Common Law Partner Visa: Outland/Inland

[canadianmaple1111]

I am a Canadian citizen, sponsoring my common-law partner (Australian) to come to Canada. We are likely applying while he is out of Canada. It says on the website that the processing time is approximately 11 months. Does anyone know if he would be able to come to Canada earlier than that on the Working Holiday Visa (has been approved for it), and then be granted the permanent visa while in Canada? Or is he not allowed to come to Canada while waiting for the visa to be approved? Any info/links would be appreciated!

 

[canadianmaple1111]

Oh and another question, should my partner get his police checks and medicals right now or wait for a few months? I believe they only last for 12 months and if it does take longer than 12 months before the application is approved, he may have to redo it?

 

[taffy7]

Your partner can come to Canada on his holiday working visa and still apply outland while being in Canada. The police certificates are valid for 12 months but they must be less than 3 months old when CIC receives them.


Your partner must also have a medical done by a Panel Physician that also last 12 months but both can be extended by the Visa who is preparing your application. When you apply just make sure you put the Canadian address if he is going to be in Canada at that time.


With an outland application if an emergency occurs he will be able to leave the country and it is much quicker than an inland application. If by any chance your Pr is not finished by then , your partner can either apply for another year holiday working visa or stop working all together.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

It says on the website that the processing time is approximately 11 months.

should my partner get his police checks and medicals right now or wait for a few months?

As stated at the top of the webpage, those times represent how long it took to process 80% of apps; they are not averages, nor do they represent the processing time for straightforward apps. I believe the average through Sydney is around 8 months right now.

Get them done now. Not including them in the app can cause delays.

The police certificates are valid for 12 months but they must be less than 3 months old when CIC receives them.

That is no longer correct.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/intro.asp

For the country you currently live in, the police certificate must be issued no more than six months before you apply.

For countries where you have lived for six months or more, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you lived in that country.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

There's a FAQ linked in my signature. It's mostly geared to CA/UK applicants, but the Aussie application package is quite similar and a lot of the questions have the same answer so have a look through that, it'll help.

 

[taffy7]

As stated at the top of the webpage, those times represent how long it took to process 80% of apps; they are not averages, nor do they represent the processing time for straightforward apps. I believe the average through Sydney is around 8 months right now.

Get them done now. Not including them in the app can cause delays.


That is no longer correct.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/intro.asp

For the country you currently live in, the police certificate must be issued no more than six months before you apply.

For countries where you have lived for six months or more, the police certificate must be issued after the last time you lived in that country.

Thank you Canuck , will put that bit of info into my head and keep that for later.

 

[canadianmaple1111]

Thanks so much! That helps a lot!

One other question: We are getting a few stat decs from family/friends who can vouch that we are in a relationship. Do those need to be on a particular stat dec form? Also, I'm assuming they are to be notarised? Does anyone know where you can get docs notarised in Canada for free or cheap? In Australia they have Justice of the Peace who do it for free, but can't find anything like that in Canada. Don't want to pay a lawyer $100 to notarise my document! Would it be disadvantageous to notarise two stat decs of Australian friends and then also include Canadian ones, but do not notarise?

 

[SchnookoLoly]

There's an example stat dec in the faq in my signature.

 

[Ponga]

Thanks so much! That helps a lot!

One other question: We are getting a few stat decs from family/friends who can vouch that we are in a relationship. Do those need to be on a particular stat dec form? Also, I'm assuming they are to be notarised? Does anyone know where you can get docs notarised in Canada for free or cheap? In Australia they have Justice of the Peace who do it for free, but can't find anything like that in Canada. Don't want to pay a lawyer $100 to notarise my document! Would it be disadvantageous to notarise two stat decs of Australian friends and then also include Canadian ones, but do not notarise?

For a Common-Law applicant, two letters from family/friends are required and must be notarized. This is not to be confused with the actual Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Form that is available on CIC's website. Although [that] is an optional form, many C-L couples choose to include it with their application.
It's usually pretty easy to find a Commissioner of Oaths to witness these signatures for ~ $30 (+/-) in Canada.

The letters should be written in a non-template form. CIC wants to see how your relationship is viewed by them, in `their own words', not by using a form letter. They need to also mention that they are aware that you are living together, not just that you are in a relationship.

 

[BeShoo]

We are getting a few stat decs from family/friends who can vouch that we are in a relationship. Do those need to be on a particular stat dec form? Also, I'm assuming they are to be notarised? Does anyone know where you can get docs notarised in Canada for free or cheap?

No, they definitely don't have to be on a form, and the less they look like a form letter, the better. The best thing is to tell your friends and family the kind of information you want them to include (how long they've known you, when they learned you were in a relationship, why they think you are staying together, etc.). Get them to write some things in their own words. This is the most effective.

Definitely shop around for a notary or commissioner of oaths to notarize or commission your documents. Your friends will have to travel to the commissioner to make the oath in his or her presence. Commissioners of Oaths are generally the cheapest and lawyers are generally the most expensive. We had our letters done by a legal aid lawyer at a weekly clinic. He told us that he wasn't supposed to do it unless we were at a welfare level of income, but he was a recent law school grad and he felt sorry for us. We took our word processor documents and slightly reworded it more to his liking before getting the friends of ours to sign them in his presence.

We also found a very cheap commissioner/notary in Ottawa (http://www.valu-notary.com/) who only charges from $15 a document, but you'd have to be lucky to find such a price. Most city halls or town halls have someone there who can do it for you, maybe the mayor, or even a city councillor but prices vary widely. There may be some who will do it for free, while Ottawa City Hall charges $40. Your MP or MPP is another person who may be able to commission a letter. You will have to ask.

We had to make a declaration that we live in Quebec to apply for a Quebec health card and found out that there is someone at most Services Quebec offices who will do it for free. I'm not sure if they will do anything that is not directly related to the Quebec government, though.