German fiance getting married in Canada

[ginsengsamurai]

Hi...
My fiance is currently living in Germany. She is a citizen there. I was born in Canada and is a Canadian citizen of course. We plan to get married in April or May 2013 here in Metro Vancouver.

I am aware that she can come here on a Tourist Visa and we can get married through the proper channels. I am also aware that 1-2 months before her Tourist Visa expires, I can apply for an Extension to that.

My question: after we get married, does she need to go back to Germany to get her permanent residence here or can she stay here with me and apply for her permanent residence?

Also, is there anything else I need for her to get her PR?

 

[Leon]

You need to fill out loads of forms and send them in. It doesn't matter if she is visiting when you apply.

 

[ginsengsamurai]

You need to fill out loads of forms and send them in. It doesn't matter if she is visiting when you apply.

Yes I know there will be forms to fill out, but my question was:

After we get married, does she need to go back to Germany to get her permanent residence here or can she stay here with me and apply for her permanent residence?

 

[Leon]

Yes I know there will be forms to fill out, but my question was:

After we get married, does she need to go back to Germany to get her permanent residence here or can she stay here with me and apply for her permanent residence?

And my reply was:

It doesn't matter if she is visiting when you apply.

 

[ginsengsamurai]

Forgive me if I sound really dumb and thick, but just to clarify, that means when she applies and eventually gets accepted, she can continue her stay here as my wife and not need to go back to Germany, then come by to Canada to make it 'official' right?

The reason I ask the question this way is because I heard that if otherwise she is not my wife and only a girlfriend or just a friend, then she will need to leave the country and come back.

 

[Leon]

She would not automatically get her visitor status extended just because you get married. She still has to apply for an extension if she wants to stay longer than 6 months. Being married and in the process of applying for sponsorship would give her better grounds to apply for the extension though.

 

[ginsengsamurai]

Alright thank you.

 

[hopetoland]

Hi, she doesn't have to leave Canada, you would have to apply INLAND.

I guess this is what you needed to know?

Good Luck

 

[Leon]

You don't have to apply inland in order to stay in Canada. You can also apply outland and ask for a visitor status extension after 6 months or just skip out and come back.

Currently, the outland processing time is 66 days in Mississauga, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp and Vienna is done with 80% of the cases by 9 months so they shouldn't be looking at more than 11 months for her to get her PR which means she would only have to extend her visitor status one time.

At the same time, inland has 11 months just for first stage approval and after that another 8 months to get the PR. Sure she can get an open work permit after the first stage approval as well as health care so it is almost as good as getting PR but the big difference is that for inland, she must stay in Canada. If something happens during the 11 months that makes it difficult for her to stay in Canada, say they have money problems and she returns to Germany to work or she has a family emergency and must go home to sort things out for a couple of months, if immigration finds out that she is no longer residing in Germany, they will cancel the inland.