Sponsorship in Australia Question

[beatitboss]

Hi Folks,

I have a couple of issues with regards to my future sponsorship application.

I am Canuck with no criminal record, no immigration fraud issues, I have never sponsored anybody in the past etc.

Since 2,5 years I am living with my fiancee whom I met almost 6 years ago. I am not worried about proving the existence of our relationship because we have accumulated hundreds of photos, bank statements, plane tickets, electricity bills, our families know each other so as you can see it should not be a big deal to get this part of the job done.

In addition to that she speaks perfectly good English and French plus she holds a degree so everything should go quite smoothly.

HOWEVER:

As I said previously, I am a Canuck BUT I have left Canada almost 17 years ago with my parents as they embarked on a business adventure in Europe. I was growing up in France and visiting my family in Montreal from time to time.

At this point in time we are residing in Australia (myself and my fiancee) - by the way we’ll be getting married quite shortly and we are willing to relocate to Canada as there’s simply more opportunities for us. In addition to that my mother who’s in Europe is getting older and I cannot afford to be so far away from her.

I’ve done some research already and I know that I can sponsor her even though I do not reside in Canada. Additionally the Sydney office is know for its efficiency as apparently they do not have so many applications and most of them are quite easy to deal with.

BUT: The only thing which looks quite problematic is the ‘expression of intention to settle in Canada’.

Honestly I don’t know what should I do in order to demonstrate that we are genuinely looking to relocate.

I will certainly be in measure to show that I am looking for a job/apartment in Calgary and that I am doing the usual research which a person supposed to relocate would normally do. Naturally the same applies to my fiancee.

However I was just wondering if it wasn’t better if we applied from Australia and in the meantime I would go to Calgary in order to open a bank account, look for a job, rent a place to live and maybe even buy a car?

I am a little bit worried because it’s kinda long shot to organize the moving from Australia and I don’t want to commit any errors from the beginning as time is precious and we’d like to get everything done as smooth as possible…

The very last thing is cash:

The CIC requires me to help my fiancee start up a new life in Canada. I am 100% willing to do that however I don’t know what they mean by 'adequate sum of money’.

The other thing is that I won’t have billions at my disposal however I have qualification in the financial/petroleum industry which is now booming in Calgary. My fiancee is also qualified and she’ll be looking for a job right away...

All answers will be appreciated.

Cheers,

 

[Canadianfairy]

Well I have been in Australia almost 8 years and was able to sponsor my husband and got approved... I didn't have to provide any financial info. I submitted a letter stating that we were planning on moving back and would live with my parents until we were able to find jobs and a home of our own.

 

[beatitboss]

Well I have been in Australia almost 8 years and was able to sponsor my husband and got approved... I didn't have to provide any financial info. I submitted a letter stating that we were planning on moving back and would live with my parents until we were able to find jobs and a home of our own.

Hi there,
Thanks a lot! That sounds reassuring!
The only difference between me and you is that my parents don't live in Canada but I don't thing it's gonna be such a big issue as I will certainly prearrange some accommodation before we depart, logically...

By the way, I know it's slightly off-topic but are you an Aussie citizen? I was thinking about applying for citizenship as I don't know exactly when do we want to move and things may change in the meantime. Plus I think that I'll be more than glad to return to Australia one day...
Which city are you currently living in? Where have you been in Australia? Did you find the transition hard? Obviously everything is very different.
Sorry for so many personal questions; I don't intend to be too inquisitive

 

[Canadianfairy]

yes I am also an Australian Citizen and a Canadian citizen. I mostly lived in Perth but have stayed in Sydney for a year prior... I had a really difficult time living here because I missed my family and its just so far away. I have been lucky to have great in laws and was able to make the trip back home a few times. but It is just time to go home now.. I want to be close to my parents and want my kids to grow up with their cousins.

To get Australian citizenship you need to be a PR in Australia for 4 years and then you can apply. You have to do a multiple choice test, the an interview where they basically make sure all your documents are in order. After that you wait for them to invite you to a Citizenship ceremony where you get your certificate.

 

[beatitboss]

yes I am also an Australian Citizen and a Canadian citizen. I mostly lived in Perth but have stayed in Sydney for a year prior... I had a really difficult time living here because I missed my family and its just so far away. I have been lucky to have great in laws and was able to make the trip back home a few times. but It is just time to go home now.. I want to be close to my parents and want my kids to grow up with their cousins.

To get Australian citizenship you need to be a PR in Australia for 4 years and then you can apply. You have to do a multiple choice test, the an interview where they basically make sure all your documents are in order. After that you wait for them to invite you to a Citizenship ceremony where you get your certificate.

Yeah, I can pretty much relate to what you've gone through.
The first year of my stay in Australia was very difficult. At the same time my Mom had a car accident so things became even more complicated. Thankfully, she's doing pretty much alright at this stage.
But as for now, I need to stay down under for a few years in order to finish what I've undertaken but eventually I'll have to get closer to my family and bring my Mom back to Canada so that she can retire in peace. I am a unique child so there's not heaps of people that she's able to rely upon. She's now 62 but she's still working and I think that sometimes she's more active than me . But as you can imagine, nothing is limitless.
On the other hand I need to move back to Canada because there are better opportunities there in my sector + Canada is very close to Europe, USA and South America what multiplies my options even further. As you know every trip from here takes at least 20 hours + the mandatory jetlag .

So as far as I understood, you are still in Australia, right? Are you in the procedure of sponsoring your partner now? How's the Sydney office by the way? I heard that they are quite cool

So just to reiterate your previous reply; as long as I have some savings, as long as I can demonstrate that we'll have a place to crash for the first couple of weeks and that we are both qualified and looking for employment in Canada there should be no problem with getting the sponsorship approved, right?

 

[Canadianfairy]

Yes still in Australia wont be leaving till January if husband gets his PR before then and at this stage it is looking pretty good. . We just sent in the application in March and got sponsorship approved last week. I haven't had to deal with the Sydney office yet but from previous people looks like they are quite quick at processing applications at the moment.

When you do apply I would include all the info you mentioned in here as to why you want to go back to Canada.

We will always have to travel between the two countries so I wont get around the jetlag and 24 hours travel.. haha however probably will be traveling less as we probably wont get as many holidays as we do here in Australia. Thank goodness my kids are very good little travellers but regardless it is exhausting and not a trip you can do for only a couple weeks.. We always have to go for at least a month to 6 weeks.

 

[beatitboss]

Yes still in Australia wont be leaving till January if husband gets his PR before then and at this stage it is looking pretty good. . We just sent in the application in March and got sponsorship approved last week. I haven't had to deal with the Sydney office yet but from previous people looks like they are quite quick at processing applications at the moment.

When you do apply I would include all the info you mentioned in here as to why you want to go back to Canada.

We will always have to travel between the two countries so I wont get around the jetlag and 24 hours travel.. haha however probably will be traveling less as we probably wont get as many holidays as we do here in Australia. Thank goodness my kids are very good little travellers but regardless it is exhausting and not a trip you can do for only a couple weeks.. We always have to go for at least a month to 6 weeks.

Well, congratulations then! I am confident that everything will go smoothly and that you won't have to wait for too long before you can land together with you husband. I guess that you are feeling more and more excited about returning home permanently. I am sure that you're gonna find it quite strange at the very beginning. It's not always easy to resettle in your own country. It happened to me once already and it may sound ridiculous but you actually start missing the country which was hosting you for the last couple of years...

That's true, you won't be able to eliminate the jetlag factor from your trips. Additionally you must always take into account the fact that seasons are completely incompatible between Canada and Australia. It's either very cold or very warm in one country compared to the other.
We have no kids as for now and I don't think we'll have any before moving to Canada. But I am sure that they'll love their childhood up there!
I think that we actually have more holidays here in Australia that Canadians do. When I speak with my family back in Canada they always have to work however we are often off. That's actually something I could not get used to when I first moved to Australia. For me people were just not working enough

 

[beatitboss]

Yes still in Australia wont be leaving till January if husband gets his PR before then and at this stage it is looking pretty good. . We just sent in the application in March and got sponsorship approved last week. I haven't had to deal with the Sydney office yet but from previous people looks like they are quite quick at processing applications at the moment.

When you do apply I would include all the info you mentioned in here as to why you want to go back to Canada.

We will always have to travel between the two countries so I wont get around the jetlag and 24 hours travel.. haha however probably will be traveling less as we probably wont get as many holidays as we do here in Australia. Thank goodness my kids are very good little travellers but regardless it is exhausting and not a trip you can do for only a couple weeks.. We always have to go for at least a month to 6 weeks.

I also presume that your kids are Canadian citizens what makes everything way easier!

 

[Canadianfairy]

It's bitter sweet as I do love Australia and will miss our family/friends and many things here.. But super excited to go home... my kids are also really excited and have been telling everyone that we are moving.. Yes they are also dual citizens so we just had to apply for my Husband's PR. Even tho we have no plans to leave before January its still painful having to wait!!! This has been something we have be talking about and planning for a long and finally it is all coming to and end.

 

[BubbOZ]

Hi...

Try this forum for the Sydney Visa Office:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-applications-through-sydney-australia-office-t46958.1605.html

Much to my surprise, there's a number of Aussies and Kiwis being sponsored to Canada.

When do you plan to immigrate? Once your fiancee receives her Confirmation of Permanent Residency (COPR), she has one year to land in Canada.

G'luck...

Hi Folks,

I have a couple of issues with regards to my future sponsorship application.

I am Canuck with no criminal record, no immigration fraud issues, I have never sponsored anybody in the past etc.

Since 2,5 years I am living with my fiancee whom I met almost 6 years ago. I am not worried about proving the existence of our relationship because we have accumulated hundreds of photos, bank statements, plane tickets, electricity bills, our families know each other so as you can see it should not be a big deal to get this part of the job done.

In addition to that she speaks perfectly good English and French plus she holds a degree so everything should go quite smoothly.

HOWEVER:

As I said previously, I am a Canuck BUT I have left Canada almost 17 years ago with my parents as they embarked on a business adventure in Europe. I was growing up in France and visiting my family in Montreal from time to time.

At this point in time we are residing in Australia (myself and my fiancee) - by the way we'll be getting married quite shortly and we are willing to relocate to Canada as there's simply more opportunities for us. In addition to that my mother who's in Europe is getting older and I cannot afford to be so far away from her.

I've done some research already and I know that I can sponsor her even though I do not reside in Canada. Additionally the Sydney office is know for its efficiency as apparently they do not have so many applications and most of them are quite easy to deal with.

BUT: The only thing which looks quite problematic is the ‘expression of intention to settle in Canada'.

Honestly I don't know what should I do in order to demonstrate that we are genuinely looking to relocate.

I will certainly be in measure to show that I am looking for a job/apartment in Calgary and that I am doing the usual research which a person supposed to relocate would normally do. Naturally the same applies to my fiancee.

However I was just wondering if it wasn't better if we applied from Australia and in the meantime I would go to Calgary in order to open a bank account, look for a job, rent a place to live and maybe even buy a car?

I am a little bit worried because it's kinda long shot to organize the moving from Australia and I don't want to commit any errors from the beginning as time is precious and we'd like to get everything done as smooth as possible...

The very last thing is cash:

The CIC requires me to help my fiancee start up a new life in Canada. I am 100% willing to do that however I don't know what they mean by 'adequate sum of money'.

The other thing is that I won't have billions at my disposal however I have qualification in the financial/petroleum industry which is now booming in Calgary. My fiancee is also qualified and she'll be looking for a job right away...

All answers will be appreciated.

Cheers,

 

[beatitboss]

It's bitter sweet as I do love Australia and will miss our family/friends and many things here.. But super excited to go home... my kids are also really excited and have been telling everyone that we are moving.. Yes they are also dual citizens so we just had to apply for my Husband's PR. Even tho we have no plans to leave before January its still painful having to wait!!! This has been something we have be talking about and planning for a long and finally it is all coming to and end.

Definitely, it's never easy to leave Australia for good.
I can also see that even though we've prepared the overall framework of the moving and have already considered hundreds of factors, there is still ages of planning and implementing...

Whereabouts do you plan to settle in Canada?

 

[beatitboss]

Hi...

Try this forum for the Sydney Visa Office:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-applications-through-sydney-australia-office-t46958.1605.html

Much to my surprise, there's a number of Aussies and Kiwis being sponsored to Canada.

When do you plan to immigrate? Once your fiancee receives her Confirmation of Permanent Residency (COPR), she has one year to land in Canada.

G'luck...

Hi there,
thanks a lot for providing with the Sydney VO thread!
Well, I happened to know quite a few kiwis and Canadians here in Melbourne and the thing is that kiwis leave NZ because of unfriendly economic circumstances (the same reason of mine leaving France) and after interestingly they often hang out with Canadians here in Melbourne.
I have absolutely no clue as for why but this is how it works. And on the other hand I always had this impression that most Canadians want to visit Australia sometime during their lives and the opposite thing applies to kiwis & aussies- they want to see Canada.

After all our cultures are quite similar, we speak the same language, the way of life in both countries is somewhat very similar even though Canada has massive winters etc, Canucks still have a close mentality to aussies&kiwis. So naturally people start going out together and decide to move.

I can also see that at this stage Canada has a little more to offer that Australia and is more connected with the world. That's unfortunately something that Australia will never be able to achieve. And if you need to travel or run some international business; there's nothing better than North America & Europe. Australia is unfortunately quite remote.

We are planning on settling in Calgary. I'll be looking for jobs in the oil&gas industry (desk jobs) and my fiancee is in the dietetics/sports field. So technically she'll be working for somebody or start her own thing if we have enough capital by then.

 

[Canadianfairy]

initially Ontario however we are open to anywhere in Canada really but closest to home the best... Have to go where the jobs are tho.. what about yourself? where in Australia are you?

 

[little_apple]

When do you plan to immigrate? Once your fiancee receives her Confirmation of Permanent Residency (COPR), she has one year to land in Canada.

G'luck...

No, this is not correct. The COPR is usually valid until the medical exam expires (12 months after medical was done). Sometimes the VO can extend the medical, sometimes they ask for a re-med.

I received my COPR on April 30 and had to land before May 27 - not even 4 weeks time!

 

[beatitboss]

initially Ontario however we are open to anywhere in Canada really but closest to home the best... Have to go where the jobs are tho.. what about yourself? where in Australia are you?

So I am currently (and have always been) in Melbourne and I am thinking about Calgary.
Maybe give it a think. It's fairly close to Australia - Calgary - Los Angeles - Melbourne - only 1 stop over.
Calgary is currently booming, Alberta has more oil that Saudi Arabia and everything needs development there. Apparently housing is a little bit expensive but I guess that nothing will be too frightening after being used to aussie prices.
Otherwise the climate in Calgary is nice, it's not raining too much and it has the biggest amount of sunny days in Canada!