Pre-requisites for family sponsorship

[goldenlizard]

I am a permanent resident living and working in Canada. My spouse and 2 kids live outside Canada and will be arriving later this year on a Temporary Resident Visa. I would like to understand what should be kept ready beforehand so I can apply within the first 2 weeks of their arrival. The urgency is so that spouse can apply for Open Work Permit and look for jobs.

Some suggestions I have got, but am not sure of, are below:
1. Include spouse's name in the rental agreement.
2. Spouse should get a bank account in own name.

Is there anything else I should do as soon as they arrive so that I can do the inland sponsorship within the first few weeks of their arrival?

 

[Ponga]

By saying `spouse', I will assume that means you are legally married, versus in a common-law relationship.

A married applicant has a lower burden of proof than a common-law applicant (no need to prove at least one continuous year of cohabiting together at the time of submitting the application, for example).

Your spouse can only submit the OWP application once you have received the AOR email from IRCC, which takes [insert best guess, here] to receive. I would `guess' it could take a month or more for the AOR, followed by at least a couple of months for the OWP to be processed, but...it really is a guess, based on what I've seen from others here.

Adding your spouse to your rental agreement is fine, but I don't know how much that helps. It certainly can't hurt, though.

Same for opening a bank account, which may not be easy for someone that is only a visitor. Best to check with the major banks in your area. If nothing else, you may be able to add your spouse to your [existing] account.

 

[armoured]

I am a permanent resident living and working in Canada. My spouse and 2 kids live outside Canada and will be arriving later this year on a Temporary Resident Visa. I would like to understand what should be kept ready beforehand so I can apply within the first 2 weeks of their arrival. The urgency is so that spouse can apply for Open Work Permit and look for jobs.
...
Is there anything else I should do as soon as they arrive so that I can do the inland sponsorship within the first few weeks of their arrival?

Main thing is - start filling out the forms.

You do not say when later this year, but if it's much later, you should consider applying right away on an outland basis. She would not be able to apply for the open work permit, but the PR might be completed sooner.

Right now there are unclear signals about how long the open work permits take.

But it's not clearcut, no-one can tell you which approach is better.

 

[goldenlizard]

By saying `spouse', I will assume that means you are legally married, versus in a common-law relationship.

A married applicant has a lower burden of proof than a common-law applicant (no need to prove at least one continuous year of cohabiting together at the time of submitting the application, for example).

Your spouse can only submit the OWP application once you have received the AOR email from IRCC, which takes [insert best guess, here] to receive. I would `guess' it could take a month or more for the AOR, followed by at least a couple of months for the OWP to be processed, but...it really is a guess, based on what I've seen from others here.

Adding your spouse to your rental agreement is fine, but I don't know how much that helps. It certainly can't hurt, though.

Same for opening a bank account, which may not be easy for someone that is only a visitor. Best to check with the major banks in your area. If nothing else, you may be able to add your spouse to your [existing] account.

Thank you for your reply, yes we are legally married. So, if rental agreement and bank account are also not needed for the sponsorship application, then it looks like theoretically I can start filling the forms online the day after the family's arrival. Probably, I should keep the police certificates of various countries ready and in place. Anything else you can think I should keep ready?

 

[goldenlizard]

Main thing is - start filling out the forms.

You do not say when later this year, but if it's much later, you should consider applying right away on an outland basis. She would not be able to apply for the open work permit, but the PR might be completed sooner.

Right now there are unclear signals about how long the open work permits take.

But it's not clearcut, no-one can tell you which approach is better.

Thank you. We are clear on that; we are taking the Inland Sponsorship route as advised in a legal consultation. Thats why we applied for the TRV and the family will arrive in the next couple of months on their TRV.

 

[armoured]

Thank you. We are clear on that; we are taking the Inland Sponsorship route as advised in a legal consultation. Thats why we applied for the TRV and the family will arrive in the next couple of months on their TRV.

Entirely up to you. Don't be overly optimistic about how quikcly the OPW may come.

 

[goldenlizard]

Entirely up to you. Don't be overly optimistic about how quikcly the OPW may come.

Understood, thanks for the reality check.
I just want to ensure that I don't lose time on things which I could be doing towards filling the PR sponsorship application while I wait for the family to join.

 

[goldenlizard]

I have found out that a Police Certificate of all countries lived more than 6 months are needed. Is it needed at the time of submitting the application package or later during the application process? For my spouse India would be one of the countries, but current country of residence is in Europe. If the police certificate is needed at the time of submission, does it makes sense to get the Indian PCC while in Europe?