Inland or Outland?

[driftcars]

Hi, I am confused on what I should do on sponsoring my wife.

This is our situation, we got married in Canada in May while she's 8 month pregnant, and our child was born in June in Canada. Her visitor status expired at the end of July. She has applied the extension of stay, but hasn't gotten the reply yet.

When she did the questionnaire on CIC's website on immigration, it indicated that she is eligible to apply inland application, and it also mentioned she has the option to apply outland, which may process faster.

We really wanna apply outland coz it takes less than a year, our plan is to get approved on the extension of stay first and apply outland on immigration.

What we're worrying now is what if the extension of stay is not approved, what should we do? Can we immediately submit the inland application? (So that she can stay in Canada)

Besides, my other questions is, is there a difference on Inland application but request to process at the overseas visa office and outland application?

 

[Ponga]

What country is your wife from?

Yes, some Outland applicants are processed substantially faster than an Inland applicant (such as U.S., Australia, U.K.,).

If you decide to submit an Inland application, please be aware that this will NOT, in and of itself, ensure that she can REMAIN in Canada, if she loses her status. A person no longer needs to have legal status to submit an Inland application, true, but CBSA can, at their discretion, remove the person before their application is processed if they are without status. No idea how CBSA determines who gets removed and who doesn't.

Submitting an Open Work Permit (OWP) along with an Inland application will give the applicant `implied status', so that they can in fact remain in Canada during the process, but ONLY if the OWP and Inland application are submitted prior to her status expiring. The OWP is not available if you submit an Outland application.

To answer your last question:

All Inland applications are processed in Canada, so there is no overseas Visa office.

Good luck!

 

[driftcars]

Thanks Ponga, she's from Hong Kong, processing time of the visa office there is about 7-8 months. She didn't submit the OWP when applying the extension of stay.

I am worried that if the extension is not approved, she and our 2 month old baby have to leave Canada, our baby is Canadian but I don't have breast milk for him. It will be difficult for us if it really happens.

So you mean she cannot submit an inland application if she doesn't have a valid visitor status?

On the guide, IMM5289. Under Before you apply, it said "The person being sponsored can apply to a visa office outside Canada to take advantage of the family class processing standard. Processing times for applications processed in Canada are posted on our Web site."

Apply to a visa office, does it mean apply inland but choose an office outside Canada or does it mean apply outland? This is what gets me confused.

Also, in the same guide, under Maintaining legal status, it said "Spouses and common‑law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are no longer required to have legal immigration status provided that they have an eligible sponsor. All other eligibility requirements continue to apply."

Does that mean she doesn't have to be having a valid visitor status to apply? That would be contrary to what you said though.

Please help, I am confused.

 

[Ponga]

Thanks Ponga, she's from Hong Kong, processing time of the visa office there is about 7-8 months. She didn't submit the OWP when applying the extension of stay.

I am worried that if the extension is not approved, she and our 2 month old baby have to leave Canada, our baby is Canadian but I don't have breast milk for him. It will be difficult for us if it really happens.

So you mean she cannot submit an inland application if she doesn't have a valid visitor status?
She does not need legal status to APPLY, with an Inland application, but she DOES need legal status to guarantee that she would not be removed by CBSA before her PR application is approved. Even the guide states that a person without status may be removed at any time. However, it would appear that CBSA does not automatically remove a person that has an Inland application that has been received by CIC. The once had an official `Administrative Deferral of Removal' policy, but that apparently ended in November 2011.

Submitting an OWP at the same time as an Inland application would solve that for her (as long as her status gets extended now) because it would give her implied status for the entire PR process, which would be at least 1 year, based on the current processing times.

On the guide, IMM5289. Under Before you apply, it said "The person being sponsored can apply to a visa office outside Canada to take advantage of the family class processing standard. Processing times for applications processed in Canada are posted on our Web site."

Apply to a visa office, does it mean apply inland but choose an office outside Canada or does it mean apply outland? This is what gets me confused.
It means that she can apply with an Outland application, even though she is currently residing in Canada. Many people assume that they cannot submit an Outland application from within Canada...which is understandable because CIC doesn't do a great job of explaining this option, IMHO.

Also, in the same guide, under Maintaining legal status, it said "Spouses and common‑law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Canada who wish to apply for permanent resident status are no longer required to have legal immigration status provided that they have an eligible sponsor. All other eligibility requirements continue to apply."

Does that mean she doesn't have to be having a valid visitor status to apply? That would be contrary to what you said though.
Again, she doesn't need status to apply.

Please help, I am confused.

 

[driftcars]

We want to have my wife staying in Canada while waiting for the PR application. If the extension of stay as a visitor is not approved, what can I do to?

 

[Rob_TO]

We want to have my wife staying in Canada while waiting for the PR application. If the extension of stay as a visitor is not approved, what can I do to?

You can apply INLAND, and just hope that CIC/CBSA does not make moves to start deportation process. Technically they can still deport someone out-of-status and with an inland app in progress, but often in these cases they will delay enforcement of the deportation until stage 1 is complete, and as long as stage 1 is approved and OWP granted, the applicant is brought back into status.

However there are no guarantees. If CBSA does enforce a deportation order, any inland application in progress would be cancelled, and you'd be forced to submit a brand new outland application from her home country.

 

[driftcars]

You can apply INLAND, and just hope that CIC/CBSA does not make moves to start deportation process. Technically they can still deport someone out-of-status and with an inland app in progress, but often in these cases they will delay enforcement of the deportation until stage 1 is complete, and as long as stage 1 is approved and OWP granted, the applicant is brought back into status.

However there are no guarantees. If CBSA does enforce a deportation order, any inland application in progress would be cancelled, and you'd be forced to submit a brand new outland application from her home country.

Do I need to restore the visitor status within 90 days first before submit the inland PR application? Or if this is optional, does it make any difference?

 

[Ponga]

Do I need to restore the visitor status within 90 days first before submit the inland PR application? Or if this is optional, does it make any difference?

If it has not been 90 days since her status was lost, then by all means apply for restoration!

 

[driftcars]

If it has not been 90 days since her status was lost, then by all means apply for restoration!

I guess once the restoration application has been sent, we should submit the inland PR application together with OWP (no need to wait for the approval of restoration), right?

 

[driftcars]

If it has not been 90 days since her status was lost, then by all means apply for restoration!

What if it's over 90 days?

I checked with call center and the extension application is still open, they asked if medical examination has been done, and they said sometimes it could take more than 3 months for them to receive medical. If it really takes that long, the 90 day period will be over by that time.

I am still deciding whether we should send in the Outland PR application now, or wait until the decision on extension. Coz if extension is not approved, we would do inland.

 

[rhcohen2014]

What if it's over 90 days?

I checked with call center and the extension application is still open, they asked if medical examination has been done, and they said sometimes it could take more than 3 months for them to receive medical. If it really takes that long, the 90 day period will be over by that time.

I am still deciding whether we should send in the Outland PR application now, or wait until the decision on extension. Coz if extension is not approved, we would do inland.

if it's been over 90 days since the status has expired, you can not apply to restore status. as far as i know, you can only restore status if it's within 90 days of expiration.

 

[driftcars]

if it's been over 90 days since the status has expired, you can not apply to restore status. as far as i know, you can only restore status if it's within 90 days of expiration.

Yeah, but what is the difference on having the option to do the status restoration to not having such option (90 day period expired)? And what will be the effect in the future or any effect on the PR application?

 

[Ponga]

Yeah, but what is the difference on having the option to do the status restoration to not having such option (90 day period expired)? And what will be the effect in the future or any effect on the PR application?

Is very simple. Since she cannot restore her status, she will be out of status for the entire time that her Inland PR application is being processed. This means that she could be removed from Canada, by CBSA [at any time] which would kill the application.

Now, the only way for her to gain legal status again, would be to leave and return. If she is granted entry, you could submit an Inland application with OWP immediately. The OWP would be the thing that gives her implied status, throughout the process.