Canadian sponsoring American

[Decoy24601]

Anyone else?

Give people more than 30 minutes to reply, please.

 

[Aquakitty]

I am aware it is something that will need to be dealt with, the lawyer said that himself. He said he has had numerous clients in the same situation and none have been denied. He said it just something that needs to be very carefully explained when applying for PR. In the mean time this is what the legal opinion letter does for traveling.

When it comes to stuff like conditional discharges, it depends on each case. It might very well be equal to the Canadian discharge and then it wouldn't be considered a criminal act.

It's not that you will be denied, it's just that it's a "red flag" that could add to your processing time. She could even end up with an interview.

 

[jeff198901]

When it comes to stuff like conditional discharges, it depends on each case. It might very well be equal to the Canadian discharge and then it wouldn't be considered a criminal act.

It's not that you will be denied, it's just that it's a "red flag" that could add to your processing time. She could even end up with an interview.

According to the lawyer it is! Like I said, he gave her a very detailed 29 page legal opinion letter that has both Canada's laws and the State of Marylands laws. He lighted the definition of each ones conditional discharge and then wrote in the opinion letter that they both result in the same thing and there for she is admissible to Canada. We called him today also and he said it won't be a problem, just needs to be properly explained!

 

[Aquakitty]

According to the lawyer it is! Like I said, he gave her a very detailed 29 page legal opinion letter that has both Canada's laws and the State of Marylands laws. He lighted the definition of each ones conditional discharge and then wrote in the opinion letter that they both result in the same thing and there for she is admissible to Canada. We called him today also and he said it won't be a problem, just needs to be properly explained!

This is an older copy of part of the CIC manual. But, the relevant section is in there if you search for section 27: "Procedure: Pardons outside Canada". It's really up to CIC, it could depend on the state that granted the discharge, and so on. But I think as long as she has fully completed whatever program she had to do, it'll probably be ok.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060215144759/http://www.cic.gc.ca/manuals-guides/english/enf/enf14e.pdf

 

[setec-astronomy]

According to the lawyer it is! Like I said, he gave her a very detailed 29 page legal opinion letter that has both Canada's laws and the State of Marylands laws. He lighted the definition of each ones conditional discharge and then wrote in the opinion letter that they both result in the same thing and there for she is admissible to Canada. We called him today also and he said it won't be a problem, just needs to be properly explained!

That's great! It's probably not worth seeking advice here on issues you've engaged so much professional legal assistance with. Lawyers are accountable for the advice they give, and people here are not lawyers, and are not accountable. If you're really concerned about it, you could have the lawyers assist with your application itself, but all anyone here can tell you is that CIC treats DUIs seriously, and that it will be a red flag to them which you will need to overcome. If you have documentation that you're confident addresses that red flag, then you should include it in your application. It is, after all, CIC who need to be convinced, not the good people of this forum

 

[jeff198901]

This is an older copy of part of the CIC manual. But, the relevant section is in there if you search for section 27: "Procedure: Pardons outside Canada". It's really up to CIC, it could depend on the state that granted the discharge, and so on. But I think as long as she has fully completed whatever program she had to do, it'll probably be ok.

http://web.archive.org/web/20060215144759/http://www.cic.gc.ca/manuals-guides/english/enf/enf14e.pdf

Her charge was dismissed and there is NO CONVICTION

 

[canadianwoman]

There is a question on the forms asking if she has ever been detained, arrested, charged, etc. She will have to answer 'yes', and she will have to explain what happened. The legal opinion the lawyer prepared for her is very good evidence and should be included in the application.

In my opinion, because of the DUI charge, you would be better off having an immigration lawyer help you prepare the application.

 

[jeff198901]

There is a question on the forms asking if she has ever been detained, arrested, charged, etc. She will have to answer 'yes', and she will have to explain what happened. The legal opinion the lawyer prepared for her is very good evidence and should be included in the application.

In my opinion, because of the DUI charge, you would be better off having an immigration lawyer help you prepare the application.

Thanks for the response!

 

[jeff198901]

Anyone else have input

 

[Ponga]

If it really is a simple case of having the charge dismissed, why did you need to pay the lawyer for a 29 page report?

 

[jeff198901]

If it really is a simple case of having the charge dismissed, why did you need to pay the lawyer for a 29 page report?

The letter is only 2 pages long. The rest is all the supporting documents (court dispositions, Maryland state law, Canadian law, MADD victim impact panel certificate and rehabilitation courses) The letter would be useless if it didn't have all the documents to back the letter up.

 

[mcharade]

If you're still concerned about whether or not you can get married, then I'd say yes. This is assuming that you and your girlfriend have both never been married or if you have documentation to prove you are now divorced from a prior marriage. Above, you said you were in Ontario. I'm an American who married a Canadian in Ontario in January. All that's necessary is to go to city hall and fill out the required forms. I believe there is also an online application which is still probably available at city hall however already filling it out beforehand makes everything faster. Both of you will need TWO forms of identification, one of which must have a photo (I used an American driver's license and my passport).

The rest may be specific to Toronto, but we received the marriage license right then, after 10-15 minutes, along with another form which you'll need the person who conducts your marriage service to sign (along with two witnesses). You can also have the marriage service in Toronto City Hall after establishing a day/time and paying the fee. Most people don't do that though, I think. If not, you'll need to find your own person to do the service, religious or civil. You'll need them to fill out the form which verifies they have in fact married you. They will send that form to the Ontario registration office and at the same time give you a Record of Marriage. This will be your official document of marriage until you can get the Marriage Certificate (it's better to have the MC to send to CIC, I've heard).

In order to get the Marriage Certificate you need to wait about 6-8 weeks and then apply for it (online or by paper). You'll receive it probably 2-3 weeks after that. The MC will NOT be sent to you unless you apply for it. And you cannot apply for it immediately because the request will be denied until the Ontario registration office has registered the marriage, which is why you need to wait 6-8 weeks.

It's actually very easy to get married (at least in Ontario), I had no problems as an American citizen. The marriage people aren't there to judge whether it's a marriage of convenience, love marriage or even forced marriage. They only care that you meet the requirements for it.

 

[BrookeTravels]

That is right. However, IRCC/CIC does not necessarily operate according to my expectations Still, I think if you tell yourself 2-4 months from them receiving a complete application, you're unlikely to be disappointed, if you can get that complete application in in the near future. You might even get a pleasant surprise.

This is delightful to read! I'm an American married to a Canadian, currently in Canada on an extended visitors status.... getting all my PR papers in order.

Would it be ok if we submitted the applications without my medical up front? Or is that not advisable? The other portion we were going to leave out when submitting papers is that 4-6 week wait for my FBI background check. We assume we can send the medical in later, and submit a receipt that the FBI check is paid for and in progress, rather than waiting for it to come back, thus delaying my application.

Would we still theoretically fall into the 4-6 month processing category?

Thanks for your insight.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Would it be ok if we submitted the applications without my medical up front? Or is that not advisable? The other portion we were going to leave out when submitting papers is that 4-6 week wait for my FBI background check. We assume we can send the medical in later, and submit a receipt that the FBI check is paid for and in progress, rather than waiting for it to come back, thus delaying my application.

Would we still theoretically fall into the 4-6 month processing category?

Thanks for your insight.

yes, while it is ok to not submit medical upfront, it's usually not recommended because it will delay your processing. FBI checks are also ok to send in later, again understanding it could delay your process. it is difficult for anyone to say how long your processing will be if these required documents are not submitted upfront as it depends on the officer processing your application, whether everything is sent before it's requested or after, whether the visa officer continues processing once the documents are received or if they wait until the "due date" provided in the request, etc. the quicker timelines for us citizens are usually for applications that were complete upon submission and no further requests (except passport requests) are needed.

 

[jeff198901]

There is a question on the forms asking if she has ever been detained, arrested, charged, etc. She will have to answer 'yes', and she will have to explain what happened. The legal opinion the lawyer prepared for her is very good evidence and should be included in the application.

In my opinion, because of the DUI charge, you would be better off having an immigration lawyer help you prepare the application.

Can someone link me to this part of the application please? Thanks!