Sponsoring Wife - which country?

[trevorLG]

After 6 years, we are ready to start the sponsorship process.

My wife has been working overseas for 4 years. The estimated sponsorship time in her home country is 'estimated' to be 14 months. However, the country in which she is working has an estimated sponsorship time of 8 months (she's a blue card holder - work permit). Is there any advantage in having her case filed where she is working or would the CIC send the application to her birthplace regardless?

Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Can she enter the country she is working in now as a visitor without a visa? In other words, is she visa exempt in that country?

If she is visa exempt in that country - then I would say go ahead and select that country as her processing office. If she is not, then I would go with her home country.

The reason for this is that let's say she selected the country she is working in as her visa office and then her work permit ends before the processing of her application is complete. Let's also say that she's asked to attend an interview after she has left the country but then can't get an approved visitor visa. This would very likely mean that her application will be refused and that she would have to start the processing again from scratch.

So again, if she's visa exemt in the country she's working in now - go for it.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[Rob_TO]

The general rule is that whenever you submit the application, you need to have a visa good for at least 1 full year more in the country you want for processing. As Scylla mentioned, this is so the applicant will for sure be able to attend a future interview in that country in case one is required.

Note also that sometimes CPC-Mississauga just ends up sending the application to the applicant's home country, no matter what they request on the application.

So by all means request her current country where she's working if you think it will result in quicker processing, but just be prepared that it may still end up going to her home visa office.

 

[trevorLG]

Thank you. She is visa exempt as long as she holds the blue card. Barring something very extreme happening, her job is very stable and indefinite.

I was concerned that the CIC would send her file to her home country regardless of where we filed. I was going to include a letter to immigration stating our preference. It seems worth the effort then to file in the work country, given the processing time 'may' be shorter.

The only other issue is that the forms are country (citizen) specific, so I'm going to need to go through the information guides for both countries to make sure we leave nothing out?

Thank you for your advice!