Spousal sponsorship - Questions

[Tawcan]

Some background info:

My fiance and I got engaged few weeks ago and we're planning to get married in early May. She is from Denmark and is currently on the working holiday visa. The visa is due to expire end of April but she has applied for a visitor's visa extension in March. She is planning to return to Denmark in end of May for about a month before returning to Canada in June.

We're going to apply for spousal sponsorship after we get married. We're planning to apply outland for faster application time and that she can travel out of the country.

A few questions:
1. While applying for sponsorship does she have to have a valid visa to enter & exit the country?

2. Given the situation is outland the best choice?

3. If I understand correctly if we apply outland and once we pass step 1 (assessment of sponsorship) she would go directly to apply for permanent resident (step 2), is this correct? Will she able to apply for health care after step 1? Would she be able to apply for a working visa (without having a job offer) after step 1?

4. Since she's from Denmark, for outland does the application have to go to London? Or should we just pick an office that currently has the quickest processing time?

Thanks!

 

[Leon]

1. Since she is from Denmark, she is visa exempt but if she wants to stay longer than 6 months as a visitor, she must apply to extend her visitor status, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

2. Spouse outland = 41 days in Mississauga, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp and then to London, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp#europe where 80% of cases are done within 8 months.

Spouse inland = average 9-10 months for first stage approval and another 9 to get PR, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

It is not advised to travel outside Canada during an inland application because if for any reason she is denied entry, the application goes out the window because it is a requirement of inland that you are living in Canada. Still, people who are visa exempt usually get away with it. However, since London has a relatively short processing time, she would most likely have her PR already with outland before she would even have gotten first stage with inland.

3. You would send your complete application package for everything to Mississauga. They will send it to London when they are done with it. It is only with inland that she would be able to get an open work permit and health care after first stage approval. It doesn't hurt to ask about health care though. It may depend on the province.

4. If she is from Denmark, her application must go to London, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/apply-where.asp