Thread for Outland LONDON, UK Applications!

[warzo]

Is anyone on the thread living in Alberta and manages to get put on their partners health card whilst on a visitor visa?

andrew_brit

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Is anyone on the thread living in Alberta and manages to get put on their partners health card whilst on a visitor visa?

Alberta is the one province that does give coverage to visiting spouses.

 

[Brit-in-Alberta]

Do you know if that includes common law?

 

[cbellyoung]

Hi everyone.

My Canadian wife got SA on April 30th and my application was sent to Ottawa for processing. We were advised by CIC that it would take up to 16 months but "could be sooner".

Anyone got any experience or knowledge of average/actual processing times for immigration forms at Ottawa? I've heard it can be as short as 6 months?

 

[warzo]

Hi everyone.

My Canadian wife got SA on April 30th and my application was sent to Ottawa for processing. We were advised by CIC that it would take up to 16 months but "could be sooner".

Anyone got any experience or knowledge of average/actual processing times for immigration forms at Ottawa? I've heard it can be as short as 6 months?

You can check out the spreadsheets for Ottawa in the Ottawa Thread/London Thread to see where they are at right now. I believe they are working on applications received October/November of 2014. So the wait is between 6-8 months currently. Not sure what future changes would impact the processing times.

 

[ghunter]

Do you know if that includes common law?

To qualify for common law in Alberta is3 years of living together, so if you meet those requirements, yes. If you have lived together under 3 years, it's unlikely they will cover you (from my experience).

 

[Brit-in-Alberta]

To qualify for common law in Alberta is3 years of living together, so if you meet those requirements, yes. If you have lived together under 3 years, it's unlikely they will cover you (from my experience).

Thank you. The possibility of living without health coverage up to a year or just over is un nerving.

For those who are currently on visitor status, what kind of coverage do you have? Travel insurance?

I need to make a decision on the Outland vs Inland today incase I need to do new forms. It's a big decision. I'm very sorry for asking so many questions.

 

[kettle]

Thank you. The possibility of living without health coverage up to a year or just over is un nerving.

For those who are currently on visitor status, what kind of coverage do you have? Travel insurance?

I need to make a decision on the Outland vs Inland today incase I need to do new forms. It's a big decision. I'm very sorry for asking so many questions.

I would strongly encourage you to apply outland if you don't need the income from a job while you wait. My partner and I got very lucky and our application went to Mississauga instead of London and was complete in five ish months. That was including some delays due to our hired consultants errors and omissions. That being said, if you apply outland you still should mentally prepare yourself for the worst, 28 months of waiting without income. It *shouldnt* take that long, and there is no reason to believe it will except that there are members who have been waiting over a year and are getting no clear answers from CIC London, or their MPS.


on to the health coverage stuff:

My partner always had status in Canada as a TFW, until it ran out last October. We applied for residency in December and he went back to the UK in January, and came back at the end of March. He had coverage through my employer even when he was out of status. He still had a healthcare number as I believe it was active even though he wasn't employed in the province. If he had not had coverage I would have called Alberta Blue Cross and tried to get coverage that way (I actually phoned them today to see if they would cover a visitor to Canada, they dont)

Canadian Blue Cross supposedly will. It may be worth calling them to be sure. Alberta Blue Cross requires an Alberta Health Care number, so long as you have one of those, you *might/should* be able to get ABC coverage.

 

[Brit-in-Alberta]

That being said, if you apply outland you still should mentally prepare yourself for the worst, 28 months of waiting without income. It *shouldnt* take that long, and there is no reason to believe it will except that there are members who have been waiting over a year and are getting no clear answers from CIC London, or their MPS.

Thank you for your advise. It's the comments that other applicants are getting from their MPs that are worrying me so much. I can't imagine getting to a year and then being told that it could be over one more year.. then I really would be kicking myself for doing outland.

I have a feeling that applications are no longer being held in Mississauga. I am on a few facebook groups as well as this forum and so far all of the most recent SA's have gone to London. I am not holding out any hope that my application stays inside Canada if I apply outland. The positive to this is that perhaps it means that London no longer needs help and are clearing their backlog.... but it could also just mean that Mississauga no longer has the staff to help out or they have other application commitments.

 

[princesstigger]

Thank you. The possibility of living without health coverage up to a year or just over is un nerving.

For those who are currently on visitor status, what kind of coverage do you have? Travel insurance?

I need to make a decision on the Outland vs Inland today incase I need to do new forms. It's a big decision. I'm very sorry for asking so many questions.

I would again second the decision to go Outland. Remember, the work permit for inland is only a pilot project, so there is no guarantee that will continue!

The choice of my husband not being able to leave Canada would be a bigger burden on us. If any thing ever happened to his dad and he couldn't leave would be awful. It really could happen . Both my parents were alive when i started this process and within this year both have passed.

I haven't seen any going to Mississauga so i'm thinking they have cleared the back log in London. As for us venting its because we were under the impression that it would take 6-8 months which it was when we applied. If i had thought it would take 11 months from SA i would have been prepared a bit better emotionally .

You really have to be comfortable with your decision and i would still recommend Outland.We are not a young couple so i find making choices to give up our homes in the UK or Canada and our careers with out solid commitment from CIc we just can't do it.So we just have to wait.

What Taffy7 said +1...... we are all feeling this way as when we applied we were hoping for the average of 6-8 months, now having had 11 months come and go (which was my worst case scenario) is pretty soul destroying when you weren't prepared for it.

I have been in Canada for a total of just over 2 years as a visitor. I'm not going to lie, it is very hard and a huge strain on a relationship. I try to look at the positive, if we can get through this, we can get through anything! This forum has been a lifeline! I had no health cover for a year and a half... a huge worry as I have a diagnosed heart condition, but it's what I got myself into to be with the man I love. I had cover with a company called TIC, visitor to Canada cover.

I am on a couple of forums and after seeing other provinces provided coverage as a dependent to your spouse (we are common-law) when you have a PR application in place, I decided to try my luck and apply (Saskatchewan) to my great surprise despite their health website indicting the opposite I am now covered!!!!!

Here is the link to Alberta health care http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/temporary-residents.html I know of someone else that qualified for it, as common-law once they had sponsor approval. All you can do is ask!

 

[Brit-in-Alberta]

I would again second the decision to go Outland. Remember, the work permit for inland is only a pilot project, so there is no guarantee that will continue!

What Taffy7 said +1...... we are all feeling this way as when we applied we were hoping for the average of 6-8 months, now having had 11 months come and go (which was my worst case scenario) is pretty soul destroying when you weren't prepared for it.

I have been in Canada for a total of just over 2 years as a visitor. I'm not going to lie, it is very hard and a huge strain on a relationship. I try to look at the positive, if we can get through this, we can get through anything! This forum has been a lifeline! I had no health cover for a year and a half... a huge worry as I have a diagnosed heart condition, but it's what I got myself into to be with the man I love. I had cover with a company called TIC, visitor to Canada cover.

I am on a couple of forums and after seeing other provinces provided coverage as a dependent to your spouse (we are common-law) when you have a PR application in place, I decided to try my luck and apply (Saskatchewan) to my great surprise despite their health website indicting the opposite I am now covered!!!!!

Here is the link to Alberta health care http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/temporary-residents.html I know of someone else that qualified for it, as common-law once they had sponsor approval. All you can do is ask!

Thank you! I think I have made the decision to remain outland. I haven't seen my family in 2 years and my mother isn't in the best of health.. I would hate to have to make the decision to remain here if something was to happen or risk loosing the application. I know not working for a year or more will be stressful. Not being able to just buy something I want when I want it etc. I have always worked so Its going to be very weird. My partner is the kind of guy that can handle these things as long as I'm not moping around and talking about how much it sucks all day long... so I am going to have to be optimistic and be as happy as possible. The lack of health coverage worries me the most. Even silly things like riding my bicycle on the road or driving around town is going to make me nervous of the 'what if I get in an accident' These are two things that will keep me sane during the waiting time so being worried to do them is going to be annoying. Hopefully Alberta Health give me coverage although my research shows that they favor spouses over common law.


That's it decision made. I really don't want to re do all the forms etc I've had enough lol

 

[princesstigger]

Thank you! I think I have made the decision to remain outland. I haven't seen my family in 2 years and my mother isn't in the best of health.. I would hate to have to make the decision to remain here if something was to happen or risk loosing the application. I know not working for a year or more will be stressful. Not being able to just buy something I want when I want it etc. I have always worked so Its going to be very weird. My partner is the kind of guy that can handle these things as long as I'm not moping around and talking about how much it sucks all day long... so I am going to have to be optimistic and be as happy as possible. The lack of health coverage worries me the most. Even silly things like riding my bicycle on the road or driving around town is going to make me nervous of the 'what if I get in an accident' These are two things that will keep me sane during the waiting time so being worried to do them is going to be annoying. Hopefully Alberta Health give me coverage although my research shows that they favor spouses over common law.


That's it decision made. I really don't want to re do all the forms etc I've had enough lol

You can get cover even if the Alberta cover doesn't kick in... here is what I had https://www.travelinsurance.ca/en/public/Our-Products/Plans-For-Visitors-To-Canada/Pages/Visitors-to-Canada.aspx it was around $120 per month for the cover I had, with a $100,000 coverage and $0 deductible. It sucks when you have no money coming in, but worth it for peace of mind!

 

[Brit-in-Alberta]

You can get cover even if the Alberta cover doesn't kick in... here is what I had https://www.travelinsurance.ca/en/public/Our-Products/Plans-For-Visitors-To-Canada/Pages/Visitors-to-Canada.aspx it was around $120 per month for the cover I had, with a $100,000 coverage and $0 deductible. It sucks when you have no money coming in, but worth it for peace of mind!

Thank you! If you don't mind me asking, how do you cope with not being able to work? How do you keep yourself sane/happy?

 

[princesstigger]

Thank you! If you don't mind me asking, how do you cope with not being able to work? How do you keep yourself sane/happy?

I'll pm you ;-)

 

[Brit-in-Alberta]

I'll pm you ;-)

Thank you Princesstigger! =)

I have one more question - We are moving on July 1st. Do I leave our current address on our forms as this is where we are residing currently or can I put the new address on them ? Would this be allowed? How easy is it to change address if we have to put the old one?

We have paid for post forwarding but I would prefer for the SA not to go to the old address just incase Canada post miss it.