Sponsorship outland + PR inland?

[quebecnewhusband]

My wife from Thailand and me are about to start the whole immigration process and I have 3 simple questions ;

1- Do the sponsorship application and permanent residency application must be made at the same time, through the same mailing? Or if sponsorship must first be approved before sending the PR application?

2- If it has to be done separately, can I send my sponsorship application from outland (where it's much faster, and I'm currently in Thailand with her) and then send her PR application later when we're both in Canada next summer? (inland is much faster in her case, and she already has her visitor visa)

3- During all of this process, when is the best moment for her to apply for a work permit in Canada, knowing that we want her to have access to healthcare as soon as possible?

I live in Quebec and I also have to apply for CSQ in the middle of all that. This is a bit confusing...

Thank you!

 

[scylla]

1. Both parts of the application must be send together and at the same time. If you only send the sponsorship part of the application then the package will be returned to you as incomplete.
2. If you are both in Thailand, then you will be applying outland.
3. She will qualify to apply for a work permit once she has found an employer in Canada who is willing to offer her a full time job and that employer has obtained an approved Labour Market Opinion. Since you are applying outland, she does not qualify for an open work permit (this only comes with applying inland).

 

[quebecnewhusband]

1. Both parts of the application must be send together and at the same time. If you only send the sponsorship part of the application then the package will be returned to you as incomplete.
2. If you are both in Thailand, then you will be applying outland.
3. She will qualify to apply for a work permit once she has found an employer in Canada who is willing to offer her a full time job and that employer has obtained an approved Labour Market Opinion. Since you are applying outland, she does not qualify for an open work permit (this only comes with applying inland).

Thank you for your reply.

Yes we are both currently in Thailand, but we will be returning in Canada in July. After reading a lot about our options, I think applying inland after coming back to Canada is what we're gonna do.

The way I see it is that as soon as we're in Canada in July, we will

1- Submit the sponsorship application + PR application (+ possibly an open work permit application?)
2- Submit the CSQ application in Quebec
3- At this point, I think she has access to French classes offered by the Quebec government?
4- As soon as we get 1st stage approval, she will submit an open work permit application if not done already. Should we wait at this step or if we can submit this application during the 1st step?
5- Once she gets her OWP, she can submit an application to get health coverage at the RAMQ (is this automatic, or if she needs to find a work before?)
6- The she can find a work and we can have a baby ;D (she also wants to go back to university, but I suppose we will have to wait for permanent residency)
7- Permanent residency approval
8- A happy life together in Canada!

Does my plan work or if I miss something?

 

[Rob_TO]

You can't apply for OWP with your initial Inland application. You need to wait for stage 1 approval/AIP, which takes around 8-9 months according to recent stats from CIC... and only then can you submit OWP app.

Also if your wife is Thai, she will need to apply for a special TRV to even visit Canada in the first place. Being married to you, depending on her ties to Thailand this may not be easy to get and could be rejected. In this case you would be forced to apply Outland anyways.

You might want to consider also just applying Outland right away. Although the Singapore office that processes Thai citizens, can take a long time. Best to check in the Singapore thread here, and see what people's recent experiences are with them if that's the route you choose

 

[quebecnewhusband]

You can't apply for OWP with your initial Inland application. You need to wait for stage 1 approval/AIP, which takes around 8-9 months according to recent stats from CIC... and only then can you submit OWP app.

Thank you for clarifying that. I wasn't sure.

Also if your wife is Thai, she will need to apply for a special TRV to even visit Canada in the first place. Being married to you, depending on her ties to Thailand this may not be easy to get and could be rejected. In this case you would be forced to apply Outland anyways.

I'm not sure of what you mean by "special TRV". My wife is Thai, but since she already visited me in Canada this year, her visitor visa is still valid for 5 years, until her passport espires. I suppose she could just come again in Canada, telling that she's gonna visiting friends? In that case, would it be a good idea to buy a return ticket just in case they ask to see it? A ticket that we could cancel afterwards... Or maybe not telling the whole truth is too risky? I'm thinking that it could be even more risky to tell that she's travelling with her husband and going to Canada to ask for permanent residency, right?

Or maybe your "special TRV" is another option that I don't know about?

About her situation in Thailand : She's educated (Master degree in marketing) and has a very good job and income in the banking industry in Bangkok. But obviously, she would quit her job when she's coming with me. Does it help?

You might want to consider also just applying Outland right away. Although the Singapore office that processes Thai citizens, can take a long time. Best to check in the Singapore thread here, and see what people's recent experiences are with them if that's the route you choose

I think the outland option is becoming less and less interesting for us. Waiting 28 months for the Singapore office to approve her PR is much too long. Instead, with the inland option, she could get healthcare coverage, French classes and the opportunity to work within 8 or 9 months in Canada. We want to have a baby, so

But yes, the moment when she arrives at the airport is the only thing left that I'm unsure about.

 

[Rob_TO]

I'm not sure of what you mean by "special TRV". My wife is Thai, but since she already visited me in Canada this year, her visitor visa is still valid for 5 years,

A TRV is just a regular travel visa. If she has already got a 5-year multi-entry one, then a new one is not required.

I would NOT lie to the immigration officer that she is just "visiting friends". They may ask if she's married, where husband lives etc, so would need to lie multiple times. If officer suspects anything (which they are trained to do), it could turn into a very bad situation.

I think the outland option is becoming less and less interesting for us. Waiting 28 months for the Singapore office to approve her PR is much too long. Instead, with the inland option, she could get healthcare coverage, French classes and the opportunity to work within 8 or 9 months in Canada. We want to have a baby, so

28 months is NOT an average time. It means 80% apps are done in a max of 28 months, most in less time. So you should check in the Singapore thread to see what actual times are that people are getting.

If you decide to apply inland, your wife would NOT get healthcare immediately. You need to wait until stage 1 approval/AIP, and at the same time you apply for OWP you could also apply for healthcare. Not sure if it's the same in Quebec as it is in Ontario, but healthcare coverage would then kick-in 3 months after you apply for it. So could be a good 1 years wait until healthcare, so make sure to have some travel emergency insurance also.

Inland does seem a viable option for you. Just note that during the entire inland processing time, she would be unable to leave Canada for any reason whatsoever.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

A TRV is just a regular travel visa. If she has already got a 5-year multi-entry one, then a new one is not required.

I would NOT lie to the immigration officer that she is just "visiting friends". They may ask if she's married, where husband lives etc, so would need to lie multiple times. If officer suspects anything (which they are trained to do), it could turn into a very bad situation.

Ok, but then should she tell that she's coming to Canada to live with me and apply for permanent residency? Will they let her in?

28 months is NOT an average time. It means 80% apps are done in a max of 28 months, most in less time. So you should check in the Singapore thread to see what actual times are that people are getting.

If you decide to apply inland, your wife would NOT get healthcare immediately. You need to wait until stage 1 approval/AIP, and at the same time you apply for OWP you could also apply for healthcare. Not sure if it's the same in Quebec as it is in Ontario, but healthcare coverage would then kick-in 3 months after you apply for it. So could be a good 1 years wait until healthcare, so make sure to have some travel emergency insurance also.

Inland does seem a viable option for you. Just note that during the entire inland processing time, she would be unable to leave Canada for any reason whatsoever.

I understand all that. In Quebec, there's also a 3 months waiting period before getting healthcare coverage, but from want I understand, the waiting period doesn't apply for some emergencies and for pregnancy. Since we want to have a baby, it means that she could get coverage for pregnancy after 8-9 months in Canada, which is faster that anything we could get by going outland. She would also be allowed to work and get the social benefits from it, which is another big plus.

Not being able to leave the country during the whole process is the thing she dislikes the most, but I think it's a sacrifice she's willing to do in order to make everything faster.

 

[Rob_TO]

but from want I understand, the waiting period doesn't apply for some emergencies and for pregnancy.

You sure about that? I've never heard of healthcare in any province being conditional on what service is provided. You either have a valid provincial healthcard, or you don't. I would double check this as last thing you want is to assume you're covered, then suddenly find out you're not when you really need it.


Regarding what to say to immigration when she enters, I would let others advise who have more experience here.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

You sure about that? I've never heard of healthcare in any province being conditional on what service is provided. You either have a valid provincial healthcard, or you don't. I would double check this as last thing you want is to assume you're covered, then suddenly find out you're not when you really need it.

Confirmed from the website :

"Generally speaking, if you arrive in Québec from outside Canada, even if you are a Canadian citizen, you will be eligible for the Québec Health Insurance Plan after a waiting period of up to 3 months following your registration.

The Régie does not reimburse you for healthcare you receive during the waiting period. To save you from having to pay for any healthcare services that you or your family members may need, the Régie strongly recommends that you take out private insurance within 5 days following your arrival in Québec. Thereafter, coverage is more difficult to obtain. For information about private insurance, contact the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI)This link will open in a new window..

Pending receipt of your card, be sure to keep the letter indicating that you are subject to a waiting period. This is because, given the situation, some healthcare services may be available free of charge to persons waiting for their coverage to take effect, for instance:

services needed by victims of conjugal or domestic violence or of sexual assault;
services related to pregnancy, child birth or termination of pregnancy;
services needed by people suffering from infectious diseases that have an impact on public health."

Regarding what to say to immigration when she enters, I would let others advise who have more experience here.

I hope someone who has experience with this can give me advice. Big thanks for your advices!

 

[Rob_TO]

Pending receipt of your card, be sure to keep the letter indicating that you are subject to a waiting period. This is because, given the situation, some healthcare services may be available free of charge to persons waiting for their coverage to take effect, for instance:

services needed by victims of conjugal or domestic violence or of sexual assault;
services related to pregnancy, child birth or termination of pregnancy;
services needed by people suffering from infectious diseases that have an impact on public health.[/i]"

You would only be covered here (for pregnancy) during the 3 month waiting period after she has made the application for healthcard. So this would only start after AIP/stage 1 approval. Any pregnancy related costs BEFORE AIP/stage 1, would not be covered since you couldn't even have applied for healthcard in the first place.

Also none of this applies to emergency services, so until she has full healthcare in effect any accident that results in an emergency room visit, is not covered. She definitely needs travel emergency coverage. I would recommend to start looking at some rates here: https://www.kanetix.ca/travel-visitors-to-canada