In-land Spousal Sponsorship

[Gemini13]

Hi everyone! I have a lot of questions! But first, here's my story:

I met my husband a few years ago and got married in March, 2008. He came to Canada as an Intertional university student in 2001. After graduation, he applied for Immigration but was refused (that was back in 2006/2007). His Visa was said to be expired on May 25, 2008.

After we got married, I sponsored him. I was a full-time student then but now I'm part-time. I work and my parents also support us whenever needed. We've mentioned this fact along with all other necessary informations.

Now my questions:

1 A. Is there anyway they may raise questions about the validity of our marriage because it took place in March and his visa was (co-incidently!) to be expired in May?!

B). Will they care that my student status has been changed?

2 A). Does the income of the sponsor (Me) matter in the case of in-land spousal sponsorship?

B) Just how much does it matter?

3. Is there a backgfound/criminal check for the sponsor? I have never been charged with anything therefore don't have any records but there has been an incident which I paid a fine for and the matter has since been settled. Will that bit of history pose a threat? (I hope not!)

4. What are some of the key things they look for before making a decision?

5. Just how long DOES it take for everything to work out? (it says they received our application in Nov. '08 and started the work in Dec.) The wait is driving both of us insane. I worry about it everyday while juggling 10 thousand other things!!

 

[Leon]

1A It's possible but if you had otherwise good info about your relationship, it shouldn't be a problem
1B No
2A No
2B Not at all
3 Shouldn't be a problem
4 Most important if they think it's a legitimate relationship as long as neither of you is a criminal etc.
5 Did you not send your application in until november? I thought you were married in march? What did you do for 10 months???

The first stage approval for inland right now is said to be taking 6-7 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#perm_res and that is when he should be getting his open work permit if you applied for one.

If you actually sent the application in March, then I have no idea why they would not start working on it until November. Is it possible that you were transferred to the local office without first stage approval? If you did, that means that they had some problem with your application and you would need to talk to the local office about how long it takes. Depends on how busy they are.

 

[Gemini13]

Thanks for shedding some light on this.

Well, we didn't send in the application on March '08 but we did send it way before November (after officially moving in together late May of the same year).

As it is with most cases, they needed a lots of info (tons of documents, proof of his whereabouts from 2003-present, etc) and we had to get some stuff from back home. So it took a little time and since I'm a student, we had to arrange the application+lawyer fees which is not that cheap! Arranging everything does take some time while juggling a thousand things.

Last time we heard from them were sometime in late Feb '09 because they needed another document.
Everytime we log in to check the status on the webpage it says the following:

"We received your application for permanent residence on November 17, 2008.

We started processing your application on December 16, 2008.

We received the requested information on March 4, 2009. Thank you for providing the information."

The lengthy process is driving me crazy!

 

[Gemini13]

Oh and I forgot - His work permit application got rejected (The letter came in sometime in late '08).

 

[Leon]

Did you send in the work permit with the application package and mark it as "asking for work permit to be issued at first stage approval"? Because they should not have rejected it right away. Normally with inland, it takes 6-7 months to get first stage approval at which time he'd qualify for an open work permit.