Canadian Citizen married US Citizen in US - what's the next step?

[PursuitOfHappiness]

Hi All,

Happy new year! I got married this Christmas in Florida! my wife is a US Citizen and I'm a Canadian Citizen. We already had a ceremony in Florida a week after we got our marriage license. My wife will be finishing her grad program in Dec so she will be moving to Canada end of Dec and thats why we got the marriage license now so we can start the spousal sponsorship process and have a a year to get approved hopefully. I have a couple of questions that I would GREATLY appreciate if you guys can help me out with:

1) Because she will be staying in the states till end of Dec, which forms do I complete. On this website (www .cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/index.asp) I have two options: applying from outside Canada and inside Canada - which forms do I complete? I assume its outside Canada but wanted to make sure!
2) How long does it take to complete these forms and is there a thread I can follow for step by step directions as to how to finish them?
3) Should I tell my wife to get her medical and FBI clearance done right away so I can send all the documents within 90 days?

Any other advice or suggestions is greatly appreciate

Thank you and have a great week !!

 

[Sweden]

Hi All,

Happy new year! I got married this Christmas in Florida! my wife is a US Citizen and I'm a Canadian Citizen. We already had a ceremony in Florida a week after we got our marriage license. My wife will be finishing her grad program in Dec so she will be moving to Canada end of Dec and thats why we got the marriage license now so we can start the spousal sponsorship process and have a a year to get approved hopefully. I have a couple of questions that I would GREATLY appreciate if you guys can help me out with:

1) Because she will be staying in the states till end of Dec, which forms do I complete. On this website (www .cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/index.asp) I have two options: applying from outside Canada and inside Canada - which forms do I complete? I assume its outside Canada but wanted to make sure!
2) How long does it take to complete these forms and is there a thread I can follow for step by step directions as to how to finish them?
3) Should I tell my wife to get her medical and FBI clearance done right away so I can send all the documents within 90 days?

Any other advice or suggestions is greatly appreciate

Thank you and have a great week !!

Hey and welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your wedding, wish you all the best! to answer your questions:
1 - yes, outland. Download the forms from CIC website, and start filling them out, and gathering proofs.
2 - it depends on how much efforts and evenings you put into it! it also depends on how long you've been together, and if you have lived somewhere else etc. The best way to do it is to follow the guideline - it's a step by step, and it will usually tell you everything you need to know. If something is unclear after reading the guideline, then come here and ask.
3- you should get the FBI clearance started because it takes about 12 weeks to get it back from the FBI. So it gives you that amount of time to complete your application in the meantime. Start with FBI clearance right now, and wait for the medicals... the medicals are valid one year from the day they were done, do it's best to wait as close to the date you will send your application as possible. Like this, in 3 months, you will have the application ready (fingers crossed), and the FBI clearance. THen you do the medicals, and send off your application. Hopefully you'll be done by December, but if not, as you are from a visa-exempt country, you can also go and stay with your wife in Canada until the PR is approved ( there are plenty of people doing that, and if that will be your case, you can get advices on how to best prepare for that).

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[PursuitOfHappiness]

Hi Sweden,

Thank you so much for your reply! Great advice. Just to clarify my wife will be coming here to Canada. So I will have to download and fill out the 'ouland' forms right?

I will be putting in a few hours everyday hopefully. Any idea how many hours I should expect to put to finish them?

Thank you!

 

[Sweden]

Hi Sweden,

Thank you so much for your reply! Great advice. Just to clarify my wife will be coming here to Canada. So I will have to download and fill out the 'ouland' forms right?

I will be putting in a few hours everyday hopefully. Any idea how many hours I should expect to put to finish them?

Thank you!

Sorry - got you and your wife mixed up! but yes - it's outland, you fill both sponsor and sponsored forms, and send it altogether to Mississauga who handles outland applications. After the first stage ( you as a sponsor), then it goes to second stage, which is outland but for US applicants is handled by Ottawa ( a bit confusing...). You can read the first thread by Leon, (only the first pages!) on spousal sponsorship, it gives an idea of the process...

How long it will take - it really depends. It can get frustrating, so sometimes you'll need a break. The sponsored part is more thorough than the sponsor's so your wife will have to put in more hours most likely! It took me and my partner 3 months, but I had travelled quite a lot before, and had to dig up a lot of details... and get lots of proofs, police checks etc... if you work at it every day, I would say in 2 weeks you'll start to get the hang of it, and fill out most of it... but then, there are all the proofs of relationship and it can take a bit longer... my best advice is to print out ALL the forms and guidelines, and start from there. Divide them in piles, start making list of proofs that you need to get etc. Might be worth dedicating a "space" for that ( we had no dinner table for 2 months...) so it stays organized... but then everybody has his own way of doing it.

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[PursuitOfHappiness]

Sweden,

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it!! You mentioned that my wife will have to put in a lot of work. Regarding proofs and evidence and compiling everything together. Isn't it better if I compile everything myself and send it over to the states for her to check over and sign the required pages rather than sending stuff back and forth since she's living in the states? We can gather the proof and I can work on everything on my own. What do you thin? I plan on doing what you suggested and I already printed all of the forms and guidelines so just going to start reviewing it this week

OH one last question, I have to submit both the sponsor and sponsored part together right? or do I have to submit them separately and make the payments as I go along?

Thanks so much!

 

[Sweden]

Sweden,

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it!! You mentioned that my wife will have to put in a lot of work. Regarding proofs and evidence and compiling everything together. Isn't it better if I compile everything myself and send it over to the states for her to check over and sign the required pages rather than sending stuff back and forth since she's living in the states? We can gather the proof and I can work on everything on my own. What do you thin? I plan on doing what you suggested and I already printed all of the forms and guidelines so just going to start reviewing it this week

OH one last question, I have to submit both the sponsor and sponsored part together right? or do I have to submit them separately and make the payments as I go along?

Thanks so much!

you can choose whatever works best for you as a couple, if you prefer to fill out everything and let your wife then review and sign, that can also work - as long as she is involved in some way! but for sure - the sponsored forms are much longer and more detailed than the sponsor's so it will take time... my partner and I did the process together ( we were living together outside of Canada), and he was done soon, so he came and gave me a hand on getting the proofs organised etc - so it's usually a common work, but if you feel comfortable doing most of it by yourself, no worries. One thing though - some of the forms have barcodes that are generated once you validate them, so if your wife changes anything after you send it to her, it won't be reflected - and in some forms, you won't be able to save changes - so maybe a good way is to fill out manually everything, then let your wife fill it out on the computer, validate the form and print it - but whatever suits you...

And yes - you submit everything together. So make sure your application is complete, it will save you time. review several times before sending it, use the checklist and go over and over again... it's the best way to ensure that the process is smooth.
Also - if you can, pay the total amount upfront (1040$ if you're sponsoring your wife only), because if you pay only part of it again it will add delays.... so it's best to pay everything at once, and include the receipt.

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[blueangel371115]

And yes - you submit everything together. So make sure your application is complete, it will save you time. review several times before sending it, use the checklist and go over and over again... it's the best way to ensure that the process is smooth.
Also - if you can, pay the total amount upfront (1040$ if you're sponsoring your wife only), because if you pay only part of it again it will add delays.... so it's best to pay everything at once, and include the receipt.

Good luck,
Sweden

So we do send everything in together and after my husband's approval it goes to New York to process.

Plus, my wedding is in October so I sahould then do my medicals and FBI check after I get my marriage license and change my name. I am going to see if I can schedule my physical in my married name as I will probbably have to schedule that far out. so that begs the question, I 1. recieve my marriage license
2. Change my name ( and my id's)
3. do my physical
4. do FBI check
5. send the forms

Then can I pay the fee online after? When should I pay if I can do that?

 

[carrotsoup]

Hi All,

Happy new year! I got married this Christmas in Florida! my wife is a US Citizen and I'm a Canadian Citizen. We already had a ceremony in Florida a week after we got our marriage license. My wife will be finishing her grad program in Dec so she will be moving to Canada end of Dec and thats why we got the marriage license now so we can start the spousal sponsorship process and have a a year to get approved hopefully. I have a couple of questions that I would GREATLY appreciate if you guys can help me out with:

1) Because she will be staying in the states till end of Dec, which forms do I complete. On this website (www .cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/index.asp) I have two options: applying from outside Canada and inside Canada - which forms do I complete? I assume its outside Canada but wanted to make sure!
2) How long does it take to complete these forms and is there a thread I can follow for step by step directions as to how to finish them?
3) Should I tell my wife to get her medical and FBI clearance done right away so I can send all the documents within 90 days?

Any other advice or suggestions is greatly appreciate

Thank you and have a great week !!

Do you mind if I ask a few questions about your wedding and how you were able to do that? I’m a US citizen, my fiancé is Canadian. Our wedding is planned for next month and we are only now discovering they may stop him at the border as the wedding is in the US. He has no intention to stay, we will be living apart after the wedding as we file paperwork for me to immigrate into Canada. Did you simply state your intent at the border to get married? Was it a difficult process? What was that part of your experience like? Thank you!

 

[canuck78]

Do you mind if I ask a few questions about your wedding and how you were able to do that? I’m a US citizen, my fiancé is Canadian. Our wedding is planned for next month and we are only now discovering they may stop him at the border as the wedding is in the US. He has no intention to stay, we will be living apart after the wedding as we file paperwork for me to immigrate into Canada. Did you simply state your intent at the border to get married? Was it a difficult process? What was that part of your experience like? Thank you!

If you have lots of evidence that you are only visiting to get married and have a home, a job and other ties to the US there is unlikely to be a problem.

 

[carrotsoup]

If you have lots of evidence that you are only visiting to get married and have a home, a job and other ties to the US there is unlikely to be a problem.

We’ve been reading that he (Canadian citizen) could be denied and then a record would be shown that he was denied and he could be stopped for the next 5 years. Is there any truth to that? I would assume that only if we were trying to commit fraud. Also what kinds of ties might they ask for? Would they hold us for questioning?

 

[lacey]

Do you mind if I ask a few questions about your wedding and how you were able to do that? I’m a US citizen, my fiancé is Canadian. Our wedding is planned for next month and we are only now discovering they may stop him at the border as the wedding is in the US. He has no intention to stay, we will be living apart after the wedding as we file paperwork for me to immigrate into Canada. Did you simply state your intent at the border to get married? Was it a difficult process? What was that part of your experience like? Thank you!

I (Canadian citizen) got married to my now husband (American citizen) in Texas this past July. No questions were asked at the border at all on my way there or back. We are also currently living apart until we start Inland process.

 

[carrotsoup]

I (Canadian citizen) got married to my now husband (American citizen) in Texas this past July. No questions were asked at the border at all on my way there or back. We are also currently living apart until we start Inland process.

Did you say you were entering the US to get married?

 

[canuck78]

Did you say you were entering the US to get married?

You are worrying more than you need to about this situation. You are allowed to enter Canada to get married. In case CBSA asks questionsI would travel with proof of lease or home ownership, proof of job in the US and proof of return travel. As long as there is no reason, like past criminal convictions, your spouse won’t have issues at the border.

 

[lacey]

Did you say you were entering the US to get married?

I was only asked where I was going and my expected date of return. Canuck is right! You are thinking too far into it.

 

[Bs65]

You are worrying more than you need to about this situation. You are allowed to enter Canada to get married. In case CBSA asks questionsI would travel with proof of lease or home ownership, proof of job in the US and proof of return travel. As long as there is no reason, like past criminal convictions, your spouse won’t have issues at the border.

If I read it correctly Carrotsoup is a US citizen and her fiancé is a Canadian citizen, with the wedding planned for the US not Canada. So advice guess is same to show only if asked to USCBP as opposed to CBSA.

The worry from the OP has come about given a recent press report about Canadians being given 5 year bans from the US for what have been reported as relatively trivial reasons off the back of Trumps fixation with immigration. Guess is that it is more likely those turned around possibly were unemployed or maybe had no clear intent on what they were going to do in the US so business as usual.

Easy to overthink anything that is published in the press versus reality given number of people transiting in either direction 24/7 with no issues at all which think we all agree is the reality.