You have spent minimal time in person together so that raises concern. Much time have you spent together in person? Are you planning on getting married during your 2nd visit? Do you have comparable jobs and education levels? Does your partner have primary or full custody of their children?
I have done this before so I'm not concerned about getting approved only about the time it takes. I married my ex from Jamaica with a 14 year age difference, after knowing him for 3 months and filing after one year of marriage (married second visit) onlysaw him in persona total of 3 times during that period. He was approved without even an interview and in Canada within 8 months. I did the paperwork myself. I'm not looking for speculation and negative comments. I only asked the poster how difficult is the process due to the difference in languages, and how long it takes. Have you or are you sponsoring your spouse from the Dominican Republic? If you have what was the approximate length of time it took and any General hiccups in the process dealing with the DR nothing personal.
If you had a previous sponsorship with similar profile where you subsequently broke up, you can expect more scrutiny this time ('past experience may not be indicative of future performance', as the stock market people say).
You post on the internet, you get what people think is important. Don't like it, don't post on public fora.
As already noted your second sponsorship from the Caribbean and second spousal sponsorship in general often leads to a lot more scrutiny. Hopefully you have proof of a long relationship with your previous spouse after you sponsored him. There would have been a 2 year relationship requirement post sponsorship and landing the last time you applied which may also be why you faced less scrutiny. Given that this is no longer the case more upfront scrutiny is the only option for IRCC when considering spousal sponsorship.
Currently the processing time is 10 months for outside Canada and 12 months for inside Canada. I have seen a few people that applied in August already got their passport request but I think my husband's will take much longer because he needs to overcome the criminal inadmissibility first. The application was fairly straightforward but time consuming. We have lived together in the DR since January 2016 and were married in March 2020. I spent most of last year in Canada because my mom passed away and I wanted to spend some time with my dad. I spent most of this year in Canada because I needed to make some money, jobs in the DR don't pay enough. Maybe you might consider having your boyfriend apply for a TRV after you guys are married and then he can spend some time with you in Canada before you commit to sponsoring him? Just a thought. Good luck and feel free to message me if you need more info.
Posted processing times are just estimated averages and is for standard processing with no interview.
