Japanese wife + Canadian Citizen 2015 PR?

[e2w_kev]

Hello forum!

I'm new here and I tried to use the search function to find information the best I could before posting but I couldn't find anything recent regarding immigration for a Japanese spouse.

My wife is a Japanese national and we are living together in Japan. We have a 6 week old son and we are wanting to plan a return to Canada as a family within this year.

I am baffled by the immigration website with the current status of how to apply for PR.

I'd like to get back ASAP or at least know my timeline so I can plan a job. I have just 2 questions.

1) Dec 2014 Open Work permit says my wife can apply for PR from within Canada so does that mean I can bring them over on a visitor visa and then start the PR app after we land?

2) If I can't do the above, can I apply through the Tokyo consulate? the website says it's closed and in another page says it's open.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and/or experience!

 

[Sheps]

Are you a Canadian by birth or descent?

You might need to speak with someone as you have a child, if the child is a Canadian citizen I am not sure how it affects your income requirements.

Normally you don't need to have a income to sponsor just a wife but I believe a dependant may change things
Again, this may or may not apply for a child who is a citizen.

You have two options, inland and outland.

Outland you will apply for PR by sending it to CIC Mississauga and they will then either keep it, send it to Ottawa or to Manila depending on a variety of criteria. She is effectively applying as if she was outside of Canada, however me and my wife are doing this (she is Japanese) while she is in Canada on a student permit. One problem I see is even though your wife is from a TRV except country, given that you have a child if you were to show up at the border or port of entry they may refuse her on the basis that she would have stronger ties to Canada then Japan. That said, there is nothing stopping you from visiting Canada in an attempt to get work lined up, however be aware that you may be separated from your wife for awhile.

Inland, you will apply from within Canada however your wife will have to be residing with you on a valid status. If you apply this route, she may qualify for the OWP pilot, but no guarantee. The downside is inland is sometimes longer (families have been waiting 1-2+ years in some cases) and there is no option to appeal through CIC directly, you have to appeal through the court system. The problems here would be getting her in the country on a valid status again based on the fact that they may deny her entry. Not saying this will happen but it is a possibility.

There is a lot more but you can think about this for now. If you have any questions you can message me, we just submitted out app 3 weeks ago(received 2.5 weeks ago). Also Kayaker is familiar with the process as well and she may pop in here at some point.

 

[e2w_kev]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply.

I am Canadian by birth. My wife is Japanese and our son was born in Japan to her family name so as I understand it as of now our son is basically only her son as a single mother(?).

Your details have really helped and I'll discuss with my wife when I get home from work. Thanks again!

 

[Sheps]

Since you were born in Canada, I believe if you report your child's birth, he will "inherit" Canadian citizenship following the 1 generation by descent rule.

You may want to look at that.

I don't think she is a single mother, on her koseki it should have you listed, it is just you are not head of household. I am a remark on my wife's koseki.

 

[bigredmoose]

Since you were born in Canada, I believe if you report your child's birth, he will "inherit" Canadian citizenship following the 1 generation by descent rule.

You may want to look at that.

I don't think she is a single mother, on her koseki it should have you listed, it is just you are not head of household. I am a remark on my wife's koseki.

Correct, a child born overseas to someone who was born in Canada is a citizen. You can apply now for a citizenship document which you'll need in order to get the child a Canadian passport. The baby is not eligible to be sponsored as he/she is already Canadian.

It's irrelevant in this case, but there is no income requirement when sponsoring a dependent, you just have to demonstrate that you won't be on welfare. However, there is an income requirement when sponsoring a dependent who has a dependent.

 

[e2w_kev]

Correct, a child born overseas to someone who was born in Canada is a citizen. You can apply now for a citizenship document which you'll need in order to get the child a Canadian passport. The baby is not eligible to be sponsored as he/she is already Canadian.

I wasn't aware of this. This is wonderful news!

We are currently waiting to start our application process because my son is not recognized legally by the Japanese family courts as being mine. My wife went through a separation years ago but never filed divorce until we decided to marry. Unfortunately the birth of my son defaulted to the ex husband on my wife's "koseki" due the series of events. We are currently resolving with the court before we move forward with our application as we don't want any confusing details to pose as potential problems.

 

[Sheps]

That will be difficult but I would perhaps talk with the embassy and make them aware of the situation. He should still have Canadian citizenship but they may require extra documentation and perhaps a DNA/paternity test.

 

[Kayaker]

Oh hi everybody!

I'd recommend Outland because even in worst case scenarios, the processing time seems to be way shorter than applying Inland. I feel like applying Inland is like entering a tunnel not knowing when the end of the tunnel will appear... in 2 years if everything goes well, but maybe 3... not knowing is the worst. With Outland, even in the Worst case, it's about 15 months (is it 16 months now?). And nothing would prevent her (and the child) from "visiting" you in Canada while this is going on.

Visiting is usually fairly straightforward; as Sheps has pointed out, with a (Canadian) baby, CBSA might think she would want to stay in Canada illegally, but she can do several things to prevent that - she can get a return ticket dated 5 or 6 months later (you can get refundable tickets) and also, once she has submitted her PR application, CBSA will be reassured that she knows the rules and is not trying to circumvent them and stay indefinitely without legal status. They're fine with her immigrating to Canada (applying for PR) - they're just not fine with people who don't take the proper legal steps.

I agree you should wait to start your application until you get the legal stuff sorted out about your baby, and you get a Canadian passport for your baby. It would save you time in the long run - if CIC sees that you have a baby that is yours but is technically not yours (on paper yet anyway) and that the baby isn't a Canadian citizen (on paper yet) and stuff, your file would probably experience a lot of delays because it's an atypical case. They'd be likely to ask for more documentation, maybe a paternity test, etc., and every time they ask for extra documentation, that means waiting an extra few months because they put your file on hold. Once you get the paperwork sorted out for your baby and your baby has a Canadian passport, it should be smooth sailing - you can file for her PR, then she can come visit you to wait it out, if she wants. She won't be able to work, but it will probably be for much less than a year. And even if your wife needs to get travelers' insurance, your baby is Canadian and will be covered by public health care.

Good luck!