Spousal Sponsorship

[tjetta]

Hello

I have a question that I'm sure has been asked many times here, and while breezing through many threads, I could not find exactly what I am looking for.
It would be a great deal of help to us if someone can please help us as we are new to all this and really lost although we are somewhat desperate to get started as we know and see that this is a very lengthy process, or at least I hope it's not for us.
I am a Canadian Citizen born and raised. I met my wife just a little over one year now, we met through a mutual friend but first began communicating on line, through e-mails, sent photo's to each other, made phone calls ect...Several months later she decided to come and visit for 10 days from Vancouver were she was living and working as a Live-in Caregiver on a two year work visa, and has only fulfilled 6 months of her term, and prior to that she worked in Taiwan as a Nurse and before that her native country Philippines. After our first physical encounter we fell head over heals for each other, we both felt like we knew each other for such a long time, we were so connected, it was hard to see her off after the ten days, but needless to say we were madly in love, just before she left I bought her a ring and proposed. Two weeks later we could not stay apart any longer she wanted to be with me and me with her, so she gave her employer two weeks notice, I booked the flight and we were together again. Six months later we got married, we had a simple ceremony in a chapel, and the reception was small 30-35 guest, close friends and a couple of family members, due to financial reasons we decided to have something small and maybe a year later have a big reception with all the family members.
Sorry I just thought I'd give you a little bit of history before I ask my questions, so if anyone with a similar background has experienced the same type of relationship can tell me what I'm headed for or what to expect. I now want to sponsor my wife and don't know how to go about it.
Here are my questions: What forms do I need in order to be able to apply for Spousal Sponsorship?
What are the fees that are involved and when do we submit them?
How long is the process and what are we to except while going through the process?
What other documents are we going to need along with the forms we need to fill out?
If I left anything out maybe someone would be so kind as to just add whatever is necessary for this process.

I Also Want To Add That I Am Very Grateful For Any Help/Advise That Any Members Here Can Offer, Thank You So Much In Advance.......

 

[emmagail]

Welcome, your in the right place,

Do your research here, and any questions you have left, post them up.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

 

[tjetta]

Thank you for the welcome and the tip.....

 

[tjetta]

@emmagail

Not to be ungrateful my friend, but I was hoping I can get the name or number of each form I need to file, as I did go to the link you provided and I'm am somewhat lost to what forms I exactly need. The reason I am being so anal is because I have read many threads here where people have sent the wrong forms or missed something out, which in the end delayed their application....Thanks again emmagail

 

[scylla]

tjetta -

Start by reading the first post in this thread:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

Then come back with your additional questions.

Hope this helps.

 

[tjetta]

Thanks so much scylla....

 

[Material]

tjetta -

Start by reading the first post in this thread:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

Then come back with your additional questions.

Hope this helps.

I second what scylla said this is a great place to start. Try and read leons top post it is full of information.

May I also ask where you and your wife are living right now in Canada or outside Canada?

 

[tjetta]

Hi there again...

The form that I printed out is a IMM 0008 form.
Am I on the right track?
If so is this form to be filled by me or my spouse?

Sorry, but I guess I will be asking a lot of silly questions from now on. I have read the link that I was referred to, but I guess I'm just not to good at following protocol, and once again I don't really want to make any errors.

 

[tjetta]

@Material

We both live together in Canada....

 

[scylla]

Are you going to apply inland or outland? This is the first decision you have be make before you start printing and filling out forms.

 

[Material]

@ Material

We both live together in Canada....

Ok now if you read Leons post you will have two ways to sponsor your wife

1.Outland
2.Inland

Please read the following if you didnt already:

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.

After that you should decide on which way to go , have you decided yet?

 

[tjetta]

Are you going to apply inland or outland? This is the first decision you have be make before you start printing and filling out forms.

Well from reading a few threads, I believe the best choice for me would be Inland, seeing that my spouse and I live together here, and we have no plans to travel abroad.

 

[tjetta]

@Material

Yes thank you, I have read this post and I see that it was very informative, and this is what lead me to print out the IMM 0008 form.
I did get a little lost on what form exactly, I should print out, and if there is just the one form and not more?
I wish they would have had a section you can go to were it states, Spousal Sponsorship all the forms you need and nothing more.....LoL

 

[Material]

Well from reading a few threads, I believe the best choice for me would be Inland, seeing that my spouse and I live together here, and we have no plans to travel abroad.

You do know that :

1.Inland applications are taking more that 18 months to process (Regular processing times ) and if an interview is required before recieving AIP to make sure the marriage is real you add another 12-24 months on it depends on the local CIC office near you.

2. Your wife cant work , study until she gets first stage approval which is usaully after 9 months (again only if you dont need an interview)

3.That you can apply outland while staying inland but if an interview is required your wife will have to travel to her home country.

4.Proceesing times at the Manila office (Philiipens) takes 9 months to complete the process.

 

[Material]

@ Material

Yes thank you, I have read this post and I see that it was very informative, and this is what lead me to print out the IMM 0008 form.
I did get a little lost on what form exactly, I should print out, and if there is just the one form and not more?
I wish they would have had a section you can go to were it states, Spousal Sponsorship all the forms you need and nothing more.....LoL

There is no need for confusion just relax and go through the process step by step my advice from personal experiance is to try and know all the details to the process as that will save you a lot of time and money

This is where you need to go if you stick with inland:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp