Singapore wait times

[joe perry]

Wondering if the current 31 month processing time on the CIC website is accurate for family class sponsorship through the Singapore Office ?

How do they expect husband and wife to be separated for 31 months after marriage if ultimately the permanent resident visa is issued ????

 

[mikeymyke]

No its not, my wife got her PR visa in 6 months processing time. I've seen newer applicants on track to get them in just 5 months now. But beware, if you get an interview request, you will have to wait an additional 24 months before you get an interview, so make sure you avoid the interview as much as possible.

 

[thomas365]

Hopefully will be much less than 31 months, since my wife is moving back home to Singapore from Hong Kong.

 

[joe perry]

No its not, my wife got her PR visa in 6 months processing time. I've seen newer applicants on track to get them in just 5 months now. But beware, if you get an interview request, you will have to wait an additional 24 months before you get an interview, so make sure you avoid the interview as much as possible.

What are the circumstances for an interview ?

Also MikeyMyke - I wan to bring my wife to Canada for a long honeymoon (3 weeks) and to have a wedding reception for my Aunts/Uncles/Cousins who cannot make to the wedding ceremony in my wife's country. I know you have experience in getting a tourist visa for your wife before the PR card.

What I am wondering is :

1. Should I apply for a tourist visa just after we have the marriage certificate but before I send off family class sponsorship application ? OR

2. Should I wait until I am approved as a sponsor and then apply for a tourist visa for my wife ?

I have the time to wait until I am approved as a sponsor as the legal marriage will take place next month on a 1 week trip. This will happen before the big religious ceremony as myself and my close family do not have enough holiday time this year for a proper wedding and long honeymoon until early next year.

Thanks for any reply or help

 

[28january]

No its not, my wife got her PR visa in 6 months processing time. I've seen newer applicants on track to get them in just 5 months now. But beware, if you get an interview request, you will have to wait an additional 24 months before you get an interview, so make sure you avoid the interview as much as possible.

Six months???????????? Good for you! Where did they get their 31 months from then???????????
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled for you!

We're you pleasantly surprised or did you call their bluff :

 

[mikeymyke]

What are the circumstances for an interview ?

Also MikeyMyke - I wan to bring my wife to Canada for a long honeymoon (3 weeks) and to have a wedding reception for my Aunts/Uncles/Cousins who cannot make to the wedding ceremony in my wife's country. I know you have experience in getting a tourist visa for your wife before the PR card.

What I am wondering is :

1. Should I apply for a tourist visa just after we have the marriage certificate but before I send off family class sponsorship application ? OR

2. Should I wait until I am approved as a sponsor and then apply for a tourist visa for my wife ?

I have the time to wait until I am approved as a sponsor as the legal marriage will take place next month on a 1 week trip. This will happen before the big religious ceremony as myself and my close family do not have enough holiday time this year for a proper wedding and long honeymoon until early next year.

Thanks for any reply or help

Ok this is my opinion but, I feel that you will be more likely to be refused a visitor visa if you apply before your PR application, because the officers might think you guys will just marry in Canada and file an inland application, which will allow your wife to remain in Canada indefinitely until she gets PR. This is technically permitted, but it's something they frown upon, especially for people from non visa exempt countries, because those people have higher chance of overstaying in Canada should their PR application fail.

My wife and I did it, and we feel that applying for TRV after sponsor approval is the best way, because the officers won't have to worry about you guys filing an inland application here. Eliminates one risk factor there.

As for circumstances for interview, you might get an interview if you have a large age difference, educational difference, cultural difference, you didn't have a traditional full wedding when you could but chose to do a civil wedding at the govt office, neither parents attending the wedding, proposal or marriage after knowing each other a short time, marrying on the first visit, etc. You absolutely do not want an interview, because you will have to wait 24 months for an interview, it's absolutely disgusting

Six months???????????? Good for you! Where did they get their 31 months from then???????????
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled for you!

We're you pleasantly surprised or did you call their bluff :

31 months is for applications that have red flags, or missing documents, things like that. Your processing time will be much shorter if you don't have anything missing, and if you can prove to CIC that your relationship/marriage is genuine by submitting a strong application. The biggest thing is avoiding the interview. If you get an interview, those 24 months you're waiting doesn't even count towards the processing, so technically if someone gets an interview + refusal + appeal, they could possibly be waiting 3-4 years for their spouse to get PR

 

[28january]

:'( I wish I knew about this before going the inland route haha..

I guess 31 months is "average" ? That means more applicants have to go through interviews?

 

[mikeymyke]

I believe Singapore VO has significantly more people getting interviews than other VOs because the countries they're dealing with all happen to be high-risk marriage fraud regions, like Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. On this forum alone, I would say about 80% of people from Vietnam got interviews, based on my experience. Also bear in mind that Singapore VO has not only one of the longest processing times in the world, but also one of the highest refusal rates in the world, Singapore refuses 28% of applications submitted to them.

My wife and I didn't go inland because we knew we had a strong application and likely to beat the interview, so we went outland instead.

 

[Kayaker]

:'( I wish I knew about this before going the inland route haha..

I guess 31 months is "average" ? That means more applicants have to go through interviews?

Processing times are NOT an average.

Processing times are a worst case scenario. Worst case scenario, you will wait 31 months or longer. Most people (80%) will be finished within 31 months. That 80% includes people like mikeymike, who finished in 5 months. Probably there are lots of others who finished in less than a year. Only 20% of people waited longer than 31 months.

 

[Tamabol]

I have the time to wait until I am approved as a sponsor as the legal marriage will take place next month on a 1 week trip. This will happen before the big religious ceremony as myself and my close family do not have enough holiday time this year for a proper wedding and long honeymoon until early next year.

Thanks for any reply or help

Curious to know if this actually happened? It is not possible to get married in Cambodia in a 1 week trip. It takes 5 to 7 weeks before you are granted permission to go through with the marriage. Some foreigners living in Cambodia with a Cambodian wife have tried to legally get married and so far in 3 months have still been refused. Unless you can book 2 months off, best of luck.