Chinese wife Canadian ESL teacher husband. Really want to go home!

[StuckInChina]

Hi there forum

looking for a little advice while we go through the final stages of preparing the package to tie up any loose ends. Met my wife on my second trip to China on the second day, if it wasn't for meeting her, I would have left on the third day.

About me: I teach English and I met my wife about 3 and a half years ago. About a year and a half ago we got married and now she really wants a baby. I'm fine with that but to be honest I don't like living here and I really long to go home. The only reason I continue to stay is for my wife... So last year when I had a health issue come up we started the process to go home. My family hired a lawyer for us to take care of the forms and any legal problems (the lawyer is a Canadian Chinese). My family is very supportive of our marriage, she fits in perfectly with my family and both my parents and brother have come over here to meet her and stay with us. My mother and her really want a new addition to the family but I don't want one until we cross into Canada. Money isn't really a problem, we'll be moving back home with my folks while I go to work for my father's friend's company as a CNC operator. I already have the offer of work on paper and sent to the lawyer. I compiled 505 pictures with dates and locations (over the last 3 & 1/2 years) and sent those to the lawyer [various pictures with both my family and my wife's]. My wife comes from a very poor family in the countryside so she doesn't really own a house or a car or have anything to show. Both of us are fairly cheap and try and keep our expenses to a minimum, our marriage didn't really include a wedding because we both think its just a waste of money, so we went to the government building and signed all the forms. She has a wedding ring, my mother insisted on buying for her though.
Luckily we have loads of friends now and I've gotten my two best friends here to sign letters saying our relationship is legitimate (they are American and Canadian), she got her friend, boss and our landlord to write some letters (Chinese).

I also didn't have any friends where we were living at the time of our marriage so there wouldn't have been anyone else at the wedding. I'm 34 she's 25, we share all the same interests, spend most of our time together and we even got jobs together as of late. I refuse to leave China without her but believe me I'd leave this country at the drop of a hat if we weren't together.

My biggest problem is that some of the forms ask for my salary info over a 12 month period. I don't have that and I can't give it because I'm usually between jobs for a couple months at a time, its just how things work here, schools are always closing down and booting out the teachers unexpectedly. We have about 10,000 USD savings in our bank accounts that I've accumulated while working here. Also they want us to report our street addresses which we don't have. I only have the current one as one of the schools I've worked for has bounced us around to different spots in China for a few months at a time... I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to obtain those addresses as I only stayed in each area for a few months. We don't really want to blow our entire savings trying to track down every address either and the company that moved us is loooooooong gone.

Luckily, I managed to save a few of my work contracts and some salary info which I've scanned and sent off to the lawyer, my question is though, how ANAL is Mississauga about little details like the salary info? I want to be completely honest with immigration because I want to go home very badly and re-start life with my folks, wife and brother. Just as a side note: I'm a Canadian citizen, born and raised in Canada from a white middle class background, both of my parents are Canadians and my grandfather fought for this country in WW2. Our marriage is legitimate and we are best friends. I can only give them what I have... so I don't know what to expect :'(

What do you think our chances of getting home are?

 

[Alurra71]

First thing, you don't require a certain income to sponsor your wife. I am not sure why you don't know how much money you've made in the previous year as this would be something simple to come up with. You have to know when you were paid and how much you were paid. You won't be able to obtain an option C, for obvious reasons, however, if you were to draft a letter compiling how you were paid the past year and how much you made that would be suitable, I THINK. The same thing would be for your address'. Remember the ones you can as to the best of your ability and draft another letter stating how and why you don't have access to your previous address information. If you take the time to explain to them the same way you took the time to explain here, things should work out.

CIC is not in the business of keeping families apart nor are they in the business of rejecting spousal PR visas. It is, however, up to you to present the best possible application. They won't just flat out reject you if there is a problem, they will ask that you clarify any point they have questions about.

Take a deep breath and give them what they want to the best of your ability.

Good luck to you and your wife both!

 

[keesio]

Don't stress over the salary info, you can take an educated guess if you don't have any records of your income. Others have guessed and did not have problems. Just do your best.

With your long history with your wife and the fact that you have solid proof that you have employment available, your case does not really have any "red flags" that I can see. It looks pretty solid.

 

[xg0812]

Income wouldn't be a problem. As long as you show clear intention of moving back with your wife, you are fine. You have your offer letter so that's good. You probably want another letter from your parents stating that they will support you guys when you first go back until you settle down. I don't think it's necessary but it will definitely make it look better.

Formal addresses: they won't and wouldn't be able to track you down so as long as your dates match up on each address, you'll be fine

As far as I can tell, you have enough stuff to prove a legit relationship.

And don't forget to get those letters in Chinese certified in english.

 

[StuckInChina]

Really appreciate the speedy replies. The salary thing is pretty typical for China English school jobs... if you bounce from different jobs its pretty difficult to get salary information as most employers here are trying to skirt tax laws and dodge all sorts of things, you wouldn't believe what passes for legal here in China That's actually part of the reason I want to go home, its very difficult holding down a steady job with steady pay, employers can change a contract whenever they like to suit their needs and when they find someone cheaper to replace you, they do it without a second thought. Salary varies with Chinese employers and you can never EVER get a straight answer out of the boss. I once had a company threaten me with violence if I didn't stay, they said they had already handed in a signed contract to the government because I refused to sign to their terms... stuff like this makes working here a nightmare... that company went under 8 months ago. With all that in mind, I only have records for 6 months from last year and looks like about 6 months from this year, both at different companies. Would I have to work consecutively somewhere for 12 months before sending in salary info? Our current boss is even giving my wife a hard time, they increased her work time from 5 days to 6 days a week but decreased her salary... the boss knows that we would like a letter from her for immigration and is certain I won't leave because of it, she's right.

Our lawyer is Chinese and she's translating everything and certifying all of it. She lives in my hometown (Guelph, Ontario) near my parents and they constantly check up on the status of everything. My family and I are in contact almost everyday so that's not a big problem.

To be honest guys, working here sucks, I would much rather go home and work pouring coffee at Tim's or pumping gas at Canadian Tire for the rest of my life then stay here and continue to teach for corrupt bosses. I make nearly 30 bucks an hour but its totally not worth it for all the stress and BS you have to put up with.

I joke with my wife that I'd even be willing to send in a few X rated pictures if that would prove our relationship... but if it would, I probably wouldn't hesitate.. I really just don't want to be stuck here for 3 or 4 more years. One guy I worked with got stuck here for 4 or 5 years waiting to go back home but his relationship was a little sketchy.


Again, thanks for all the help, we've been trying to get this finished since last year.

 

[steerpike]

I compiled 505 pictures with dates and locations (over the last 3 & 1/2 years) and sent those to the lawyer [various pictures with both my family and my wife's].

I guess it doesn't hurt. But i think this trend of sending in a shoebox of a million photos is kind of ridiculous. If you take a trip to the great wall of china, then sure, include a pic of you and your wife at the wall. But i dont see why CIC needs 20 shots from every different angle and every different pose. (Unless you went on 505 separate vacations/ceremonies/meetings with different relatives in 3 years?)

Of course some people are worse, they send in every email they every sent as well. No wonder it takes 2 years to process and application, half of that is looking over photos and reading thousands of emails!

For my application, we sent it like 20 photos, no emails, no skype logs, and you know that "essay" that explains your relationship? i wrote like 1 sentance.

So maybe the 500 photos and 10000 emails dont hurt, but dont think its in anyway normal or necessary.

 

[StuckInChina]

I agree completely and my folks and I have been a little miffed at that... I was under the impression we needed to submit every piece of evidence detailing our stay throughout China. If I had known what you just said steerpike, I'd probably be home by now. I spent the entire year gathering every piece of paper, email and text message that mentions our relationship... what a waste of time. Just last night I scanned nearly 200 pieces of paper from various bills, landlord contracts and work contracts. My wife and I always think to ourselves, what sane person would do this??? Who takes 100's of pictures of themselves or saves all of their pay stubs, receipts and old tickets. I had to photoshop each picture to include a bubble of the date and time plus the location, this has been a gargantuan task.

The lawyers told us to have our phone messages printed out and then said it wouldn't be admissible because the phone company didn't list who said what. So we asked the phone company to print it out again and they said we'd need to head back to her home province, across the country, to get a proper print out. I mean common, can't I just write on a piece of paper who said what... *sigh*

We also submitted every email and text message... that took me a couple weeks. I had to really dig to find some of this stuff. I mean we live together, who the heck sends emails when you wake up beside the other person everyday?

This is definitely a lawyer thing...

 

[keesio]

The amount of proof you need to provide varies with the application. Usually with applicants from mainland China, you need to provide lots of proof but the thing is that I see your case as pretty strong, stronger that the norm so I wouldn't try to include EVERYTHING. Just like 50 good photos, those letters from family/friends, bank statements of joint accounts (if you have any), anything else that would show you have lived together, (both names on a lease, etc), you should be fine.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

China is definitely a VO were more evidence is better but there really is a point where it's overkill and your lawyer has definitely gone past that point. It is a shame that she has lost you so much time.

For couples that have lived together as long as you guys have, there really is no need for emails/texts/chats/etc. CIC doesn't expect all that when they know you are together in person every day. My partner and I had lived together for over 2 years when we applied; we didn't include any of that proof and for questions in the app regarding communication, we simply put "We live together."

For photos, 500 is way too much. Many couples submit only 10-20 photos without issue, as it is balanced with all the other proofs. It is really about choosing the few photos that best highlight your relationship.

 

[StuckInChina]

Oh didn't realize I had already started a thread. Just a quick update, the E-CAS has stated a Decision was made but we haven't heard anything in 3 weeks. I called the CIC call center but it seems as though there isn't anyone available to take my call. I emailed the CIC also about 3 or 4 times because I thought I may have missed the letter home but no reply. As of today we have moved past the PROCESSING TIME so I'm wondering if they'll actually get back to me or not. Its going to cost several hundred dollars to renew my commercial drivers license and I was hoping they could advise me of her status before I drop a couple hundred bucks for a license I may never use again....

 

[keesio]

Decision Made is a very good sign, unless you and your wife had badinterviews. If there were no interviews, then again it is a very good sign. The time it takes to get COPR can vary quite a bit. From a few days to a month. They are mailed out from Canada so I would imagine that mailing it out to China would take longer than the average. If you don't hear anything in a month, try contacting CIC again

 

[Aquakitty]

Oh didn't realize I had already started a thread. Just a quick update, the E-CAS has stated a Decision was made but we haven't heard anything in 3 weeks. I called the CIC call center but it seems as though there isn't anyone available to take my call. I emailed the CIC also about 3 or 4 times because I thought I may have missed the letter home but no reply. As of today we have moved past the PROCESSING TIME so I'm wondering if they'll actually get back to me or not. Its going to cost several hundred dollars to renew my commercial drivers license and I was hoping they could advise me of her status before I drop a couple hundred bucks for a license I may never use again....

I replied to your other post on the main thread but, I just noticed you started this thread in June, is that when you submitted the application? If so maybe you are talking about sponsorship DM (aka SA or Sponsorship Approval). Whoops apparently this was posted in 2014. Now it all makes sense.

But, if it's been 10 months like you mention on the other post, then you really should be relieved. If you were never asked for more information, and didn't need interviews, then congrats you most likely "won" and you should expect the COPR (Hong Kong has no PPR, right?)

It's just a guess but others have been complaining about slow DM to COPR timelines. Maybe the distance to china is part of the problem. Our COPR came as regular mail.

 

[keesio]

I replied to your other post on the main thread but, I just noticed you started this thread in June

June 2014. So it looks it is DM for PR.

 

[Aquakitty]

June 2014. So it looks it is DM for PR.

Ahah, omg is it 2015 already? I'll erase that bit.