Spousal Sponsorship USA to Canada questions!

[RyanD91]

Hello, I am an American currently living in Canada on a post graduation work permit looking to gain permanent residency to Canada via spousal sponsorship through my wife who is a permanent resident living in Canada from the Philippines.

Our situation-

We just got legally married a little over a week ago and are now waiting for our marriage to register with the province of Ontario (6 weeks is what the officiant told us). We were planning to get married in early March but then all of this Covid-19 stuff happened and really flipped everything on its head. We plan on having a proper ceremony at some point once the border reopens and my family can join us for a ceremony.

I graduated university in Ontario in 2017 (my original intent coming to Canada was to study) and then went on to acquire a post graduation work permit to make something of myself in Canada. I worked in a restaurant full time and did art based work occasionally up until this past December and then shifted to being self-employed full time doing art related business. I am fully self employed to this day and plan on continuing that path. My work permit expires December 2020 so I will need to extend my temporary stay while I wait on our spousal sponsorship to go through. I would go the self-employed route but I hear it takes over 2 years to immigrate that way. Unfortunately self-employment requires so many extra hoops to jump through.

On the CIC website it mentions that spousal sponsorships generally take a year to process, but my wifes cousin seems to think it wont take that long. He brought his wife to Canada from the Philippines in 4 months im pretty sure it was. He seems to think especially the fact that I was born and raised in USA it will be an even more simple process for me.



My questions for you guys-


-How long should I realistically expect my application to take given the information above?
-Should I apply as "in canada" or "out of Canada" as far as immigration paperwork is concerned?
-Do I have to wait until I receive our marriage certificate in the mail before I can start applying?
-What sort of police certificate should I be applying for?
-I will inevitably have to apply to extend my temporary residency in Canada come November, what would be the best path to take? I was thinking of applying for a visitors visa that would grant me 6 months, and it says they take 2-4 months to process so I figure it would give me a 8-10 months extra time to wait for our spousal sponsorship to go through. If there is a better route that youd like to suggest, please mention it.


Any other tips or info that you would like to share (especially relating to how covid-19 might impact our process) please post that here with your answers!

Thanks very much

-Ryan


EDIT: We got married as late as August instead of March because Toronto marriage licenses and officiant services were all closed until late June and by the time they opened things booked up fast and reduced hours and services for nearly everything still lingers.

 

[Caly]

Under normal circumstances applications were taking at least 12 months, there are various threads and google tracker spreadsheets that show this if you look. Now with Covid, who knows. You're lucky if they even say they've received your application within 4 months.
You need police certificates for countries you were in, it's detailed in the instructions. So a US one at least.
If you apply inland you can apply for an Open Work Permit. The Open Work permit will give implied status, but get the Visitor extension as well just-in-case.
Were you guys living together for 12 months in a marriage-like relationship? If so you can apply as common-law then send in your marriage certificate later. If not, you have to wait for your certificate.

 

[RyanD91]

Under normal circumstances applications were taking at least 12 months, there are various threads and google tracker spreadsheets that show this if you look. Now with Covid, who knows. You're lucky if they even say they've received your application within 4 months.
You need police certificates for countries you were in, it's detailed in the instructions. So a US one at least.
If you apply inland you can apply for an Open Work Permit. The Open Work permit will give implied status, but get the Visitor extension as well just-in-case.
Were you guys living together for 12 months in a marriage-like relationship? If so you can apply as common-law then send in your marriage certificate later. If not, you have to wait for your certificate.

Thanks for the response!

So if I understand you correctly- If I apply for the open work permit in November before my current post graduation open work permit expires I will then remain on implied status until a decision is made on my open work permit? Is it likely that ill be granted the new open work permit without a job offer? As I mentioned, I am 100% self employed and have been since December 2019 and am already nearing the end of a 3 year post graduation open work permit.

We were not common law. We tried for that but my landlord didnt want to add my wife to the lease (we werent married at the time and I moved in here before we met). So we set our sights on marriage.

I have only lived in Canada for the past 7 years, would this still require me to get a US police check? or would I need a Canadian one? or both?


Thanks in advance!

 

[canuck78]

Spousal sponsorship from the US do generally take less time and 6-8 months wasn’t unusual pre-covid. Very hard to tell post-covid. You’ll need your marriage certificate to apply. Apply for an OWP and PR and OWP will give you implied status. You really don’t want your application returned because you’ll then be out of status and won’t qualify for OWP so triplecheck that your forms are the most up-to-date and you haven’t missed anything.

 

[armoured]

Under normal circumstances applications were taking at least 12 months, there are various threads and google tracker spreadsheets that show this if you look.

This is not correct. The official line pre-covid was that "most" applications were completed in 12 months or less (outland, I think not hugely different for inland). The tracker spreadsheets - pre-covid - confirmed this, i.e. ~80% were to passport request within about 12 months.

On top of that, there was a clear timeline advantage / speed of processing for applicants from 'friendly' countries, especially USA, with relatively simple files (the usual like no previous marriages, no super-complicated travel history, etc); the security and criminality and background checks simply go much faster.

Now with covid there are obviously delays, but the 'at least 12 months' was not correct prior to covid.

 

[RyanD91]

This is not correct. The official line pre-covid was that "most" applications were completed in 12 months or less (outland, I think not hugely different for inland). The tracker spreadsheets - pre-covid - confirmed this, i.e. ~80% were to passport request within about 12 months.

On top of that, there was a clear timeline advantage / speed of processing for applicants from 'friendly' countries, especially USA, with relatively simple files (the usual like no previous marriages, no super-complicated travel history, etc); the security and criminality and background checks simply go much faster.

Now with covid there are obviously delays, but the 'at least 12 months' was not correct prior to covid.

I figured USA would take less. As I mentioned, my cousin in law brought his wife here from the Philippines within 4 months.

This is also both of our first marriage and neither of us have a criminal history. I am mostly just confused about what documents I need to get for us both. Do we both need police background checks? and if so, from which countries? I havent lived in the USA since 2013. She hasnt lived in the Philippines since 2017.

I am currently waiting for our marriage certificate and just wondering which other things I should apply for or gather?


Thanks!

 

[armoured]

I figured USA would take less. As I mentioned, my cousin in law brought his wife here from the Philippines within 4 months.

This is also both of our first marriage and neither of us have a criminal history. I am mostly just confused about what documents I need to get for us both. Do we both need police background checks? and if so, from which countries? I havent lived in the USA since 2013. She hasnt lived in the Philippines since 2017.

I am currently waiting for our marriage certificate and just wondering which other things I should apply for or gather?


Thanks!

Get the instructions and read them carefully is the only real answer. Start filling out the forms now, as electronic, you can fill out what you know and identify what you do not have and need to get.

As I recall, sponsor will not need police check. Don't know about US citizens not living in USA. You should not need Canada police check, I believe, as IRCC can (and will) check directly.

But again: read the instructions. Pay close attention to country-specific info as to what docs are needed in originals or certified copies and keep in mind can take a while to get, for example, birth certificates from some states (esp by mail). It's not hard but need to identify early what you do not have.

 

[Caly]

Thanks for the response!

So if I understand you correctly- If I apply for the open work permit in November before my current post graduation open work permit expires I will then remain on implied status until a decision is made on my open work permit? Is it likely that ill be granted the new open work permit without a job offer? As I mentioned, I am 100% self employed and have been since December 2019 and am already nearing the end of a 3 year post graduation open work permit.

We were not common law. We tried for that but my landlord didnt want to add my wife to the lease (we werent married at the time and I moved in here before we met). So we set our sights on marriage.

I have only lived in Canada for the past 7 years, would this still require me to get a US police check? or would I need a Canadian one? or both?


Thanks in advance!

I applied Outland common-law, but what I've seen of the inland app is that you apply for the Open Work Permit at the same time as the PR app. It doesn't require a job offer, it's kind of an inland application perk. But yeah if they return it, if anything is incomplete/incorrect, you lose the implied status of the OWP so most also get a visitor extension or something at the same time, just-in-case.

If you've visited the US at all in the last 7 years i'm pretty sure they'll demand a police check from there, but really read the guide.

 

[RyanD91]

I applied Outland common-law, but what I've seen of the inland app is that you apply for the Open Work Permit at the same time as the PR app. It doesn't require a job offer, it's kind of an inland application perk. But yeah if they return it, if anything is incomplete/incorrect, you lose the implied status of the OWP so most also get a visitor extension or something at the same time, just-in-case.

If you've visited the US at all in the last 7 years i'm pretty sure they'll demand a police check from there, but really read the guide.

I appreciate everyones great responses and advice in here.

As I am reading the checklist for me, I am still somewhat confused as to if I need to submit a police check.

It mentions that I need to submit one for "country I curently reside, if I have lived there for 6 months or more" and the country where I have lived most of my adult life since age 18"

I currently live in Canada, I am 28 and have been living in Canada since 21 with only brief visits back to USA usually for 1-2 weeks, with one exception of going back for roughly 2 1/2 months for a summer.

The checklist mentions it will file my Canadian police check for me through the IRCC, but it appears from what I have been reading that I wouldnt have to submit one for USA?

Would love input from someone who has went through the process!

 

[Caly]

I would pro-actively submit a US one.

 

[RyanD91]

Ok, so I am getting ready to submit my application for PR next week and I have a few final questions.

1st being-

For the country selection part of the process, do we need to include the country where my sponsor is originally from? Currently I have just checked for Canada (where she is a permanent resident, and I am a temporary resident) and USA (where I am a citizen). My wife is a citizen of the Philippines, but permanent resident in Canada already.

There are no special requirements for Americans, but do we need to select Philippines also in our selection? It doesnt appear so, since we married in canada and im the principal applicant (american)


I have a few more questions also. You guys have been helpful so far!

Also, would I be better off extending my work permit or applying for a new one? I heard there was a program for temporary workers going through spousal sponsorship application

Many thanks!