Citizenship/PR Inquiries

[PMM]

Hi

Thanks a lot folks, this has been very helpful (thanks Goldline for clarifying this)

I heard that once a PR pass is given, which means she is approved of PR, she is given a number of days to enter the country, is this true? How many days are usually given?

Since our child will be a citizen by birth because of me, how long will it take for the child to be with citizenship and allow him to enter into Canada?

1. She would have 1 year from the date of the medical or the expiry of the passport whichever comes first to "land" in Canada.
2. You apply for proof of citizenship for the child. see: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/proof.asp

 

[skwan]

If your child is born outside Canada, you must apply for a citizenship certificate for him which can take around 9 months. If your wife already has the PR visa by then, you can apply for a temporary passport or facilitation visa for your baby through the Canadian embassy which will allow your wife to travel with your baby to Canada.

Thanks! This is great information.
We'll be prepared to submit as many documents together including a land we purchased together in Uganda and also pictures of us even during our dating period.

After our child gets the citizenship certificate, a passport can then be applied right?

 

[Goldline]

Thanks a lot folks, this has been very helpful (thanks Goldline for clarifying this)

I heard that once a PR pass is given, which means she is approved of PR, she is given a number of days to enter the country, is this true? How many days are usually given?

When you apply for PR status (through sponsorship or other) you pass a medical exam at the beginning.
The medical exam is valid for 1 year and you need to enter Canada before it expires. That means if your PR application takes 8 months, you have 4 months to enter so they give you a visa valid for 4 months.

 

[skwan]

When you apply for PR status (through sponsorship or other) you pass a medical exam at the beginning.
The medical exam is valid for 1 year and you need to enter Canada before it expires. That means if your PR application takes 8 months, you have 4 months to enter so they give you a visa valid for 4 months.

Thanks ;D

 

[Msafiri]

1. Congrats on the marriage and baby.

2. As advised head over to the Family Sponsorship section of the forum. It has all the detail and help you need from others going through the same process as you. There is also a Nairobi Visa Office section with detailed experiences. You must be patient with the visa post processing times - its the busiest in Africa handling both temporary and permanent visa applications for multiple countries in East Africa and the Great Lakes region including countries of significant unrest. Showing up at the post without a prior appointment is increasingly a problem even for Canadian citizens due to security concerns.

3. You must provide all the documents required in the sponsorship form. You are trying to avoid an interview for your spouse as this extends processing times but if the post decides one is needed not much you can do. The main challenge is for the relationship to be deemed genuine.

4. Get your spouse to look at say workopolis and see what kind of jobs with her background are available. The job market here is network driven so your wife already has the advantage of you, your family, your friends etc as networks. They can assist in her career development as and when she arrives in Canada. She may not need to upgrade her qualifications if she can get into the job market...Canadian experience will be a trump card against study with no work experience. Do take into account childcare costs etc as part of your consideration.

5. Issues pertaining to PR retention and Citizenship for your wife have been covered in detail but deal with it post visa issuance and landing. Make sure your wife keeps a record of any entries and exits from Canada as these are required when eventually renewing PR Cards and applying for citizenship.

6. Uganda enacted dual citizenship legislation in 2009 so as suggested you may use a Ugandan Passport for the baby to obtain a Canadian facilitation visa although when you apply for a citizenship certificate you can apply for a limited validity Canadian passport.

Good luck

 

[skwan]

Thanks everyone for your endless effort to assist my wife and I - we are grateful to you all!

I will need some assistance in completing the sponsorship forms, anyone on this thread able to help me out step-by-step (if you've gone through the process before already)
Just some simple questions going through the forms, that's all

 

[skwan]

Then she can't apply for citizenship, and will remain a PR as long as she meets her residency obligation. She will have to wait until she satisfies that requirement. If she meets it she can apply for citizenship.

Davek, I hear that the new law has not been implemented yet until next year. Does the implementation apply to those ACCEPTED after the new law/policy or even before?
For example, my wife applies now and gets accepted next year in August, yet August is when the new law of 4 out of 6 years is implemented. Will it apply to her or not?
I hear it's still 2 out of 5 years for the time being.

 

[Leon]

Davek, I hear that the new law has not been implemented yet until next year. Does the implementation apply to those ACCEPTED after the new law/policy or even before?
For example, my wife applies now and gets accepted next year in August, yet August is when the new law of 4 out of 6 years is implemented. Will it apply to her or not?
I hear it's still 2 out of 5 years for the time being.

Whatever law is in effect when immigration Canada receives the application is the law that application is processed under. Hence if your wife applies now, she will be processed under the current law. However, if she applies next year and her application is in the mail as the law is implemented and the new law is in effect by the time they receive her application, she will be processed under the new law.

The PR residency requirements are 2 out of 5 years and that is not changing.

The citizenship residency requirements are currently 3 out of 4 years and will become 4 out of 6 with the new law.

 

[skwan]

Whatever law is in effect when immigration Canada receives the application is the law that application is processed under. Hence if your wife applies now, she will be processed under the current law. However, if she applies next year and her application is in the mail as the law is implemented and the new law is in effect by the time they receive her application, she will be processed under the new law.

The PR residency requirements are 2 out of 5 years and that is not changing.

The citizenship residency requirements are currently 3 out of 4 years and will become 4 out of 6 with the new law.

Thanks Leon! This is very helpful to know.

 

[skwan]

When you apply for PR status (through sponsorship or other) you pass a medical exam at the beginning.
The medical exam is valid for 1 year and you need to enter Canada before it expires. That means if your PR application takes 8 months, you have 4 months to enter so they give you a visa valid for 4 months.

I'm looking through the documents checklist, when will they request for her medical exam?

 

[skwan]

I heard from a friend that though she is given a PR pass required to be in the country 2 out of the 5 years, but if I (a Canadian citizen) was to travel back to Uganda with her, are the times of us together considered as part of the 2 years?

 

[Leon]

I heard from a friend that though she is given a PR pass required to be in the country 2 out of the 5 years, but if I (a Canadian citizen) was to travel back to Uganda with her, are the times of us together considered as part of the 2 years?

For the PR residency requirements of staying in Canada at least 730 days (2 years) in any 5 year period, time spent outside Canada with a Canadian citizen spouse is also counted so any combination of days in Canada plus days spent with you outside Canada that can be proven, would satisfy the PR residency requirements as long as it is more than 730 days combined.

 

[skwan]

For the PR residency requirements of staying in Canada at least 730 days (2 years) in any 5 year period, time spent outside Canada with a Canadian citizen spouse is also counted so any combination of days in Canada plus days spent with you outside Canada that can be proven, would satisfy the PR residency requirements as long as it is more than 730 days combined.

Oh wow, this is great news!
Would this count towards citizenship then? Or will I need to apply for the Citizenship and restart the entire counting of days?

 

[davek1979]

No this doesn't count towards citizenship; she must in in the country for it to count towards citizenship.

 

[skwan]

Thank you all for your continuous support. Maybe it would be easier if I gave you a scenario to read over and if you can answer this, it would be great:

We apply for PR, my wife is granted the PR in September 2015 and we enter into Canada by October 2015 but we are only staying for four months (since we would still need to go back to Uganda and discuss about future plans). Out of the five year PR pass that she is granted, so far she has only been in the country for four months but we plan on coming back later to settle once the child becomes old enough to attend Primary School/Grade 1 - after a few years towards the beginning of the 4th year (2019) is when we decide to come and settle in Canada for X number of years.

After the PR pass expires in the 5th year (2020 in this case), does it cost another $1000 to renew it?
Can she apply for citizenship after the PR pass expires?
Or do we have to renew it and after the 2nd term (ie. 2021-2026) of PR pass that she is allowed to apply for citizenship?

In your opinion, should I still apply for PR for her at this moment or should we wait until sometime later?
Why I thought sometime later is because it is not always the easiest for an African to adjust to life in Canada right off the bat and if we don't plan to settle until later, would it not be wise to choose this direction? The times of coming during the PR (if applied for 2015) would most likely be times of visiting and/or emergency family matters.

Your input would be greatly appreciated