Non-resident Canadian, how do I apply for PR for my wife?

[Fencesitter]

Thanks for the replies.

So should I inform CIC (after PR has been granted), that I need to stay in China a few more months to finalize our moving arrangements? I do intend to move, and the job offer I have is legit...it's just that I want to save a bit more before we leave for good, plus we still have to sell our car and arrange a few other things. My future Canadian employer is very flexible, so no problem there. I am not lying to CIC about my intentions to return, as we are definitely going to move to Canada...it's just that we want to delay it a bit so we can have more time to prepare the relocation and save some money so our transition is smooth.

Does CIC follow-up and check to see that you have landed and are physically in Canada after granting PR status? How would they ever know that we landed, stayed for a few nights, then came back to China to tie up loose ends? Should I change my plans and just land and not come back? Doing that would mean breaking my current contract (even though the contract has an early release clause), plus I would lose a lot in terms of $$ (monthly salary + end of year bonus). I would prefer to finish out my contract and continue to save. It would only be for 5 months or so...no longer...and as soon as I have been paid my final salary + bonus, we'll fly out the very next day...

Am I risking it all??

FS

 

[Leon]

Don't worry about it. You are not risking anything. They will probably not even know that you left. As far as I know, they do not follow up on people. If anybody asks, you went back to complete your work contract. Only 5 months, right. Or you can delay your landing until it is close to her visa expiry and then you will have less left of your contract.

 

[Fencesitter]

My contract ends on July 10, 2013, but my wife must land before March 1, 2013. We have our tickets booked for January 30, 2013 to complete the landing formalities.

Do I need to show my airline tickets to the immigration officer when we land?

As long as they don't verify that I have resigned, or verify with my future Canadian employer that I have started work, than I guess we're good. I never even considered that CIC might think I have misrepresented just because I am not going to immediately start living in Canada after my wife gets her visa. 5 or 6 months isn't a long time...

What about when it comes time for my wife to renew her PR card (though she will most likely be a citizen by that time). When we are filling in the residency information, would they raise a problem because we continued living in China for 5-6 months after granting my wife the PR visa? I just don't want anything to come back and bite us later on...but again, she'll most likely be a citizen, but still, something worth considering.

FS

 

[zeushk]

My contract ends on July 10, 2013, but my wife must land before March 1, 2013. We have our tickets booked for January 30, 2013 to complete the landing formalities.

Do I need to show my airline tickets to the immigration officer when we land?

As long as they don't verify that I have resigned, or verify with my future Canadian employer that I have started work, than I guess we're good. I never even considered that CIC might think I have misrepresented just because I am not going to immediately start living in Canada after my wife gets her visa. 5 or 6 months isn't a long time...

What about when it comes time for my wife to renew her PR card (though she will most likely be a citizen by that time). When we are filling in the residency information, would they raise a problem because we continued living in China for 5-6 months after granting my wife the PR visa? I just don't want anything to come back and bite us later on...but again, she'll most likely be a citizen, but still, something worth considering.

FS

In actual fact, when you leave Canada, there is no immigration to go through. Your only worry,if any, should be when you return back to canada the second time around.

 

[Fencesitter]

That's the concern...the second time when we land for good.

FS

 

[Leon]

You are assuming that immigration will have it on their records as you enter that she was sponsored by a Canadian living overseas and will get a red flag to check if she had moved to Canada immediately after landing. I very much doubt that. Besides, stripping someone of their PR is serious business and actually not that easy to do. Even people who commit clear misrepresentation like landing on a single visa after having gotten married don't always lose their PR because of it. However, it does happen sometimes. A spouse not moving to Canada after PR being accused of misrepresentation, that I have never heard of.

 

[Fencesitter]

Is there a law against what I am planning to do?

I know that many people land, then return to their country to finalize moving arrangements...but that's to do with the PR holder, not the Canadian sponsor. As the Canadian sponsor, is it mandatory that I return to Canada and stay after my wife has landed? Am I not allowed to leave, as a free citizen? I'd like to know if this is in fact misrepresentation...because the way I see it, I should still be allowed to freely come and go as I please as long as I return home after I have finalized our moving arrangements.

Seriously, this issue has got me wondering...even if it is unheard of...or senior members of this forum have yet to hear of such a case, I'd still feel a lot better if I had a clear and definitive answer. I don't want to contact the visa office, as I fear I may open a can of worms and cause a major problem for my wife getting her PR visa.

Thanks,
FS

 

[Leon]

I wouldn't even worry about it. Plenty of people to not stay in such situations and all you need is 5 months. There is no law against this that I know of.

 

[computergeek]

I agree with Leon on this one - you won't have any problems or issues at all. Even if you were looking at a year or more, you'd be fine. FSW PRs often spend 2 to almost 3 years away before they move to Canada, I cannot imagine they wouldn't extend the same courtesy to you and your wie.

I've read a lot of court cases and I've seen pretty much every situation we've discussed on this forum come up in a case. I have NEVER seen a PR stripped because the citizen spouse of the PR didn't come back to live in Canada after all.

Here's an alternative scenario: you both move to Canada in July 2013 but then you get an amazing job offer outside Canada and take it in August 2013. There's no misrepresentation. You are allowed to have life circumstances change.

You'll be fine.

 

[canadianwoman]

Is there a law against what I am planning to do?

No. You are fine. You are not misrepresenting anything, since you are in fact planning to move back to Canada, and fairly soon. A new PR can land and then leave, go back to his/her homeland for a while, and then return, with no problem. It is quite common, especially in cases where the PR will expire soon, so they have to land, but then want to go back to finish finalizing things.

Don't, however, tell the visa officer anything about this. I believe you, but they are trained to be suspicious. Just continue with your application as it is; if the visa officer specifically asks about whether you are coming right back to China, don't lie, but then you would have to explain that your wife is going to land, then you two are going back to finalize things, and moving permanently back in .... It almost certainly won't be asked. When she returns to Canada in 2013 in August, it will not be an issue either. The border agent might ask what you were doing - just explain you were finalizing your return to Canada. It would only be an issue if your wife had spent so much time away that she could not fulfill the requirements to keep her PR status. (Not an issue anyway if she is staying with you.)

Some cases do look like the sponsor is in fact trying to get his/her spouse into Canada when they have no intention of actually living here, and to do so is lying about their intentions. That would be misrepresentation, and that is why the standards of proof demanded by the visa officer that the sponsor will return to Canada sometimes seems too high. Your case is not like this - you have good evidence you want to move back to Canada and in fact are planning to do so. Don't complicate things by sending any proof of these new plans to the visa officer, unasked.

 

[Fencesitter]

Thanks, guys...I feel a lot better.

I will be very cool when we are going through immigration. I know exactly what to say if they do ask if we are returning to China...shouldn't be an issue...and I may even go ahead and purchase our tickets to fly from HK to Toronto in the summer of 2013...

FS