Spousal sponsorship and PR application for Brazilian

[Mightytonewheel]

Hi everyone! I'm posting here partly to introduce myself, and partly to ask a question or two.

I'm a Canadian citizen getting ready to marry my Brazilian sweetheart from Sao Paulo. We're getting married November 20. We're preparing the spousal sponsorship and permanent residency applications to file via the Sao Paulo office as soon as we are married. It's all very exciting.

I think I'm pretty well prepared for this process but I have two big questions.

• 
  What are the application requirements for her family? For instance, Schedule A -- Background Declaration (IMM 5669) must be filled out by each "family member" 18 years of age or over. But, the form itself forces the person to select "Applicant" or "Spouse, common-law partner, or dependent child aged 18 years or older". My fiancé has no children and will immigrate on her own, without her parents or siblings. So I presume, when the application says "family", it means family members who intend to immigrate?
  
  
• Two months after we file, she'll come to Canada on a tourist visa. Is there any foreseeable reason she might have to go back to Brazil before she gets her PR? If she is summoned for an interview, can that be held in Canada?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Cedeel]

IMM 5669 is only for her and her children, whether they are immigrating or not. But as she doesn't have any only she will need to fill it out.

For your second point, as far as I know, any interview will be held by the visa office processing her application, so she might have to go there. Better prepare yourselves and provide a boatload of photos and support letters so CIC doesn't have any reason to suspect fraud

 

[Mightytonewheel]

IMM 5669 is only for her and her children, whether they are immigrating or not. But as she doesn't have any only she will need to fill it out.

For your second point, as far as I know, any interview will be held by the visa office processing her application, so she might have to go there. Better prepare yourselves and provide a boatload of photos and support letters so CIC doesn't have any reason to suspect fraud

Thanks for the info, Cedeel. It's as I expected.

You can bet we're going to include lots of documentary evidence: wedding/engagement photos, trip photos, cards, letters, etc. At last count, we've amassed 12,000 lines of Whatsapp messages; I probably won't include them all, but enough that they'll get the idea.

One point of concern. I'm divorced, and my ex-wife has refused to allow my son to travel from Canada to the wedding in Brazil. (We're both entitled to refuse each other international trips outside summer.) I have to accept this decision, but I recognize that it won't look good. Hopefully I'll be able to explain it and it won't cause much difficulty.

 

[MiriamT]

For your second point, as far as I know, any interview will be held by the visa office processing her application, so she might have to go there. Better prepare yourselves and provide a boatload of photos and support letters so CIC doesn't have any reason to suspect fraud

It's extremely rare for São Paulo to request interviews, especially if the person being sponsored lives with the sponsor (even if on a tourist visa thus technically just visiting and not living).

One point of concern. I'm divorced, and my ex-wife has refused to allow my son to travel from Canada to the wedding in Brazil. (We're both entitled to refuse each other international trips outside summer.) I have to accept this decision, but I recognize that it won't look good. Hopefully I'll be able to explain it and it won't cause much difficulty.

Just explain it. I doubt they'll be unreasonable and cause you further difficulties because of your ex-wife not allowing your child to travel for the wedding.

 

[Mightytonewheel]

It's extremely rare for São Paulo to request interviews, especially if the person being sponsored lives with the sponsor (even if on a tourist visa thus technically just visiting and not living).

Well actually, she won't be living here right away. We're going to get married in Brazil in November, I will return to Canada and she will remain in Brazil for about 2 months. She made an arrangement with her employer to complete work and end the project she was working on. She'll come to Canada in February, under a tourist visa because she's also an Italian citizen. Then, we'll just wait for the permanent residency application to be processed. Happily, the Sao Paulo office is one of the fastest in the world.

Just explain it. I doubt they'll be unreasonable and cause you further difficulties because of your ex-wife not allowing your child to travel for the wedding.

I'm inclined to agree. I hope they don't make a big deal of it.

 

[MiriamT]

Well actually, she won't be living here right away. We're going to get married in Brazil in November, I will return to Canada and she will remain in Brazil for about 2 months. She made an arrangement with her employer to complete work and end the project she was working on. She'll come to Canada in February, under a tourist visa because she's also an Italian citizen. Then, we'll just wait for the permanent residency application to be processed. Happily, the Sao Paulo office is one of the fastest in the world.

Yes, I did understand from your first post that she's going to be in Canada on a tourist-basis, which is why I worded things the way I did: "It's extremely rare for São Paulo to request interviews, especially if the person being sponsored lives with the sponsor (even if on a tourist visa thus technically just visiting and not living)."

I'm inclined to agree. I hope they don't make a big deal of it.

They likely won't.

My (now ex) husband - who is also 16 years older than me - and I got married in the presence of a Judge and two witnesses we didn't even know; there was no family present, nobody wrote any supporting letters about our relationship, there was an education gap (he had a professional doctorate while I had just left high school the year before we met while traveling abroad; we married a year later after spending 21 days together between his trips to visit me in the US and my trip to visit him in Canada over the course of the year)... And when we received our CAIPS Notes, we saw that the officer had declared to believe our relationship was bonafide in the same day they opened the file and recommended to waive the interview, and also put a note that I had travelled to Canada a few months prior (as they had been informed already, since I'm not visa-exempt and had to apply for a visa) and the officer believed I was still here (I was). Later on, a second officer made similar remarks and the interview was waived (as had been the recommendation from the other officer).

São Paulo is not a visa office that makes people's lives harder just because they can - I even got a visa to come stay with him in Canada even before submitting the application, even though I lacked any ties in the country as I had just arrived from a 1+ year trip abroad. My relationship was very much bonafide and we stayed together for many years before he decided that he wanted something else, but it had all the red flags it could have... And we never had any issues with the visa office.

Of course this is just an anecdotal evidence, but I have seen it happen too many times to think one would run into problems unless it's a rather serious concern.

 

[canadianwoman]

Just explain that your ex-wife won't let your child come to the wedding, but that you wanted him to be there. You could add any proof you have that she refused permission, such as a text or email, but that is not necessary. I can't imagine this will cause problems.

The visa officers do expect the spouse to have as good a relationship with the stepchild as is reasonable, and to know a lot about him or her. Any evidence of contact is good to include.

For CIC, family means the spouse and dependent children. So your wife's siblings and parents don't have to fill anything out, nor do they submit medicals or photos. However, they do have to be listed on the Additional Family Information form.

 

[Mightytonewheel]

Yes, I did understand from your first post that she's going to be in Canada on a tourist-basis, which is why I worded things the way I did: "It's extremely rare for São Paulo to request interviews, especially if the person being sponsored lives with the sponsor (even if on a tourist visa thus technically just visiting and not living)."

I see...although, when the applications are submitted, the application address will show her as living in Sao Paulo, and my address will be in Vancouver. (The only reason she's remaining there is that she has an arrangement with her employer: she'll stay until February to finish some work, and then they'll fire her and give her severance, which is substantial since she's been with them for 16 years.) So they'll assume we're apart unless we change her address, which we could do in February, which is roughly when we expect the PR application to reach Sao Paulo. So it will make sense to change her address as soon as she arrives.

They likely won't.

My (now ex) husband - who is also 16 years older than me - and I got married in the presence of a Judge and two witnesses we didn't even know; there was no family present, nobody wrote any supporting letters about our relationship, there was an education gap (he had a professional doctorate while I had just left high school the year before we met while traveling abroad; we married a year later after spending 21 days together between his trips to visit me in the US and my trip to visit him in Canada over the course of the year)... And when we received our CAIPS Notes, we saw that the officer had declared to believe our relationship was bonafide in the same day they opened the file and recommended to waive the interview, and also put a note that I had travelled to Canada a few months prior (as they had been informed already, since I'm not visa-exempt and had to apply for a visa) and the officer believed I was still here (I was). Later on, a second officer made similar remarks and the interview was waived (as had been the recommendation from the other officer).

São Paulo is not a visa office that makes people's lives harder just because they can - I even got a visa to come stay with him in Canada even before submitting the application, even though I lacked any ties in the country as I had just arrived from a 1+ year trip abroad. My relationship was very much bonafide and we stayed together for many years before he decided that he wanted something else, but it had all the red flags it could have... And we never had any issues with the visa office.

This is more or less what I've been hearing, Miriam. I don't have much anecdotal evidence about that particular office, but I know they are processing applications very quickly. The advice I've received is to give them a decent -- not overwhelming -- amount of evidence to demonstrate the authenticity of our relationship. That should be easy: there is a lengthy communications paper trail, a pile of photos, wedding photos, engagement photos, photos with friends, family, etc. etc. I don't really foresee any problems. But, there's always something in the back of the mind that makes me want to add more material....LOL. But I'm quite relaxed about it. The applications are pretty straightforward and the criteria is pretty simple. (My fiance is even more relaxed. So Brazilian. ;D )

Obrigado, Miriam.

 

[MiriamT]

I see...although, when the applications are submitted, the application address will show her as living in Sao Paulo, and my address will be in Vancouver. (The only reason she's remaining there is that she has an arrangement with her employer: she'll stay until February to finish some work, and then they'll fire her and give her severance, which is substantial since she's been with them for 16 years.) So they'll assume we're apart unless we change her address, which we could do in February, which is roughly when we expect the PR application to reach Sao Paulo. So it will make sense to change her address as soon as she arrives.

Since she won't be technically living with you but rather visiting (because she won't be a PR just yet), you can just list her mailing address as your address in Canada, and residential address as the one in Brazil. That's what people generally do, and that's what I did. And when they were ready to issue me the COPR and visa, they called me in Canada (and woke me up at 6 AM, because of the time zone difference — I also live in Vancouver, like you heh), so they did know even though I never stated to them that I was still in Canada almost a year later after I first arrived as a visitor.

This is more or less what I've been hearing, Miriam. I don't have much anecdotal evidence about that particular office, but I know they are processing applications very quickly. The advice I've received is to give them a decent -- not overwhelming -- amount of evidence to demonstrate the authenticity of our relationship. That should be easy: there is a lengthy communications paper trail, a pile of photos, wedding photos, engagement photos, photos with friends, family, etc. etc. I don't really foresee any problems. But, there's always something in the back of the mind that makes me want to add more material....LOL. But I'm quite relaxed about it. The applications are pretty straightforward and the criteria is pretty simple. (My fiance is even more relaxed. So Brazilian. ;D )

Obrigado, Miriam.

You even have engagement photos and photos with friends, I'm jealous! I'm only half kidding — I was super stressed out about it at the time; my husband wasn't concerned though, in the end he was right —, but our engagement was him sending me flowers to my house in Missouri with a note asking if I'd marry him, and I said yes via Facebook; ring and special dinner could only happen when we met again a few days before the wedding. He did meet my family and I his though, a few months later, so we had family pictures at dinner and such.

I remain updated on São Paulo news on sponsorship via acquaintances who continue going through it, people I meet through a Facebook group called "MMC" (for Brazilian women who are or were in a relationship - be it seriously dating, common-law, conjugal partner, fiance, spouse, you name it - with a Canadian person)... If your fiance is in there then we've probably 'bumped' into each other online.

 

[CCGS2015]

Hello Guys,
I know that this is not the topic but I am always looking for information about applications at Sao Paulo VO and I found interesting what Mirian T said...Is it true that "São Paulo is not a visa office that makes people's lives harder just because they can"?
I am in a PR application under PNP category and now I had to submit the ARC (Authorization to Return to Canada as I am a refused refugee applicant). I am so worried about how long would take to process...I even sent an email to the Consulate in Sao Paulo and they said that average processing time for ARC is not available, so I really don't know what to expect....just wait than...Thanks for all the information mentioned on this thread...good luck to all...

 

[MrsEllis]

Hello Everyone,

Im new in this Forum.And i would like to introduce myself
Im brazilian, married to Canadian guy. We are leaving in Calgary, and waiting for the results from Sao Paulo.
My husband was approved to be my sponsor in January 2016, and we are waiting.
I would like to know how to add informations about our visa in my profile?

 

[CDNPR2014]

Hello Everyone,

Im new in this Forum.And i would like to introduce myself
Im brazilian, married to Canadian guy. We are leaving in Calgary, and waiting for the results from Sao Paulo.
My husband was approved to be my sponsor in January 2016, and we are waiting.
I would like to know how to add informations about our visa in my profile?

you have to have at least 10 posts before you can add profile info. please don't just post to get your numbers up.

 

[MrsEllis]

Dont worry!
Im applying today to get the Acess to Information Act ( ATI )
Do you know how long takes to receive this information?