Getting married in Korea entering Canada to apply inland

[storm43]

Hello,

I (currently in Canada) and my fiancee (currently residing in Korea) are getting married in South Korea this summer and we will come back to Canada to apply inland spousal sporsorship.

She previously visited Canada this past winter and I am not sure if it is wise for us to be honest (telling that we will be applying for PR with paper proofs i.e. marriage license) when entering Canada.

She would come here to live while waiting for inland application but tourist visa is only applicable for tourists only from my understanding. I've heard contrasting recommendations where some people suggests telling the truth while others suggest she says she is only visiting.

Has anyone experienced the similar issue?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Sean

 

[Kayaker]

Hi, just wondering - is there any reason she wants to wait 2 and a half years for PR (Inland) instead of less than a year (Outland)?

I believe Koreans are visa-exempt, therefore she can come "visit" you in Canada after she applies for PR Outland. She can stay for 6 months, then apply online to extend her status if her PR is not done by then.

Most Koreans and Japanese applicants get their PR within a year, unless there are documents or signatures missing, outdated forms, expired documents, criminal history and other complicated issues.

As for CBSA, I would suggest bringing all your documents with you (marriage certificate, receipt of the fees for PR application, etc.) and answer all questions honestly. Just do not use the word "live" or "move" because she cannot do that. Use the word "visit" even if it's a year-long visit and it feels like moving. Also, it's usually not necessary to provide extra information unless asked. For example, you wouldn't show them all your documents (proofs of applying for PR, marriage certificate) unless asked. Sometimes they ask very few questions, stamp your passport and send you on your way. In that case, there's no point in stopping the immigration officer to tell them about your PR application. Or, you might be sent to secondary and they want to take a good long look at all your documents and luggage. It's up to luck. It's usually a good idea to have a return ticket. You could get a refundable one. Also bring proof of funds for stay (bank statements), so that they know you will not need to work illegally to support yourself.

Hello,

I (currently in Canada) and my fiancee (currently residing in Korea) are getting married in South Korea this summer and we will come back to Canada to apply inland spousal sporsorship.

She previously visited Canada this past winter and I am not sure if it is wise for us to be honest (telling that we will be applying for PR with paper proofs i.e. marriage license) when entering Canada.

She would come here to live while waiting for inland application but tourist visa is only applicable for tourists only from my understanding. I've heard contrasting recommendations where some people suggests telling the truth while others suggest she says she is only visiting.

Has anyone experienced the similar issue?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Sean

 

[storm43]

Thanks for your input.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought the process time was 17+ months for outland applications as they are processed in Manila office.

Also, she is planning to go to college for 2 years and work if time allows which requires work permit.

 

[Kayaker]

Yes, the processing time indicates that it takes 17+ months for 20% of applicants.

Think of it this way - do you think your application is in the worst 20% or not? Factors that would make you the worst 20% would be ones I mentioned before, such as criminal history and applications with missing documents, etc. Other reasons for taking 17+ months would be having previous trouble with immigration (such as immigration fraud in Canada or any other country, deportations, exclusion order from Canada) and suspicion of marriage of convenience. If a couple meet online and get married the first time they see each other in real life, it may be seen as a marriage of convenience. If there is an age gap big enough that you could be her father or grandfather, they might suspect she has ulterior motives in marrying you. If you dated normally (for a few months at least) and got married normally and you have proof such as photos together from various times and photos with each other's friends and family, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

Also, generally speaking, Japanese and Korean citizens applying through Manila have faster processing times than other countries. There are probably fewer cases of immigration fraud by Koreans, therefore there is less scrutiny.

If she is going to college for 2 years anyway, she can apply for and get a student visa. She can apply Outland for PR and apply for a student visa at the same time. She can come to Canada to visit you, or to study here on a student visa. When she gets PR in a few months, she can change her student from "visitor" or "student" to "Permanent Resident" by leaving and re-entering Canada. (Most people do it at the US border.)

You could find the thread for Korean applicants (I think it was called "sponsoring my Korean wife for PR" or something like that) and ask people there how long their outland application took. I'm a Japanese citizen and I applied last year; it took me 8 months including stage 1 (sponsorship approval). Some people got it earlier, some later, but I think most Japanese and Korean applicants finish within a year.

Thanks for your input.

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought the process time was 17+ months for outland applications as they are processed in Manila office.

Also, she is planning to go to college for 2 years and work if time allows which requires work permit.

 

[floomy]

I agreed with Kayaker.

1. she can apply student permit( would not be hard if she has solid financial proof, of course she need a letter from school etc)
I am not sure how long it would take now , but when I applied my student permit in S. korea, it took only a month or less (almost 10 years ago though). you are getting married in summer and school usually start on Sept. or end of Aug. so she would have enough time to apply student permit (it is a piece of paper frm embassy then you show the paper to CBSA with a letter from school, then they give actual student permit.) if the letter from school show that she register 2 year course, she could get 2 year student permit .



2.she comes to Canada as visitor (not student permit)
If I am not wrong, she can register English school (private, not university or college english class) and take class up to 6 month with visitor visa.
or if she goes to college ,after she finish 2 full time semester(not sure about how long she has to be full time student) ,
she could apply Off -Campus work permit, then she can work part time during the semester and full time on summer break.


3.I would recommend to be honest with CBSA - tell him/her, you got married in S. korea and VISIT Canada with you and plan or applied PR already (bring tracking no. frm carrier or post office)
then she will get easily 6 month or more then renew another a year (thats what I did, applied outland and waiting for in Canada).

4.it has been long time I finished my school, so information about student / off campus work permit might be changed.
I recommend to look up on CIC website.

hope it helps.

 

[storm43]

Thanks for the input.

I guess the only real downside of Outland application compared with Inland would be

1. no work permit for about a year
2. need to re-enter Canada to update status
3. potential interview request (to Seoul)


Great! I will potentially save 1.5 years of wait time with your help! Now time to start going through the Korean thread. ???

 

[floomy]

2. no need to re-enter Canada to get new visitor visa . she can easily apply to renew visitor status online, she would get another year (I renewed my visitor visa and received another year without any problem)

3. rare possibility to request interview unless visa officer questions about your relationship (ex. marriage fraud).

 

[Kayaker]

2. no need to re-enter Canada to get new visitor visa . she can easily apply to renew visitor status online, she would get another year (I renewed my visitor visa and received another year without any problem)

3. rare possibility to request interview unless visa officer questions about your relationship (ex. marriage fraud).

1. No work permit for 8 to 12 months, in my opinion, is better than having OWP after 4+ months then being stuck in Canada waiting for 2 to 3 years. You know that most Inland applicants don't leave Canada until they get PR because they don't want to jeopardize their application.

2. She does need to re-enter Canada, to change status from visitor or student to PR. But if you live anywhere near the US border, that's easy to do. Or perhaps after a few months she'll want to visit family and friends back in Korea. Or go on vacation.

3. Agree, interview requests seem to be very very rare. There's a spreadsheet that tracks Manila VO applications and I've seen extremely few interview requests. (People update their timeline, whether they've been asked for additional requests or not, whether they were requested an interview or not, etc.)