British Husband Spousal Visa

[sheris13]

Hi all,

I am a Canadian citizen currently living with my British husband in the UK (I'm here on a British spousal visa). We would like to move back home to Canada and want to begin the process as we've heard it can take ages.

I am assuming that I will be doing the entire application outland. Can we stay in the UK until he get's his PR/work permit? When he does receive his clearance to come to Canada - is there a time limit in which we must enter the country or the visa goes void?

We definitely want to return to Canada within the next year and half ... but we have to think about how to settle life here (i.e. sell home, find new jobs etc).

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[wowsers]

Hi all,

I am a Canadian citizen currently living with my British husband in the UK (I'm here on a British spousal visa). We would like to move back home to Canada and want to begin the process as we've heard it can take ages.
I am assuming that I will be doing the entire application outland. Can we stay in the UK until he get's his PR/work permit? When he does receive his clearance to come to Canada - is there a time limit in which we must enter the country or the visa goes void?
We definitely want to return to Canada within the next year and half ... but we have to think about how to settle life here (i.e. sell home, find new jobs etc).

Any advice would be appreciated.

The process does not take ages: have a look at the London spreadsheet, which you will find referred to in many of the posts on this forum. It is some while since I looked at it but it shows that the time frames published by CIC are unrealistic.Depending on the complexity of your case, the time frame is likely to be much less than a year and could be as short as 6 months. Your application will indeed be outland and in it you will need to prove an intention to move back to Canada. Whether you, a Canadian citizen, can stay in the UK until your husband gets his Canadian residency depends on UK law and since I know nothing of your circumstances I cannot advise you concerning that. When a decision is made by the Visa Office in London concerning your husband's application, he will receive a document called, in this forum, a COPR (confirmation of permanent residency) which will require him to 'land' in Canada within a time limit (usually quite short) which will be specified in the COPR. I was given about 20 days to comply; but it varies. Once he has 'landed' he can return to the UK to sell the home - CIC specifically advises applicants not to sell up until the immigration process is concluded. His time in the UK will count towards his Canadian residency requirement of 2 out of every 5 years provided you are here in the UK with him. Your post suggests to me that you need to do a lot of reading: There is a lot to get through and the application process is a bit daunting to begin with but most members of this forum eventually get to grips with it without too much difficulty.

 

[andrew-brit]

Hi all,

I am a Canadian citizen currently living with my British husband in the UK (I'm here on a British spousal visa). We would like to move back home to Canada and want to begin the process as we've heard it can take ages.

I am assuming that I will be doing the entire application outland. Can we stay in the UK until he get's his PR/work permit? When he does receive his clearance to come to Canada - is there a time limit in which we must enter the country or the visa goes void?

We definitely want to return to Canada within the next year and half ... but we have to think about how to settle life here (i.e. sell home, find new jobs etc).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello sheris13,

Yes you both can stay in the UK until the visa is issued. However in your application you should include proof that you intend to move to Canada once you have your visa. Proof can include lease agreements/mortgage papers for property in Canada, any interviews you have lined up with Canadian companies, if you have children then correspondence with schools for your children, etc. If you (the sponsor) lived in Canada you would not require this proof but as you are in the UK they want to know you will move when the visa is issued.

His visa will have an expiry date on it. It will normally be a year from his medical date. So lets say you apply on November 15th 2015, and he did his medical on November 10th 2015, assuming the application is processed in a timely fashion he would have until November 10th 2016 to land. If the visa is issued very close to, or past November 10th the visa office will extend the medical by a year, or ask him to do another one. This is the only time limit you need to worry about.

In your application make it clear you will move once you have the visa. There was a case recently where the Canadian sponsor was studying in the USA doing a Masters and CIC discovered that they would not move back to Canada as there was 2 years left on the Masters and even though the visa was issued, the applicant was refused landing at the border.

Myself and another member SchnookoLoly maintain a spreadsheet which tracks processing times for the London office, link is in my signature. Currently you are looking at about a year from start to finish.

If you have other questions just ask! Good luck.

 

[sheris13]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems the Canadian sponsorship process is more confusing than the UK one - will try and wade through the information!

 

[taffy7]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems the Canadian sponsorship process is more confusing than the UK one - will try and wade through the information!

Please join us on the London outland thread .We can help guide you through the application .