Spousal sponsorship

[Aphrodite49]

I have been reading this forum for the last 4-5 hours trying to scrounge up any information I can about spousal sponsorship. I must say, it has been extremely helpful but I still feel overwhelmed! I am in a same-sex relationship so after finding out my girlfriend is unable to immigrate here due to the US not recognizing same sex marriage for immigration purposes, we made the decision that I will be moving to Canada to live with her. The catch is, we have been in a relationship for over a year now but will be meeting for the first time on June 25th, 2013. Seems a little bizarre but we are very happy and in love I'm sure I am the millionth person on this forum to ask for help, but I figured this would be the best place to ask anyways cause who better to ask than those who have experienced it first hand we plan to get married while I am up there during the first week of July, so I assume we would start the application process ASAP after we get married? Also, I am a little confused on the Outland versus inland, so I would be able to travel freely back and forth from Canada to visit her if I applied via Outland? I know there are 6 month limitations on the visits, but there aren't limitations on how many times you can visit or the length of time between your visits? I have a million questions but will stick with these for now... Last but not least, can someone tell me what the total cost will be? Some places I saw $490 and other places I saw different answers so I just want to get an idea so I can set aside the money now thank you so much for any and all help you can give! Answering the same questions over and over must get annoying but you guys are such a big help

 

[scylla]

I have been reading this forum for the last 4-5 hours trying to scrounge up any information I can about spousal sponsorship. I must say, it has been extremely helpful but I still feel overwhelmed! I am in a same-sex relationship so after finding out my girlfriend is unable to immigrate here due to the US not recognizing same sex marriage for immigration purposes, we made the decision that I will be moving to Canada to live with her. The catch is, we have been in a relationship for over a year now but will be meeting for the first time on June 25th, 2013. Seems a little bizarre but we are very happy and in love I'm sure I am the millionth person on this forum to ask for help, but I figured this would be the best place to ask anyways cause who better to ask than those who have experienced it first hand we plan to get married while I am up there during the first week of July, so I assume we would start the application process ASAP after we get married? Also, I am a little confused on the Outland versus inland, so I would be able to travel freely back and forth from Canada to visit her if I applied via Outland? I know there are 6 month limitations on the visits, but there aren't limitations on how many times you can visit or the length of time between your visits? I have a million questions but will stick with these for now... Last but not least, can someone tell me what the total cost will be? Some places I saw $490 and other places I saw different answers so I just want to get an idea so I can set aside the money now thank you so much for any and all help you can give! Answering the same questions over and over must get annoying but you guys are such a big help

Yes - you can apply as soon as you are married.

Total immigration fees will be $1040. You should expect to pay a few hundred more for the medical, police certificates, etc.

If you want to be able to leave Canada while your application is being processed then outland is definitely the way to go.

There is no process that will allow you to travel freely back and forth between Canada and the US. Until you officially have PR status, you are only allowed into Canada as a visitor. Each time you enter Canada immigration officers effectively decide if you are allowed into the country and for how long. As an American, you should have no issues coming into Canada. However if you started coming in and out too often, this can create problems at the border. Americans are typically allowed in for six months. If you want to stay longer in one visit, you can apply for an extension. There is no limit on how many times you can visit and no rules around the length between visits. But once again, if you start coming in and out of Canada too often and start behaving like you're "living" here rather than just visiting - this can cause problems.

 

[Yelsew]

I have been reading this forum for the last 4-5 hours trying to scrounge up any information I can about spousal sponsorship. I must say, it has been extremely helpful but I still feel overwhelmed! I am in a same-sex relationship so after finding out my girlfriend is unable to immigrate here due to the US not recognizing same sex marriage for immigration purposes, we made the decision that I will be moving to Canada to live with her. The catch is, we have been in a relationship for over a year now but will be meeting for the first time on June 25th, 2013. Seems a little bizarre but we are very happy and in love I'm sure I am the millionth person on this forum to ask for help, but I figured this would be the best place to ask anyways cause who better to ask than those who have experienced it first hand we plan to get married while I am up there during the first week of July, so I assume we would start the application process ASAP after we get married? Also, I am a little confused on the Outland versus inland, so I would be able to travel freely back and forth from Canada to visit her if I applied via Outland? I know there are 6 month limitations on the visits, but there aren't limitations on how many times you can visit or the length of time between your visits? I have a million questions but will stick with these for now... Last but not least, can someone tell me what the total cost will be? Some places I saw $490 and other places I saw different answers so I just want to get an idea so I can set aside the money now thank you so much for any and all help you can give! Answering the same questions over and over must get annoying but you guys are such a big help

Aphrodite, although you and your girlfriend have been in an online relationship for a year now, you said you will be meeting her in person for the first time later this month. There is nothing 'bizarre' about CIC expecting you to have met in person before she can sponsor you--this is a reasonable rule, which applies regardless of whether it is a straight or gay relationship. Personally, I would suggest you take your time to really get to know your girlfriend in person before making the important decision to marry and sponsor. I am NOT trying to discourage you, just urging both of you to not make any hasty decisions. For the sponsorship application, you will be asked about how often you and your sponsor have visited each other, whether you have met each other's family members, etc...and marrying her in the first week of July, just a week after meeting her, could raise some eyebrows about the genuine-ness of your relationship. Scylla has provided excellent advice about the inland vs outland process, the precautions about frequent cross-border travel, and the basic 'cost recovery' fees. The only thing I would add is a breakdown of these fees, namely $75 for the sponsorship application, $475 for your girlfriend's PR application, and $490 for the Right of Permanent Residence fee (for a total of $1040 CAD).

 

[scylla]

Aphrodite, although you and your girlfriend have been in an online relationship for a year now, you said you will be meeting her in person for the first time later this month. There is nothing 'bizarre' about CIC expecting you to have met in person before she can sponsor you--this is a reasonable rule, which applies regardless of whether it is a straight or gay relationship. Personally, I would suggest you take your time to really get to know your girlfriend in person before making the important decision to marry and sponsor. I am NOT trying to discourage you, just urging both of you to not make any hasty decisions. For the sponsorship application, you will be asked about how often you and your sponsor have visited each other, whether you have met each other's family members, etc...and marrying her in the first week of July, just a week after meeting her, could raise some eyebrows about the genuine-ness of your relationship.

I missed a key point here and very much agree with the advice provided above.

Try not to marry the first time you meet. This tends to be a red flag for immigration and can delay the processing of your application because it creates concern the relationship isn't genuine. Take a few trips to visit each other before you marry. It will be better in the long-run if you take this approach.

 

[Aphrodite49]

Thank you both for your help I am actually the one that wants to wait a bit but she is being a little impatient. She really wants me to come live with her cause she is by herself and gets kinda lonely I guess. I haven't booked my return flight yet for my first trip cause I want to see how things go, could I potentially stay there with her for a 4-5 months and if things go well, we can apply from inland? What would be different about applying inland? Does it allow me to live with her while we wait and see? I feel so silly asking such basic questions, but I just feel so confused. If there is anything else you think I should know or anyone personal advice, I am all ears! You guys are the experts so I am extremely open minded.

 

[caipsfasttracker]

Excellent Post!

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

Thank you both for your help I am actually the one that wants to wait a bit but she is being a little impatient. She really wants me to come live with her cause she is by herself and gets kinda lonely I guess. I haven't booked my return flight yet for my first trip cause I want to see how things go, could I potentially stay there with her for a 4-5 months and if things go well, we can apply from inland? What would be different about applying inland? Does it allow me to live with her while we wait and see? I feel so silly asking such basic questions, but I just feel so confused. If there is anything else you think I should know or anyone personal advice, I am all ears! You guys are the experts so I am extremely open minded.

If you do live together for a few months then get married it will greatly improve your application. Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[caipsfasttracker]

This is all I am going to say on this topic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyRXZIOFpY

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

This is all I am going to say on this topic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyRXZIOFpY

Jumping the line??? LOL. Waiting 14 months or more is not queue jumping.

 

[jiggyzealous]

So although we applied inland we didn't live together until the day after our wedding because my wife (my sponsor) is a Christian and we couldn't live together before marriage. We explained all of this in the application. However, we were always at each other's place because both of us had our leases individually before we decided to get married. We included all evidence of outings before and after we got married

 

[Jennpenn]

Anyone else applying in Bogota?

 

[nanediniz]

Anyone else applying in Bogota?

This seem to be a thread for Bogota applicants: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t136932.0.html

or you can search here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/index.php?action=search2

 

[CanadianJeepGuy]

First of all, thanks for your help, greatly appreciated

although i know that being a Canadian citizen I can apply from outside of Canada, my question was not about that...what i wanted to ask was whether my husband is eligible to make Singapore the country of his visa office even if he has just recently gotten his student visa 2 months ago...sorry if i had not been clear before though...

secondly, i thought as a spouse i did not need to show any statements/sources of income. Although i plan on showing proofs that I would be living in Canada along with my spouse as soon as he got the green signal, I'm still not clear on whether which (if any) tax returns documents are need to be sent.

Thank you once again

What are the conditions of your husband's student visa? You may also want to review the processing times for Singapore and compare it to his home country.

 

[MisterBob]

***** URGENT - NEED HELP *****

Please help us...

We have just sent our common-law sponsorship application in on Monday by Xpress post mail to CPC Vegreville, AB T9C 1W3 in a hurry to reach there before her police certificate expires end of this week.

We completed all the forms (or think we did) but we have just realized right now Tuesday night that we did not send in her OPW (Open Work Permit) with the application!!!!

What should we do?! ...We currently have the Open Work Permit application filled out and it says "Open Work Permit - Please process when AIP is granted. Client ID #XXXX XXXX" on top of the Document Checklist and as well the "Application to change conditions, extend my stay or remain as a worker" application.


Question:

Should we be sending it to the exact same address to go along with our common-law sponsorship application (which we intended to attach)?

CPC Vegreville
Permanent Residence Applications
6212-55th Avenue
Vegreville, AB
T9C 1W3


or should we send it to the address on the IMM 5553 form "Send your application to:
CPC Vegreville
Work Permit
6212-55th Avenue – Unit 555
Vegreville, AB
T9C 1X6



Has anyone have experience with this? Will we be okay? What should we do? Thanks!!!

 

[mosaab]

hi everybody,

i am used to check my application 2-3 times weekly,

yesterday i seen this messages in the website, Can anyone explain it to me pleze , really i am worry now,

Alert – Strike Action

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) union is currently taking strike action. PAFSO union members responsible for processing visa applications have been walking out of offices in Canada and overseas.

Posted processing times for both temporary and permanent resident visa applications do not take into account work stoppages.

Anyone applying for a visa should anticipate delays and submit their application as far in advance as possible.

Contingency plans are already in place to ensure all offices remain open and are providing at least a minimum level of service. Priority will be placed on urgent humanitarian applications.

CIC continues to closely monitor the situation.