Family Sponsorship - Inland Application {URGENT}

[Carina.rsm]

Hi all,

I have some urgent and pressing questions about family sponsorship and I hope to leverage your expertise.

My boyfriend is on a PGWP that is going to expire on November 11, 2015 and he must leave the country by then. We have decided to get married and we plan to do this asap and I will be sponsoring him under the family sponsorship program (inland application). I am a Canadian citizen and qualify to sponsor him.
A couple of questions:

1. The marriage certificate takes 6-8 weeks to be received - can I apply for sponsorship and submit the documents before we have the certificate? I assume the answer is no, as the sponsorship application requires a marriage certificate to be attached.
2. If the answer to Q1 is no, how quickly can my husband return to Canada after I submit the sponsorship application?
2a. Since he will be outside of the country in this case, will this now be considered an outland application?
3. Once the sponsorship application is submitted, and he is outside of the country at that time, will he receive a work permit?
4. His Venezuelan passport expires next year. While our sponsorship application is getting approved, will he be able to leave the country (specifically for the purpose of renewing his passport in Venezuela).


Thank you all for your help in advance

Anxiously in Toronto

 

[zardoz]

Hi all,

I have some urgent and pressing questions about family sponsorship and I hope to leverage your expertise.

My boyfriend is on a PGWP that is going to expire on November 11, 2015 and he must leave the country by then. We have decided to get married and we plan to do this asap and I will be sponsoring him under the family sponsorship program (inland application). I am a Canadian citizen and qualify to sponsor him.
A couple of questions:

1. The marriage certificate takes 6-8 weeks to be received - can I apply for sponsorship and submit the documents before we have the certificate? I assume the answer is no, as the sponsorship application requires a marriage certificate to be attached.
2. If the answer to Q1 is no, how quickly can my husband return to Canada after I submit the sponsorship application?
2a. Since he will be outside of the country in this case, will this now be considered an outland application?
3. Once the sponsorship application is submitted, and he is outside of the country at that time, will he receive a work permit?
4. His Venezuelan passport expires next year. While our sponsorship application is getting approved, will he be able to leave the country (specifically for the purpose of renewing his passport in Venezuela).


Thank you all for your help in advance

Anxiously in Toronto

1) If it's a mandatory checklist item, don't submit your application until you have it. The application will be returned as incomplete.
2) He can apply for a visitor visa immediately but why not simply apply for a visa extension as a visitor before his existing one expires, while he is still in Canada?
2a) Do not submit an inland application if he is not living in Canada with you. The obvious alternative is outland. They are different procedures and you have to choose the correct one right at the beginning. They do not transfer if your circumstances change.
3) Outland applications do not benefit from a work permit. Only inland spousal sponsorship applications do.
4) It's always a risk leaving the country if an inland application is in process. Refusal on reentry will effectively terminate an inland application. Reentry is not guaranteed and is subject to the normal POE procedures. Having an application in the system is not a guarantee of being allowed to come back.

 

[Carina.rsm]

Zardoz, thank you so much for your prompt reply. Your answers were extremely helpful.
We will look into the visa extension/applying for a visitor visa while he is still here so that I may proceed with an inland application.

Do you happen to know how long it takes from the time I submit the spousal application to the time that is received? I understand that once it is "received", my husband's stay in Canada will be extended until a decision is made and a work permit will be issued. Id like to know what that time frame looks like.
We are tight on time and every day makes a difference at this point as he has to leave by November 11th and the marriage certificate takes 6-8 weeks to be mailed to us. I'd like to anticipate if we will have enough time for everything to be sent through.

Thank you so much for sharing your insight and expertise on this matter. I cant tell you how much I appreciate your help and time.

 

[Aquakitty]

Zardoz, thank you so much for your prompt reply. Your answers were extremely helpful.
We will look into the visa extension/applying for a visitor visa while he is still here so that I may proceed with an inland application.

Do you happen to know how long it takes from the time I submit the spousal application to the time that is received? I understand that once it is "received", my husband's stay in Canada will be extended until a decision is made and a work permit will be issued. Id like to know what that time frame looks like.
We are tight on time and every day makes a difference at this point as he has to leave by November 11th and the marriage certificate takes 6-8 weeks to be mailed to us. I'd like to anticipate if we will have enough time for everything to be sent through.

Thank you so much for sharing your insight and expertise on this matter. I cant tell you how much I appreciate your help and time.

I'm not sure what will happen in the case of an expired passport. Can he renew it online? If not, I think this may be problematic. Any possibility of him getting it renewed before his work visa expires? Leaving the country during an inland application is not a great idea, though people have done it and he does have a good reason.

If you are going to apply inland, you MUST submit the PR application with the OWP application BEFORE his status expires or he will not be eligible for the OWP.

Yes, you can submit the marriage cert. at a later date, just put in an explanation of why it is not with the application and submit it when you get it.

 

[Rob_TO]

Leaving the country during an inland application is not a great idea, though people have done it and he does have a good reason.

Should note that the vast majority of people who leave and return to Canada successfully with an inland app in progress, hold a visa-exempt passport. Venezuela passports are NOT visa-exempt, meaning if he leaves Canada the "implied" status ends and he'll then need to apply for a TRV to return if he doesn't get a multi-entry TRV in advance. This is obviously incredibly risky to do, so if you submit an inland app he should be prepared to not leave Canada for entire duration of PR processing (around 2 years).

CIC/CBSA won't care what the reason is for leaving. If he will need to renew a passport, you should check with the Venezuela embassy/consulate in Canada if you can do it entirely while staying in Canada. If possible it may require him to travel in person to the embassy.

 

[chakrab]

I would suggest an outland application for this. inland applications are going closer to 3 years at this rate, definitely close to 2 years for stage 1 by the time it reaches nov 2015. your (future) spouse will need a valid passport during the process. as far as i know, Venezuelans have to go back to renew the passport (i heard from an acquaintance that their govt were making it stupid hard to renew from outside). so definitely do check the passport renewal process in ottawa. however if he is needed to leave, apply for outland. even if he gets a work permit, it will be till the expiry of his passport. once he is out, he will have to apply for TRV and mention the PR application. That's going to be tough to get with a spouse in canada.

 

[chakrab]

Should note that the vast majority of people who leave and return to Canada successfully with an inland app in progress, hold a visa-exempt passport. Venezuela passports are NOT visa-exempt, meaning if he leaves Canada the "implied" status ends and he'll then need to apply for a TRV to return if he doesn't get a multi-entry TRV in advance. This is obviously incredibly risky to do, so if you submit an inland app he should be prepared to not leave Canada for entire duration of PR processing (around 2 years).

CIC/CBSA won't care what the reason is for leaving. If he will need to renew a passport, you should check with the Venezuela embassy/consulate in Canada if you can do it entirely while staying in Canada. If possible it may require him to travel in person to the embassy.

The TRV will be only till his passport validity. Unlike USA, Canada always gives visa till passport expiry. So in any case, leaving Canada means he needs to apply TRV from outside and he can't stay in Canada with expired passport.

 

[jamsham12]

Hi all,

I have some urgent and pressing questions about family sponsorship and I hope to leverage your expertise.

My boyfriend is on a PGWP that is going to expire on November 11, 2015 and he must leave the country by then. We have decided to get married and we plan to do this asap and I will be sponsoring him under the family sponsorship program (inland application). I am a Canadian citizen and qualify to sponsor him.
A couple of questions:

1. The marriage certificate takes 6-8 weeks to be received - can I apply for sponsorship and submit the documents before we have the certificate? I assume the answer is no, as the sponsorship application requires a marriage certificate to be attached.
2. If the answer to Q1 is no, how quickly can my husband return to Canada after I submit the sponsorship application?
2a. Since he will be outside of the country in this case, will this now be considered an outland application?
3. Once the sponsorship application is submitted, and he is outside of the country at that time, will he receive a work permit?
4. His Venezuelan passport expires next year. While our sponsorship application is getting approved, will he be able to leave the country (specifically for the purpose of renewing his passport in Venezuela).


Thank you all for your help in advance

Anxiously in Toronto

You could also have him try the express entry program as well along with the family class sponsorship. EE processing times are less than 6 months.

 

[IrisSphere]

1. The marriage certificate takes 6-8 weeks to be received - can I apply for sponsorship and submit the documents before we have the certificate? I assume the answer is no, as the sponsorship application requires a marriage certificate to be attached.

Just wanted to add that you can apply for an expedited marriage certificate to be sent to you, especially since you can prove that your future husband will be required to leave Canada if you don't have the marriage certificate in hand. With the proof of urgency, you should get it within a few weeks. Here is a thread on these forums of how to do this: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/sample-letter-proof-of-urgency-marriage-certificate-ontario-t190108.0.html

The other thing you can do is apply for the marriage certificate as soon as you get married, they will process it as soon as the marriage is registered, which may not be the full timeframe. We also wanted to submit documents as soon as possible, and urged our officiant to include a note that we would need the certificate ASAP. I applied 2 days after the ceremony and we got the certificate in about 3 weeks. We may have just gotten lucky, but you actually have proof of urgency so I'd encourage you to do that.

Best of luck!

 

[gmzinny]

Hello everyone and thank you very much for all your responses. I am the very, very happy husband-to-be of Carina.

Would someone be able to tell me if I can stay in the country with a Temporary Resident Visa while we wait for the response/acknowledgement of our sponsorship application? What I am trying to avoid is to stay here without a legal status. If it is possible, will my application for the TRV override my Post Grad Work Permit? I'm currently employed and can't afford to loose my job (and who can?).

Thanks a lot.

 

[Ponga]

Hello everyone and thank you very much for all your responses. I am the very, very happy husband-to-be of Carina.

Would someone be able to tell me if I can stay in the country with a Temporary Resident Visa while we wait for the response/acknowledgement of our sponsorship application? What I am trying to avoid is to stay here without a legal status. If it is possible, will my application for the TRV override my Post Grad Work Permit? I'm currently employed and can't afford to loose my job (and who can?).

Thanks a lot.

This has been a topic of much debate here...often heated debates that become quite intense!

If you submit an Inland application along with an Open Work Permit (form IMM 5710) before your current status expires, you will be able to legally remain in Canada for the entire process...as a visitor. The real issue is whether or not a person holding a PGWP can in fact continue to work before the OWP arrives. Since the PGWP is not an extendable type of work permit, the majority consensus has been that you cannot.

It would take ~ 4 months to receive your OWP (after the applications have been received by CIC) which will not help you, if your PGWP expires in 2 months.

Since an Outland application is probably the faster choice for you, you will still have a lengthy vacation if you wish to remain in Canada as a [legal] visitor, since as zardoz pointed out, the OWP is not available to an Outland applicant.

Staying in Canada, with legal status while you await your Pr approval, is probably fairly easy.

Continuing to work beyond Nov 11th...seems like an illusion. Your TRV will NOT give you authorization to work.

Good luck!

 

[gmzinny]

Thanks for your reply Ponga

Yes, I know that I won't be able to work legally after my PGWP expires but my priority now is to not leave the country. We still have couple questions:

1. Once I'm approved for the TRV will it override my work permit? Or it'll be just attached to my passport as a regular visa?
2. Do I have to mail my passport somewhere at any given point to get my TRV? Because if I needed for the sponsorship application, I need to calculate the time properly.
3. Once this TRV expires (I've been told the maximum duration is 6 months), can it be renewed?

 

[gmzinny]

BTW, are there any Venezuelan people who have gone through this? I don't think it would matter from where are you coming from but it'll be nice to know.

Thanks again.

 

[Luna21]

I would suggest an outland application for this. inland applications are going closer to 3 years at this rate, definitely close to 2 years for stage 1 by the time it reaches nov 2015. your (future) spouse will need a valid passport during the process. as far as i know, Venezuelans have to go back to renew the passport (i heard from an acquaintance that their govt were making it stupid hard to renew from outside). so definitely do check the passport renewal process in ottawa. however if he is needed to leave, apply for outland. even if he gets a work permit, it will be till the expiry of his passport. once he is out, he will have to apply for TRV and mention the PR application. That's going to be tough to get with a spouse in canada.

Right now they're processing passports really fast. I received mine in 1 month here in Montreal and that's like a miracle as per Venezuelan standards xD