Our Inland application was received by immigration on October 3rd, 2013. We received the approval for the spousal application part in March, 2015. According the immigration website we would have a 10 month wait to finalize the application. We live in a very remote part of Alberta with the closest immigration office over 700 km away, as well as this being where the closest medical doctor being located. We were asked to submit a second medical for my husband because the first one expired from receipt to reaching the second part of the process (investigation of the sponsored person). We had to get special medical dispensation to have a doctor closer to our home to be approved. This took less than 5 days to get and the medical was submitted the end of April, 2015.
We got a letter asking us to attend an interview on June 29, 2015 in Edmonton - drove the 10 hours to the city, our interview was for 1:00 pm and by 1:30 pm the same day my husband had his permanent residency. They asked him 3 questions, they asked me 2 questions:
to Him:
1. Have you ever been convicted of a crime in Canada or anywhere else.
2. do you have any dependants not listed in your application
3. Have you ever been denied entry in to Canada.
to Me:
1. Have you ever been married or lived common law with anyone else. Because I am widowed I answered yes to this question, so they had to ask the second question.
2. Do you have any outstanding court orders to pay child support or alimony.
The interviewer was pleasant, relaxed and very accommodating.
She first asked if we had any questions and of course (because this was only 3 months and not the 10 months we thought we would have to wait) was what is the next step after this interview. Her answer was, you will be a permanent resident within 5-10 minutes of this interview.
Our background: We meet while I was living in England and married exactly one year after we met. We moved to Canada one month after we got married. My husband is 7 years older than me. We bought property in Alberta prior to moving here.
I know that the immigration process is extremely stressful and the waiting times seem to be so long, but every single person we have had contact with at Immigration has been pleasant, understanding and extremely helpful.
Be patient, don't lose your cool and I hope everyone enjoys the happy outcome that we have had.
