Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[Rob_TO]

Does my wife need a return ticket when entering Canada without her PR card application accepted?

We have heard that you do, and that you don't.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation?

It depends on the immigration officer you get in Canada. Your wife is here as a visitor only until she has PR status, so the officer needs to be satisfied she will leave after 6 months. With a 1-way ticket, it could look like she has no intention of leaving.

So basically some people enter Canada and the officer never even asks to see return ticket. Other times an officer does ask. It's always recommended to have one just in case. You can also bring proof of PR application in progress.

Finally, she may have problems even boarding the plane in Korea. Often at Korean airport like Incheon they are very picky about Koreans flying to Canada as a visitor with only a 1-way ticket. You should be prepared to buy a return ticket on the spot if they demand it. Try calling the airline in advance and asking.

You could possibly see if she can buy a fully refundable return ticket, and then just cancel it after she gets to Canada.

 

[bartjones]

I agree with Rob. When my wife came here with me last May she had a partially refundable ticket. When she cancelled it later she got the full amount less about $200. To me at least, that was a small price to pay for ensuring her entry.

 

[Marticus]

Also, worth mentioning that the price difference between a one-way and a round-trip might not even make it worth buying a one-way, in regards to save a ton of dough. Looking at expedia.ca right now, Incheon to Vancouver for example has round-trip tickets for 1200 and one-way for 1000. Spending $200 extra bucks for piece of mind might just be worth it

 

[Marticus]

Wow, that is pretty cool. Thanks Marticus.

For me, my accent is actually good in that when I speak Korean, the korean pronunciation is quite good. So initially, people don't know that I am a kyopo. But the problem is that my vocabulary is weak. So anything beyond casual conversation, I'll start to get lost. People probably think I have bad hearing before they figure out I don't know what they are talking about lol Smiley

Haha you and me both Kesio!

Might also be worth adding that getting your residency visa in Korea is SUPER easy. I'm talking about 10 forms worth of paper work and less than a month's wait! Maybe Canada VO's could take some notes on efficiency from Korea

 

[bartjones]

Haha you and me both Kesio!

Might also be worth adding that getting your residency visa in Korea is SUPER easy. I'm talking about 10 forms worth of paper work and less than a month's wait! Maybe Canada VO's could take some notes on efficiency from Korea

Lol, how true. I got one of the first F5s in Korea in 2009. One form, $50 and a 3 month wait.

 

[Korea2Canada]

We are about a month away from the medical being 12 months old. Wait for a re-med. request or submit a new one anyway?

BTW: while Canada got snow yesterday... I was wearing shorts and riding bike last night Not bad eh for March!

 

[bartjones]

We are about a month away from the medical being 12 months old. Wait for a re-med. request or submit a new one anyway?

Wait for re-med. request.

 

[CanNZ]

BTW: while Canada got snow yesterday... I was wearing shorts and riding bike last night Not bad eh for March!

You do know which country you are leaving and which one you are moving to, right?

 

[Red Tape Sucks]

We are getting ready to purchase our tickets for our flight home this summer. If we decide to go through Vancouver, how much time should we allocate for going through immigration? We will be declaring our stuff that is being shipped, and telling them that my wife will be staying in Canada to wait out her PR card approval (or willing to go back to Korea if the time runs out).

Thanks again for all of your input!

 

[bartjones]

We are getting ready to purchase our tickets for our flight home this summer. If we decide to go through Vancouver, how much time should we allocate for going through immigration? We will be declaring our stuff that is being shipped, and telling them that my wife will be staying in Canada to wait out her PR card approval (or willing to go back to Korea if the time runs out).

Thanks again for all of your input!

I would allocate an hour to an hour and half. We came through Vancouver last May. The whole process took a little over an hour. There always seem to be very long lines in Vancouver.

 

[Rob_TO]

We will be declaring our stuff that is being shipped, and telling them that my wife will be staying in Canada to wait out her PR card approval (or willing to go back to Korea if the time runs out).

Is all your stuff in your name and your name only? As a returning Canadian you can bring your own goods into Canada for free. However your wife is entering as visitor status, so any goods she is bringing in her name she'll need to pay full taxes/duties/customs etc on.

 

[keesio]

I would allocate an hour to an hour and half. We came through Vancouver last May. The whole process took a little over an hour. There always seem to be very long lines in Vancouver.

Yup, it took about 90 minutes for my wife to land also (this was Toronto though). As I mentioned in another thread, it was ~12 minutes for the actual landing and 78 minutes of waiting in line

 

[CanNZ]

My wife and I got through customs in Vancouver in under an hour.

 

[CanAsian]

Hello All,

Does my wife need a return ticket when entering Canada without her PR card application accepted?

We have heard that you do, and that you don't.

Does anyone have any experience with this situation?

Thanks!

I just bought our tickets a couple weeks ago. I looked on expedia to see prices and booked through an agent here that speaks English and deals with foreigners. I asked for a ticket that can be refundable and the price wasn't very much more.

 

[Red Tape Sucks]

I just bought our tickets a couple weeks ago. I looked on expedia to see prices and booked through an agent here that speaks English and deals with foreigners. I asked for a ticket that can be refundable and the price wasn't very much more.

Which agent did you use? Do you have the contact info?

We have been looking at cheapo air, they seem to have the cheapest flights so far.