daisy0310 said:
Hi, I am a British citizen living in the UK and am planning to marry my Canadian fiance in July of next year. My fiance is a Canadian citizen living and working in Canada and I plan to join him in Canada after the wedding.
I have been advised the only way for me to apply for permanent residency is for him to sponsor me from Canada once we are married and the application usually takes 5-6 months. However this would mean me going into Canada with no application in process. Could anyone advise me if this is the best option? Also would I be able to work whilst the application is being processed and would I be able to leave Canada to return to the UK if I needed to for any reason?
Thanks
Hi Daisy
Firstly, do read the guides for inland and outland here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/menu-immigrate.asp
We did the common law route outland via London - see my timeline, its pretty quick.
If you apply outland and "move" to Canada, leaving and re-entering
may be problematic.
Theoretically you should be ok as you can stay for up to six months at a time (no work or study or healthcare so get travel ins from UK if you choose this route) but that is general not an absolute, i.e. the immigration officer may refuse to allow you entry etc.
If you do this, ideally you will need to show that you do not intend to remain in Canada illegally. Have at least a return ticket, and if possible some evidence of "ties" to the UK - mortgage, lease, etc. Be honest with the border officer but do not give up your life story...
The chances are, if you have no skeletons in your closet, prepare a good informative and concise application, provide the evidence they require, and are a UK citizen who has not lived outside of the UK for more than 6 months since you were 18, you're application should be quite speedy and perhaps within the six months. London's average is 2-8 months.
I do not know about inland although I am led to believe it is slightly longer, and you may have issues re-entering if you needed to leave for any reason.
Good luck. The best you can do is study the cic.gc.ca website until you know it backwards and forwards. The guides can be difficult, but persevere and everything will fall into place.
PS. Reference the medical, depending on where you are and how much you want to pay, there is a DMP off Harley Street in London who normally have appointment availability within a a couple of weeks. Cost approx £250-300 but they courier the results to the HC within 3 working days.
