Immigration to Canada of a non-Canadian mother of a Canadian minor

[prigas]

Hi,
My name is Paul. I am a Canadian citizen (by birth) living permanently in Greece the last 5 years and I am planning to move back to Canada with my non-Canadian wife (she is a Greek citizen) and our 1 year son (who is also a Canadian citizen as a first generation descendant of mine). I am currently applying for an academic position in Canada.
According to the guide for (family class) sponsorship information:
"If I live outside Canada, may I sponsor?
If you are a Canadian citizen, you may sponsor a spouse, a common-law partner or conjugal partner, or a dependent child who has no children of his or her own. However, you must demonstrate that you will live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident."
I would like to ask the following:
1) Does this mean that I can not apply to sponsor my wife unless I have first found a job in Canada?
2) Since the evaluation of a sponsorship application may take up to 15 months can I move to Canada even if the sponsorship evaluation process is not completed? For example if I am called in to take a job in September how can I take my family with me to Canada if I have applied to sponsor my wife in July?
3) Which rules apply for the immigration a non-Canadian mother of a Canadian infant? It seems as if my child and I can move to Canada but my wife (and mother of my son) upon whom my son totally depends can not. Is this correct?
Thank you in advance for your time and interest!
Paul

 

[zardoz]

Hi,
My name is Paul. I am a Canadian citizen (by birth) living permanently in Greece the last 5 years and I am planning to move back to Canada with my non-Canadian wife (she is a Greek citizen) and our 1 year son (who is also a Canadian citizen as a first generation descendant of mine). I am currently applying for an academic position in Canada.
According to the guide for (family class) sponsorship information:
"If I live outside Canada, may I sponsor?
If you are a Canadian citizen, you may sponsor a spouse, a common-law partner or conjugal partner, or a dependent child who has no children of his or her own. However, you must demonstrate that you will live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident."
I would like to ask the following:
1) Does this mean that I can not apply to sponsor my wife unless I have first found a job in Canada?
2) Since the evaluation of a sponsorship application may take up to 15 months can I move to Canada even if the sponsorship evaluation process is not completed? For example if I am called in to take a job in September how can I take my family with me to Canada if I have applied to sponsor my wife in July?
3) Which rules apply for the immigration a non-Canadian mother of a Canadian infant? It seems as if my child and I can move to Canada but my wife (and mother of my son) upon whom my son totally depends can not. Is this correct?
Thank you in advance for your time and interest!
Paul

1) No.
2) Yes, you can. Just let CIC know.
3) That's correct. You can take your child, as he is a Canadian citizen by descent. However, your wife is subject to normal immigration controls as a foreign national. Being the mother of a Canadian child gives zero extra benefits. Her entry to Canada is as a visitor by default, until her status is modified by either applying as a student, temporary worker or becoming a PR.

 

[Avadava]

What Zardoz said, plus some info from experience.

You don't have to have a job in Canada to be able to sponsor your wife, however you must show proof of your intentions to re-establish yourself in Canada(a job offer is one example, but is not limited to that). My husband (the sponsor) is living with me in Germany. We sent our application back in December. My husband has been working in Germany for the past 5 years and he has no intention of moving to Canada without me. We sent a letter detailing his plans of relocating to Canada (where we will stay, the job opportunities, etc.) My mother in law also wrote a letter for CIC saying that she will offer housing and financial support to both of us until we can be on our feet again. The letter was about 2 pages long and contained our thoughts, our reasons, our plans. We also have emails between us and family members talking about our intentions of moving to Canada. My husband's current employer knows about it too and he is willing to write a letter in that respect.

Just be honest with them. Not everyone can get a job offer while they still live outside Canada. And besides, not knowing when we will be able to move, has made it difficult for my husband to start applying for jobs there. We don't wish to be separated at all (him going there before me and look for a job).

My application is still in process, so can't guarantee you that this plan will be 100% successful. I just wanted to give you more ideas to work with now.

P.S. This is actually our Achilles heel. The rest of our application is pretty straight forward, genuine relationship which we are able to prove easily (have known each other since '99 and been married since 2009).

Good luck with everything!

 

[prigas]

Thank you Avadava and Zardoz for your helpful replies!

 

[BubbOZ]

Hi Paul...

Once your non-Canadian wife is in Canada, she can apply to extend her stay as a visitor.

Link to apply to extend visitor status: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

Hi,
My name is Paul. I am a Canadian citizen (by birth) living permanently in Greece the last 5 years and I am planning to move back to Canada with my non-Canadian wife (she is a Greek citizen) and our 1 year son (who is also a Canadian citizen as a first generation descendant of mine). I am currently applying for an academic position in Canada.
According to the guide for (family class) sponsorship information:
"If I live outside Canada, may I sponsor?
If you are a Canadian citizen, you may sponsor a spouse, a common-law partner or conjugal partner, or a dependent child who has no children of his or her own. However, you must demonstrate that you will live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident."
I would like to ask the following:
1) Does this mean that I can not apply to sponsor my wife unless I have first found a job in Canada?
2) Since the evaluation of a sponsorship application may take up to 15 months can I move to Canada even if the sponsorship evaluation process is not completed? For example if I am called in to take a job in September how can I take my family with me to Canada if I have applied to sponsor my wife in July?
3) Which rules apply for the immigration a non-Canadian mother of a Canadian infant? It seems as if my child and I can move to Canada but my wife (and mother of my son) upon whom my son totally depends can not. Is this correct?
Thank you in advance for your time and interest!
Paul