Sponsoring US spouse from US

[HappilyContent]

Hello! New to the forum. I have a couple questions hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. I'm a Canadian citizen, living here in the US (Los Angeles) as a LPR since 2006. We've recently decided to move back to Canada, because my dad was recently diagnosed with Cancer. I'm not sure what exactly I need to include in my packet other than the forms. DH is the breadwinner, I'm a SAHM, we have 3 small children who were born here, would I need to sponsor than as well? So other than the application and applicable fees what else do we need to send in our package?

 

[Eeriest Elk]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

This has the entire set of guides, forms and how to pay fees. I am in a similar position.

My wife of 24 years is a Canadian living as a Resident Alien since 1968. Due to her mothers health we are moving up to BC this summer. She applied to be my sponsor outbound (outside of Canada) family sponsorship. We have three kids born in the USA. However, because my wife is Canadian they have Citizenship (we applied for Proof of Citizenship for them).

Do be aware your husband will not be able to work until he gets his PR, which can take a year.

 

[HappilyContent]

This has the entire set of guides, forms and how to pay fees. I am in a similar position.

My wife of 24 years is a Canadian living as a Resident Alien since 1968. Due to her mothers health we are moving up to BC this summer. She applied to be my sponsor outbound (outside of Canada) family sponsorship. We have three kids born in the USA. However, because my wife is Canadian they have Citizenship (we applied for Proof of Citizenship for them).

Do be aware your husband will not be able to work until he gets his PR, which can take a year.

Thank you so much for replying. So is the process similar to the process in the US? He wouldn't be able to live in Canada until he is approved, right? I'm actually from Vancouver, cannot wait to go home to be with my Dad, this happened so unexpectedly as we just bought a house.. In the meantime, Dh can stay here and continue his job with DHS, until he's approved I'm assuming? We didn't get around to applying for our children's certificate of citizenship from Canada, so would I have to sponsor them too, or are they automatically canadian citizens through me? I'm going to check out that link, thank you.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Thank you so much for replying. So is the process similar to the process in the US? He wouldn't be able to live in Canada until he is approved, right? I'm actually from Vancouver, cannot wait to go home to be with my Dad, this happened so unexpectedly as we just bought a house.. In the meantime, Dh can stay here and continue his job with DHS, until he's approved I'm assuming? We didn't get around to applying for our children's certificate of citizenship from Canada, so would I have to sponsor them too, or are they automatically canadian citizens through me? I'm going to check out that link, thank you.

Assuming you were born in Canada or became a naturalized Canadian citizen yourself, your children are automatically Canadian citizens through you. You can use the tool at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules/index.asp to confirm and get links to the documents you need.

There's a few options for your husband. Assuming he is a US citizen, apply as soon as you can using the forms Eeriest Elk linked to above (in immigration lingo, this is known as 'outland' application). He can visit you in Canada but cannot work without a work permit. It's hard to predict how long it will take for you to be approved but 4-6 months wouldn't surprise me - this being much faster than recent history (last year they shut down the Buffalo visa office, which coordinated all US applications in May and the replacement visa office, CPP-O in Ottawa, didn't have authorization to issue visas until November 27 so history would indicate long wait periods - per http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/inFORMation/times/perm-fc.asp - but recent evidence points to things speeding up so it wouldn't surprise me if you hear in 4-6 months).

For the PR application, he also has the option to apply 'inland,' for which he would need to visit you in Canada and while he's there apply. For inland applications, step 1 could take as long as the whole outland process but you can request a work permit at the end of step 1. Thus, unless your case is complicated (since you have 3 children and thus presumably solid evidence of your relationship so unlikely unless he has anything that would require extensive security and background checks) outland is probably a better choice.

In addition to being able to visit Canada, your husband could work if he gets a work permit. If his background qualifies him for a NAFTA visa, he can get a work permit on the spot at the border with a job offer in hand. See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/special-business.asp. Otherwise he would need the employer to get an LMO (labour market opinion).

For your children, it's worth a call to the school near where your parents live. Some schools/provinces allow children to attend while they are being sponsored so I would certainly hope they would accomodate your children if you can explain the situation so they can attend school while they get their Canadian citizenship certificate/passport and move up with you.

Good luck during this very difficult time.