Need help for a plan

[ArtStyle]

Hi,

I have come to the conclusion i need help. I have so much trouble with all this bureaucracy it makes my head spin.

Alright so this is a preliminary post so i can understand how everything works and assess whats ahead and the best way to go about it.

So i'm 23 years old i am a citizen of Canada, i reside in Quebec where i was born. Almost 2 years ago, i worked for clubmed in Turks and Caicos, in the caraibean, where i met a girl that worked in clubmed too, we fell in love and have been in love ever since. She is American. After 6months living together on the resort (no lease) my contract expired with club med and i came back home with tons of good memory and a hole in my heart because i was separated from the women i love. 2 moths latter She left cubmed and went back to California where she is from. A month latter she came over to visit in Canada, our hopes was to get common law sponsorship. We hit a wall when we saw how complicated and long everything was. we lived together for 9 month in an apartment owned by my father (again no lease) before her visa expired and she returned to work in Club Med, This time in Florida. thats where she is now. We find it really hard to live without one another. She is sad all the time and so am i. we are young so marriage has always been out of the question until not too long ago, when we realized its probably our easiest and best bet. we are not yet married. before doing anything i would like to have a clear step by step plan. its been 4 months now we are apart and our strongest desire is to be together as soon as possible. I live in Quebec and i would like for us to immigrate here because its a little cheaper and because i want to go back to school university and studying out of the province would be much more expensive.

First of all i need a clear idea on delay. I was told applying for citizenship outside Canada is the way to go as far as time efficiency is concerned, which is of utmost importance to us. but looking around i saw that processing time was estimated at 90 days (which is very good i think) but then i looked at delay for the L.A visa office states 32 months, which is, by all mean, ridiculous. Maybe this number is inaccurate i cant fathom the reason for such a delay for an office situated in the United State, i would have thought that it would be shorter if anything. guess bureaucracy rarely makes sense. there is no ETA on the New York visa office.

Now we are on limited financial mean, if we go the inland route my spouse will need her work permit. she cant really apply for a skilled work permit she is in the restaurant/ hospitality industry. she has enough experience to look for a manager position but thats about it. i heard about this new pilot program that allow for spouse to receive their work permit while waiting for the permanent residency. This is the first good news i received in a while. but id like to know how accessible this is? since its a pilot is there any limit to the number application? what are the delay? Is it a realistic solution for us?


I need help finding the best step by step plan for us. Delay are a big issue. we just want to be together. So if anybody has any advice or similar experience to share, it would be most appreciated.

 

[tink23]

American citizena are processed through the Ottawa office, not LA. Only applications that are very complicated and require an interview are sent to LA, which is usually very unlikely for an american citizens with a straightforward application, which is most likely the case of your future spouse.

Ottawa office is listed at, what, 15 months? But this is not an average number, this is for 80% of cases and a worst case scenario. Most americans are processed through Ottawa in about 7-8 months.

You are much better off going outland and not inland. Your case should be fairly quick as ling as all the paper work is completed fully without mistakes. If you are throrough, and dont rush and make silly mistakes, u shouldnt have any issues doing it properly on your own.

 

[ArtStyle]

Thanks for the quick answer. what are the common mistake that could result in the 32 month delay. And what is the prof we need to provide, lets say we marry and then start the application straight away?

Is it the reason why New York has no estimate time. because a very low number of application are processed through there?

 

[DanSlh]

Thanks for the quick answer. what are the common mistake that could result in the 32 month delay. And what is the prof we need to provide, lets say we marry and then start the application straight away?

Pictures together, pics with family and friends, phone records, chat logs (facebook, skype, whatsapp, viber, etc...,), plane tickets, video chat screenshots, letters...
Everything you can imagine that shows your relationship is genuine and not just to get the RP card.
Good luck!

 

[ArtStyle]

how much evidence should i accumulate. how would i go about getting phone record?

 

[tink23]

We included rental receipts of the three years we lived together in my husband's country. You can get a letter from your dad saying you lived there together for 9 months.

Simple mistakes like forgetting a signature can cause a delay. If you arent completing the questions as asked, for example the history question asking for living arrangements since 18. Sometimes people leave a gap in the history and the visa office has to ask them to complete it again properly with no gaps in time at all. Any time the visa office has to ask u for something it will cause a delay while u compile the info, send it, and they get around to opening it.

Also recommended, pay the Right of Permanent Residence fee upfront with the initial application payment, otherwise there will be a delay when they wait for the payment and acknowledge it.

 

[tink23]

how much evidence should i accumulate. how would i go about getting phone record?

A couple photos each month i lived in my husband's country is what we submitted. A few more for important events like when my family first came to visit and met him, and when my then bf came to Canada over Christmas with me. A handful of photos from your wedding ceremony and few from the reception to follow, even if it's just going out to dinner witg a few fanily members (if u just do a simple civil ceremony with a few people present). You wont need a whole heap but a sampling of everything. Better to have pictures with each other's family and friend as well, not just selfies.

For communication u can choose a small sample, one or two per month and say that u have much more if they would like to see (they won't ask, don't worry). They dont need whole conversations, just a screen shot or whayever that it took place. The fact that she is american which has similar standard of living to Canada, means they wont need a lot of proof and piles and piles of pictures or conversations as there isn't a big worry that it is a marriage of convenience

 

[ArtStyle]

is there anyway she can come over to canada while they are processing the application or is she stuck in the states while we wait for the approval?

 

[tink23]

She can come over as a visitor. She won't be able to work though.

 

[Abuelita]

Thanks for the quick answer. what are the common mistake that could result in the 32 month delay. And what is the prof we need to provide, lets say we marry and then start the application straight away?

Is it the reason why New York has no estimate time. because a very low number of application are processed through there?

Hi, I read somewhere else in this forum that the New York office no longer deals with immigration transactions and interviews, just the L.A. visa office.

 

[AshleyAnne]

As an earlier poster said, LA is only for applications that raise serious question. (Couples only ever met for wedding and very little communication)
Ottawa can be anywhere from 6-8 months for outland applications.
Your medical exam will need to be done, and background checks.
Right to Residence Fee is costly but as stated, if paid up front will be even less of a wait on your application.
Not having lease papers or anything should not be an issue as long as you can show you were both together for any amount of time.


This link REALLY helped me figure out what I really needed to include:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/how-i-organized-our-applcation-and-a-summary-of-all-helpful-tips-i-have-learned-t92449.0.html

Best. link. Ever!

Once you get everything together it is actually pretty straight forward. Just takes a LOT of fine combing to make sure you don't miss anything. If you think you need to explain something take the extra time and explain the question answers on another sheet. Better to do that then to have to wait to send in more proof.
Whatever you have is enough, you can't have too much evidence of your relationship, too little? Sure, but I doubt that is the case here since you have been on going for years.