Entering Canada on tourist visa while waiting for sponsorship?

[shannonobrien29]

Hi everyone,
I am currently waiting on my fiances common law sponsorship to be approved, we applied about 8 months ago. He has been asked to send in several documents (health check, police check) in the past few months but we are still waiting for it all to be approved. My question is, can he come to Canada on a tourist visa (which he has already) while he waits for his perm residency? (and not work, just wait) And if yes, how does he explain that he does not have a returning flight out of Canada? Can he show immigration that he is waiting on a spousal sponsorship? How does he prove that?

Any information regarding this would be greatly appreciated, thank you

 

[StephanH]

Hi everyone,
I am currently waiting on my fiances common law sponsorship to be approved, we applied about 8 months ago. He has been asked to send in several documents (health check, police check) in the past few months but we are still waiting for it all to be approved. My question is, can he come to Canada on a tourist visa (which he has already) while he waits for his perm residency? (and not work, just wait) And if yes, how does he explain that he does not have a returning flight out of Canada? Can he show immigration that he is waiting on a spousal sponsorship? How does he prove that?

Any information regarding this would be greatly appreciated, thank you

You said common law, you have lived 1 year continuously in another Country correct? and how long have you been apart? Fiance visa does not exist anymore in Canada. They have replaced it with PR spouse/common-law/conjugal through the Family Class Program.

Does your partner come from a visa exempt Country? If yes, he does not need a visa. If no, he will have to apply for one. It will be treated just like any other tourist visa applications, PR or not. You will have to provide whatever proof they ask for and a return ticket. Also, how do you know if his PR will be approved? They will not give a tourist visa just because your partner has an ongoing PR application.

 

[Rayan75]

Hi everyone,
I am currently waiting on my fiances common law sponsorship to be approved, we applied about 8 months ago. He has been asked to send in several documents (health check, police check) in the past few months but we are still waiting for it all to be approved. My question is, can he come to Canada on a tourist visa (which he has already) while he waits for his perm residency? (and not work, just wait) And if yes, how does he explain that he does not have a returning flight out of Canada? Can he show immigration that he is waiting on a spousal sponsorship? How does he prove that?

Any information regarding this would be greatly appreciated, thank you

Yes. He can come to Canada on visitor visa while waiting for PR or sponsorship application. It's totally acceptable but he needs to show the officer in the airport his intention to leave Canada at the end of his stay (since he is not a PR yet, he MUST prove the Temporary residency). Do NOT try to show evidence of PR application when he enters to Canada as a visitor! This will lead the officer to think that he intends to live forever. Which may result in his visitor visa cancelled.
Therefore, he must show a return-ticket within the next 6 months of his entry to Canada. There is no other way to prove the temporary residency fulfillment without a valid two-way ticket. This is to prove he is staying temporarily.

 

[Mike7Louw]

Hi guys. Fiancé here. Thanks for the input. We have established that I will need to stay in South Africa until such time that the visa is granted.

We are currently living in Vietnam but we will leave in just under 1 month. If we do not receive a request to submit the passport before leaving, as is the last step, how will this affect the process? We believe the visa is being processed in Singapore right now. How easy would it be to submit the passport from South Africa?

In your personal experiences, how long did the common law visa take in its entirety?

Thanks in advance.

 

[StephanH]

Hi guys. Fiancé here. Thanks for the input. We have established that I will need to stay in South Africa until such time that the visa is granted.

We are currently living in Vietnam but we will leave in just under 1 month. If we do not receive a request to submit the passport before leaving, as is the last step, how will this affect the process? We believe the visa is being processed in Singapore right now. How easy would it be to submit the passport from South Africa?

In your personal experiences, how long did the common law visa take in its entirety?

Thanks in advance.

The PA is from South Africa? Why would it be processed in Singapore? Shouldn't it be processed in Pretoria VO? Process could be from 3-12 months.

 

[Mike7Louw]

The PA is from South Africa? Why would it be processed in Singapore? Shouldn't it be processed in Pretoria VO? Process could be from 3-12 months.

I’m South African but because we live so close to Singapore that’s where we’ve been sending all our feedback documents to.

So once they request my passport I can just send it to Pretoria and the process is deferred there essentially?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi guys. Fiancé here. Thanks for the input. We have established that I will need to stay in South Africa until such time that the visa is granted.

We are currently living in Vietnam but we will leave in just under 1 month. If we do not receive a request to submit the passport before leaving, as is the last step, how will this affect the process? We believe the visa is being processed in Singapore right now. How easy would it be to submit the passport from South Africa?

In your personal experiences, how long did the common law visa take in its entirety?

Thanks in advance.

You don't need to stay in South Africa. As you have a TRV, you can come to Canada with your partner and enter as a visitor. Have a return ticket (just buy a separate fully refundable ticket) and proof of funds. The key point with CBSA is to answer honestly but don't volunteer information. You are coming to visit your partner, not moving to Canada. If CBSA asks further, you can show proof of the sponsorship app.

Once in Canada, update IRCC with your new address. You will be able to submit your passport to Ottawa.