Canadian Citizen Sponsoring British Spouse - both currently living in UK

[tme]

Greetings, I am a Canadian citizen and my wife is a British citizen. For us to move to Canada I understand the process would take the following form: I would apply for sponsorship and she would apply for permanent residency - both applications would be sent together to Canada with the PR application getting forwarded on to the london high commission if my sponsor application was granted. We are exploring the possibility of moving to Canada and hopefully you can help on some of the below queries:


-anyone have experience with this (in the UK) and if so how long has it taken? (I would hope both of our applications would be quite standard, we don't have any special circumstances) Looking at the website timings it looks as though best case scenario is in the region of ~4 months.

-because I don't live in canada I somehow need to provide evidence that we plan to move back there. Any idea the best way to demonstrate this? We will both be planning to work when we get back to Canada. The guide quotes "reasonable plans for re-establishing in Canada". It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation as once we know all is sorted with her PR, then we will go about quitting jobs, moving out and looking to rent a place in canada etc.

-is it possible for us to move over to canada whilst the application process is happening?

-if we were living in the UK once both applications were granted is there then a time frame for which we need to move to canada or could we wait, say 3 years and then move to canada?

-any and all information or resources that you think would be relevant would be helpful, for example can you get help in london completing the forms at a reasonable price?


thanks,
tme

 

[lonelycanadianwifey]

Curently Application process at LOndon office are at the 80% of cases are process in 7 months

The best way to demonstrate this possibly would having you family MAbey parents say you can live with them until you get your own place once you offically land in canada and getting a letter of a job offer from mabey a temp agency or mabey a close friend whom has a link

As far as moving to canada during the process it woudnt make sense because you are doing a outland sponsorship where she or he is to remain in there country until things are processed

If that is what you desire to move here and process then you would be doing a in land which will take alot longer somewhere between a year 2 years

ONce PR is granted she is givin a time frame to land and from my expiriences its based on the epiry date of her medical so no leaving three years later is not a option

Now as for what help is available in london i have no clue but try looking for immigration consultants which help 100% for free as for a lawyer there expensive unless you have alot of money i would suggest doing them yourslefs using this forum will help you people have alot of input and expirience

good luck

 

[Boncuk]

Most ppl in the UK with standard cases are taking 3 months..

 

[tme]

thanks - I take it that's 3 months once the PR application arrives in london?

 

[Boncuk]

Yes that's right.. there are a few here and on the other website that are going through London and it does seem quite speedy for UK citizens!
If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Good luck!

 

[Leon]

You can move to Canada while the application is in process but the spouse is only coming with you as a visitor. The spouse can not move to Canada officially until they are PR.

If you decide that you don't want to move to Canada just yet but might want to stay 2-3 more years in the UK, the way you do this is that the spouse after getting the PR visa needs to "land" in Canada before the PR visa expires. The spouse becomes a PR and can then go back to the UK. Normally PR's need to live in Canada 2 out of 5 years to keep their PR but a PR with a Canadian citizen spouse will not lose their PR status as long as they are living together.

 

[tme]

Leon, that's very helpful - thanks. Can I find this type of information on an official site that is linked with Canada or Canadian immigration. As much as I trust this forum, it would be comforting to read it on an official site or at least be able to speak to someone who works in a formal capacity - it seems impossible to get thru to the london high commission and because I don't live in Canada I can't use the 1-888 number. regards, Tim

 

[Leon]

You can find this info in bits and pieces of info on the CIC website. Obviously you can move to Canada anytime you want as a Canadian citizen. Your spouse, as a UK citizen, can visit Canada without needing a visit visa.

As for if you decide not to move right away, at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900E4.asp it says that you must live in Canada when your spouse becomes PR. That is easy to take care of. You go with your spouse to land. For all purposes, you are moving there too, even if you might decide a month later to move back to the UK.

As for not losing PR while living with a Canadian citizen spouse, you can find that info here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445EA.asp The only problem is that when your spouses PR card expires in 5 years, it will be hard to renew because you have to be in Canada to renew it and renewing a PR card can take 2-3 months and for a replacement card, she would have to go in person to pick it up but if you are going to move to Canada anyway in 2-3 years, she will not really be affected by that.

You might also want to consider, if you are really wanting to move to Canada, to start looking for a job now yourself so you can kind of get settled and then apply for her PR. It doesn't really take that long going through London.

 

[mitamata]

Be advised though, the visa office can refuse the application if you (the sponsor) fails to convince them that you do in fact intend to move to Canada when your wife becomes a permanent resident.

Also, a note: When the visa is issued, it is valid until the medical exam expires - that's 1 year after the medical was done. So your wife has to land in that timeframe. When your wife lands, she needs to provide an address in Canada where the PR card will be sent. If you don't intend to stay there for very long, make sure you get it mailed to a relative or friend, who will be able to forward it to you in the UK. Your wife will need it to come back to Canada.

And, if your wife will be moving/visiting in Canada before she gets her visa, be advised that the IO at the border/airport has the right to refuse her entry if he believes she intends to stay longer than 6 months - it's likely to happen if you both show up at the airport with all your worldly possesions.

 

[Smithies Family]

Hi, we are currently going through the exact same thing. I am a Canadian citizen, born and raised in England. I have citizenship through my mother who was canadian. I have a current, valid citizenship id card. I am in the process of sponsoring my wife of 10 years and my three children. We've sent our application.

Firstly, you need to have your medical in England before you send off your application. The rules are different if you are a canadian citizen living in Canada and you intend to reside in Canada with your sponsored applicant (your wife). As you will no doubt have realised, the website is an absolute nightmare and we have spent the last 18-24 months, navigating it on a regular basis! Our situation seems to be quite unique and it is damn near impossible to find out information relating to our circumstances. The medical is not particularly intrusive, but expensive - £300.

You need to provide proof of your relationship and plans to relocate. We had our house on the market and had an offer on our home - we sent copies of estate agent's letters to prove this, sent copies of flight bookings for a recent house hunting trip (March 09) and a covering letter explaining our situation. We also had to prove that we were in a 'genuine relationship' and this involved sending wedding photos, and general photos, along with confirming we had met each others parents and friends - even asking dates we had met them!

A police check is also needed and this takes about 2 weeks to come through. A cost is involved.

We have now bouught a home in Canada and are due to relocate in the next two months. I can give you further information, I probably stil have a copy of all the forms we sent in. They have agreed our sponsorship and the permaenent residence application is 'active'. If you want any further assistance, let me know.

 

[Smithies Family]

By the way, we did not need any help in completing the forms. Save your money! You'll need it for the application, medical, police check, passport photos etc. etc.

Can give you loads more information - it has been our life for the past 12 months!!

Best of luck.

 

[tme]

thanks SF - just got off the phone with the clinic where my wife can have her medical. You mention that this needs to be done before sending off the applications to canada, however I understand that the clinic sends the results straight to the canadian high commission in london. Can you provide a little more colour on how this worked for you. It sounds impossible to include the medical results in your application if they send results directly to the high commission.

thanks,
tme

 

[Smithies Family]

Hi,

No worries, you are required to apply and take the medical but not see the results, they are then sent to the High Commission, sending of the application is seperate. My wife went for the medical, got her police check then sent off the application. You do not receive the medical to include, however your application will be probably be held up if this is not provided at the same time as your application.

I was out in Ontario viewing property in May, and spoke with immigration on my arrival in Toronto.
They had received and granted sponsorship, and the application for PR was on-going.

I am now planning to land in Canada in early July, to buy a car etc and take ownership of the house, with my wife and kids following in August.

Wishing you all the best with your application.

 

[Emmy]

You actually get a document from the DMP (think of it as being like a receipt) when you complete the medical which you include with your application. The actual medical itself though is sent to a regional medical processing centre in London or something like that. Later, when they're processing your application in London, they'll use the document the DMP gave you (which you sent with your application) to find the actual medical results. Hope that makes sense.

 

[tme]

Re: Canadian Citizen Sponsoring British Spouse - both in UK - Option-C question

thanks for all the help. I am now completing the forms and have the following question relating to the Sponsorship Evaluation form (IMM 5481). It requests an Option-C printout. I have not lived in Canada for 7+ years. Is there an equivalent UK tax form that I can include in the application? I would imagine something like a P60 which states gross pay for the most recent tax year and tax paid.

thanks,
tme