Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[Rob_TO]

Option 1: Visit the states for a few days(or weeks) and try to get 6 months visitor visa at the border.
Option 2: stay in canada and apply for visitor status. In this case, can I ask more than a year?

Either way is fine. With Option 2, i've heard that many people have gotten 12 months status, but this could vary depending on the person processing the visitor status application.

Also keep in mind that if you go with Option 2 and get a new status, as soon as you leave Canada at any time, all the status is gone and you would be re-qualifying when you return to Canada. Requesting and getting a full year (or more) extension is only useful if you actually intend to stay in Canada that entire time.

If you go with Option 1 and you've already submitted your PR application, make sure you tell CBSA and bring proof. If you don't have sponsor approval yet then you can being the payment receipt, proof of PR app delivery to CPC-M, couple of the PR forms filled out, etc.

 

[cometkim]

Thank you so much!

I have a couple more question.

1. Country specific guide from CIC website says that we need to provide 'notarized affidavits attesting to the fact and providing reasons for why you and your sponsor are/were living together without being married or unable to live together altogether' for common-law applications. Do we need to provide this?


2. from the same guide, they require at least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of your relationship supporting your claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing. are they need to be notarized?

Thanks you!

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much!

I have a couple more question.

1. Country specific guide from CIC website says that we need to provide 'notarized affidavits attesting to the fact and providing reasons for why you and your sponsor are/were living together without being married or unable to live together altogether' for common-law applications. Do we need to provide this?


2. from the same guide, they require at least two statutory declarations from individuals with personal knowledge of your relationship supporting your claim that the relationship is genuine and continuing. are they need to be notarized?

The guide actually says "Documentary evidence may include". So you don't have to include them, but it's probably a good idea to do so.

Basically all you need are a few support letters from friends/family that gets them to explain in their own words that you are a genuine couple, and that you've lived together for at least 1 full year.

I wouldn't worry about explaining why you didn't get married, as that is not really relevant as deciding to get married is a personal choice. As long as you legally qualify as common-law there is no need to even mention the word marriage anywhere in the application.

 

[shanerang]

Hi everyone I'm new here, me and my fiance are about to get married but have some worries about her being denied at the border so our situation is she has had a student visa for a year an half then did a 4 month tour visa which is expiring December, we have to go to Korea end of December and will be back maybe march, should she try to get a tour visa again or just come in as a visitor and should we marry in Canada first so we have a certificate when we come back or does the certificate not matter if the cbsa officer sees it. Also mainly what should we say to the cbsa officer about her reason for coming back, we are really worried she will be denied entry, we've contact many immigrantion consultant agencies for the inland and outland application they've told us to not say anything about our marriage even if asked and just say she is back for vacation again, we've also seen people's post saying to just let the cbsa officer know we are married and show the certificate of marriage and say she is visiting me while planning on applying for spousal immigration. Any suggestions or experiences that can help us would be greatly appreciated, please let me know your feedbacks and thoughts! Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[bartjones]

I think your best bet is to just come back in March and tell CBSA that she is coming back for a visit. Have a return ticket for her. It's difficult to see why they would deny her entry in those circumstances.

Once you're here, you can marry, submit an outland PR application and thereafter apply to extend her visitor's visa. Once you've submitted the PR application, a visitor's visa extension should be pretty easy to get.

 

[Marticus]

Hi folks,

I hope you are doing well. My wife landed on September 16th and we received her PR Card in the mail on Tuesday this week! It took about 5 weeks by mail.

When she arrived to YVR, her (our) address was still registered as our Korean address. She simply told the visa officer our Edmonton address and sure enough it arrived her at our place in Edmonton!

Now, the job search begins for my wife! Anyone find any difficulty with your newly-landed wife/husband to find jobs?

 

[ctcruiser]

Congrats! I'm living just out of Edmonton now and we're waiting on my wife's PR process. I think we're close to half way if no problems come up. I'm actually in job hunting mode for myself right now but I have come across a few positions that actually want Korean speakers. I saw one for a translation job for an office, and another part time type job for fed ex or something like that. I guess it would depend on what type of work she's looking for. I'm having trouble jumping back into my field, but I'm plugging away at the job search. Let me know what she might want and I can message you if I come across anything in my daily searches.
CT

 

[ilovecbc]

Hi everyone~! I want to thank you all for the help and advice ^^ We received our CPR today in the mail so it seems that if your application gets randomly processed in Ottawa, it may be a bit faster than Manila.

Question: our validity date is the end of March but we were planning to move back in June... My husband just needs to fly to Canada by that date and get the paperwork done at the airport, right? And if he comes back to Korea until June that won't be a problem, will it?

Thanks again, and good luck to everyone still waiting for that letter~!

 

[Rob_TO]

My husband just needs to fly to Canada by that date and get the paperwork done at the airport, right? And if he comes back to Korea until June that won't be a problem, will it?

Shouldn't be a problem. Just note that for the PR landing your husband will need to give an address in Canada for the PR card to get sent to. It then takes 1-2 months for the PR card to arrive in the mail. So if a friend/family receives the PR card, they can courier it to him in Korea so he will have no problems returning to Canada in June.

Note that if he has conditional PR (Condition 51 would be written on COPR) then it's a requirement that sponsor and PR cohabit for 2 years immediately after landing. So if he's in Korea for an extended time but you stay in Canada, technically that would be breaking the conditional rule. Though probably CBSA would not care, but who knows.

 

[kazzy]

Hey Friends,
Just a quick question about sending money - thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help me...

My husband is Korean and I'm Canadian. We are both presently in South Korea. He was approved as a Permanent Resident and we will be flying to Toronto in a few weeks.

My question is....How do we transfer our money from Korea to Canada? Is it possible to send our savings from his account in Korea to my bank account at CIBC with no questions asked? (The sum will be over 250 000 CAN).

Some of the money was earned by both of us and some was gifted to us from our wedding and from his parents.

Not sure how to move the money....The bank needs us to prove we earned it here with tax statements which we have....but that means we have to actually go in the bank and sign papers etc....before we leave and I'm the only one with a Canadian bank account.

How did others deal with this problem?

Thanks and Blessings!

 

[bartjones]

Hey Friends,
Just a quick question about sending money - thanks in advance to anyone who may be able to help me...

My husband is Korean and I'm Canadian. We are both presently in South Korea. He was approved as a Permanent Resident and we will be flying to Toronto in a few weeks.

My question is....How do we transfer our money from Korea to Canada? Is it possible to send our savings from his account in Korea to my bank account at CIBC with no questions asked? (The sum will be over 250 000 CAN).

Some of the money was earned by both of us and some was gifted to us from our wedding and from his parents.

Not sure how to move the money....The bank needs us to prove we earned it here with tax statements which we have....but that means we have to actually go in the bank and sign papers etc....before we leave and I'm the only one with a Canadian bank account.

How did others deal with this problem?

Thanks and Blessings!

Why not just go into the bank, sign the papers and transfer the funds to your CIBC account? I believe that's what my Korean wife did before we left.

 

[kitty410]

Why not just go into the bank, sign the papers and transfer the funds to your CIBC account? I believe that's what my Korean wife did before we left.

Talk to KEB or other banks' HQ. They have professions specialized in transferring money for immigration purpose. Personally, I used online currency transfer and other underground methods.

 

[ilovecbc]

Note that if he has conditional PR (Condition 51 would be written on COPR) then it's a requirement that sponsor and PR cohabit for 2 years immediately after landing. So if he's in Korea for an extended time but you stay in Canada, technically that would be breaking the conditional rule. Though probably CBSA would not care, but who knows.

Thanks, Rob. That's a good point! I'll be staying in Korea until June too, so maybe I'll write up a letter just in case to let them know that we are living together ^^

Thanks~!

 

[kazzy]

Why not just go into the bank, sign the papers and transfer the funds to your CIBC account? I believe that's what my Korean wife did before we left.

Bartjones, that was our plan. We have been in contact with KEB people who know how to send large sums of money. I was just worried on the Canadian end about such a large sum. Like would I be flagged and reported to tax authorities. I know my husband can bring in as much money as he wants tax free, but when the money goes into my bank account are there any questions asked etc....

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks, Rob. That's a good point! I'll be staying in Korea until June too, so maybe I'll write up a letter just in case to let them know that we are living together ^^

Thanks~!

Just to be safe, it's best to keep proof that you are cohabiting. So keep anything like shared mail, joint accounts, joint lease agreement, letter from landlord you are living together, etc.

Odds are you'll never be questioned on it so won't even have to use it, but better to be prepared just in case.