Hello all, Canadian here, in a relationship with a Pakistani national.
I am Canadian citizen born and raised (Pakistani origin but no nicop card). She is Pakistani currently in the US on a j1 study visa but will have to return to Karachi in August upon completion of her studies. She has a valid 10 yr TRV for Canada.
We have some pictures from early in our relationship and I have kept boarding passes from when I went to visit her in USA.
Looking for tips on how to go about marriage and spousal sponsorship.
In my head a timeline looks like this:
2024- Get engaged in Pakistan (visit her family for first time). Take photos for file, keep boarding passes.
Early 2025 - get nikkah and rukhsati done in Pakistan. I have read it is important to get rukhsati done if possible as only nikkah marriages are often seen as inauthentic. Take photos for file. Keep boarding passes.
Early 2025 - she moves to Canada with me on TRV with stay of 6 months (or five months to be safe). Return ticket booked to avoid problems at admission.
Early 2025 - apply for inland spousal sponsorship. Most documents in our control, but will have to apply for police records check in USA and Pakistan. Can we apply for this early or should we wait until after nikkah at least?
...10 months processing time currently...
After aor recieved, apply for owp
If aor not recieved before TRV stay expires, apply for visitor record to extend her stay in Canada
... Biometrics and medical check can be done WITHIN Canada as this would be an inland application.
.... Interview may be done within Canada if required
.... This entire time she cannot travel outside of Canada until copr is recieved
Am I missing anything in the process? Any tips on documents I need to collect from Pakistan for the nikkah? What about documents to collect from the US? I would've liked her to get FBI police check before she leaves USA in August but I read that the police check needs to be acquired AFTER her time spent in the US.
I am also considering Outland sponsorship and THEN having her travel to Canada. The downside with this is she would have to travel back to Pakistan for biometrics/medical/interview I think? Upside is she doesn't need to stay in Canada for the entire process (not trapped).
If you've gone through the process, what did you learn? What do you wish you had done earlier/differently to make things easier?
Thanks for your help, and hopefully this can serve as information for others too.
I am Canadian citizen born and raised (Pakistani origin but no nicop card). She is Pakistani currently in the US on a j1 study visa but will have to return to Karachi in August upon completion of her studies. She has a valid 10 yr TRV for Canada.
We have some pictures from early in our relationship and I have kept boarding passes from when I went to visit her in USA.
Looking for tips on how to go about marriage and spousal sponsorship.
In my head a timeline looks like this:
2024- Get engaged in Pakistan (visit her family for first time). Take photos for file, keep boarding passes.
Early 2025 - get nikkah and rukhsati done in Pakistan. I have read it is important to get rukhsati done if possible as only nikkah marriages are often seen as inauthentic. Take photos for file. Keep boarding passes.
Early 2025 - she moves to Canada with me on TRV with stay of 6 months (or five months to be safe). Return ticket booked to avoid problems at admission.
Early 2025 - apply for inland spousal sponsorship. Most documents in our control, but will have to apply for police records check in USA and Pakistan. Can we apply for this early or should we wait until after nikkah at least?
...10 months processing time currently...
After aor recieved, apply for owp
If aor not recieved before TRV stay expires, apply for visitor record to extend her stay in Canada
... Biometrics and medical check can be done WITHIN Canada as this would be an inland application.
.... Interview may be done within Canada if required
.... This entire time she cannot travel outside of Canada until copr is recieved
Am I missing anything in the process? Any tips on documents I need to collect from Pakistan for the nikkah? What about documents to collect from the US? I would've liked her to get FBI police check before she leaves USA in August but I read that the police check needs to be acquired AFTER her time spent in the US.
I am also considering Outland sponsorship and THEN having her travel to Canada. The downside with this is she would have to travel back to Pakistan for biometrics/medical/interview I think? Upside is she doesn't need to stay in Canada for the entire process (not trapped).
If you've gone through the process, what did you learn? What do you wish you had done earlier/differently to make things easier?
Thanks for your help, and hopefully this can serve as information for others too.
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