Questions for Sponsoring My Pregnant Wife from Abroad

[Klystomane]

Hello:

I apologize in advance if some of my questions have been addressed in other threads before but I believe that my situation is slightly different from the norm and would like to seek some advice from this forum. Here's my situation:

Me: Born in Hong Kong, but Canadian Citizen through birth (parents were Canadian citizens when I was born). Even though I moved to Canada when I was two months old, due to this technicality, my child will not automatically be Canadian if s/he is born outside of Canada.

My Wife: South Korean, currently six weeks pregnant with our child. We are hoping to have our child in Canada and plan on settling down in Canada. She has a university degree in English, and based on everything I've read thus far, I don't expect our sponsorship application to be rejected as we have a fairly solid case.

Other Points:
-We met each other in 2007, have been dating since 2008, and registered our marriage on October, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.
-I have been living in Shanghai for the past two years where I am here on a working visa and she is here on a spousal visa through me/my company (she joined me after we registered our marriage).
-For tax purposes, I should be considered a non-resident of Canada.
-I have some money saved up, lots of family for support, and am willing to quit my job in China to relocate back to Canada for the four years required to obtain PR for my wife.

Questions:
1. The big question and focus of this thread: If we want to deliver our child in Canada legally, what is the procedure we need to follow?
1a. Do we apply for PR now, wait for it to be approved, and then move to Canada? How long would that take approximately?
2. OHIP Question: If we are successful in our application, how would insurance work? I am from Ontario and my understanding is that she would be eligible for OHIP when she is a PR. Is this correct?

We did not really expect to have our child just yet, so time is sort of ticking as to what we should be doing...any and all help is greatly appreciated, thank you!


Cheers,
S

 

[wilson]

As in your own case, your child born out side Canada should also be a Canadian because you are a Canadian citizen.
Being a Canadian citizen you can start your sponsorship application for your wife from the country where you are now. You should return and live in Canada while the application is in process. Please note that your wife, being South Korean citizen, can enter Canada without a visitor visa but the length of her visitor period is decided at the entry point - arriving airport in Canada.

For Ontario permanent residents, there is a waiting period of 3 months for the eligibility of health care insurance. (OHIP). Hospital charges for child birth is very expensive without an insurance coverage.

 

[Klystomane]

As in your own case, your child born out side Canada should also be a Canadian because you are a Canadian citizen.
Being a Canadian citizen you can start your sponsorship application for your wife from the country where you are now. You should return and live in Canada while the application is in process. Please note that your wife, being South Korean citizen, can enter Canada without a visitor visa but the length of her visitor period is decided at the entry point - arriving airport in Canada.

For Ontario permanent residents, there is a waiting period of 3 months for the eligibility of health care insurance. (OHIP). Hospital charges for child birth is very expensive without an insurance coverage.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately for me, my child will not automatically be Canadian because I did not obtain my citizenship through immigration or naturalization. It's a rule that was implemented in recent years to prevent generations of Canadians never returning home yet allowing their offspring to automatically be granted citizenship. Obviously I hope I'm wrong about my interpretation of this rule, but I'm fairly confident that I'm right.

That said, based on what your suggestion, it sounds like applying for PR status outland is the way to go, in which case we would submit our paperwork to the Seoul office in Korea. I read on this forum somewhere that the Seoul office was able to have the application approved within three months. However, we called an agency in Korea today and we were told that they are no longer processing applications directly, instead diverting them to the Philippines where it could take up to a year to process.

1. Therefore, does anybody have any recent first-hand experience with the Seoul processing center? In an ideal (and probably unrealistic) world, we would submit our paperwork in February, have our PR approved by May, head to Canada, be granted OHIP coverage by August (three months), and deliver our child by October.

Yes, you are correct that she can enter Canada without a visa. If we could swing it financially, realistically she could come when she's five months pregnant, deliver on our coin, and leave after 180 days. The only real advantage to this is that I wouldn't have to sponsor my child for PR.

2. Does anybody know how much it would cost to deliver a baby without OHIP coverage?

Hopefully this doesn't come across as us trying to take advantage of the system or anything. It's actually quite cheap for my wife to deliver our baby in South Korea (plus we would get money from the government), but since we were planning on moving back to Canada at the end of this year anyway, I'm wondering if I can pull it off now before our baby is due.

Appreciate any and all help, thanks.


Cheers,
S

 

[Rob_TO]

1. Therefore, does anybody have any recent first-hand experience with the Seoul processing center? In an ideal (and probably unrealistic) world, we would submit our paperwork in February, have our PR approved by May, head to Canada, be granted OHIP coverage by August (three months), and deliver our child by October.

Do NOT count on this as this timing is practically impossible. First off, you have to mail your application to CPC Mississauaga where they will first assess you as sponsor. Because you are not a resident of Canada now, you will need to prove your intent to move back to Canada after PR is granted, so the sponsor approval could take longer. Not to mention to get all the necessary paperwork and put a good application together usually takes at least a month or so.

Last year my fiancee went through Seoul office, and indeed that was pretty quick. BUT as you said Seoul office is no longer open. All Seoul applications now go through Manila (after sponsor is approved from CPC-M). Manila on the CIC timelines is actually quicker than Seoul, but who knows what the times will be after they get all the applications from closed Seoul and Tokyo offices.

Since your wife has been living in Shanghai over 1 year, she may actually be able to go through Beijing or Hong Kong CIC offices for processing. Not sure the exact details here or what would be better. From CIC site: "Applicants for Permanent Residence: You must select the visa office that serves your country of nationality or the country where you have been legally admitted for at least one year."

And finally, your wife will probably not be able to get PR until AFTER the baby is delivered. You need to do a medical exam which involves x-rays, and this is NOT recommended when pregnant due to possibly harming the fetus. In all honesty your best bet is to wait until after the baby is delivered, and then just sponsor both your wife and baby at the same time for PR.

2. Does anybody know how much it would cost to deliver a baby without OHIP coverage?

You could always have your baby in Canada when she's on a visitor visa, but of course you'll have to pay for everything. Cost really depends on if its a simple delivery or any complications and if you do a full hospital delivery vs using a midwife. For hospital delivery i've heard of costs anywhere from $5K to $10K. Using midwife is much cheaper. There is a health care section in this forum where people discuss costs of delivering in Canada. http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/health-b40.0/
Good luck!

 

[scylla]

And finally, your wife will probably not be able to get PR until AFTER the baby is delivered. You need to do a medical exam which involves x-rays, and this is NOT recommended when pregnant due to possibly harming the fetus. In all honesty your best bet is to wait until after the baby is delivered, and then just sponsor both your wife and baby at the same time for PR.

This is your biggest issue. The majority of doctors advise against getting the x-ray done since it can harm your unborn child. The processing of your wife's application cannot be completed without the x-ray. I agree that you should wait until after the baby is born and then sponsor both. That's the most realistic option right now.

 

[steaky]

If you really want your child born in Canada, have your wife use her Korean passport to come to Ontario as a visa-exempted visitor and pay the delivery costs out of your own pocket.

Alternatively, if you don't want to pay for the delivery cost, the post below said that a visitor of Canada can get Albertan healthcare if he/she is married to a resident (that means you might want to consider living in Alberta instead):

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t82226.0.html

You don't need to wait for wife's PR in order to return living in Canada. You and your wife can move to Alberta first if you want to.

 

[Klystomane]

Thanks to everybody for the great information.

@Steaky: I was unaware of the details of Alberta's health plan and will look into it for sure; it might be an option for me as I do have family there.

@Rob: Seems like you are quite familiar with what's going on with the various offices - do you know why the Seoul/Tokyo offices are closed/closing?

When we called the agency in Korea, they said that I can start the PR sponsorship (outland via Seoul/Manila) for my wife now, and provide additional documentation for my child after s/he is born to supplement the application. Based on what you have said about the application involving getting x-ray'd during a medical checkup, it seems like that's not a viable option. Any ideas what the agency is talking about? Is there a way to defer the health checkup until after the baby is born perhaps?

In addition, if I go with what everybody is suggesting, that is, sponsor my wife/child after the birth of our child:

1. Would the inland or outland option be better?
2. If we apply outland, can we still (all three of us) move to Canada while the application is being reviewed or do my wife/child have to stay outside of Canada until a decision is made?

Thanks!

 

[steaky]

If you can afford your wife to be a housewife while in Canada, I think inland is better for the mother and child in this case.

On the contrary, for outland, there are chances that your wife may require interviews in Manila/Seoul. If you and your wife are in Canada before she gets her PR visa, your wife might need to get on a plane and fly there for the interview.

Obviously CIC closing office in Seoul/Tokyo is to cut cost.

 

[Klystomane]

If you can afford your wife to be a housewife while in Canada, I think inland is better for the mother and child in this case.

On the contrary, for outland, there are chances that your wife may require interviews in Manila/Seoul. If you and your wife are in Canada before she gets her PR visa, your wife might need to get on a plane and fly there for the interview.

Obviously CIC closing office in Seoul/Tokyo is to cut cost.

Her being a housewife should be fine, so I agree with the recommendation to do it inland.

In conclusion, seems like the general consensus is: Wait for the baby, relocate all three of us to Canada, and apply for PR inland.

Which brings up one final question:
1. While we are waiting for PR approval (which apparently takes loads of time if done inland), what happens if the centre take longer than 180 days (the longest my wife/future child can stay in Canada for) to process the application?
2. My wife won't be covered by OHIP until 90 days after PR is granted, so we will have to obtain travel insurance from Korea. How about for the baby? Is the rule different for my dependant child vs. my spouse? Will OHIP cover him/her? My understanding is that the same rules would apply to both my wife and baby, but I'm hoping at the very least that my child will be covered.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[shronak]

Hi Klystomane,
I'm not familiar with Seoul VO, but according to CIC it is about 10 months for outland...
I am also a Canadian citizen by descent that is not a resident of Canada and I'm sponsoring my husband. (my kids were born before 2009 so all are citizens).
If I was in your shoes I would start the process now by sponsoring only your wife outland, and add the kid when he is born to the request.
In the forms you need to give a date when you plan to move to Canada, give a date that is after the birth and also add an explanation to the request that you are expecting and due date.

Don't bring her to Canada as a tourist while she is pregnant because a child delivery can be complex and no insurance will cover it.

Sharona

 

[Klystomane]

Hi Klystomane,
I'm not familiar with Seoul VO, but according to CIC it is about 10 months for outland...
I am also a Canadian citizen by descent that is not a resident of Canada and I'm sponsoring my husband. (my kids were born before 2009 so all are citizens).
If I was in your shoes I would start the process now by sponsoring only your wife outland, and add the kid when he is born to the request.
In the forms you need to give a date when you plan to move to Canada, give a date that is after the birth and also add an explanation to the request that you are expecting and due date.

Don't bring her to Canada as a tourist while she is pregnant because a child delivery can be complex and no insurance will cover it.

Sharona

@Sharona: Thank you for your reply. It's good to hear from somebody that is in a similar situation as mine.

If I begin the process now, wouldn't my wife have to have the x-ray done for the health checkup, or does that happen in "Part 2" after sponsorship has been approved (Part 1)?

Thanks!

 

[Isometry]

Her being a housewife should be fine, so I agree with the recommendation to do it inland.

In conclusion, seems like the general consensus is: Wait for the baby, relocate all three of us to Canada, and apply for PR inland.

Which brings up one final question:
1. While we are waiting for PR approval (which apparently takes loads of time if done inland), what happens if the centre take longer than 180 days (the longest my wife/future child can stay in Canada for) to process the application?
2. My wife won't be covered by OHIP until 90 days after PR is granted, so we will have to obtain travel insurance from Korea. How about for the baby? Is the rule different for my dependant child vs. my spouse? Will OHIP cover him/her? My understanding is that the same rules would apply to both my wife and baby, but I'm hoping at the very least that my child will be covered.

Thanks a bunch!

If the baby is born in Canada, it will likely be covered by OHIP right away (as a Canadian citizen). This means that any medical care the baby needs would be covered, but any medical care your wife needs would not. If the child is born outside of Canada, then the same rules will apply that apply to your wife.

I think you can get the medical done (sans xray) and just submit the whole application including the medical, then add the xray later. Hopefully someone who has done this can verify.

 

[Rob_TO]

@ Rob: Seems like you are quite familiar with what's going on with the various offices - do you know why the Seoul/Tokyo offices are closed/closing?

The only thing i know is Seoul was most recent closing announced just a few weeks ago. Last year Tokyo, Berlin and Malaysia offices all closed. Everything is consolidated to other visa offices (Seoul and Tokyo now go to Manila). I have no idea about why they closed, but i assume it's to do with cost. Instead of 4 offices handling 500 apps each per year, it makes better financial sense to have just 1 office doing 2000 apps with more staff as you save on overhead costs.

I just hope CIC has hired extra VOs in the offices taking on all the apps (like Manila) from the closed offices, else people can expect some increased processing times.

When we called the agency in Korea, they said that I can start the PR sponsorship (outland via Seoul/Manila) for my wife now, and provide additional documentation for my child after s/he is born to supplement the application. Based on what you have said about the application involving getting x-ray'd during a medical checkup, it seems like that's not a viable option. Any ideas what the agency is talking about? Is there a way to defer the health checkup until after the baby is born perhaps?

Yes you can start the application now. However forget about the idea that your wife will get her PR before the baby is born, since that is not possible due to inability to get x-rays. So basically you would submit an application now assuming spouse only, NO baby or dependent. You can submit the medical now without x-rays, indicating due to pregnancy x-rays will be done and sent later. So you can at least go through the sponsor approval process and pass stage 1, and then your file will go to Manila for stage 2. At this point it will start to be processed, then it will be put on hold. When your wife has baby, she will complete the x-ray, and then you will add your new baby to the application as a dependant, submit all the new forms directly to Manila, and they will finish off the application. This will be quicker rather than waiting to have the baby, and then submitting the app from scratch.

It's up to you if you want to have the baby in Canada. I know Alberta gives healthcare to spouses of residents of Alberta, however since you've been out of Canada for so long there is probably a 3-month wait and other conditions you must meet. Best to investigate frist before trying this. Also note in almost all cases regular travel health insurance does NOT cover pregnancy or delivery costs, or if it does there is a 10-month waiting period (so it's only for unexpected cases and not for existing pregnancies).

IMO, i don't see any big deal in having the baby in Canada... if as you say it's so much cheaper in Korea. The baby will eventually get their PR and then citizenship anyways.

 

[Rob_TO]

On the contrary, for outland, there are chances that your wife may require interviews in Manila/Seoul. If you and your wife are in Canada before she gets her PR visa, your wife might need to get on a plane and fly there for the interview.

I was wondering about this. The interview is supposed to be for applicant, so if the visa processing office is in a completely different country, how can they expect an applicant to travel internationally just to attend an interview? I think if an interview is ever required in these cases, it could possibly be in the home-country of the applicant (in this case visa office is Manila, but interview would be in Seoul).

Anyways the probability of having an interview for a married couple, applicant from wealthy country, and with kid on the way, is practically zero. I would proceed under assumption no interview will be required.

If they apply inland, the wife/child are guaranteed to be allowed to stay in Canada the entire time... but should be noted she can't leave Canada during the entire application process (around 1.5 years). This might not be that bad, considering with a newborn they wouldn't be doing much international travel anyways. Wife would be able to get open work permit after 6 months sponsorship approval... which again isn't that bad since for the first year she would probably be a full time mom to newborn anyways and not even want to work.

 

[steaky]

2. My wife won't be covered by OHIP until 90 days after PR is granted, so we will have to obtain travel insurance from Korea. How about for the baby? Is the rule different for my dependant child vs. my spouse? Will OHIP cover him/her? My understanding is that the same rules would apply to both my wife and baby, but I'm hoping at the very least that my child will be covered.

Thanks a bunch!

Generally newcomers from other countries who move to Alberta, their provincial healthcare would be covered immediately. Perhaps, you could check with Alberta healthcare or have your relatives in Alberta to check if your wife would be covered immediately after her arrival and joining you to live in that province? I think after your baby is born in Alberta, s/he too will be covered by Albertan healthcare.

In conclusion, seems like the general consensus is: Wait for the baby, relocate all three of us to Canada, and apply for PR inland.

My suggestion is as following sequence:
1) You move to Alberta (from HK, Korea, etc.) and try get the provincial healthcare immediately;
2) If possible, your wife follow you to Alberta and you add her in your provincial healthcare plan;
3) Have the baby born in Alberta; and finally
4) Start process your wife's inland spousal sponsorship

BTW, OHIP is for Ontario.