For those of you who now have PR, how long did it take?

[mathilde]

I have a few questions about the processing times for PR, both Inland and Outland. I am a US citizen dating a Canadian long-distance. Anyway, on to the good stuff. I'm just curious how long Inland and Outland have taken for those of you who have completed the PR process or those of you who are in the process?

Also, how long does it take to get an Open Work Permit after you have sent in your application for PR (assuming you apply for an OWP with your application)? When I apply in future, I want to make absolutely sure I have a strong application that they can't question without a good bit of difficulty. But I worry about the delays, and I don't know how many months I could go without working.

Thanks for your help.

 

[OhCanadiana]

I have a few questions about the processing times for PR, both Inland and Outland. I am a US citizen dating a Canadian long-distance. Anyway, on to the good stuff. I'm just curious how long Inland and Outland have taken for those of you who have completed the PR process or those of you who are in the process?

Also, how long does it take to get an Open Work Permit after you have sent in your application for PR (assuming you apply for an OWP with your application)? When I apply in future, I want to make absolutely sure I have a strong application that they can't question without a good bit of difficulty. But I worry about the delays, and I don't know how many months I could go without working.

Thanks for your help.

As a US citizen, it tends to be faster to apply outland. You can check the timing at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

 

[mathilde]

As a US citizen, it tends to be faster to apply outland. You can check the timing at [CIC Link removed - Visa Processing Times].

I've looked at it, but I was hoping for some personal experiences, in any case. Does the 12 months for Buffalo include the 81 days for Sponsor approval? Could my boyfriend apply as a sponsor before we file as common-law? (We would, hypothetically, live together for 12 months before filing our Family Class PR application. Didn't know if he could go ahead and apply as a Sponsor before that to speed up the process.)

Plus, I'm sort of terrified of spending a year not working. I'd heard you could get an Open Work Permit if you apply inland, but I suppose if it takes a year to get the Open Work Permit anyway, it might be worth it to just apply outland... lol. (And as much as it'd suck, it'd give me the option to move back to the States if I really, really needed to make money. :/)

 

[scylla]

Most people get through Buffalo a lot faster than the posted processing times. My husband's processing was complete in four months a few years ago (Mississauga + Buffalo processing). The posted processing times represent how long it took the VO to complete processing for 80% of applications. It's not an average.

No - your husband cannot apply as a sponsor before you file as common-law. You must submit the entire application package together or it will be returned as incomplete.

Yes - it will take about 11 months to obtain an open work permit after you apply inland.

If you're American, outland is really the way to go.

 

[OhCanadiana]

I've looked at it, but I was hoping for some personal experiences, in any case. Does the 12 months for Buffalo include the 81 days for Sponsor approval?

No. From the CIC website:
"There are two steps in processing family sponsorship applications. In order to know the total approximate time it may take for your application to be processed, ADD the time in step 1 to the time in step 2 (the two steps are consecutive)."
So, you need to add the 91 days it is currently taking for step 1 on CIC's website to however long CPC-O takes (nobody really knows yet since not enough time has passed for CPC-O to fully process applications) for step 2.

Since you mention Buffalo, it's also worth considering that the timing reported on the CIC timing site is for 80% of the applications. Some are faster than that - so for 2011, 20% of cases completed by the Buffalo Regional Processing Centre were completed within 4 months, 30% in 5 mo., 50% in 7 mo., 70% in 9 mo., and 80% in 11 mo.

I summarized the 2011 data for various visa offices in this post.

Could my boyfriend apply as a sponsor before we file as common-law? (We would, hypothetically, live together for 12 months before filing our Family Class PR application. Didn't know if he could go ahead and apply as a Sponsor before that to speed up the process.)

To be eligible as a sponsor he needs to have been in a common-law relationship for at least a year. So, his sponsorship wouldn't be approved until after you've completed the year of being in a common-law relationship. Also note that you need to submit your application as PR to CPC-M at the same time as he submits his to sponsor you. While they are separate applications, they are connected

Plus, I'm sort of terrified of spending a year not working. I'd heard you could get an Open Work Permit if you apply inland, but I suppose if it takes a year to get the Open Work Permit anyway, it might be worth it to just apply outland... lol. (And as much as it'd suck, it'd give me the option to move back to the States if I really, really needed to make money. :/)

Outland is usually a better option for US applicants since it's faster, you retain the ability to travel out of Canada without being concerned about whether you can make it back in, you retain appeal rights, etc.

If you want to work, you could get a work permit either through a job with an LMO supporting their need to hire non-Canadians and, depending on your profession, you may also be able to consider a NAFTA visa.

 

[simb]

No. From the CIC website:
"There are two steps in processing family sponsorship applications. In order to know the total approximate time it may take for your application to be processed, ADD the time in step 1 to the time in step 2 (the two steps are consecutive)."
So, you need to add the 91 days it is currently taking for step 1 on CIC's website to however long CPC-O takes (nobody really knows yet since not enough time has passed for CPC-O to fully process applications) for step 2.

Its 91 days at the moment
and buffalo timings 12 months. so its like 12months plus 91days
its not like 12 months including 91 days.
because 91 days are for the sponsor. to check is he eligible to sponsor or not and then comes the turn of the applicant. even we applied outland. i feel that is faster.. but both the outland and inland has its pros and cons

 

[padgett]

I was approved in 5 months. I mailed the package on January 4th and was approved on June 4th. Serious wow! My file was transferred to Seattle...it was only in Buffalo for a few weeks. Seattle definitely seems to be the quickest visa office.

 

[mathilde]

I was approved in 5 months. I mailed the package on January 4th and was approved on June 4th. Serious wow! My file was transferred to Seattle...it was only in Buffalo for a few weeks. Seattle definitely seems to be the quickest visa office.

Yeah, when we apply, we will have a pretty straight forward case. No kids, no past marriages/divorces, lots of pictures together and with friends/family, chat logs, text messages, etc. And if I end up going up there for a 12-month work holiday, we will hopefully join finances somehow (joint bank account and so on). Also, neither of us have a criminal record. We're pretty straight-laced folks.

Thanks for your responses, everyone! I guess I'm just slightly amazed that it only took some of you 4 months. That seems unreal! But I guess it all depends on the case, the organization of documents (maybe) and the evidence presented.

 

[KJG]

Yeah, when we apply, we will have a pretty straight forward case. No kids, no past marriages/divorces, lots of pictures together and with friends/family, chat logs, text messages, etc. And if I end up going up there for a 12-month work holiday, we will hopefully join finances somehow (joint bank account and so on). Also, neither of us have a criminal record. We're pretty straight-laced folks.

Thanks for your responses, everyone! I guess I'm just slightly amazed that it only took some of you 4 months. That seems unreal! But I guess it all depends on the case, the organization of documents (maybe) and the evidence presented.

that is some of it....the rest is how good your agent is who is handling your case!!!!!