SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP! PLS, HELP TO GET ME OUT MY SITUATION! :'( THANK YOU!

[Sentivo]

Hi everyone,

First of all, pls forgive me if my concern/questions are already discussed in this forum. I'm new here and I don't know which pages or links that I should read to know more about my situation ;( So pls, don't mind me if I'm asking it again. Thanks a lot <3
I'm a Canadian citizen and currently living in Edmonton with my fiancé (He's American and came here as a foreigner worker), my own 5.5 years old son and our 11 months old son <3
My fiancé's work permit was expired in June 2014 and I've been on maternity/parental leave since December 2013.
He drove to the border to extend his stay as a visitor and they let him to stay for 3 more months to have time to finish the spousal sponsorship application (inside Canada). We sent out the spousal sponsorship application in July 2014 (we didn't send an application for his Open Work Permit at the time), and we did send the visa extended application in August 2014. He got extended to stay as a visitor until October 2015. My questions are:

1. We didn't send out an application for his open work permit along with the spousal sponsorship application. Is it ok if we send it now instead of waiting until S1 approved? (To save time. Honestly, It's hard for me to support 4 people in the house with my low income part time job, so it's better if he can work ASAP)

2. When we were filling out the application to sponsor my fiancé. I was on parental leave but now I'm working. Do I need to send CIC a letter to let them know about it? And I didn't send them the proof that I have money in the bank to support his stay (but I did send it in the application to extend his stay. Again, we sent 2 applications separately). Should we send it with the letter saying that I'm working now?

3. If "yes" for both questions. Could you please show me which form we should use to fill out to apply for his OWP? And should we send to the address that we used to send our spousal sponsorship application to or the one that we used to send the visa extended application to?

I appreciate for your help/advice and it means a lot to me because I'm so depressed, confused now, and I don't know what to do! ;(

 

[Kayaker]

If your husband going back to work sooner than later is a priority at all, you should withdraw your Inland application and apply OUTLAND.

Even if you have to redo the forms, collect documents again and possibly pay a part of the fees again, it is much, much, much faster. Unless you and your husband are fine with him not being able to work for almost another year, you should re-apply outland. (He can stay in Canada the whole time, list his Canadian address. As long as he has status (and he does until October 2015) he can apply Outland while being in Canada. If he reapplies, I would be surprised if he didn't get his PR before his current visitor status expires on Oct 2015.)

 

[Rob_TO]

1. We didn't send out an application for his open work permit along with the spousal sponsorship application. Is it ok if we send it now instead of waiting until S1 approved? (To save time. Honestly, It's hard for me to support 4 people in the house with my low income part time job, so it's better if he can work ASAP)

It doesn't matter if you sent the OWP app in or not with his PR app, either way you need to wait until stage 1 approval/AIP before he can start working. So if you applied in July 2014, then he would be eligible to get an OWP after 14 months (based on current times) so Sept 2015. At this point, you need to wait until you actually get stage 1 approval, then you can submit OWP app.

Also if he didn't submit OWP app with PR app, he does NOT have any "implied" status in Canada. So unless he applied to extend that previous 3-month visitor status, most likely he is now in Canada illegally/out of status.

There is no minimum income requirement for spousal sponsorship so I wouldn't worry about submitting updated employment details.

As was mentioned, you should consider cancelling the inland app and applying outland instead. If you submitted an outland app in say Dec 2014, there's a good chance you would have his entire PR completed by around June 2015.

 

[Sentivo]

If your husband going back to work sooner than later is a priority at all, you should withdraw your Inland application and apply OUTLAND.

Even if you have to redo the forms, collect documents again and possibly pay a part of the fees again, it is much, much, much faster. Unless you and your husband are fine with him not being able to work for almost another year, you should re-apply outland. (He can stay in Canada the whole time, list his Canadian address. As long as he has status (and he does until October 2015) he can apply Outland while being in Canada. If he reapplies, I would be surprised if he didn't get his PR before his current visitor status expires on Oct 2015.)

Hi Kayaker,
Thank you so much for your reply. I checked the processing time on CIC website. It usually takes 30-33 months for both stage 1 and stage 2 if we apply outside Canada (He's from the US). That's why we did apply it inside Canada and I didn't think about that he can apply outland while being in Canada with me and the kids. I was so scared if he had to go back to the US (my silly -crying-)
It's been 4 months since we applied for the inland application. Do u think it's a good idea to reapply outland? Does he have to go back to the US to gather all the documents? We don't mind if he's staying home, helping me taking care of the kids while I'm at work. We still can survive for another 10 months with only me working (I have some saving in my bank). I just hope we can get first stage done ASAP so he can work to have some income for our family! ;( I don't know what is the best I should do for us now!

 

[Sentivo]

It doesn't matter if you sent the OWP app in or not with his PR app, either way you need to wait until stage 1 approval/AIP before he can start working. So if you applied in July 2014, then he would be eligible to get an OWP after 14 months (based on current times) so Sept 2015. At this point, you need to wait until you actually get stage 1 approval, then you can submit OWP app.

Also if he didn't submit OWP app with PR app, he does NOT have any "implied" status in Canada. So unless he applied to extend that previous 3-month visitor status, most likely he is now in Canada illegally/out of status.

There is no minimum income requirement for spousal sponsorship so I wouldn't worry about submitting updated employment details.

As was mentioned, you should consider cancelling the inland app and applying outland instead. If you submitted an outland app in say Dec 2014, there's a good chance you would have his entire PR completed by around June 2015.

Hi Rob_TO,
Thanks so much for your advice. I still think it takes longer for him to apply outland, doesn't it? (He's from America) and I'm thinking about sending the OWP now because I think it might save us couple months after first stage approval? And yes, we missed that big chance :'(.He could have had implied status and worked if we applied the application before his work permit expired( I was in a complicated situation with my ex and at that time I had not had a separation agreement with my ex yet, so we couldn't submit the application -crying-)

 

[Kayaker]

You can think about it, but I would strongly, strongly, strongly recommend re-applying outland.

I don't know what documents your husband will need to gather. I know he can get fingerprints here and apply for the FBI record from outside the US. I don't know what other documents he needs. If you don't know, you can ask him what documents he sent in for his original application, and if he can get them again.

Only "red flag" cases are sent to LA, and only 20% of those red flag cases (the worst of the worst, so to speak) take longer than 30-33 months. The vast majority of US cases are sent to Ottawa, where they are processed in as few as 3 months. I think 6 months seems to be a common timeline. So unless you think your fiance has some really really major issues, such as criminal inadmissibility or failed refugee application etc., he should get his PR in about 6 months.

Another reason I recommend reapplying outland is that processing times for Inland applications are rising. Last year it was 7 or 8 months for stage 1, I believe. In a few months that became 14. I don't want to take a bet on what it will be in the next few months. My fear would be - what if, by next summer, the processing times went up even more? If the trend continues, that's what's going to happen. No one has seen any indication that things are speeding up, and CIC has not announced that they are tackling this very serious backlog.

On the other hand, a lot of Outland applications, especially from countries such as the US and UK now seem to be processed faster and faster. That's the trend for Outland.

So which would you bet on? That the trend will continue, or that the trend will be reversed and a drastic change will happen?

I know gathering all those documents and reapplying sounds like a major headache. On the other hand, the peace of mind I now have as a PR is priceless. I'm no longer fearful that our lives may be turned upside down and that we'd have to sell our house and belongings and move out of Canada. (I waited for my Outland application in Canada.) Those months of waiting, not knowing, not able to find out, were really stressful. I imagine your fiance would feel vastly relieved to have this process over with sooner.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks so much for your advice. I still think it takes longer for him to apply outland, doesn't it? (He's from America)

As was mentioned, a typical US citizen app is processed in CPC-Ottawa (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/apply-where.asp) and usually takes 6 months to process and get PR.

and I'm thinking about sending the OWP now because I think it might save us couple months after first stage approval?

As far as I know, if you didn't include the OWP app along with PR app, then you now need to wait until he actually gets stage 1 approval/AIP. Also as I said, he does not have "implied" status so must continue to extend his visitor status each time it expires or he will be here illegally.

We still can survive for another 10 months with only me working (I have some saving in my bank). I just hope we can get first stage done ASAP so he can work to have some income for our family!

The inland times are currently sitting at 14 months. So based on when you applied, he still has around 10 months to go before being eligible to apply for an OWP. Of course that could be delayed further depending how long the OWP app takes to process, and also if inland times continue to increase over the next year.

 

[Sentivo]

You can think about it, but I would strongly, strongly, strongly recommend re-applying outland.

I don't know what documents your husband will need to gather. I know he can get fingerprints here and apply for the FBI record from outside the US. I don't know what other documents he needs. If you don't know, you can ask him what documents he sent in for his original application, and if he can get them again.

Only "red flag" cases are sent to LA, and only 20% of those red flag cases (the worst of the worst, so to speak) take longer than 30-33 months. The vast majority of US cases are sent to Ottawa, where they are processed in as few as 3 months. I think 6 months seems to be a common timeline. So unless you think your fiance has some really really major issues, such as criminal inadmissibility or failed refugee application etc., he should get his PR in about 6 months.

Another reason I recommend reapplying outland is that processing times for Inland applications are rising. Last year it was 7 or 8 months for stage 1, I believe. In a few months that became 14. I don't want to take a bet on what it will be in the next few months. My fear would be - what if, by next summer, the processing times went up even more? If the trend continues, that's what's going to happen. No one has seen any indication that things are speeding up, and CIC has not announced that they are tackling this very serious backlog.

On the other hand, a lot of Outland applications, especially from countries such as the US and UK now seem to be processed faster and faster. That's the trend for Outland.

So which would you bet on? That the trend will continue, or that the trend will be reversed and a drastic change will happen?

I know gathering all those documents and reapplying sounds like a major headache. On the other hand, the peace of mind I now have as a PR is priceless. I'm no longer fearful that our lives may be turned upside down and that we'd have to sell our house and belongings and move out of Canada. (I waited for my Outland application in Canada.) Those months of waiting, not knowing, not able to find out, were really stressful. I imagine your fiance would feel vastly relieved to have this process over with sooner.

I thought if we applied outland. The application would be processed in LA or New York (didn't know it only takes 3 months to process in Ottawa for Stage 2) and no he doesn't have any major issues to apply outland. I just wonder if I withdraw the inland app. Will it affect anything to the outland app? I paid the fee almost $1,100CAD. I wonder if I can get it back since our application hasn't been processed yet! ;(

 

[keesio]

I thought if we applied outland. The application would be processed in LA or New York (didn't know it only takes 3 months to process in Ottawa for Stage 2)

How it works is all applications from US residents first go to Ottawa. Straightforward US Citizens (no "red-flags") get fast tracked and their application is (currently) done in 3-6 months. US residents who are not US citizens (US green card holders, foreign nations with work or student visas in the US), or US citizens with some red flags are in the standard track (anywhere from 9-14 months). Anyone with major red flags may get forwarded to NY/LA (I think just LA now). These are the "problem" applications with various issues and will require an interview. These are the ones with the really long timelines.

The confusion is that US citizens see NY/LA in the list of visa offices and assume it is for them when really it is for the "problem" applications from Ottawa. And what the timelines for Ottawa does not show is the fast track speed for US citizens. Ottawa handles applications for nationals from various countries, not just US citizens/residents, and that impacts the average posted time.

 

[wait4visa]

Very good information. Thanks.

 

[Rob_TO]

The confusion is that US citizens see NY/LA in the list of visa offices and assume it is for them

Also people tend to not actually read the entire outland guide where this is explained! http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3999Etoc.asp
Immigration Office requested for the processing of your application
Indicate the name of the Immigration Office which serves:
your country of nationality,

Links directly to here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/index.asp
Offices outside Canada
Visa offices
Find your CIC visa office: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/apply-where.asp

 

[Sentivo]

Thank you very much guys. After this, I wish I could have asked sooner about the situation. I'm thinking about reapplying outland, but I still concern about the time processing. If I started to apply outland. How long would we need to wait after I withdrew my previous inland app to reapply outland? Would we have to fill out some infor to let them know that I recently sent out an inland app and withdrew it? I counted the time and the processing time for outland app:
- 16-18 weeks to get police certificate
- 7 weeks for stage 1
- 16 weeks for stage 2
So it would take us around 41 weeks (around 10 months) to process. If we sent out the app in Dec 2014. It would be done in October 2015. I'm not sure if I'm right about the processing time. I'm just afraid of getting some difficulties after withdrawing inland app and it might take longer to reapply. Any advice? Many thanks! <3

 

[keesio]

Thank you very much guys. After this, I wish I could have asked sooner about the situation. I'm thinking about reapply outland, but I still concern about time processing. If I started to apply outland. How long would we need to wait after I withdrew my previous inland app to reapply outland? Would we have to fill out some infor to let them know that I recently sent out an inland app and withdrew it? I counted the time and the processing time for outland app:
- 16-18 weeks to get police certificate
- 7 weeks for stage 1
- 16 weeks for stage 2
So it would take us around 41 weeks (around 10 months) to process. If we sent out the app in Dec 2014. It would be done in October 2015. I'm not sure if I'm right about the processing time. I'm just afraid of getting some difficulties after withdrawing inland app and it might take longer to reapply. Any advice? Many thanks! <3

Regarding point 1: The posted time on CIC's website to get the FBI certificate is overly conservative. It used to be just 4-5 weeks awhile ago. But I think recently they (FBI) is in the process of updating their system and it slowed things down to where it is taking 12 weeks. I don't know if it is still 12 weeks or not. In any case if the wait is too long, you have the option to send in the application without the FBI certificate but add a note saying that you have requested one and will forward it to CIC as soon as you get it. Personally I rather wait until I have everything before mailing in the application (as CIC advises you to) but others have stated that they did this without any issue. In any case I think there still is a small risk (the letter may get lost in transit to the officer working on your application) but it is up to you if you want to try this.

 

[Sentivo]

Thanks keesio
Does anyone know how long I will have to wait to reapply outland after withdrawing my previous inland application? Will I get any trouble if I reapply outland? Please, please, help?

 

[keesio]

Thanks keesio
Does anyone know how long I will have to wait to reapply outland after withdrawing my previous inland application? Will I get any trouble if I reapply outland? Please, please, help?

Sorry, I can't help you with this question. However I do know there have been a few people who did cancel their inland applications and go outland. I don't know any more details than this so hopefully one of those people will see this thread and respond.