Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[costaudjoe]

My husband's COPR arrived via courier today! We'll be heading down to the U.S. border so he can officially land. I can't believe this whole process is finally over.

Thank you to everyone on this board who has been so helpful, and I hope your wives all get their visas soon, too.

Congratulations!

I was trying to make sense of your timeline. It looks like you submitted your meds before your application.

What am I particularly interested in is the amount of time that elapsed between your remeds and approval.

 

[Daantaat]

Congratulations!

I was trying to make sense of your timeline. It looks like you submitted your meds before your application.

What am I particularly interested in is the amount of time that elapsed between your remeds and approval.

Yeah, he had his medical done in October of 2012 and we anticipated sending the application in fairly soon after that, but we didn't send in our application until March due to some trouble regarding his daughter and issues with the ex-wife, who wouldn't let the kid get her medical done. (We ended up sending in the application along with an affidavit stating that we agreed that if we didn't get her medical done, that we wouldn't be able to sponsor her in the future, but in September CIC demanded that she get it done because she was on my husband's family register and therefore in his custody. We had to go to court to get the custody papers to prove that the ex had custody and to explain that in Korea, daughters stay on the family register until they marry and then they move to their husband's family register. Anyway, once we got the legal proof that my husband didn't have custody, the ex agreed to let the kid get the medical done, so we had to pay for and send two medicals in October of 2013). All of this led to another delay in processing our application form. We didn't hear anything else from CIC for 5 months after the remed, when we got a request for a scan of his passport page. That was on March 21, and after the 14 month deadline had passed, I emailed Manilla and next thing you know, the ECAS status had changed to DM and today we got his COPR. So yes, it was a long and drawn out process and lots of delays and requests for more information, etc. :

 

[CanAsian]

How did you guys change your address after you arrived in Canada? I cant log into Ecas using my information. i can only log in using my wifes info.

 

[bartjones]

How did you guys change your address after you arrived in Canada? I cant log into Ecas using my information. i can only log in using my wifes info.

Emailing the visa office in Manila to advise them of your new address will work. Quote your wife's UCI number and the PR file number.

 

[Red Tape Sucks]

Hello all,

A little while ago someone (I think it was either BartJones or Rob-TO) posted about getting OHIP before your spouses PR card approval. I just want to confirm and make sure that I understand the basic process correctly. We will be moving to Canada July 12, 2014, on the following Monday my son and I will submit our application for our OHIP (about 3 months wait, correct?). From what I understood from the older post, my wife can apply for her OHIP 3 months after arrival? Once she applies, it will take about 3 months for approval. So a total wait of about 6 months. Does that sound right?

We are trying to sort out what kind of medical insurance to get and how long to get it for. If she can get her OHIP coverage in 6 months that would be fantastic.

Thanks again!

 

[jmomcc]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help so far! I have a criminal check question? Do traffic violations show on the criminal check? I have a few speeding tickets to my knowledge in korea (for some reason they sometime don't come to my address). I would have thought not, as they are from the camera and my insurance allows anyone to drive my car who has a license but I'm not sure.

 

[Rob_TO]

on the following Monday my son and I will submit our application for our OHIP (about 3 months wait, correct?).

Yes, as a returning resident you and your Canadian son will wait exactly 3 months from the date you arrived back in Canada.

From what I understood from the older post, my wife can apply for her OHIP 3 months after arrival? Once she applies, it will take about 3 months for approval. So a total wait of about 6 months. Does that sound right?

No that's not how it works. Read here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/important-ohip-eligibility-info-for-all-pr-applicants-residing-in-ontario-t56695.0.html

Basically there is no set time. As an outland applicant, there is a certain stage during the process where your wife will get what's equivalent to AIP for inland processing (called AFP). So first she will need to apply for OHIP after which the office will most likely reject her. Then she needs to appeal that decision to the eligibility review board. Then they will communicate with Manila to determine exactly when she would be eligible. Could be 3, 6, 9 months... who knows. It depends a lot on Manila.

 

[Red Tape Sucks]

Thanks Rob! We will be 6 month into the application process when we arrive, so I will apply for my wife's at the same time. Worst thing they can do is say no.....

One other thing. Which CIC/application documents should we have with us when we arrive at immigration in Toronto?

Thanks again boys!

 

[CanAsian]

My wife and i just came to canada 2 weeks ago. We are in calgary so went through immi in vancouver. I had my sponsorship approval letter and her return ticket ready but they didnt ask. Told them that we have a pr application i process and she just asked how far into the process we were in. I told her and she let us go through.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks Rob! We will be 6 month into the application process when we arrive, so I will apply for my wife's at the same time. Worst thing they can do is say no.....

They will definitely say no, and then you need to go through the bureaucratic process to appeal through the OERC: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ohip/review.aspx

Also keep in mind when applying for OHIP, all of you must prove residency by showing them 1 of the specific documents on "List 2" from this doc: http://www.forms.ssb.gov.on.ca/mbs/ssb/forms/ssbforms.nsf/GetFileAttach/014-9998E-82~1/$File/9998-82E.pdf

It MUST be one of those specific docs, and they will not accept any deviations. i.e. when my wife first tried to apply she showed an official letter from the CRA addressed to her, but since it wasn't her specific "income tax assessment" form from CRA they wouldn't accept it and we needed to come back again with proper letter.

One other thing. Which CIC/application documents should we have with us when we arrive at immigration in Toronto?

I would show your sponsor approval letter.

Also make sure she has a return airplane ticket dated less than 6 months later. And emphasize to any immigration officer you talk to that you are fully aware of the rules and after visitor status expires will go through proper methods to request an extension, or she is prepared to return to Korea.

 

[bartjones]

Thanks Rob! We will be 6 month into the application process when we arrive, so I will apply for my wife's at the same time. Worst thing they can do is say no.....

One other thing. Which CIC/application documents should we have with us when we arrive at immigration in Toronto?

Thanks again boys!

Yes, as Rob says they will most likely reject her at that point. You can then appeal to the OERC and they will check with CIC to see how far along your wife's PR application is. The OERC may find that it's not far enough along and also reject you. If that happens you can follow up a couple months later with a letter to the OERC asking them to check again with CIC.

In my wife's case she became eligible about eight and a half months after filing her PR application and then she had to wait three months from that date to actually get coverage. As Rob says, a lot depends on Manila and how quickly they process your application, so gauging timelines is a bit of a crap shoot. Yours could be shorter or longer than my wife's.

In terms of proving residency for you, I would suggest converting your Korean driver's license to an Ontario one ASAP after you arrive. They will accept the driver's license issue date as your residency date.

 

[bartjones]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help so far! I have a criminal check question? Do traffic violations show on the criminal check?

No.

 

[costaudjoe]

I am just wondering what my next step should be. I will meet my partner in Hawaii and we will fly to Montreal together. I will have my sponsorship letter and she will have her CSQ. I will get a return ticket with points (to be refunded after she arrives). I have contacted my MP 4 times so far and the last time I did not hear back. I got my GCMS notes which did not reveal very much and were cryptic ("On assigned BF. Meds expired; auto meds issued today. RPRF paid. CSQ details noted in GCMS. RCMP check shows no reportable trace. File queued for eligibility review"). The date of the note is April 4, the request is dated April 15 and I received the notes May 15. My partner resubmitted her meds on May 12.

I don't know what to do next. Should I get in touch with my MP again and-or resubmit to get the latest version of our GCMS notes?

This has been painfully long.

 

[bartjones]

I am just wondering what my next step should be. I will meet my partner in Hawaii and we will fly to Montreal together. I will have my sponsorship letter and she will have her CSQ. I will get a return ticket with points (to be refunded after she arrives). I have contacted my MP 4 times so far and the last time I did not hear back. I got my GCMS notes which did not reveal very much and were cryptic ("On assigned BF. Meds expired; auto meds issued today. RPRF paid. CSQ details noted in GCMS. RCMP check shows no reportable trace. File queued for eligibility review"). The date of the note is April 4, the request is dated April 15 and I received the notes May 15. My partner resubmitted her meds on May 12.

I don't know what to do next. Should I get in touch with my MP again and-or resubmit to get the latest version of our GCMS notes?

This has been painfully long.

Are you sure you are reading the notes correctly. It seems odd that they are still doing an eligibility review after a year and a half. My wife's eligibility was granted 8 months after the application was filed and her application has not exactly been problem free.

In any case, if the MP won't help, then ordering your GCMS notes once a month is probably all you can do.

 

[costaudjoe]

Are you sure you are reading the notes correctly. It seems odd that they are still doing an eligibility review after a year and a half. My wife's eligibility was granted 8 months after the application was filed and her application has not exactly been problem free.

In any case, if the MP won't help, then ordering your GCMS notes once a month is probably all you can do.

What I previously posted about the eligibility review is Note 1 dated April 4th. Also, from what I can gather, Quebec did not send off the CSQ to Manila. As such our file probably sat there collecting dust while Manila was waiting for the CSQ. When I contacted my MP, his assistant found out that the CSQ was missing. After which we forwarded a copy to our MP who in turn sent it to Manila and that is reflected in the latest notes. This is starting to freak me out. I can't believe we might have another 6 months to go.

PS I will recontact my MP one more time just to see. Also, for the notes, is it one month from the previous request date or one month from the date you received the report?