spouse immigration from within canada?

[blueblue]

I'm a Canadian Citizen, and my husband is an Australian citizen. We got married 2 years ago and I moved to Australia with my hubby. Earlier this year, we came to Canada for my husband to experience life here. He has a temporary work visa and has been working full time. We decided to stay here permanently, and I'll be applying to sponsor him. We were told he can extend his work visa, which shouldn't be a problem.

We have just completed our in-Canada application (but haven't submitted yet), but after doing some reading, I'm having second thoughts.

1. Is it better to apply for an out-of-Canada application? If so, how do we do that while living in Canada?

2. Other than the length it takes to process in-canada applications, is there any other drawback, given he can continue to work?

What's the better option for us?

Thanks so much!

 

[blueblue]

One more question:

Since we have been married and been living together for over 2 years, how much of evidence do we need to provide to prove our relationship is genuine?

We have attached:

1. Photographs of wedding
2. Photographs of various trips/outings together (alone and with friends/family.)
3. copy of marriage certificate (duh!)
4. joint car/rental lease papers, bank statements, bills, etc.

Do we need to provide any other evidence?

 

[Gdaymate]

Hi blueblue

If your husband is already here with you and can work then you should do an in-land application. It should be noted that although "technically" you can file an outside application while you are in Canada you should not lie about where your husband is living during the process as that can be seen as a reason to refuse your application and could result in him being banned from the country for a period.

The biggest issue for most people is being able to work in Canada and since your husband already has a permit there is no advantage to applying outside - and don't forget if an interview is required he would have to fly home for it and at the very least he will have to leave Canada to be able to come back and "land" at the end of the process.

You should know:

Outside application approximately 5-6 months via Sydney.
Inside application approximately 6 months to Approval in Principle (first stage). If hubby needs to he can submit an Open Work Permit (OWP) application at the same which would be granted at the same time as AIP. Once you have the AIP letter in hand he will also be able to start applying for health insurance here.

So you can see that although it will obviously take longer to get all the paper work finalised with an in-land application, it is virtually the same time frame as an outside application in terms of the important points.

As for your evidence that sounds good, I would only suggest to add some information about your stay in Oz (if you have immigration papers/work permits etc for that) as it shows you've already been moving around to be together.

Good luck - I'm going home to Oz for Christmas and to start the waiting period - I'll think of your hubby enjoying the cold here!