Inland spousal sponsorship

[amberddawn]

I’m having a hard time finding information on this. I am a Canadian citizen living in Alberta. My fiancé is an American citizen living in Illinois. He plans on traveling to Canada in August, to get married in October, and then start the inland PR application, along with an open work permit application. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with something like this. Visiting by plane with intent to marry, problems at the border? We will have proof of relationship and letters from various people to prove that he will have a life to come back to in the US if denied PR. Then applying for PR and work permit, and staying in Canada while the applications process. We have saved up enough money to be able to support him while waiting for everything to process. We are aware that he can only stay in Canada for 6 months as a visitor, and if the application isn’t a processed in time we would need to apply for an extension on his stay. Any advice would be great. Again, we really want to go with the inland application so he can stay here while it is processing

 

[mrs_december]

Honestly, sounds like you have your bases covered. Congrats on your upcoming wedding.

 

[Xilikon]

If you do a inland application, be sure to add a OWP application. This will allow you to get status while waiting for PR and avoid renewing visitor visa.

 

[amberddawn]

Thank you for the replies! Any experience with issues with the border patrol officers? Any tips or suggestions? Also, experience with processing times of OWP?

 

[Xilikon]

OWP processing time I see around is about 4 months. I reread your first post and from the period you mentionned, there might be a visitor status extension still required as it's a bit too tight with the OWP processing time.

 

[amberddawn]

OWP processing time I see around is about 4 months. I reread your first post and from the period you mentionned, there might be a visitor status extension still required as it's a bit too tight with the OWP processing time.

That makes sense. Because he can stay as a visitor for 6 months. Should we apply for the visitor extension at the same time as the OWP and PR application?

 

[KBH]

You should be aware that straightforward US outland applications are currently being processed in 4-6 months, while inland takes 12 months. It's almost always better for Americans to apply outland (you can apply outland while staying in Canada). There is no work permit available with this option, but there's a 4 month wait for the inland work permit anyway. Good luck!

 

[mrs_december]

That makes sense. Because he can stay as a visitor for 6 months. Should we apply for the visitor extension at the same time as the OWP and PR application?

Apply for your extension 30 days prior to his 6 months expiring. It'll be separate from your PR/OWP application.

In terms of his initial border crossing, just be honest, but don't volunteer info. He is coming to Canada to visit his fiancee, marry, and spend time together. If he is asked, he can say that he is planning to apply for PR. It's pretty unusual for anyone to get too much hassle over this, happens all the time. Above all, just be straightforward. If he's got plenty of evidence showing his ties to the US and ability to return, then he should be just fine.

 

[amberddawn]

You should be aware that straightforward US outland applications are currently being processed in 4-6 months, while inland takes 12 months. It's almost always better for Americans to apply outland (you can apply outland while staying in Canada). There is no work permit available with this option, but there's a 4 month wait for the inland work permit anyway. Good luck!

Can you explain how we would go about this? How do we have him come in August, marry soon after, apply Outland, but stay in Canada? Thank you!

 

[KBH]

Can you explain how we would go about this? How do we have him come in August, marry soon after, apply Outland, but stay in Canada? Thank you!

He would need to apply to extend his stay after 6 months like was already mentioned in this thread, but besides that, the process is the same. The inland and outland applications are exactly the same, just a different box gets checked on the application checklist.

 

[diamant10]

OWP processing time I see around is about 4 months. I reread your first post and from the period you mentionned, there might be a visitor status extension still required as it's a bit too tight with the OWP processing time.

which form is the visitor extension. im just worried incase our PR and OWP get bounced

 

[amberddawn]

He would need to apply to extend his stay after 6 months like was already mentioned in this thread, but besides that, the process is the same. The inland and outland applications are exactly the same, just a different box gets checked on the application checklist.

Oh ok, I didn’t realize that. I didn’t know you could apply Outland while staying in Canada. I thought that was what differed in the 2 applications. Inland, the PR applicant was staying in Canada. Outland, they were staying in the US. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[amberddawn]

Apply for your extension 30 days prior to his 6 months expiring. It'll be separate from your PR/OWP application.

In terms of his initial border crossing, just be honest, but don't volunteer info. He is coming to Canada to visit his fiancee, marry, and spend time together. If he is asked, he can say that he is planning to apply for PR. It's pretty unusual for anyone to get too much hassle over this, happens all the time. Above all, just be straightforward. If he's got plenty of evidence showing his ties to the US and ability to return, then he should be just fine.

Thank you for the reply! This is very reassuring. We just want to be fully prepared and have all the necessary tools when he’s making the initial border crossing in August. Thanks again!

 

[Xilikon]

which form is the visitor extension. im just worried incase our PR and OWP get bounced

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio.../services/visit-canada/extend-stay/apply.html

 

[amberddawn]

You should be aware that straightforward US outland applications are currently being processed in 4-6 months, while inland takes 12 months. It's almost always better for Americans to apply outland (you can apply outland while staying in Canada). There is no work permit available with this option, but there's a 4 month wait for the inland work permit anyway. Good luck!

I was just curious as to where I can find the 4-6 month processing wait time? I tried looking it up and it told me 12 months for both applying inside and outside of Canada.