Family Class Sponsorship (Inland) Ameican moving to Ontario

[Timmy Hoho]

I apologize because I'm sure this question gets asked every day. My wife (Canadian) and I (American) were originally going the route of applying with me living outside of Canada. With the new changes made and me allowed to work within four months of applying with an inland application. We are giving serious consideration to changing our application process. We have NOT turned in any documents yet and she has NOT applied to sponsor me yet but that should be happening hopefully by the end of the month.

My questions
1. Do we need to fill out different immigration forms or are they all generic and the same?
2. Do I need to have already moved to Canada if we decide to apply for the inland route?
3. Can I move to Canada before she is approved as a sponsor?
4. Is she able to sponsor me if she is unemployed?


Thanks in advance for your responses and it's great to have found an incredibly helpful community of people who have gone or are going through the same thing.

 

[screech339]

I apologize because I'm sure this question gets asked every day. My wife (Canadian) and I (American) were originally going the route of applying with me living outside of Canada. With the new changes made and me allowed to work within four months of applying with an inland application. We are giving serious consideration to changing our application process. We have NOT turned in any documents yet and she has NOT applied to sponsor me yet but that should be happening hopefully by the end of the month.

My questions
1. Do we need to fill out different immigration forms or are they all generic and the same?
2. Do I need to have already moved to Canada if we decide to apply for the inland route?
3. Can I move to Canada before she is approved as a sponsor?
4. Is she able to sponsor me if she is unemployed?


Thanks in advance for your responses and it's great to have found an incredibly helpful community of people who have gone or are going through the same thing.

1. Yes, two difference application packages. Most of the application forms are the same however there are some additional forms to complete for outland application.
2. Yes. Inland application stipulate that the sponsor and applicant are residing inside Canada. So you need to establish residency before submitting an inland application.
3. No. You cannot "move" to Canada before you are granted "PR status". You can "visit" Canada but you are certainly NOT MOVING to Canada. So don't show up in a U-Haul with your stuff just yet.
4. Yes. She can sponsor you if she is unemployed however she would need to provide proof or explanation on how she will support herself and you without resorting to welfare.

 

[Rob_TO]

With the new changes made and me allowed to work within four months of applying with an inland application.

Be very careful basing your decision to apply inland on this assumption. Nobody has seen any cases of NEW applicants going through this new pilot program. The wording is open to interpretation:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/updates/2014/2014-12-22.asp
submit it to the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville,

will have their application for an open work permit processed within four months of receipt of their work permit application.

Remember you send your inland PR app to CPC-Mississauga. They do NOT process OWPs there. So the 4-month countdown may not be referring to the time CPC-M gets your OWP app, it may refer to the time that CPC-Vegreville gets the OWP app. And if this happens only after the initial review of your application (AOR), then it could take CPC-M several months before they send the OWP to CPC-V to begin the 4-month wait.

Not to mention if this pilot program causes more and more people to now apply inland, time to AOR may get longer and longer.

As such for US citizens, I would still strongly advise to apply OUTLAND, as the total time before you actually get an OWP in the mail, could still be equal to or longer than the time it takes to process the entire PR app outland from CPC-Ottawa. Not to mention even after getting OWP, with inland you are still waiting 2 years overall for your PR and face risks if you ever want to leave Canada during that time.

 

[Timmy Hoho]

Thanks guys,

Just looking for additional clarification on question 3.

She would need to be approved as a Sponsor for inland first, then I would move to Canada, establish residency, and then we would go through the entire inland process?


We're running into a few obstacles but the big one for us is that we've just moved back after having lived in South Korea for six years. Which is why her obtaining a job is difficult for right now.

Rob, I'm trying to follow everything you said but you threw a lot of acronyms at me. I think I got the gist of it. Outland does seem like probably the best option but we're sick of living apart from each other. I know we're not unique in that situation.

 

[screech339]

Thanks guys,

Just looking for additional clarification on question 3.

She would need to be approved as a Sponsor for inland first, then I would move to Canada, establish residency, and then we would go through the entire inland process?


We're running into a few obstacles but the big one for us is that we've just moved back after having lived in South Korea for six years. Which is why her obtaining a job is difficult for right now.

Rob, I'm trying to follow everything you said but you threw a lot of acronyms at me. I think I got the gist of it. Outland does seem like probably the best option but we're sick of living apart from each other. I know we're not unique in that situation.

No, both of you have to reside inside Canada before you start the inland application if you do choose the inland application. You have to convince border agent that you are "visiting" Canada. Once you are in Canada at an address, you and your wife can use the address where you are staying as her official residence address and you are "visiting" Canada at this address. Once the inland application is in, you are discouraged from leaving Canada during the application process. I say discouraged because you can free to leave Canada however if you get denied re-entry back to Canada, your inland application become void.

 

[Timmy Hoho]

Ah ha, solid!

Thanks Screech! That sounds almost like I'm claiming refugee status by being slightly misleading as I'm entering the country but if it works, it works.

 

[rhcohen2014]

timmy - you can apply OUTSIDE of canada even if you are IN Canada as a visitor. there is no rule against this. outland procesing has nothing to do with where the applicant is pysically. it has to do with where your wife is from (the US) and where the application will be processed (Ottawa). I urge you to not be fooled by the "dangling carrot" that is the owp for inland applicants. there is no benefit to this for a us citizen. the blue link in my signature below has the spreadsheet for the ottawa visa office. you will see us applicants from July 2014 are now getting approved.

 

[screech339]

I agree with rhcohen here. Despite the benefit of OWP pilot program, I seriously consider that you apply for PR through OUTLAND. You can be staying in Canada and submit an Outland Application. There is a lot of benefit of doing this especially Americans applying for PR. They have one of the fastest processing time in comparison.

 

[Rob_TO]

Rob, I'm trying to follow everything you said but you threw a lot of acronyms at me. I think I got the gist of it. Outland does seem like probably the best option but we're sick of living apart from each other. I know we're not unique in that situation.

Basically what i'm saying is the 4 months countdown to getting open work permit may not be from when you submit the PR app, it could be from when CIC actually first opens up your PR app to load it into the system (this is called AOR = Acknowledgement of Receipt). So you may need to count 4 or 5 months, before starting the 4 month count!

But really we won't know for sure until people that applied starting in January, start actually receiving their OWPs.

 

[blueangel371115]

You could possibly be done and working after an Outland application in the time it takes the first stage inland to be processed. Most people will tell you that there is little to no benefit for a US applicant to apply inland. Ottawa more often then not gets folks through in 6-8 months often less.