Al.Abed said:
Salam Lara,
If you sponsor him outland, it'll take 6-8 months (assuming everything is good with nothing else needed and you can prove your relationship is genuine). once you start the sponsorship, i highly highly doubt he would get a visa to canada. however, NOW, if he was to apply for a visa, he'd prolly get it since you're canadian and he wants to visit you. - NO
I think its best if you sponsor him outland (while you stay with him in saudi) and just put a canadian address and mailing address for yourself. this would be the same as for example, u leave him in saudi, come to canada, start the app, send it, then go back to visit him and stay there till its done. - WHAT??? WHY???
I'm not an expert so Im not 100% on the info I gave you, maybe someone can correct me if im wrong.
good luck!
Ok, regarding the visitor's visa, it doesn't matter that he wants to visit you or not. Visiting your Canadian wife is NOT a reason CIC looks kindly upon when requesting a visitor's visa! A visitor's visa is to VISIT which means LEAVE after the visit is over. When applying for one of these an applicant must convince a Visa Officer that they will LEAVE at the end of their visit. Having a wife who lives in Canada is NOT going to help whether they've started the sponsorship or not. In fact, it will hinder the application because the VO will think the applicant will NOT leave at the end of the visit. What WILL help are showing ties to your home country like a job, letter from employer granting leave, significant assets like property, money, etc. Even then, with a Canadian spouse, it's a long shot from a non-visa exempt country.
Secondly, Lara you really need to read the guide about sponsorship. It is two parts. First is that you must be found eligible to sponsor. This is relatively easy assuming you meet the criteria which is Canadian citizen or PR (if PR you must live in Canada but citizens don't have to), you cannot be in receipt of welfare, you cannot have an undischarged bankruptcy and you cannot have some extremely serious criminal convictions on your record. The second part is the actualy application of your husband for permanent residence.
The first part (sponsorship) is processed in Canada at CIC-Mississauga. The second is processed at the embassy that processes PR applications for your region. The guides will tell you what embassy to choose for your region. I believe Saudi applicants are processed through Abu Dhabi.
BOTH parts of the application are sent at the SAME time to CIC Mississauga along with the police clearances and the medical and receipt for the fees. Once approved as a sponsor, the PR application is sent to the appropriate visa office for processing. Approval of sponsorship in Mississauga takes about 45 days and is NOT included in the total average wait times. The clock starts ticking on that once the file is received and begins processing at the embassy in the foreign country.
Since you are currently living outside of Canada, you must prove to CIC your intention to resettle in Canada upon PR being granted to your husband. This can be by way of a job offer, buying a house, apartment lease, etc.
Please, please, PLEASE read through the guides including the Region Specific Guide for your area. Internet forums provide lots of useful information BUT they are NOT to be considered rock solid advice. If you want a professional to guide you, hire a Canadian Immigration Consultant or Canadian Immigration Lawyer. Make sure they are members in good standing with their respective societies before you give them any money. There are plenty of bogus people out there claiming to be professionals when they are really crooks.
Here is the link to the guide you need to read. Good luck to you.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp
