Situation is: My finance from Argentina has been accepted on a 6 month visitor visa to Canada. Should we consider applying for an inland application providing that we get legally married as soon as she gets into canada (me being a canadian citizen)? I noticed that Vegreville is only processing applications up until October 2009, with a 6-7mth processing time. Even with an extension, would there be any way that this option could be considered? Has anyone else had any luck with this type of inland spousal sponsorship?
Inland Application (spousal) with 6-mth Visitor Visa
- Thread starter lisow
- Start date
fallenstar831
Hero Member
- Nov 8, 2009
- 13
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- London
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 25-11-2009
- File Transfer...
- 22-12-2009
- Med's Done....
- 12-11-2009
- Passport Req..
- 02-05-2010
- VISA ISSUED...
- 02-22-2010
- LANDED..........
- 03-25-2010
If you apply inland, you should send along with the application a request for extension of visit status and a request to change status to open work permit upon first stage approval. That way, it's all tied together. If the first stage approval takes longer than 6 months, her visit status would be automatically extended and she would get her work permit right away at first stage approval rather than have to apply for it at that point and wait for it. If all goes well with the first stage approval, she can expect to have the PR in another 6-12 months after that.
For inland, it's is very important to have all your i's dotted and t's crossed. If they find any problem with your application and decide that they want an interview, she will not get a first stage approval in 6 months but instead will have to interview at your local CIC office where you live. Depending on their caseload, these interviews can take up to 3 years to get and in the meantime, she would have no work permit and no health care. Another downside to inland is that you are not advised to travel while it's in process. Any problem with her family and she has to go back, she risks not being let back in and losing her inland application.
If you decide to go outland instead, you can still request a visit visa extension. It would take 1-2 months to approve you as a sponsor and an average of 8 months in Argentina to get her PR. The downside is if they called her for an interview, she would have to go there.
For inland, it's is very important to have all your i's dotted and t's crossed. If they find any problem with your application and decide that they want an interview, she will not get a first stage approval in 6 months but instead will have to interview at your local CIC office where you live. Depending on their caseload, these interviews can take up to 3 years to get and in the meantime, she would have no work permit and no health care. Another downside to inland is that you are not advised to travel while it's in process. Any problem with her family and she has to go back, she risks not being let back in and losing her inland application.
If you decide to go outland instead, you can still request a visit visa extension. It would take 1-2 months to approve you as a sponsor and an average of 8 months in Argentina to get her PR. The downside is if they called her for an interview, she would have to go there.
That is great news! Couple of extra questions though...
Would she need a job offer in the first to get the 'open work permit' after first stage approval? Or would this just allow her to work anywhere after being obtained?
As well, in the case that an interview is requested and she does not get her first stage approval in 6 months, would she be staying illegally in Canada for up to 3 years? Or would this still be an extension of her visa (implied or otherwise)?
Thanks again for the help!
Would she need a job offer in the first to get the 'open work permit' after first stage approval? Or would this just allow her to work anywhere after being obtained?
As well, in the case that an interview is requested and she does not get her first stage approval in 6 months, would she be staying illegally in Canada for up to 3 years? Or would this still be an extension of her visa (implied or otherwise)?
Thanks again for the help!
An open work permit does not require a job offer. She would be able to work anywhere.lisow said:
If an interview is requested, she would not be staying illegally in Canada. You would have already applied for her visit visa extension tied in with the sponsorship application. I do not actually know if they give a visit visa extension for an unlimited time until your application is done but if they do not, you just need to keep applying for extensions until she is approved.
Many thanks again for the information! One more question:
Would a lawyer be recommended in either the inland/out-of-land processing cases? I am currently looking for one, but as I haven't filled out the forms, I'm not sure of the extent to which I would need a lawyer?
Would a lawyer be recommended in either the inland/out-of-land processing cases? I am currently looking for one, but as I haven't filled out the forms, I'm not sure of the extent to which I would need a lawyer?
A lawyer will make sure you get all the forms right if he's good but you can do that yourself if you are willing to spend a bit of time reading over the instructions. Unless you have some complicated circumstances, you don't really need a lawyer.