I'm Canadian. Have Korean wife. Live in US, moving back to Canada

[wyjsong]

Hi guys,

I'm a Canadian (and US permanent resident) living in Southern California and just got a job offer to move back to Toronto. I met my wife here in US, and we've been married a little over 2 years. She's a Korean citizen, with US permanent residency.
I don't even know where to begin since I just got the job offer, but I guess the most important question is:
*How long does the sponsorship process take?
I need to know this in order to plan ahead, sell my house, and pick a start date, plane tickets, etc.

Any help would be much much much appreciated!

Cheers,
Will

 

[keesio]

Since your wife is a US resident, outland application would be best - especially since you will not move right away to Canada. So I assume her visa office would be Ottawa (used for Americans and US residents applying outland). If you send in a good, complete application with no issues, It should be less than a year, and as little as 7 months. That is how long it took to sponsor my US wife.

 

[canadianwoman]

It could take up to a year, maybe less since you would have a lot of relationship evidence and so she might not need an interview.
She is South Korean, so can enter Canada without a visa. So you could apply for her PR, then move up to Canada, and she could accompany you as a visitor. Visitors usually get 6 months, and she can apply to extend that. This just means you do not have to worry so much about the timing, since she will be able to stay in Canada while waiting for the processing. Note though that at the border she has to be clear that she is just visiting Canada and is not moving there.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hi guys,

I'm a Canadian (and US permanent resident) living in Southern California and just got a job offer to move back to Toronto. I met my wife here in US, and we've been married a little over 2 years. She's a Korean citizen, with US permanent residency.
I don't even know where to begin since I just got the job offer, but I guess the most important question is:
*How long does the sponsorship process take?
I need to know this in order to plan ahead, sell my house, and pick a start date, plane tickets, etc.

Any help would be much much much appreciated!

Cheers,
Will

As mentioned, apply "outland" through the CPP-Ottawa visa office (that processes US resident's PR apps). Outland application package is here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

Note that it will take you a while to complete the application. Budget around a month. She'll need US FBI police report, and if she's lived in Korea at all since age 18 she'll need a Korean police report. As well there are a few other Korean government docs she'll need to get.

 

[wyjsong]

Thank you so much for quick replies!
Another quick question.. Is it possible for her to look for a job as a visitor in Canada? She's a professional accountant, so I imagine it shouldn't be too difficult, as long as it's legal to do so.. Idea of that is that then she can get a work visa while we wait for her PR? Maybe I'm breaking a law(s)?
Cheers,
Will

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much for quick replies!
Another quick question.. Is it possible for her to look for a job as a visitor in Canada? She's a professional accountant, so I imagine it shouldn't be too difficult, as long as it's legal to do so.. Idea of that is that then she can get a work visa while we wait for her PR? Maybe I'm breaking a law(s)?
Cheers,
Will

As a Korean citizen, she needs a work permit to work in Canada (I don't think American PRs qualify for NAFTA in terms of work but not sure here).

So she'll either need to find an employer willing to go through the Labour Market Option (LMO) process to get her a closed-work permit, or will need to see if she qualifies (as a Korean citizen or an American PR) for any working holiday/IEC etc type open work permits.

If none of this is possible, then she'll have to wait until she gets her PR approved before being legally allowed to work.

 

[Ponga]

Or...If the OP needs to move sooner than later, couldn't he and his wife come to Canada (her as a visitor), then apply Inland with an OWP application? While it will delay the processing time for her PR, she could potentially have the OWP in ~11 months time, albeit without her PR which could be another year (+/-). Is it even possible for an outland applicant to receive an OWP?

If she doesn't need to leave Canada during the process (not at all advised for an Inland application), would this be a viable option to enable her to work as soon as possible?

 

[keesio]

Thank you so much for quick replies!
Another quick question.. Is it possible for her to look for a job as a visitor in Canada? She's a professional accountant, so I imagine it shouldn't be too difficult, as long as it's legal to do so.. Idea of that is that then she can get a work visa while we wait for her PR? Maybe I'm breaking a law(s)?
Cheers,
Will

In addition to Rob's comments, she may also have to get licensed in the province you plan on moving to to be able to work in her field. I don't know too much about accounting but my wife is going through this pain to work as a health care professional.

 

[wyjsong]

Great. Thank you so much guys!!
Will

 

[Rob_TO]

Or...If the OP needs to move sooner than later, couldn't he and his wife come to Canada (her as a visitor), then apply Inland with an OWP application? While it will delay the processing time for her PR, she could potentially have the OWP in ~11 months time, albeit without her PR which could be another year (+/-). Is it even possible for an outland applicant to receive an OWP?

If she doesn't need to leave Canada during the process (not at all advised for an Inland application), would this be a viable option to enable her to work as soon as possible?

I don't see why they would consider Inland, as current processing times for outland apps through the CPP-Ottawa office based on people's current experiences in the CPP-Ottawa thread, is in the 8-10 month range... so you can hope for full PR approval in quicker than it would take waiting for just stage 1 of inland.