Family Class Visa Runs & Inland consequences

[Eric91]

Hi everyone,

Nice to find a forum dedicated to this and to find so many fellow canadians wandering about the maze of CanImm.

My personal situation is as follows:

My Indonesian wife and I got married in February this year (in Indonesia, where I had been living the previous 2 years). We successfully landed her a Visitor Visa for Canada in March and we both landed in Montreal in May. At the time we had planned to go back to Indonesia, but plans changed and we decided we're staying, so we prepared the entire Family Class Sponsorship Application Package, with the Indonesian police certificate and all, and mailed it in the beginning of September.

Now, keeping in mind that
- Her Visitor Visa is Multiple Entry for 5 years
- The Immigration Officer at the airport who stamped her didn't give us any date or questions for that matter, and her arrival stamp has no maximum departure date.
- Immigration Canada's website has the following timeline for inland applications : 16 months + 10 months [not to mention I'm from Quebec so there might be that too]

I have the following questions,

• Are visa runs required every 6 months? I need a clear yes/no on this, as her visa is valid for 5 years/multiple entries
• Given it'll take 2 years before she gets her Permanent Residency, and the Government issues 5 year Visitor Visas, are they just generally OK with the idea of people staying here for so long?
• Should we be concerned about re-entering the country if we go on a 3-5 day trip to the States (we got her a USA tourist visa), or should I keep her sheltered within the warm confines of Canada until we get a sign of life from our application?
• Does Immigration Canada let you know they received your application before 16 months? We sent our application 6 weeks ago, I was hoping to know it arrived safely to the CPC.

Bonus Question if anyone from Quebec has been through the process : Any point in contacting QC Immigration for anything? or just wait for the Federal's answer.


Thanks for your thoughts everyone, and coincidentally Happy VOTING!

 

[scylla]

Once you submit an inland application along with an open work permit, your wife will have implied status until a decision on her application is made and can remain in Canada.

If you decide you apply inland, you should plan not to leave Canada at all until a decision in her application is finalized. Even with a multiple-entry visa, there is never a guarantee she will be allowed back into Canada if she leaves. If she isn't allowed back into Canada, this will effectively cancel her inland application and you'll have to start from scratch using the outland method. If you want to have the flexibility to travel - apply outland instead.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

• Are visa runs required every 6 months? I need a clear yes/no on this, as her visa is valid for 5 years/multiple entries
• Given it'll take 2 years before she gets her Permanent Residency, and the Government issues 5 year Visitor Visas, are they just generally OK with the idea of people staying here for so long?
• Should we be concerned about re-entering the country if we go on a 3-5 day trip to the States (we got her a USA tourist visa), or should I keep her sheltered within the warm confines of Canada until we get a sign of life from our application?
• Does Immigration Canada let you know they received your application before 16 months? We sent our application 6 weeks ago, I was hoping to know it arrived safely to the CPC.

Bonus Question if anyone from Quebec has been through the process : Any point in contacting QC Immigration for anything? or just wait for the Federal's answer.

Understand that a TRV has absolutely no bearing on how long a person is allowed to stay in Canada. A person can be legally in Canada with an expired TRV, just as a person can be in Canada illegally even though they have a valid TRV. A TRV is merely the stamp that allows people to board a commercial carrier to travel to Canada. Visitor status is given on entry by CBSA, for however long they decide. As your wife received the standard stamp, she was given 6 months.

What she should have done was submit an Open Work Permit app with the PR app, as that would have given her Implied Status after her current visitor status expires until she received the OWP. She should still submit the OWP app ASAP. To cover her bases, she should also apply online to extend her visitor status before her current status expires.


For your questions:

Border runs are not a good idea, especially with an inland app in process. She should apply online to extend her visitor status. Once she receives her OWP, she won't need to extend her visitor status anymore.

As explained above, her 5 year TRV has nothing to do with how long she can stay in Canada.

As scylla said above, she should not leave Canada until she is a PR.

The only way to know it arrived was by sending it with tracking. I believe inland apps get AOR, Acknowledgement of Receipt, within a few months.

No point in contacting Quebec immigration.