Please help with sponsorship and open work permit questions

[anr8779]

Hi,

I'm new here and have lots of questions. I hope I posted this in the correct place.

My wife and I recently got married in Canada and she wants to stay here to find a job.

I am born in Canada.

She is from the Philippines.

She already has visitor visa with multiple-entry good for another 3 years. She's been back and forth here a few times and now wants to stay and find a job.

So how do we go about this?

Do we need to apply for a inland open work permit?

Should she apply for PR at the same time?

I am born here in Canada and hold a full time job so should I apply to sponsor her as well?

What happens if she decides to go back to Philippines for a couple of months? Will we have to start all over?

Thanks in advance

anr

 

[Ponga]

She can apply to be a Permanent Resident of Canada with you as her spousal sponsor. Once you are approved as her sponsor, she would then be eligible for an OWP, providing that you used the Inland (in-Canada) application for sponsorship.

The current processing time for an Inland application to reach stage 1 approval (AIP), which is when she would get her OWP, is ~ 14 months.

Good luck!

 

[Kayaker]

If your wife is from the Philippines, there is almost no benefit to applying Inland.

Only 20% of Outland applicants going through the Manila VO take more than 15 months. Many applicants with straightforward cases going through Manila VO take 7 or 8 months. (It took me 7 months, and there were people who got PR before me and after me, so 7 8 months seem like a pretty common timeframe for someone with a straightforward application.)

Almost All Inland applicants take 14 months to receive stage 1 approval, after which they get PR in another 8 months or so. The total waiting time is around 2 years, but may still go up. (Stage 1 processing times have doubled the past few months. So far CIC doesn't seem to have done anything to reduce the backlog.)

As long as you are not bankrupt and have not been on welfare recently, you can sponsor your wife for PR. If she holds a valid visa, she can come to Canada while her Outland application is processing. There is no limit on her travel. Many applicants (myself included) apply Outland but stay in Canada to wait for the result. She can even change her address to a Canadian address, and CIC won't care.

If she applies Inland, she is required to be in Canada during the whole duration of the process, which may be 2 years. Many applicants are afraid to go home even for emergencies because that may result in a cancellation of the application. Yes, 2 months out of Canada is too long, and she will have to start all over.

You could also find the thread for applicants going through the Manila VO and ask around.

 

[anr8779]

She can apply to be a Permanent Resident of Canada with you as her spousal sponsor. Once you are approved as her sponsor, she would then be eligible for an OWP, providing that you used the Inland (in-Canada) application for sponsorship.

The current processing time for an Inland application to reach stage 1 approval (AIP), which is when she would get her OWP, is ~ 14 months.

Good luck!

Thank you very much, very informative

If your wife is from the Philippines, there is almost no benefit to applying Inland.

Only 20% of Outland applicants going through the Manila VO take more than 15 months. Many applicants with straightforward cases going through Manila VO take 7 or 8 months. (It took me 7 months, and there were people who got PR before me and after me, so 7 8 months seem like a pretty common timeframe for someone with a straightforward application.)

Almost All Inland applicants take 14 months to receive stage 1 approval, after which they get PR in another 8 months or so. The total waiting time is around 2 years, but may still go up. (Stage 1 processing times have doubled the past few months. So far CIC doesn't seem to have done anything to reduce the backlog.)

As long as you are not bankrupt and have not been on welfare recently, you can sponsor your wife for PR. If she holds a valid visa, she can come to Canada while her Outland application is processing. There is no limit on her travel. Many applicants (myself included) apply Outland but stay in Canada to wait for the result. She can even change her address to a Canadian address, and CIC won't care.

If she applies Inland, she is required to be in Canada during the whole duration of the process, which may be 2 years. Many applicants are afraid to go home even for emergencies because that may result in a cancellation of the application. Yes, 2 months out of Canada is too long, and she will have to start all over.

You could also find the thread for applicants going through the Manila VO and ask around.

So If I understand correctly, my wife can apply for outland at the manila office even tho she is physically in Canada?

All the paper work will be sent to my Canadian address?

My credit is A+ and have never been on any kind of social assistance.

Thanks in advance

 

[Kayaker]

Yes. Her physical presence or her mailing address do not matter for Outland applications.

but also, you should go to the thread for Manila VO and ask about PPR (passport request). As an applicant who is not visa-exempt, she will need to send her passport to Manila to get her visa stamped on it. That will probably mean that she should be ready to go back to the Philippines immediately when they ask for her passport. (Not sure being in Canada and sending her passport out of Canada is a good idea... not that I know a lot about it.) I think I've heard that Manila asks for your passport first, then they work on your case, meaning that they may hang on to your passport for more than a month. (I don't know how long they usually take - again, go to the Manila thread and ask there. I didn't send my passport anywhere so it wasn't relevant to me.)

So she can apply while she is here, no problem. Just be prepared to have to go back home at short notice (I think they give you about a month to send in the passport - but I'm not sure. Ask on the Manila VO thread) and spend a couple of months there before she gets her PR.

 

[anr8779]

Yes. Her physical presence or her mailing address do not matter for Outland applications.

but also, you should go to the thread for Manila VO and ask about PPR (passport request). As an applicant who is not visa-exempt, she will need to send her passport to Manila to get her visa stamped on it. That will probably mean that she should be ready to go back to the Philippines immediately when they ask for her passport. (Not sure being in Canada and sending her passport out of Canada is a good idea... not that I know a lot about it.) I think I've heard that Manila asks for your passport first, then they work on your case, meaning that they may hang on to your passport for more than a month. (I don't know how long they usually take - again, go to the Manila thread and ask there. I didn't send my passport anywhere so it wasn't relevant to me.)

So she can apply while she is here, no problem. Just be prepared to have to go back home at short notice (I think they give you about a month to send in the passport - but I'm not sure. Ask on the Manila VO thread) and spend a couple of months there before she gets her PR.

Hmmm so you're saying she has to send her passport or fly back to manila to do the paperwork? I dont think that is going to be an option as she wants to stay here for a bit. I am trying to avoid all the back and forth. Any event, thanks for the info......

 

[Kayaker]

Well, I don't know - I went through the Manila VO but I didn't have to send my passport. You should ask in the Manila VO thread about it - they'd be able to let you know more about the procedure. I really have no idea, as it didn't concern me.

 

[keesio]

People with a visa-exempt passport do not need to submit their physical passport to the VO. But if not visa-exempt, you often need to submit it so they can stick the visa in it.

 

[Kayaker]

I don't know if it's possible to mail her passport to Manila and have them mail it back to Canada with the visa and COPR. If that's possible, then she doesn't have to leave Canada at any point.

 

[anr8779]

Even if we are able to mail the passport to Manila VO, that is not an option I wouldnt do that.

I think the route we may take is we will apply for spousal open work permit then later apply for PR.

Some say just apply for PR-inland and SOWP at the same time, not sure which route to take......

more comments are welcome and thanks in advance

 

[28january]

The thing is, you can't apply for work permit then consider PR later, unless her employer is willing to sponsor her. If you are going the spousal sponsorship route, you can apply for work permit WITH PR application.

 

[Kayaker]

Getting an Open Work Permit is conditional on applying for PR and receiving first stage approval.

 

[anr8779]

appreciate all the responses.......

So hypothetically speaking if I apply for spousal open work permit then she gets approved, she cannot apply for PR?

 

[Ponga]

appreciate all the responses.......

So hypothetically speaking if I apply for spousal open work permit then she gets approved, she cannot apply for PR?

Try this:

You have to file an Inland application for spousal sponsorship (meaning that you are both in Canada) AND you also include the OWP at the same time.

The only way that she will get the OWP is AFTER you are approved as her sponsor (part of the Inland application package that you submit).

 

[Kayaker]

No, it's the other way around.

She cannot apply for an Open Work Permit without applying for PR first.

She applies for Inland PR.
She gets Stage 1 approval. (14+ months later)
She gets Open Work Permit.
She gets PR.

That's how it goes.