Spousal sponsorship

[The_CAN_Project]

Hi all,
I'm sure this question has already been answered but I couldn't find it in the 2139 (!) pages of this thread.
Context: Canadian sponsoring German spouse. We submitted our application earlier this month (July 2019).

My question is for the OUTLAND previous applicants who already got they PR granted AND activated (either by Flagpoling or actual landing):

- For those of you that went back in your living country after getting PR activated (to sort out stuff, sell goods, pack luggage for the definitive move to Canada, etc.), how long did you stay in the living country before moving to Canada?
- What kind of "follow-up" does CIC do after PR is activated, to make sure we actually achieve the moving Plan we described them in the application and move to Canada ASAP?

I know that once PR is granted, everything happens very fast and you just have a couple of weeks to land (or flagpole) and activate it. We sure did promise CIC to move to Canada ASAP after getting PR granted, but we need to resign our jobs (min. 4 weeks notice here in Germany), get rid of the car, empty the house, etc. THEORETICALLY, once PR is activated, you have to reside a minimum of 2 years out of the first 5 years in Canada. So, again, theoretically, we could land in Canada for vacation, activate PR, come back to Germany and live here for 3 more years before actually moving to Canada. We won't do that, but I think we would need a couple of months to "close the Germany chapter" properly and prepare goods shipping to Canada. Of course, we don't want trouble with CIC so this is why I'm asking those who already went through this.

I would love to hear the stories of people who are now living in Canada or anyone else who has relevant experience to share!
Thanks in advance!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi all,
I'm sure this question has already been answered but I couldn't find it in the 2139 (!) pages of this thread.
Context: Canadian sponsoring German spouse. We submitted our application earlier this month (July 2019).

My question is for the OUTLAND previous applicants who already got they PR granted AND activated (either by Flagpoling or actual landing):

- For those of you that went back in your living country after getting PR activated (to sort out stuff, sell goods, pack luggage for the definitive move to Canada, etc.), how long did you stay in the living country before moving to Canada?
- What kind of "follow-up" does CIC do after PR is activated, to make sure we actually achieve the moving Plan we described them in the application and move to Canada ASAP?

I know that once PR is granted, everything happens very fast and you just have a couple of weeks to land (or flagpole) and activate it. We sure did promise CIC to move to Canada ASAP after getting PR granted, but we need to resign our jobs (min. 4 weeks notice here in Germany), get rid of the car, empty the house, etc. THEORETICALLY, once PR is activated, you have to reside a minimum of 2 years out of the first 5 years in Canada. So, again, theoretically, we could land in Canada for vacation, activate PR, come back to Germany and live here for 3 more years before actually moving to Canada. We won't do that, but I think we would need a couple of months to "close the Germany chapter" properly and prepare goods shipping to Canada. Of course, we don't want trouble with CIC so this is why I'm asking those who already went through this.

I would love to hear the stories of people who are now living in Canada or anyone else who has relevant experience to share!
Thanks in advance!

IRCC doesn't do any follow up. It is entirely your responsibility to meet the Residency Obligation.

How long you have to land depends on the medical or passport expiry, whichever is soonest. Generally, people have a minimum of several months.

It's perfectly fine to land and then return to your country to wrap up your affairs.

 

[frightenedpanda]

Yes, OWP app goes with the inland app.

If she still hasn't gotten the OWP a few weeks before her visitor status expires, she can apply for a visitor extension.

Do you think I would need a marriage license from Ontario govt to get married? I am an Indian citizen, she is a pakistani citizen and we will be getting married according to the Hindu customs in a temple. The Hindu priest will be issuing a certificate to us of our marriage.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Do you think I would need a marriage license from Ontario govt to get married? I am an Indian citizen, she is a pakistani citizen and we will be getting married according to the Hindu customs in a temple. The Hindu priest will be issuing a certificate to us of our marriage.

Yes, you need a marriage license.

 

[Khosomoso]

Hello, I am a Canadian citizen living in Venezuela, with my common-law spouse (she only has Venezuelan nationality) and our 10-year-old son, who also happens to be a Canadian national. We want to return to live in Canada, but we don't want to separate the boy from his mother. I would like to apply for inland sponsorship for my common-law spouse and the boy's mother, so what visa should I apply for so that she can enter Canada and then start the sponsorship process? Or should we do something else? Our main desire is to avoid separating the family for a whole year or more.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello, I am a Canadian citizen living in Venezuela, with my common-law spouse (she only has Venezuelan nationality) and our 10-year-old son, who also happens to be a Canadian national. We want to return to live in Canada, but we don't want to separate the boy from his mother. I would like to apply for inland sponsorship for my common-law spouse and the boy's mother, so what visa should I apply for so that she can enter Canada and then start the sponsorship process? Or should we do something else? Our main desire is to avoid separating the family for a whole year or more.

Honestly, being from Venezuela and having a Canadian spouse and child, she has pretty much no chance of TRV approval. You can try but be prepared for refusal.

If the TRV is refused and you want to remain together, you will need to apply outland.

 

[Khosomoso]

Honestly, being from Venezuela and having a Canadian spouse and child, she has pretty much no chance of TRV approval. You can try but be prepared for refusal.

If the TRV is refused and you want to remain together, you will need to apply outland.

Hello. I did not understand your message. Being Venezuelan and having both a spouse and minor son who are Canadian are guarantees of rejection for sponsorship? The underaged son doesn't count on her favour?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello. I did not understand your message. Being Venezuelan and having both a spouse and minor son who are Canadian are guarantees of rejection for sponsorship? The underaged son doesn't count on her favour?

I suggest you read my post again, as that is not what I said. I said her nationality and Canadian family pretty much guarantee a TRV refusal.

 

[Khosomoso]

Yes, of course. I must beg your forgiveness, it is my ignorance of the issue that got me confused. What is a TRV refusal?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Yes, of course. I must beg your forgiveness, it is my ignorance of the issue that got me confused. What is a TRV refusal?

TRV = visitor visa.

TRV apps review a person's ties to their country and likelihood of overstaying in Canada. Your wife comes from a dangerously unstable country with hundreds of thousands fleeing every year and claiming asylum. She has stronger family ties to Canada than Venezuela because you and your son are Canadian. She is a huge overstay risk and therefore has little chance of TRV approval.

 

[Arkadia]

Okay, thanks.

In the document checklist #5 Class of Application if you are in Canada you have the choice to apply under the
Spouse or common law partner in Canada Class
OR
under the Family Class (in which case you can be convoked to attend an interview at a visa office outside Canada)

It seems to me the better option is the first one, because you can't be made to attend an interview outside Canada. Is there more to this, or is this one just an obvious choice?

The first option is inland, the second option is outland. You're correct that applying outland (option 2) may require you to attend an interview outside Canada (and take biometrics outside Canada).

 

[Katerina07]

Hi guys, random queston.
I got my PR through spousal common law sponsorship, but we are not together anymore and we have been filing taxes as single for the past few years. If I apply for a citiezenship now, will there be any questions/problems from Immigration because of this?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi guys, random queston.
I got my PR through spousal common law sponsorship, but we are not together anymore and we have been filing taxes as single for the past few years. If I apply for a citiezenship now, will there be any questions/problems from Immigration because of this?

No.

 

[MK1982]

Dear all,
I am a Canadian citizen. I live in Ghana with my wife. We have been married for more than 2 years.
Our Rep. sent the sponsorship application to IRCC on November 2018, on March 2019 we received a letter stating that i am eligible to sponsor my wife and that my file sent to the VO.
We sent our “Undertaking” to MIDI on May 13th. On June 2nd, 2019, we got a letter from MIDI that they received our application and will reply in 25 working days.
On June 14th we received 2 emails from IRCC requesting my wife to do the Med test, and giving her only 2 weeks to submit her passport. We did what they requested and she deposited her passport on June 25, 2019. On July 2nd the VO called me asking for CSQ? And that she cannot give the PR visa if we don’t provide the CSQ.

Although it has been more than 30 working days, when I called MIDI they told me the application still under process and they told me to ask the VO to be patient.
Is it normal to get the PR approved before getting the CSQ? (Even our Rep. she is surprised) And how long it usually takes to get the CSQ?

 

[kanada07]

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.

Hi,
My spouse-to-be is a Canadian PR holder since last year. I have an active EE profile but my CRS score is 435 as compared to the high cutoff going on right now.
Hence, when I marry her, how can she sponsor me for my PR?
How many points will be gained in my overall score if she is able to sponsor me successfully?
Can she sponsor me as soon as we get married?
What is the average time taken for PR through spousal sponsorship?