Spousal sponsorship

[Ilija]

Hello guys. This post will be long so I would like uou to give it some time and read it and help me if you can
So my name is Ilija by nationality I'm Serbian but I was born in former republic of Krajina, nowadays Croatia. I came as a refugee to serbia in 1995 together with my whole family. I lived in belgrade until 2011. My parents tried to come to canada as refugees in 1999 from Serbia but their application got denied. In 2011 we moved to canada as visitors and claimed refugee status. We had that bad luck to find a "lawyer" who completely destroyed us and we got deported in February 2014. I do not want to write about our refugee claim and all of the bad things that happened to us, because I'm here to ask a different question. I have a girlfriend, Canadian citizen, which i met in 2011 in my high school in hamilton and which is my wife now and 7 months pregnat. After my deportation she came to serbia with me and now we want to make a sponsorship application in order for me to come back to canada with her. She's 20 years old, currently UNEMPLOYED but she worked part time before she left canada and she has GUARANTEED job for when we go back to canada. How can we start our application and do we even have any chance to come back because of all of the things that happened with my immigration case? I contacted cic canada and they said that we can just submit application and explain why I got deported. So will she pass the first part of sponsorship application in Mississauga even if she's not working now but she will be working as soon as we come back? And could someone recommend us some good consultant or a lawyer who gold help us finish our application. Btw I'm very sceptical about lawyers now but I know that our case will be harder than other ones considering my past immigration experience. Thank you, Ilija and Sarah.

 

[JAMO1973]

Hi. I have some more questions about getting a multiple entry visa and permanent residency for my girlfriend/soon to be wife. My girlfriend is Mexican and I am Canadian. We live together in Mexico right now. We want to go to Canada for a vacation and also want to apply for her residency. I am not sure how to apply for the multiple entry. Can I as a Canadian citizen invite her to go to Canada although I am not living there or does one of my relatives/friends living in Canada have to invite the both of us to go there? Also regarding the residency. I know that I can sponsor her even though I don't live in Canada if we can prove that we'll go to Canada when she gets the residency. How can I prove that in the best way? It's hard to get a job offer but I have family and friends that are willing to have us stay with them. Is that enough? If so do they need to write letters inviting us to stay with them or should the letters be written to Canadian immigration stating their willingness to have us stay with them? Thanks to all for the help and any advice.

 

[BeShoo]

My conundrum is how the hell do I prove that??? Do I have to rent a place in Canada for the months our apps will be processing? The toll free # for CIC doesn't work down here and the LA Cdn consulate says it gives no immigration/visa info.

It depend on your situation. Some people have sent a letter from friends or relatives saying that the couple can stay with them while they look for a place. I suppose if you had an agreement in principal from a landlord, that would be good. You mostly just have to prove to them that you've been looking and are serious and hope they believe you. I don't think there's any way you want to just rent a place that you won't be in.

I suppose at this point I should apply outland right away to get the process going. I read some posts that advised doing the medical exam and police check after you apply instead of including it with the app as CIC tells us to. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks for your replies.

Police checks can take up to around 90 days from the FBI. I'm not sure what the current processing time is. If you don't want to wait, you could send a letter explaining that you've applied for it and it hasn't come yet. Lots of people have done that, but they'd rather have it with your application and it has to be less than 3 months old when they receive it in Mississauga to be acceptable. If you don't send it in, they may refuse to process your application because it is "incomplete."

You are supposed to do the medical before you send the application. I think if you don't, they will send you a letter asking for it, then put your application in a pile of ones that are waiting for more information. According to some here, they may just put it in a pile with a re-check date of 3 months later, at which time they will look to see if the missing info has been provided. This delay can be prevented if you send it upfront. However, the processing can take up to 1 month for sponsorship approval, then 15 months for the applicant part (seldom longer). Your medical must be less than one year old at the time when you actually "land" as a permanent resident. If it's too old, they will ask for a new one, though they now have the discretion to extend the validity for up to a year if you're close. The cost of all medicals was about $250 here in Ottawa. I've read on this board that most that are done in the U.S. tend to be significantly more expensive than in Canada. You might have to shop around, but there are less approved physicians to choose from in the States.

For applicants from some countries, processing times are much longer, so they usually ask for medicals near the end so they are not expired, but most U.S. applications actually take under a year, so it's better to get them upfront and that is what they ask for.

 

[hackysack2014]

Hi members:

I am new in this forum. Got the link from my friend. Wouldn't have written ever in this forum unless I fell in the situation which nobody wants while the immigration process is tedious and time elapsing.

Background: I sponsored my wife in May 2012. She landed in February 08, 2014. Was a long process to bring her over. Now I think this process should have never ended for me/her ! As soon as she landed, her body language got completely changed. I was not ready for this, anyway. I ignored initially, because I thought it was probably because of long flight all the way from Eastern India - may be jet lag or so.

Facts 1: Slowly she revealed herself.

Episode 1: I found her talking on the phone at the very late at night in the washroom. I was surprised. I asked her. She said talking to her parents. Okay fine. Why are you talking in the 'washroom' ? What secret you need to talk to them in the washroom while I was sleeping. She got freaked. There you go. I just avoided her to get involved into any arguments because it was almost 4 in the morning.

Episode 2: I found her talking on the phone at around 10 pm which is normal time. I just came back from work. I heard a bit of voice of a guy from the other end. She hung up the phone within a minute or so. I asked her but she did say with a "friend". Why did you hang up? Because I am done. Okay good.

Episode 3: Following day, I put a mini recorder in the room and washroom. She did not realize. Recorder captured 8 minutes talk (one sided voice) which I wish I could post here. It is audio record. So can't post here. Anyway, It is clear to me that she had a relation with someone in the home country.

Fact 2: Recently she started to "threat" me that I am not in a position to 'kick' her out of Canada. Fine! Why don't you leave me alone. She said she wants to stay with me until she could be eligible for sponsoring her 'lover' or 'boyfriend'. whatever you call it. If I kick her out of home, she will go and apply for "social assistance". Now she is blackmailing me!

Facts 3: She also threatened to make me look criminal to the law enforcement (police). How? She said she would cut her some parts of body and show it to police that I did it; or, "create some unusual scene" like screaming or something like that.....to get attention from the police by calling 911.

Few other facts are coming soon. I feel very disarrayed, tired and distorted while I am writing this fact to this forum. Please forgive me, if I am taking you time. However, I would love to have some suggestions how to handle this 'unfaithful' wife(?) ??? Please help me.

 

[skbrazil]

Hi All,

My application got returned back to me, because my Spouse/Common-law questionnaire was outdated. Now they require me to fill-out a new form, and send it back to me. I am a november 2013 applicant, and they just sent me that letter the end of february, and my lawyer just passed the info to me now. Does anyone have experience with this kind of situation? Is my application be considerate a 'fresh' application? and the other thing is, we also applied for my work permit with the Spousal application, and it also got returned, because on Feb 06, the fee went from 150 to 155, because of 5 bucks they returned. My lawyer will try to get it rectified as there was nothing wrong with my work permit application.
I am devastated!
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

 

[skbrazil]

Hi members:

I am new in this forum. Got the link from my friend. Wouldn't have written ever in this forum unless I fell in the situation which nobody wants while the immigration process is tedious and time elapsing.

Background: I sponsored my wife in May 2012. She landed in February 08, 2014. Was a long process to bring her over. Now I think this process should have never ended for me/her ! As soon as she landed, her body language got completely changed. I was not ready for this, anyway. I ignored initially, because I thought it was probably because of long flight all the way from Eastern India - may be jet lag or so.

Facts 1: Slowly she revealed herself.

Episode 1: I found her talking on the phone at the very late at night in the washroom. I was surprised. I asked her. She said talking to her parents. Okay fine. Why are you talking in the 'washroom' ? What secret you need to talk to them in the washroom while I was sleeping. She got freaked. There you go. I just avoided her to get involved into any arguments because it was almost 4 in the morning.

Episode 2: I found her talking on the phone at around 10 pm which is normal time. I just came back from work. I heard a bit of voice of a guy from the other end. She hung up the phone within a minute or so. I asked her but she did say with a "friend". Why did you hang up? Because I am done. Okay good.

Episode 3: Following day, I put a mini recorder in the room and washroom. She did not realize. Recorder captured 8 minutes talk (one sided voice) which I wish I could post here. It is audio record. So can't post here. Anyway, It is clear to me that she had a relation with someone in the home country.

Fact 2: Recently she started to "threat" me that I am not in a position to 'kick' her out of Canada. Fine! Why don't you leave me alone. She said she wants to stay with me until she could be eligible for sponsoring her 'lover' or 'boyfriend'. whatever you call it. If I kick her out of home, she will go and apply for "social assistance". Now she is blackmailing me!

Facts 3: She also threatened to make me look criminal to the law enforcement (police). How? She said she would cut her some parts of body and show it to police that I did it; or, "create some unusual scene" like screaming or something like that.....to get attention from the police by calling 911.

Few other facts are coming soon. I feel very disarrayed, tired and distorted while I am writing this fact to this forum. Please forgive me, if I am taking you time. However, I would love to have some suggestions how to handle this 'unfaithful' wife(?) ??? Please help me.

Well, you have the records and proof that she was unfaithful, besides right now, the law makes it pretty clear that people that come to canada faking a marriage will be requested to leave, specially now that when we get a PR we have to stay married for at least 2 years and only after 5 years of your arrival that you are able to sponsor another person. Call immigration and report her, she doesn even need to know that- besides who is wrong here is her, not you.


Good luck,

Steph

 

[hackysack2014]

Well, you have the records and proof that she was unfaithful, besides right now, the law makes it pretty clear that people that come to canada faking a marriage will be requested to leave, specially now that when we get a PR we have to stay married for at least 2 years and only after 5 years of your arrival that you are able to sponsor another person. Call immigration and report her, she doesn even need to know that- besides who is wrong here is her, not you. Good luck,
Steph

Thank you. "specially now that when we get a PR we have to stay married for at least 2 years" -- I checked while ago. This rule applies to those who submitted application on/after October 25, 2012. Unfortunately, I applied for her in May 2012. I missed the opportunity for few months. Anyway, I appreciate your time.

 

[JAMO1973]

Hi. I have some more questions about getting a multiple entry visa and permanent residency for my girlfriend/soon to be wife. My girlfriend is Mexican and I am Canadian. We live together in Mexico right now. We want to go to Canada for a vacation and also want to apply for her residency. I am not sure how to apply for the multiple entry. Can I as a Canadian citizen invite her to go to Canada although I am not living there or does one of my relatives/friends living in Canada have to invite the both of us to go there? Also regarding the residency. I know that I can sponsor her even though I don't live in Canada if we can prove that we'll go to Canada when she gets the residency. How can I prove that in the best way? It's hard to get a job offer but I have family and friends that are willing to have us stay with them. Is that enough? If so do they need to write letters inviting us to stay with them or should the letters be written to Canadian immigration stating their willingness to have us stay with them? Thanks to all for the help and any advice.

 

[BeShoo]

I am new in this forum. Got the link from my friend. Wouldn't have written ever in this forum unless I fell in the situation which nobody wants while the immigration process is tedious and time elapsing.

Unfortunately, I think this is only a matter for divorce court. Here is a long discussion of a similar situation, which won't make you feel better, but at least it's some information: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/marriage-fraud-is-not-allowed-under-canadas-immigration-law-or-is-it-t10174.0.html

CIC says at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/protection/fraud/marriage.asp
"Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are in a marriage of convenience for immigration reasons may be charged with a crime." So, it seems like it could technically be a crime, but I think in your situation it reverts to nothing more than a civil matter. It's too bad that you didn't file under the new rules. I almost wonder if your wife knew that deadline was coming up.

Here is CIC's page "How to report marriage fraud": http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/protection/fraud/report.asp You could call them and see what they say.

 

[zardoz]

Hi All,

My application got returned back to me, because my Spouse/Common-law questionnaire was outdated. Now they require me to fill-out a new form, and send it back to me. I am a november 2013 applicant, and they just sent me that letter the end of february, and my lawyer just passed the info to me now. Does anyone have experience with this kind of situation? Is my application be considerate a 'fresh' application? and the other thing is, we also applied for my work permit with the Spousal application, and it also got returned, because on Feb 06, the fee went from 150 to 155, because of 5 bucks they returned. My lawyer will try to get it rectified as there was nothing wrong with my work permit application.
I am devastated!
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Yes, if they returned the application to you, it will be a completely new application and start from the beginning. The work permit application is tied to the sponsorship application. Therefore it would be returned or rejected. The price increase is irrelevant, except that you will have to pay the increased fee when it's resubmitted. Any implied status will also be finished when it was returned to you.

 

[troeli]

Hi,

I have my prcard since january 2012 and I still haven't moved to Canada unfortunately, because I want my son who has 1,5 year left to finish his highschool, to be done and then hopefully I can move to my husband in Canada. That means summer 2015. And I know that in january 2015 is actually the latest date to move there if I want to keep my prcard.
Now everytime I go to Canada I have to pass by the immigration and they write down how long my stay is in Canada so they already are checking me if i live my 730 days in Canada within the 5 years. What happenes if I dont move in january but in the summer. Does anyone know? Do I have to apply again or what?

So you are in the situation that you want to sponsor your foreign spouse for permanent residency of Canada and don't know where to start. Here are some tips:

Married, common law or conjugal partners

First you need to pick an application class. There are three of them: married, common-law and conjugal. For all of them, you need to prove the genuineity of your relationship. For common-law, you need to prove that you have lived together for 12 months or longer. For conjugal, you need to prove that you have combined your affairs as much as possible but there are real immigration barriers or other barriers preventing you from living together or getting married. Conjugal is the hardest to prove. For example, if your partner could get a visit visa to come to Canada for 6 months and then apply for an extension to get the full year, even though they will not be allowed to work, that is not considered an immigration barrier. An immigration barrier is if your partner tries to get a visit visa to come to Canada and is repeatedly refused. Some people have had luck with the conjugal class but try to avoid it if possible.

Outland or inland?

Now you need to decide if to apply outland or inland. If your spouse is not in Canada and can not get a visa to go to Canada, you must apply outland. That means that you will send your application to Mississauga and they will approve you as a sponsor. The time that takes is usually 1-2 months to but current processing times can be seen here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#sponsorship After that, the application is forwarded to your local visa office. If your spouse is residing in a country other than the country of their nationality, you can pick which of the two visa offices you want. Otherwise it will be processed in their country of nationality. You can see the processing times here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp

If your spouse is staying in Canada as a visitor or on some other visa, you can pick whether you want to apply outland or inland. Outland is generally faster and has appeal rights but a downside to outland is that if an interview is required, your spouse will have to travel to the visa office in the country where it's being processed. Inland has the downside that it's generally not advised that your spouse travels while you are waiting for your processing because it is a requirement of inland that they reside in Canada and if they are denied entry at the border for some reason, your application is gone. If an interview is required for inland, you may also have to wait a long time for it. The inland application would be sent to Vegreville and if all goes well, you would get a first stage approval, usually in 6 to 8 months. The current processing times can be seen here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/canada/process-in.asp#perm_res Then the file is forwarded to your local CIC office where you live and they will contact you for a landing appointment. Getting the PR with inland usually takes 12-18 months. If an interview is required for inland, Vegreville will not give first stage approval but instead will forward the application to the local CIC office without it and you will have to wait for them to have time for your interview. In some cases that can take a year or two. If you do get the first stage approval, your spouse will usually be eligible for health care and an open work permit. It is actually a good idea when applying inland to send an application form for a visit visa extension as well as the open work permit to be given at first stage approval all in one package so it's tied together.

Which method to pick depends on your situation. If your spouses country of nationality has a long processing time or your spouse does not want to have to travel there for a possible interview, then inland is the way to go. For faster processing and freedom of travel during the processing time, outland would be better. You can find the application forms for inland at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp and the application forms for outland at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

Avoiding potential problems with your application

The most common reason for people to be called for an interview is that the visa officer has doubts about the relationship being genuine. It is up to you to send immigration some quality data, emails, chat logs, phone records, photos, letters and other material to prove to them that your relationship is the real thing. Other reasons you might have problems with is eligibility of the sponsor. The sponsor can not be on social assistance, can not be bankrupt and can not have a record of violent crimes or crimes against family members. If that is the case, better talk to a lawyer and get that cleared up before attempting to apply.

Dependent children

If your spouse has dependent children, they must be included in the PR application, even if they are not coming to Canada. They will need to have medicals as well to keep the option open to sponsor them later. The only way that immigration will accept the application without those medicals is if the children are no longer minors and refuse to have it or if the children are in the full custody of their other parent who refuses to make them available for medicals. In that case, your spouse needs to sign a statement stating that they know that they will never be able to sponsor these children to Canada in the future.

Dependent children are classified as single and either under 22 years of age or if they are older, they must have been full time students since before age 22 or dependent on their parent due to a disability or medical problem.

Refusals due to income and medicals

You will be asked to provide information about your income but you will not be denied to sponsor your spouse and dependent children because you do not make enough money. It is possible though that if you make absolutely no money at all that immigration may ask you how you plan to support yourselves.

Spouses and dependent children are also exempt from the clause about excessive demand on health care so you do not have to worry about them being refused for that reason.

Sponsoring your spouse while living in another country

If you are a Canadian citizen, you can sponsor your spouse without being in Canada but you do then have to prove that you are planning on moving to Canada when your spouse gets approved for permanent residency. Such proof can include having arranged jobs, being accepted to college, having arranged housing or letters from friends & relatives stating that they know of your plans and that you can stay with them while you look for housing etc.

If you are a PR, you must reside in Canada in order to sponsor your spouse. You can chance short vacations (remember that a Canadian vacation is generally no longer than 2 weeks) but if immigration finds out that you are not in Canada, you risk getting your application refused.

 

[zardoz]

Hi,

I have my prcard since january 2012 and I still haven't moved to Canada unfortunately, because I want my son who has 1,5 year left to finish his highschool, to be done and then hopefully I can move to my husband in Canada. That means summer 2015. And I know that in january 2015 is actually the latest date to move there if I want to keep my prcard.
Now everytime I go to Canada I have to pass by the immigration and they write down how long my stay is in Canada so they already are checking me if i live my 730 days in Canada within the 5 years. What happenes if I dont move in january but in the summer. Does anyone know? Do I have to apply again or what?

The date that you received your PR card is not important. What is however, is the date that you landed as a PR, which I suspect might have been November or December. That's the date you must count from.

If you fail to meet the residency obligation requirements, you could be reported on every entry, in which case you would have to appeal to keep your PR status. If you lose the appeal, your husband would have to responsor you.

Even if you don't get reported, you can't safely renew your PR card until you have met the residency obligation requirements.
Is it worth the risk?

 

[JAMO1973]

Hi. I have some more questions about getting a multiple entry visa and permanent residency for my girlfriend/soon to be wife. My girlfriend is Mexican and I am Canadian. We live together in Mexico right now. We want to go to Canada for a vacation and also want to apply for her residency. I am not sure how to apply for the multiple entry. Can I as a Canadian citizen invite her to go to Canada although I am not living there or does one of my relatives/friends living in Canada have to invite the both of us to go there? Also regarding the residency. I know that I can sponsor her even though I don't live in Canada if we can prove that we'll go to Canada when she gets the residency. How can I prove that in the best way? It's hard to get a job offer but I have family and friends that are willing to have us stay with them. Is that enough? If so do they need to write letters inviting us to stay with them or should the letters be written to Canadian immigration stating their willingness to have us stay with them? Thanks to all for the help and any advice.

 

[frappCcino]

Re: Spousal sponsorship (INLAND APPLICATION) -CHANGES-

Hi LEON/ ANYBODY,

good day, just want to ask if anyone knows what should i provide the CIC for the Change in my Application, such as death of my family member (mother) and new passport. what document should i provide them?

For the death of a family member, Should i just provide a written statement?
For passport , i know i need to provide them a photocopy of my old and new passport and a written statement, correct?

thanks in advance

 

[frappCcino]

Hi LEON/ ANYBODY,

good day, just want to ask if anyone knows what should i provide the CIC for the Change in my Application, such as death of my family member (mother) and new passport. what document should i provide them?

For the death of a family member, Should i just provide a written statement?
For passport , i know i need to provide them a photocopy of my old and new passport and a written statement, correct?

thanks in advance