Inland Application with Visitor Visa

[Dannyboye65]

I am Canadian, born and raised. My girlfriend is Vietnamese. I just visited her and now she wants to visit me, to see if she would like to live here.
If we marry during her visit here, can she stay while the sponsorship process is ongoing? Does she need to keep applying for visit visa extensions? How does this work? Somebody help.

 

[Line.a]

I am Canadian, born and raised. My girlfriend is Vietnamese. I just visited her and now she wants to visit me, to see if she would like to live here.
If we marry during her visit here, can she stay while the sponsorship process is ongoing? Does she need to keep applying for visit visa extensions? How does this work? Somebody help.

Yes once you have proof of marriage certificate you'd be able to apply inland. It's going to be sent to Vegreville. You'd need to either extend her stay as a visitor when it runs out or include an open work permit along with the PR application. Inland is a long wait however we are looking at 14-16 months. In some cases shorter or longer.

 

[Line.a]

If you do include an open work permit I believe she'll be on implied status. The OWP won't be processed until around 6-10 months into the process.

 

[Dannyboye65]

Thanks, But the marriage certificate and sponsorship application does not mean she is automatically allow to stay and wait? If she applies for visit extension but does not receive it before visa is up does she have to leave?

 

[screech339]

Thanks, But the marriage certificate and sponsorship application does not mean she is automatically allow to stay and wait? If she applies for visit extension but does not receive it before visa is up does she have to leave?

If she came on a visitor visa and got married in canada. She would be on implied visitor status when they received her application until sponsorship is completed. She doesn't need to extend her visitor visa but it is a good idea to extend. You can submit a OWP application with sponsorship same time or include a visitors visa extension. I included a visitor visa extension in with the application and if you do the visitor extension route, ask for a year extension.

Screech339

 

[Dannyboye65]

Thanks Screech, this is exactly what I was looking for.
It's unreal how difficult it is to get a straight answer. Much appreciated

 

[Line.a]

If she came on a visitor visa and got married in canada. She would be on implied visitor status when they received her application until sponsorship is completed. She doesn't need to extend her visitor visa but it is a good idea to extend. You can submit a OWP application with sponsorship same time or include a visitors visa extension. I included a visitor visa extension in with the application and if you do the visitor extension route, ask for a year extension.

Screech339

I did extend my stay as a visitor just to be on the safe side when we mailed our PR app. It runs out in a few days which I found pretty peculiar since its only about 4 months I was given. I have a pending OWP so I don't need to extend, right? They are money cows.

 

[Alurra71]

I did extend my stay as a visitor just to be on the safe side when we mailed our PR app. It runs out in a few days which I found pretty peculiar since its only about 4 months I was given. I have a pending OWP so I don't need to extend, right? They are money cows.

I live close to a border, so when my Visitor Record was due to expire, Hubby and I went directly to the immigration office located there at the crossing, went it, and told them that I was checking in to leave the country per my Visitor Record. They looked at our paperwork for the sponsorship that we had turned in and then issued me a new Visitor Record good for a year, and the best part, no cost was incurred.

I would LOVE to know how it is, if you live close to a border, you can walk into an office and get this record essentially for 'free' whereas if we would have done this online to extend my stay it would have cost $75 ...

Anyway, that is my story for the evening....

 

[Sweden]

Thanks, But the marriage certificate and sponsorship application does not mean she is automatically allow to stay and wait? If she applies for visit extension but does not receive it before visa is up does she have to leave?

Being married to a Canadian doesn't give her any rights to stay. It gives you the possibility to apply for sponsorship, but that's it.
If you send an INLAND application before her visa expires, and include an OWP, then yes, she has implied status and is allowed to stay. Be aware that if you choose an INLAND application, she is not allowed to leave Canada, even for family emergency etc. If she leaves Canada and is denied entry on the way back, her application will be deemed abandoned and you will have to start all over again, outland this time.

If you send an OUTLAND application ( possible even if she is in Canada at the time of application), then there is no implied status. She will need to keep on extending her visitor status. The visitor visa should be extended 1 month before it expires. If you don't get the answer before the visa expires, but have applied for an extension, she is allowed to stay until she gets the answer about her extension.

Sweden

 

[Sweden]

I live close to a border, so when my Visitor Record was due to expire, Hubby and I went directly to the immigration office located there at the crossing, went it, and told them that I was checking in to leave the country per my Visitor Record. They looked at our paperwork for the sponsorship that we had turned in and then issued me a new Visitor Record good for a year, and the best part, no cost was incurred.

I would LOVE to know how it is, if you live close to a border, you can walk into an office and get this record essentially for 'free' whereas if we would have done this online to extend my stay it would have cost $75 ...

Anyway, that is my story for the evening....

it's a different procedure. You can go in and out because I suppose that you're a US citizen, hence visa exempt for Canada. As such, you can leave the country, and re-enter, which resets the counter to zero - and you're good for another 6 months, or another year, depending on what you get at the border.

If you're not from a non-visa-exempt country, that's not a possibility at all. The only way to be allowed to stay in Canada is to apply for an extension of the current visa - that's the online procedure with a $75 cost. The online procedure is accessible to everybody :visa-exempt, not visa-exempt, living close to the US border, or not ( if you live far from the border, it would cost you way more than $75 to drive there...).

Sweden

 

[Line.a]

it's a different procedure. You can go in and out because I suppose that you're a US citizen, hence visa exempt for Canada. As such, you can leave the country, and re-enter, which resets the counter to zero - and you're good for another 6 months, or another year, depending on what you get at the border.

If you're not from a non-visa-exempt country, that's not a possibility at all. The only way to be allowed to stay in Canada is to apply for an extension of the current visa - that's the online procedure with a $75 cost. The online procedure is accessible to everybody :visa-exempt, not visa-exempt, living close to the US border, or not ( if you live far from the border, it would cost you way more than $75 to drive there...).

Sweden

But we sent an inland app with an OWP along - so from what I understand is that I am on implied status whether or not my current visa extension runs out on the 9th this month, right?

 

[Line.a]

Ow never mind I saw your post!

 

[Line.a]

I live close to a border, so when my Visitor Record was due to expire, Hubby and I went directly to the immigration office located there at the crossing, went it, and told them that I was checking in to leave the country per my Visitor Record. They looked at our paperwork for the sponsorship that we had turned in and then issued me a new Visitor Record good for a year, and the best part, no cost was incurred.

I would LOVE to know how it is, if you live close to a border, you can walk into an office and get this record essentially for 'free' whereas if we would have done this online to extend my stay it would have cost $75 ...

Anyway, that is my story for the evening....

Woah I wish I could do it that easily. Its like going home and back again I'm guessing. I need a visa in order to go to the states since I'm from Denmark. I did show up without one to flagpole. Scary stuff lol! We live just outside Calgary so I'm guessing it takes a couple hours to reach the Montana sweetgrass border

 

[Sweden]

Woah I wish I could do it that easily. Its like going home and back again I'm guessing. I need a visa in order to go to the states since I'm from Denmark. I did show up without one to flagpole. Scary stuff lol! We live just outside Calgary so I'm guessing it takes a couple hours to reach the Montana sweetgrass border

you don't need a visa to go to the US, and you can do the same. Denmark is visa-exempt for the US and Canada ( http://denmark.usembassy.gov/visa/nonimmigrantvisa/visawaiverprogram.html). You could have done that to extend your visa. You always take a risk (as any visa-exempt applicant, entry is not guaranteed to Canada unless you're Canadian or PR), but since you're visa-exempt for both countries, and you have an application in process, the risk of being denied re-entry is quite low.
But now that you have an inland application on-going, you should not attempt to leave Canada until the process is over.
Sweden

 

[Line.a]

you don't need a visa to go to the US, and you can do the same. Denmark is visa-exempt for the US and Canada ( http://denmark.usembassy.gov/visa/nonimmigrantvisa/visawaiverprogram.html). You could have done that to extend your visa. You always take a risk (as any visa-exempt applicant, entry is not guaranteed to Canada unless you're Canadian or PR), but since you're visa-exempt for both countries, and you have an application in process, the risk of being denied re-entry is quite low.
But now that you have an inland application on-going, you should not attempt to leave Canada until the process is over.
Sweden

We did include an OWP along with our inland app so I'm sure we're fine since that technically means implied status - that's what I'm worried about