Family class sponsorship while in Canada

[sbrizzi]

Hi there,

My girlfriend/fiance is a canadian citizen and we have been living together for 5 years. I am Italian but have been living in Canada for 7 years as an international student. Me and my fiance have lived in the same apartments together for 5 years and we are planing to get married. I finished my degree in June 2013 and was offered an interesting internship opportunity in Rome Italy which i took. its a 6 month internship and I will be going back to Canada to be with my fiance when my internship is finished. We have also decided to apply for a family-class sponsorship as soon as I arrive in Canada. I will be going to Canada as a visitor and I am only allowed 6 months to stay there.

Q: The processing times for the family class sponsorship take over 6 months and I was wondering if it is possible to get a temporary work permit while they process the application for family class sponsorship?

Q: Also, since the processing time takes over 6 months, am I eligible to extend my stay in Canada past the 6 months allowed with a visitors Visa?

Thank you for the help,
Best regards.

 

[automaton82]

There are two ways to apply for PR: inland and outland.

For outland, you can leave Canada at anytime during the process and it's typically faster than inland, but you must manually apply for a visitor's extension (and it's not guaranteed you'll get it), and you will also have to apply for a work permit the usual way (with a valid LMO).

For inland, it takes longer and you cannot leave Canada during the process, however you can stay even if your visa expires (you get implied status) and you do not need to apply for a new visa (assuming you had a valid one when you applied for PR). In addition, you can include an Open Working Permit application with your PR app, so after first stage approval (current at 11 months) you will get an OWP and can work anywhere you please. Prior to that, however, you can only work while you have your original work permit, so once it expires you'll need to stop working until you get an OWP or PR approval.

Most people on this board suggest outland for the time and freedom to travel, however I helped my spouse apply inland as it was much more catered to our needs. So you should choose what is best based on your plans and requirements.

 

[sbrizzi]

Lets say I apply outland while i am in Canada. Does this mean that i have to go to Italy in case they want to interview me? and will i be allowed access back into Canada after I do the interview? and how long does the outland process usually take?

With the inland process am i allowed to leave with my fiance to go on a holiday (for example: go to dominican republic for 7 days)?

 

[automaton82]

Lets say I apply outland while i am in Canada. Does this mean that i have to go to Italy in case they want to interview me? and will i be allowed access back into Canada after I do the interview? and how long does the outland process usually take?

With the inland process am i allowed to leave with my fiance to go on a holiday (for example: go to dominican republic for 7 days)?

If you apply outland and they want an interview, yes it will be in the location of the outland office (presumably Rome for Italy). The outland processing times are per-office, you can see them here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp

If you have a valid visa, you will be able to come back into Canada. But you can't stay in Canada without a valid visa anyways, so no matter what you have to keep a valid visa.

For inland, you cannot leave the country, regardless of whether you travel with your fiance or not. You must stay here in Canada until you receive your COPR, or PR card.

 

[Rob_TO]

If you have a valid visa, you will be able to come back into Canada. But you can't stay in Canada without a valid visa anyways, so no matter what you have to keep a valid visa.

Italian citizens are visa-exempt to Canada, so an Italian wouldn't need to get a visa in advance. They simply travel to Canada and would usually get a 6-month visitor status upon arrival.

For inland, you cannot leave the country, regardless of whether you travel with your fiance or not. You must stay here in Canada until you receive your COPR, or PR card.

An inland applicant can leave the country, but it comes with risk. In case the applicant is refused entry back to Canada for whatever reason, the inland app is cancelled. However many people have successfully left and returned to Canada with an inland app in process, with no issues. Usually this is much safer for visa-exempt applicants, but again it's always a big risk to do regardless.