re:Canadian Immigration for family class PLEASE HELP

[djterryt]

Greetings,



I am a 28 year old male living in Vancouver BC Canada. I am born and raised here . My wife is from Ohio (united states) and she and her 2 kids ...aged 5 and 7 are planning on immigrating here. Now we have filed all of our applications for family class immigration. We had been apart for a couple of years primarily because she was working out custody details with her ex and now has sole custody of both children. She has gotten passports for both of them, her criminal background checks have been done...and her medical examinations for all 3 of them have already been completed. We have finished applications and completed them THROUGHLY with every requirement stated. (pictures marriage certificates , medical exams etc) AS well the applications for sponsorship AS well as the permanent residence applications HAVE ALREADY BEEN PAID FOR.

I had recently recieved a letter from the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga Ont stating that i have met the requirements for eligibility as a sponsor and that the application for permanent residency has been forwarded to Buffalo , which 2 weeks later got referred to the offices in Detroit (cause i guess the workload was lower and easier location FOR POSSIBLE INTERVIEW IF REQUIRED.)

Now here is my dilemma....her applications for PR are currently IN PROCESS. With the growing cost of child care etc we have set a move date for JULY 1ST 2009 so this way she would not have to spend so much on child care/ babysitters etc. She will be FLYING HERE.

So my question is: IS IT OK FOR HER TO PURCHASE ONE WAY TICKETS HERE? She would be flying Air Canada from Cleveland OH via Toronto Pearson then on to Vancouver International Airport; hence she would go thru customs IN TORONTO. She has literally sold 90% of her belongings and will be bringing small keep sakes in 3-4 luggage bags...ie pictures, important documents, kids dvds ...few toys clothes etc. Any LARGER items she will be arranging to SHIP from the united states here at a later date. As far as i know, she is to basically declare all of her personal belongings THAT ARE WITH HER as well as supply a LIST for items to ARRIVE LATER.

What i was thinking is she can come with one way tickets AS A VISITOR TO THE COUNTRY and is legally entitled to STAY IN CANADA FOR 6 MONTHS . She is WELL AWARE she is not allowed to work here UNTIL HER PR application is completed and that her children are also unable to be ENROLLED IN school till the PR applications are approved. She is also well aware that for some strange reason IF THE APPLICATIONS ARE NOT APPROVED DURING THAT TIME FRAME FOR WHATEVER REASON....she has to move back to united states or at least file an extension etc . I am personally expecting her applications to be approved within 1-3 months MAX as we had completed applications COMPREHENSIVELY AND TO THE TEE.

So my worry is that is THERE ANY POSSIBILITY SHE CAN BE DENIED ENTRY INTO THE COUNTRY? I highly doubt that would be the case but i wanted to make sure beforehand. She also brought up the idea of maybe purchasing refundable RETURN FLIGHTS and just cancelling them later.....but i figure theres no reason for her to just say shes "visiting" when in ACTUAL FACT shes moving to be here FULL TIME and i can almost guarantee Canadian Customs would be WELL AWARE OF THIS. So should we just book the one way tickets and everything should be ok??? OR SHOULD I NOTIFY CANADIAN CUSTOMS BEFOREHAND??
She is an American born citizen. Any advice for this matter would be appreciated.


ALSO, lets say if everything is fine...she moves here...i would be working 2 jobs full time ...she wouldnt be working till PR status is complete etc. So ONCE THEY ARE COMPLETE...what is the procedure? She was mentioning something about her passports being stamped or approved? So would i just go to an immigration office in Vancouver and get that done? I would like to have more information regarding the process AFTER HER PR IS COMPLETE and the steps i would have to take for everything to run smoothly.


YOUR INPUT/ADVICE is much appreciated and so is your time. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide to me.


Terry

 

[djterryt]

somebody?? anybody?? bueller??

 

[Leon]

Even though she is moving, she is officially not allowed to move until she has her PR. What if they would request an interview or find something wrong with the medicals? That's why her idea of having refundable return tickets might be a good one. You can call CIC and ask them but yeah, officially she is not allowed to move on a visitor status. They might see on their computer that she has a PR application going and normally if you are doing an outside application, they are not too worried that she will overstay since if she is called for an interview, she'd have to go back to the US anyway.

When they are ready to issue the PR visas, they will ask for their passports to be sent to them. You get the passports back with the PR visas and then you can drive to the border and "land". Once the landing paperwork is done, they should have their PR cards in the mail in about a month.

 

[djterryt]

Thanks for the reply and the advice Leon.

So heres the thing...her travel agent with her company had already gone ahead and purchased one way tickets for her and her children since Air canada was doing a seat sale that only lasted till may 5th.

So what would be your best advice? I dont want her being all nervous and such she she has never flown via Pearson Airport before. Should she just tell the customs officer that she is visiting for 5-6 months? I advised her to keep belongs that arent necessary to be shipped later ie her favorite silverware...kitchen items ...etc
and unnecessary belongings like that to be shipped later. I dont want them denying her entry if they are the assumption she will be MOVING HERE.

So what would be your best advice for her to tell the customs officer? that she is JUST VISITING HERE? Cause i always thought if they looked on their computers they could just see right away that her PR applications were IN PROCESS anyways and that they would automatically clue in regardless?

Another question Leon is that, what happens if the PR applications ARE APPROVED officially pending the passports to be sent in. Like for example lets say the applications get approved SOMETIME in june..and her flights are booked for June 30th, can she just tell the customs officers she is MOVING HERE officially and that the passports request will be done as soon as she ARRIVES? are the customs officers in Toronto able to process her passports etc? Cause i figured if she is travelling june 30th...she would NEED THE PASSPORTS TO BOARD A PLANE so would almost be pointless for her to send them in?

Another question i have is there certain items that she SHOULD NOT PACK then as coming as a visitor? I kind of wondered whether or not they would give her flack for having ONE WAY TICKETS but the clerk she spoke with at Air Canada told her getting one way tickets is fine as she is allowed to be in the country for a given period of time. I figured clothing ...photos...small items should be ok...im assuming?

I figure as long as shes staying with me..they will know exactly where she is at all times....she will not be working and i figure since the sponsorship process has been completed that i would fully assume responsibility regardless...


What do you think Leon? Your input and time is much appreciated man! Thanks!

 

[Leon]

Better to call CIC and make sure but I think she should say she has a PR application in process. That she is visiting right now for a couple of months or a few or whatever, uncertain amount of time. That she will have to go back to the US for an interview if she is called. If they ask her what will you do if you are denied, she can say that if she is denied, she will already be in the US because of the interview and she will stay there and sponsor you to move to the US instead. It is up to them if they let her in.

It's a hairy time to be travelling because like you said about the passports, what happens if they ask for the passports very close to the travel date, I don't know. They will give a time limit to send the passports. If she can not travel and still meet the time limit for sending them in, she may have to forget the travel and send them in anyway.

Of course there's also the possibility that she will breeze on through customs and nobody will ask her anything.

 

[RickNicky]

Without a return ticket the decision is solely up to the customs agent she encounters when arriving ,she can be denied access and as far as i know there is no way to get around this,unless you get the return tickets get her here then just claim well you decided to stay at which point you need to maintain valid visitor visa s until teh end of your pr app completion.

 

[Jasmine Hoover]

My husband came over while we were waiting for his passport request... He just flew here and said he was visiting.. I mean you can visit for 6 months either way so they shouldn't care. Anyway it worked out just fine for us. I just wouldn't move all her stuff... come for a long visit.
You could also buy return tickets and cancel them... just get some insurance when you buy them.