to impossible.

Do I have any alternatives? such as my school mark sheets, leaving certificates, old passport (I am on my 2nd passport now) so on and so forth?

 

[Leon]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Call CIC and ask if you absolutely need one. If you do, you will have to try harder to get a copy of it. If it's not that important, just use what you have and include a cover letter of why you can't get your BC.

 

[RPM]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Hi Inshadesofgrey,

I am from india and I lost my birth certificate too. When my husband called the CIC they said that its always better to have a birth certificate but it is not a 'must'. So I went to the Municipal office (in the town I was born) and explained why I need a birth certificate urgently. Of course they made me make many trips and finally when i bribed them Rs.15,000 they have given me the duplicate certificate with proper stamps and signatures. But i am assuming that your birth is registered. If not, there is a different procedure.

So, if you need another copy of your birth certificate, someone have to go personally. Else, as you said with the bureaucratic maze, you will never get it. But I was waiting for my birth certificate when I was also waiting for my police clearence to come through. Since you are in a hurry I am not sure if you can handle to get the certificate on time.

Try this below link too. They claim to be of lot of help. But they charge for their services.

http://yourmaninindia.com/cgi-bin/task_details.cgi?category=1

http://www.path2usa.com/immigration/relatedinfo/birth_certi.htm

Good luck

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Thank you so much guys - great help!!

I spoke to my father and my birth took place at a private hospital where the doctor had given a letter on the hospital's letterhead. But it wasn't registered with the local municipality (govt body). So - the issue is that my birth isn't registered but that letter has worked (in India ofcourse) all this while (to get my passport, loans in India, ration card etc etc).

The sad part is that my father is not in a position to do this running around (he hasn't been able to pick himself after my mom's death a few months ago). Being in the Executive MBA course, I just cant leave canada right now. So - I dont really know what to give CIC. Should I just give CIC that letter (from the hospital & the doctor mentioning my birth) and explanation of the situation? Will CIC understand that WHY we can't do the running around or will it work against me?

thanks again, you have no idea how much your advice helps.

 

[RPM]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Sorry to hear about your mom.

If the birth is not registered in a govt body(in India) I dont think the Municipal office would be able to give you duplicate copy (because they dont have your original records in the first place), unless of course you know the people working there and are willing to shell out a LOT of money.

If the letter head from the private hospital has worked in India to get a passport, maybe it will work here also. Your best bet is to call the CIC people and take advise.

In some blog post i have read that the notaried document from parents mentioning the birth date, place, time with full names of both your parents should also work. But dont rely on this. I think you should call CIC before you send your application. Better to be paraniod than be sorry.

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

thanks for the condolences.

I called CIC today and the rep told me that if I only have that letter, my best bet is to send a photocopy of that letter with a detailed explanation of the situation (2-3 pages) and the immigration authorities will consider it. I wanted to know whether they would just throw the application out just because it doesn't have the 'govt' birth certificate and he said no, but it all depends on how they understand my situation. So I guess I am gonna give it a shot. I tried my best to get the certificate of no availability but those guys made my family go round and round. Considering my father is in no position to do any running around, I am not gonna ask him.

Also, for anyone who is interested to know. The CIC rep told me (after putting me on hold for 20 mins) that ONLY people who have lived in the US/or any other country for more than 12 months qualify to apply through buffalo. So, I guess I am applying inland. I dont know how much time it will take but it will take what it will take.

 

[inshadesofgrey]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

Well, after much deliberation and thought, my wife and I contemplating using the outland application route. For two reasons:
1) It is much faster (2-6 months from India)
2) As the application will be processed in India (the immigration agents there may be better able to understand my situation as mentioned in the replies above i.e. mother's death=not a huge wedding for a year (its an indian thing).

My last few questions
1) if I get called for an interview, both my wife and I have to go to India right?
2) will I need to go to Indian again for getting my passport stamped? or can that be done from the Canadian border?

By the way, thank you so much guys for all your help/advice. I dont know what would I have done without it.

 

[Leon]

Re: utterly confused and no help in sighT!!

1) Just you have to go to India

2) You can mail or courier your passport to them to get the visa stamp and they can send it back to you. You may not have to go to the border to do you landing. You can check at the CIC office where you live if you can do it there.