Please Help! (new applicant, questions regarding inland vs outland - urgent!!)

[dominokitty]

My husband and I were married this past July. I'm a Canadian citizen and he is from Austria. We've been working on our application and finally have it just about ready to send (just waiting to receive my option C printout). The problem is, we can't figure out if it will be better for us to apply inland or outland.

We want to close the gap and live together as soon as humanly possible, but I am a student and working part time to support two of us for 2 years or more just isn't financially feasible. We planned on applying outland through the Vienna office so he could continue to work in Austria and save money for the big move, which we had planned for this coming summer.

With the recent changes to the inland application and open work permit situation, I am more than a little confused. Am I correct in interpreting that he would be granted an open work permit within 4 months of us sending the application in? Does that mean that it would be faster for us if he came to Canada first, then we applied inland along with the open work permit? I'm sick and tired of living apart from my husband (as most of us are, I'm sure!). I just want him to be able to be here so we can settle down together, start a family and move on with our lives. I'm not concerned about rejection, we are a legit relationship with tons of visits, photographs, and other proof, and his medical was clear. As far as I know there's no financial requirement for me to sponsor him as a spouse, thankfully, and we have lots of family support here.

Can someone explain to me how on earth can someone move to Canada on a visitor visa and stay, legally, to apply inland in the first place? Wouldn't that require lying to border control when they ask for your reason for coming to Canada? Are they trying to encourage that kind of behaviour?? What on earth is going on here, and why doesn't this make any logical sense?

I'm just not sure which option is best for us or which direction to go. I've never been under so much stress in my life. I'm completely overwhelmed. Can anyone help clear this stuff up for me or suggest which direction we should take? Our application is ready to go and I just need to know where to send it to, to get him here and working faster! He's the breadwinner in our relationship so him not being able to work really hinders us.. Augh.. Anyone?

 

[tranjini]

if you are speaking about visitor visa it is more longer than the spousal sponsorship. Work visa also delayed. Spousal sponsorship visa is the most easiest and fastest. I suggest u go for that from the beginning and u can visit him once in a while for us stress relief. I am also sponsoring my husband from sri lanka we are apart for 6 months now it is hard. just converse online and phone all the time and u won't feel the distance. i do agree it is a long process. but take this time to understand each other. plan ur future and what not. you might miss this later on when ur living together lols. GOOD Luck.

 

[dominokitty]

Sorry if I was not clear - we are applying for spousal sponsorship, just trying to figure out whether it is a better option for us to process it inland or outland. Inland seems to take longer for permanent residency but that's not a big deal if he can still live here and work here on an open work permit while it processes. He probably won't be applying for Canadian citizenship in the future since he already has dual citizenship in austria and france and would have to renounce his austrian citizenship to get it.. so we just want him to get here and start working as quickly as possible!

 

[mazleen]

My husband and I were married this past July. I'm a Canadian citizen and he is from Austria. We've been working on our application and finally have it just about ready to send (just waiting to receive my option C printout). The problem is, we can't figure out if it will be better for us to apply inland or outland.

We want to close the gap and live together as soon as humanly possible, but I am a student and working part time to support two of us for 2 years or more just isn't financially feasible. We planned on applying outland through the Vienna office so he could continue to work in Austria and save money for the big move, which we had planned for this coming summer.

With the recent changes to the inland application and open work permit situation, I am more than a little confused. Am I correct in interpreting that he would be granted an open work permit within 4 months of us sending the application in? Does that mean that it would be faster for us if he came to Canada first, then we applied inland along with the open work permit? I'm sick and tired of living apart from my husband (as most of us are, I'm sure!). I just want him to be able to be here so we can settle down together, start a family and move on with our lives. I'm not concerned about rejection, we are a legit relationship with tons of visits, photographs, and other proof, and his medical was clear. As far as I know there's no financial requirement for me to sponsor him as a spouse, thankfully, and we have lots of family support here.

Can someone explain to me how on earth can someone move to Canada on a visitor visa and stay, legally, to apply inland in the first place? Wouldn't that require lying to border control when they ask for your reason for coming to Canada? Are they trying to encourage that kind of behaviour?? What on earth is going on here, and why doesn't this make any logical sense?

I'm just not sure which option is best for us or which direction to go. I've never been under so much stress in my life. I'm completely overwhelmed. Can anyone help clear this stuff up for me or suggest which direction we should take? Our application is ready to go and I just need to know where to send it to, to get him here and working faster! He's the breadwinner in our relationship so him not being able to work really hinders us.. Augh.. Anyone?

Hi! If he's ready to go to Canada to be with you and wants to work right away, i guess with the new news regarding open work permit maybe you guys should apply for inland. But he probably will get his PR a bit later than if he applied outland ( i think around 17 months for austria?) The inland application is taking roughly 24 months if you combine both stages. I found this from one of the comment in this forum:

From CIC WEBSITE AS OF DEC 22, 2014
Effective December 22, 2014, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will commence issuing open work permits to certain spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (SCLPC) applicants before the approval in principle decision is made.

Applicants who have already submitted an application for permanent residence under the SCLPC class but have not yet applied for an open work permit should complete an Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker (PDF, KB) (PDF, 452.86 KB) form [IMM 5710], include the appropriate fee, indicating that they are applying for an open work permit, and submit it to the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, at the following address:

CPC – Vegreville
WP - Unit 777
6212-55 Avenue
Vegreville, AB
T9C 1X6

If an SCLPC applicant has already received approval in principle, they have the option of applying for an open work permit online.

New SCLPC applicants should complete a permanent residence application and an open work permit applications, include the appropriate fees, and submit both simultaneously to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga.

CIC will begin issuing open work permits to eligible applicants in the current SCLPC inventory. SCLPC applicants whose permanent resident applications are received after December 22, 2014 will have their application for an open work permit processed within four months of receipt of their work permit application.

Standard medical requirements for open work permits apply.

After one year, CIC will assess this pilot and determine how to most effectively process open work permits for SCLPC applicants moving forward.

Inland pro's: you guys can be together since he can just come without the need of a visa (can stay for 6 months) and can apply for open work permit and get a work permit before stage 1 complete ( 16 months). If it's easy for him to get a job then there should be no problem for you guys.
Inland con's: takes longer to get PR so not having benefits for PR like you can't get it like health coverage ( not sure if you get coverage if you're working). If he can't get a job then you need help from your family to help you survive.

Outland pro's: He can save money while working in his country. Will get PR by latest 17 months + 2 months stage 1. You can check the Austria forum (if there's any) regarding trending processing time. With my country ( Malaysia), in the website it's 31 months but a lot of people get their PR after 8-12 months. Some gets it in 6 months.
Outland con's: You guys being apart from each other ( but maybe for only short time).

Yeah, it's difficult to make a decision. We were back and forth regarding this issue as well but we decided to do it outland and really pray that we can get the PR done in 6-8 months.He's here with me in Malaysia. We've been married for 13 years, we have 2 kids, ready to move since we're selling everything here ( my dental clinic and our apartment) so hopefully they see that our case is genuine.

Good luck to you!

 

[dominokitty]

CIC will begin issuing open work permits to eligible applicants in the current SCLPC inventory. SCLPC applicants whose permanent resident applications are received after December 22, 2014 will have their application for an open work permit processed within four months of receipt of their work permit application..

Does that mean that if we send our application in right away, he will have his open work permit processed within 4 months of us sending the application in/me being approved as a sponsor? Is it still the same process (2-3 months for sponsorship approval) for inland applications - meaning, would it be approximately 7 months until the work permit went through? Is he eligible for the work permit simply by being in the sponsorship process or does he need to have some kind of skilled trade that is in need in Canada? So many questions! Sorry!!

 

[tranjini]

What if his work visa expired before he got his inland visa. think about that too.

 

[mazleen]

Honestly I'm not so sure what is the timeline for AOR with inland application. Maybe you can check it at the inland 2014 thread.
From what I understand, if you guys go to Canada now and apply for Inland, you guys should include OWP application with the fee along with Inland application. Then within 4 months of receiving OWP application, he can work.
You can check the thread regarding one-year pilot OWP for spouse & common-law partner in this forum.
Good luck!

 

[mazleen]

What if his work visa expired before he got his inland visa. think about that too.

you don't think that he can renew his OWP?

 

[dominokitty]

Honestly I'm not so sure what is the timeline for AOR with inland application. Maybe you can check it at the inland 2014 thread.
From what I understand, if you guys go to Canada now and apply for Inland, you guys should include OWP application with the fee along with Inland application. Then within 4 months of receiving OWP application, he can work.
You can check the thread regarding one-year pilot OWP for spouse & common-law partner in this forum.
Good luck!

Thanks for the help! If this is really true it is such good news, I have been crying every day thinking of being apart from him for 2 more years, if we can close the gap sooner I will be overjoyed!!! 4 months is nothing compared to the 19 months we were anticipating with the outland application.

 

[MilesAway]

A person can apply outland and still be in Canada.

If you apply inland, you should not leave the country until it's finished, which could be up to 2 years.

 

[Kayaker]

Thanks for the help! If this is really true it is such good news, I have been crying every day thinking of being apart from him for 2 more years, if we can close the gap sooner I will be overjoyed!!! 4 months is nothing compared to the 19 months we were anticipating with the outland application.

Do bear in mind, that 19 months is a timeline for worst case scenarios. Since you said you have good relationship proofs, you will probably be finished in much less time. (My visa office, Manila, has a processing time of 15 months, but I got my PR in 7 months. They had to ask for additional documents from me, which added over 2 months to my time, so if my application had been complete and they didn't need to ask me for more documents, my PR might have been done in less than 5 months. Generally, people who are visa exempt (such as Austrians and Japanese) get PR faster than people who are not.

Also bear in mind that if he applies Inland, he should avoid leaving the country for any reason, be it a vacation or family emergency. The chances of not being allowed back in are small, but they exist, even with an OWP.

If I had to do this over again, I would still apply Outland. I spent 7 months here while waiting for my PR - I came here as a visitor (visa exempt) and just stayed here until my PR was approved. I couldn't work in Canada, but I had some small income from working over the Internet (it's okay if your employer is not Canada, and your clients are not Canadian) and my husband supported us.