Good day everyone! I have just landed and decided to give an update of events leading up to landing. Hope information is helpful to others who find themselves in similar peculiar circumstances.
VO: Accra
NOC 3112
Application sent on 12th July, 2014
Application received date 16th July, 2014
CC charged 1st November, 2014.
PER received! local time: 15:10, 11/11/2014
Received mail and medical forms (18th May 2015). I was asked to provide
1. Updated police clearance certificate
2. Right of permanent residence fee
3. Medical examination within 30 days.
I wrote back to the Canadian Embassy to inform them of my desire to add my wife to application at this stage. I got married on the 25th of April 2015. I had sent CSE asking procedure to update my application but hadn’t received a response when my request for medicals arrived.
I got a reply on the 27th of May, 2015 requesting for spouse documents as shown below.
* An Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008] for you.
* Updated the Schedule A: Background/Declaration [IMM 0008 SCHEDULE A] for you and your spouse respectively
* Updated Additional Family Information form [IMM 5406] for you and your spouse respectively.
* Payment of the Application for Permanent Residence Fee for your spouse if he/she is accompanying.
* Copy of State issued birth certificate for your spouse. Please note that hospital birth certificates will not be accepted
* 4 passport-sized photos for your spouse, as per the photo specifications found in Appendix C of the visa office specific instructions.
* Copy of the biographical page from valid passport for your spouse.
* Copy of your marriage certificate and divorce certificate (if applicable)
* Police certificates from your spouse’s country of residence, and for every country in which your spouse resided for 6 months or more since he/ she turned 18 years. These must include the fingerprints page used to obtain the police certificates, if applicable.
Documents Sent, 2nd June 2015
11th June, Request for Wife’s medicals
11th June, Second line of ECAS updated
12th June Wife’s medicals sent.
Then on the 30th of June, I received an email which stated that my marriage was suspected to be an arranged one…..........with information on the criminality of such an act and fines and bans that could be imposed. I was given 30 days to respond.
They raised a lot of issues which were genuine. My wife had been refused FSWP once already, she had two ineligible Express entry applications, and to make matters worse, she had used my residential address in her first FSWP. They questioned how this could be possible since we never stated being in a common law union prior to our marriage. What I learnt is that, you need to be very careful with all the information you provide at every stage. Be honest with everything even if you don’t see how it will matter or be relevant.
I sent detailed information, letters, and affidavits from parents, family and friends, over 100 pictures spanning our four year relationship, engagement, wedding honeymoon etc. I sent a package which weighted 2kg to the Canadian High Commission in Accra, Ghana.
We finally received our PR Visas and COPD on the 13th of August, 2015. This was just in time for my travel to the USA as a student on the 20th of August, 2015.
Landing Date, 9th of October, 2015
Yesterday, I travelled from Boston to Toronto via Montreal! I was processed fully at Montreal and just walked out of Toronto Pearson International Airport. I just waited for my wife outside of Toronto Pearson International Airport. She arrived an hour later from Accra to Toronto via London Heathrow.
Landing was a piece of cake for both of us. Very few questions were asked, just passports and COPD taken. Both officers in Montreal and Toronto were very helpful and nice! They welcomed us and gave brochures and leaflets on how to settle in Canada. It was a pleasant experience. My wife had her phone charged by the officer in Toronto to assist her retrieve our Canadian address. We had a wrong postcode so I just corrected the address via CIC website as directed by the officials at airport.
Strange thing that happened, my wife left her copy of COPR with the immigration officer erroneously; I detected it when I met her outside the airport. I immediately tried to contact immigration. They had dispatched it immediately they also noticed it to a wrong Canadian address we had supplied. They made a certified true copy of the version with her passport picture and arranged to have an official do our SIN right there at the airport. This is so unusual. I will call this my landing gift from God.
I am heading back to Boston tomorrow. My wife will stay in Toronto for a while and move to Alberta. Oh, and my wife is 5 months pregnant. No problems with that. Our COPD had intended landing at Edmonton, Alberta. We had no issues with that as well. Wish everyone well.
