Inland or Outland Spouse Visa ?!?!?!

[Keratzlaff]

Hello, My spouse is from New Zealand and we are trying to figure out how we should apply for our spouse visa.
I read the stickied Topic post at the top that says that when your spouse is INSIDE Canada you can
apply inland or outland. But when I looked at processing times for Outland visas it says
" Person to be sponsored lives outside Canada"

This confuses me because my spouse would be living INSIDE Canada , so how could I apply for an outland visa
when he is living inland?

Thanks for your responses,
I cant seem to get through to CIC phone representatives today

 

[Keratzlaff]

Application for Permanent Residence from within Canada – Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada class (IMM 5289)

or

Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class

 

[computergeek]

Hello, My spouse is from New Zealand and we are trying to figure out how we should apply for our spouse visa.
I read the stickied Topic post at the top that says that when your spouse is INSIDE Canada you can
apply inland or outland. But when I looked at processing times for Outland visas it says
" Person to be sponsored lives outside Canada"

This confuses me because my spouse would be living INSIDE Canada , so how could I apply for an outland visa
when he is living inland?

Thanks for your responses,
I cant seem to get through to CIC phone representatives today

Inland: you and your spouse must be living in Canada now.
Outland: you and your spouse may be living anywhere in the world, including inside Canada.

There are two steps to a PR application: sponsor approval (stage 1) and applicant approval (stage 2), for either process.

Inland: Stage 1 currently takes 6 months, Stage 2 currently takes 8 months
Outland: Stage 1 currently takes 2.5 months, Stage 2 currently takes 8 months (for Sydney, the office that handles apps for NZ) or 12 months (for Ottawa, the office that handles apps for people from the US or legally admitted to Canada but doing an outland application).

At the end of Stage 1 Inland your spouse gets an open work permit.
At the end of Stage 1 Outland your spouse gets nothing additional.

So, right now if you apply for Outland, you can expect your spouse to start working in 10.5 months (or perhaps less). If you apply for Inland, you can expect your spouse to start working in 6 months (or perhaps less - Inland times have been dropping very quickly of late).

There are reasons to choose either path, depending upon your circumstances.

Maybe your spouse doesn't mind not working for 10.5 months, in which case Outland gets to PR faster. There is, however, the chance that if the VO decides they want an interview that it will need to be performed in Sydney, Australia. If you pick Ottawa as the processing office, then an interview would be done at one of the four US offices (Seattle, LA, NY, Detroit) but the processing time rises to 14.5 months.

Maybe you have a reason to expect a problem with your application, in which case Outland gives you the right to appeal to the IAD that is not afforded to Inland applicants. Either case may apply to the Federal Court of Canada for leave to request Judicial Review.

When we talk of processing times keep in mind that these are published estimates to process 80% of applications. You may have a very simple application and sail through the process. You might have a complex application that drags on for a couple of years. Simple: outland is still likely to be faster for NZ (processed through Sydney). Complex: inland is going to be a better choice because your spouse gets a work permit after 6 months (or likely less at the rate they're cranking applications) and then you can let the inland folks take their sweet time to complete the application paperwork.

My guess is that if your spouse is already in Canada, you have a fairly straight-forward application. Maybe your spouse already has a work permit, negating the benefit of same. In that case, you're choice is pretty easy to make - fill out the Outland application, mark Sydney as the visa office, gather up everything and ship it off to Mississauga.

Good luck!

 

[Keratzlaff]

Thanks so much! My spouse is already in Canada on a working holiday visa that expires soon, and when it does we are leaving for NZ for a 3 week vacation and when we arrive back home my spouse is applying for a Clergy "visitor visa" as my home church here in Canada
needs him to be a youth pastor. We will apply for that at the port of entry and then that gives us the time to apply for
a spouse visa while my husband can still "work" .

I am starting to think applying Inland is the best option for us as we couldnt afford the $4000 for us both to fly out to Australia for an interview if it was reuired....... however the thought of not being able to appeal the decision freaks me out!! But our case is not complicated and I trust that it will all work out

is it rare for "easy" cases to get denied?

 

[computergeek]

is it rare for "easy" cases to get denied?

Yes, it is rare for spousal cases to be denied without criminal inadmissibility or a relationship issue.

 

[Keratzlaff]

Thanks so much for your help!
I have a few more questions...

"Inland: Stage 1 currently takes 6 months, Stage 2 currently takes 8 months
Outland: Stage 1 currently takes 2.5 months, Stage 2 currently takes 8 months (for Sydney, the office that handles apps for NZ) or 12 months (for Ottawa, the office that handles apps for people from the US or legally admitted to Canada but doing an outland application)."

So if my husband is currently living in Canada with me does that mean he is legally admitted to Canada and therefore we would need to send it to Ottawa?

Also , do we send the medical exam when we send in the whole application package or do we get contacted and then asked to send it after?

 

[computergeek]

So if my husband is currently living in Canada with me does that mean he is legally admitted to Canada and therefore we would need to send it to Ottawa?

Your husband may choose either Sydney, Australia or Ottawa. I'd suggest Sydney, just for processing times, but if you are concerned they might question the legitimacy of your relationship then Ottawa might make sense - so you didn't have to travel to Sydney for the interview.

Also , do we send the medical exam when we send in the whole application package or do we get contacted and then asked to send it after?

Follow the country-specific directions. Both US and Australia ask for medicals up front. Your husband fills in "Appendix C" and takes that along to the DMP for his medical examination - a DMP will have the IMM 1017 forms required.

 

[canadianwoman]

For outland, the sponsor will not be asked to come to any interview, so the airfare will just be for one person. If the visa officer does want to talk to the sponsor (very rare), he/she will phone. Send in lots of proof your relationship is genuine, and there will most likely not be an interview anyway. They are not suspicious about the motives of people from countries like New Zealand.

 

[rachiy]

I am from NZ and living in Canada on a WP, so kinda a similar situation to your spouse.

There is a link to the Sydney spreadsheet in my signature, and as you can see from people who submitted earlier this year the process is generally completed within 4-6 months total - including stage one. Sydney is very responsive to communication and very rarely requests an interview. If they did it would only be the applicant, so only one airfare, but I (and no one I know) have never heard of anyone getting an interview or denied going through the Sydney office.

There is a thread in the forum for applicants going through the Sydney office - check it out and feel free to ask any questions.

 

[HAR09]

Thanks for the valuable information guys. I have a question.
If your spouse is within Canada and you want to apply outside Canada just to take advantage of shorter processing times. Is it that we have to fill forms of inside Canada and send it to Missisuaga(For outside Canada) or we have to fill forms for Outside Canada. All the forms are same in both cases. Only major difference is Questionnaires.
Outside Canada has questionnaire IMM 5490 which doesn't make sense for spouse who is already living in Canada. Questions from 24 onward like " Has your sponsor visited you during the period of your relationship?", "How do you and your sponsor communicate when you are not together?". We already live together in Canada. So, I am confused about it. Any help will be appreciated.
Thx.

 

[computergeek]

Thanks for the valuable information guys. I have a question.
If your spouse is within Canada and you want to apply outside Canada just to take advantage of shorter processing times. Is it that we have to fill forms of inside Canada and send it to Missisuaga(For outside Canada) or we have to fill forms for Outside Canada. All the forms are same in both cases. Only major difference is Questionnaires.
Outside Canada has questionnaire IMM 5490 which doesn't make sense for spouse who is already living in Canada. Questions from 24 onward like " Has your sponsor visited you during the period of your relationship?", "How do you and your sponsor communicate when you are not together?". We already live together in Canada. So, I am confused about it. Any help will be appreciated.
Thx.

You fill out the "outside Canada" forms. You just answer the questions as best you can. If something isn't clear, add an extra page and explain it. That's exactly what we did.

 

[Keratzlaff]

Thanks for all your help!
We are thinking we will be applying through Sydney!

 

[sounion]

For outland, the sponsor will not be asked to come to any interview, so the airfare will just be for one person. If the visa officer does want to talk to the sponsor (very rare), he/she will phone. Send in lots of proof your relationship is genuine, and there will most likely not be an interview anyway. They are not suspicious about the motives of people from countries like New Zealand.

Is it typical that sponsors are asked to come to an interview for an inland application?

Also, is it still possible to not have an interview in an inland application if it's obvious that we are in a loving, genuine relationship? We would just be concerned by additional costs as the applications are already pretty heavy hitting.

 

[computergeek]

Is it typical that sponsors are asked to come to an interview for an inland application?

It depends upon why the VO wants the interview. If it is a relationship issue, then it may go either way. If it is a sponsor issue, then they may actually just interview the sponsor. If it is an applicant issue, they may just interview the applicant.

Examples of each:

- Relationship: a short courtship, suggestions it might be an MOC. But then again, the VO might suspect just the motives of the applicant, not the sponsor, in which case they will interview the applicant alone.
- Sponsor issue: bankruptcy, social assistance, previous legal issues, concerns about ability to support or fulfill the spousal undertaking.
- Applicant issue: inadmissibility issue (criminal) or health issue (excessive demand - so not grounds to refuse, but they may need to discuss this with applicant to ensure it is ok to communicate with the sponsor.)

Also, is it still possible to not have an interview in an inland application if it's obvious that we are in a loving, genuine relationship? We would just be concerned by additional costs as the applications are already pretty heavy hitting.

Interviews are unusual for spousal applications overall. Triggers for such would include prior refused applications, evidence that the marriage might be an MOC, religious, cultural or age mismatches. Applicants from some countries seem to trigger them far more than others, as well, so while overall they are rare, there are areas for which the interview rate is very high.

 

[sounion]

It depends upon why the VO wants the interview. If it is a relationship issue, then it may go either way. If it is a sponsor issue, then they may actually just interview the sponsor. If it is an applicant issue, they may just interview the applicant.

Examples of each:

- Relationship: a short courtship, suggestions it might be an MOC. But then again, the VO might suspect just the motives of the applicant, not the sponsor, in which case they will interview the applicant alone.
- Sponsor issue: bankruptcy, social assistance, previous legal issues, concerns about ability to support or fulfill the spousal undertaking.
- Applicant issue: inadmissibility issue (criminal) or health issue (excessive demand - so not grounds to refuse, but they may need to discuss this with applicant to ensure it is ok to communicate with the sponsor.)

Interviews are unusual for spousal applications overall. Triggers for such would include prior refused applications, evidence that the marriage might be an MOC, religious, cultural or age mismatches. Applicants from some countries seem to trigger them far more than others, as well, so while overall they are rare, there are areas for which the interview rate is very high.

Thanks a lot computergeek! We don't really align into any of those circumstances so I would expect the interview to be waived, but I'll be open to all possibilities.

I also have another question regarding the OWP application, or rather the change of status. But I actually posted it as a separate topic...The forum is telling me I can't post links so I can't link the topic, but maybe it will show up under, "Open Work Permit, what do I select?".