Travelling during inland spousal sponsorship

[amn10]

Just wanting to clarify - I (canadian citizen) am sponsoring my spouse (from the UK) for permanent residency under the in-canada option. I understand he is not able to leave the country while his application is being processed, but am I also not allowed to leave at all?
I had a trip to London (by myself) booked before we decided to go ahead with the in-canada option (we were originally planning to do the out of canada option, plans changed). Additionally I had plans to go do a quick day trip/or overnight trip to Seattle (I live in Vancouver) at some point over the next few months to shop for wedding dresses.

Will I be unable to do these things once our application is submitted as the sponsor? If that is the case, can someone explain why? Just curious!

 

[Ponga]

You are not required to stay in Canada every single day from now until your spouse receives his PR.


An Inland applicant, is cautioned not to leave Canada. It's not that they can't leave...it's that if the choose to leave and are refused re-entry into Canada, their application is jeopardized.


While it is a requirement for both sponsor and applicant to `remain living together' in Canada, the sponsor can certainly take an overnight trip to go shopping!
(You could probably even take a week or two, if you need time to find that perfect dress).

Too bad you didn't choose the Outland option, since it's sooooo much quicker. Was it because you didn't know that an Outland application can be submitted even if the applicant is IN Canada?

 

[amn10]

Thanks for your response!! I understood the situation with the inland applicant not leaving Canada due to the risk of being refused re-entry. I was just wondering more so about myself as the sponsor since I already have flights to London booked for a holiday to visit friends over there - just not sure if I need to cancel them? It was only for about 12 days in March 2017.

We were going to do the outland option as I said, but our consultant informed us that recently the processing times have sped up a lot for the inland application and are around 10-12 months (despite what the CIC website says). He is unable to live/work here on any other type of visa and I am unable to live in the UK and wait for his PR to be processed due to job commitments here, so we would've had a lot of time apart which was not ideal. Also with him coming here and having the option to get a temporary work permit while he's waiting for PR to be processed it allows us to get on with our life here!

 

[mikeymyke]

Even if the inland applications are now 10-12 months, it's still way longer than had you gone with outland.

 

[amn10]

Your response was pretty unhelpful to my initial question - especially since it's a decision that's already been made based on what is best for us and our situation, and is not something I can now change.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Thanks for your response!! I understood the situation with the inland applicant not leaving Canada due to the risk of being refused re-entry. I was just wondering more so about myself as the sponsor since I already have flights to London booked for a holiday to visit friends over there - just not sure if I need to cancel them? It was only for about 12 days in March 2017.

as a canadian citizen, you are free to travel. as the sponsor, there is no risk to you being denied entry back into canada, and the application will not be at risk if you take a vacation outside of canada.

 

[methyl]

Something you can change - consider firing your consultant. CIC is working on June 2015 inland applications at this point. Keep in mind also that there's no guarantee that the pilot program for open job permit will be renewed for 2017.

 

[profiler]

Something you can change - consider firing your consultant. CIC is working on June 2015 inland applications at this point. Keep in mind also that there's no guarantee that the pilot program for open job permit will be renewed for 2017.

2016's too.

The CIC is not using a typical queue. A typical queue is a first-in-first-out (FIFO) -- like a bank. Consider going to the bank, and the teller tells you to go wait in the corner for 30 minutes and come back. Would they stop processing customers from the FIFO? Not a chance. They would have to close their doors in short order for poor customer service. Now, consider that 30 minute time in the corner equates to a medical. Would you want to wait in the queue for that person getting the medical? Once you complete the task, like medical, you go back into the queue waiting for attention. Also adding entropy -- like shuffling a deck of cards. Only the group #'s would line up. Basically like having a special teller.

With that said, they are not at all relying on submission dates. Only for complaint or SLA management.

 

[Rob_TO]

as a canadian citizen, you are free to travel. as the sponsor, there is no risk to you being denied entry back into canada, and the application will not be at risk if you take a vacation outside of canada.

Actually a requirement of inland app is that applicant and sponsor live together in Canada during entire processing time. So a very long trip by the sponsor outside Canada could negatively affect the app.

However just a 12 day trip will not be an issue at all.

 

[Bcboundboy]

Your response was pretty unhelpful to my initial question - especially since it's a decision that's already been made based on what is best for us and our situation, and is not something I can now change.

Your initial question used the future tense ("Will I be able to ... once the application is submitted"). The helpful response was trying to get you to change from one course of action (inland) to a better one (outland), which will almost certainly result in achieving your desired aim (spousal PR) quicker, while there's still time.

 

[km9203]

Thanks for your response!! I understood the situation with the inland applicant not leaving Canada due to the risk of being refused re-entry. I was just wondering more so about myself as the sponsor since I already have flights to London booked for a holiday to visit friends over there - just not sure if I need to cancel them? It was only for about 12 days in March 2017.

We were going to do the outland option as I said, but our consultant informed us that recently the processing times have sped up a lot for the inland application and are around 10-12 months (despite what the CIC website says). He is unable to live/work here on any other type of visa and I am unable to live in the UK and wait for his PR to be processed due to job commitments here, so we would've had a lot of time apart which was not ideal. Also with him coming here and having the option to get a temporary work permit while he's waiting for PR to be processed it allows us to get on with our life here!

He could have applied Outland while in Canada..you wouldn't have had to have spent any time apart. He could have come over as a visitor and then you would have sent your outland application . He wouldn't have received a work permit but he would've got PR possibly a lot faster than applying through inland. Plus, he would have been able to travel with outland. It sounds like your consultant gave you wrong information.

 

[amn10]

I don't think my consultant gave us the wrong information, as I already knew most of what people above have mentioned and the information that was provided to us was not a suggestion to choose one option over the other but basically just the facts regarding either option. I did know he could do the outland application from within Canada but it seemed as if it would be really difficult without him working and no source of income for the duration of the time the application would be processing..

I really was just wondering if I'd be able to travel outside of Canada for a short period of time! Now i'm feeling slightly panicked about this whole thing!

 

[profiler]

I wouldn't panic about it.

Outland and Inland both have advantages and disadvantages. The choice will lie solely on what you and your partner have for goals and tolerances. No one here can tell you it was a right or wrong choice for your family.

We personally chose inland. We filed and forgot about it. My wife has her OWP and a full time job. We live our routine and don't even talk about CIC. It's not important to us, unless they request something. Does she need to leave, not really. She wants to head home to see friends and family, but that can wait until they are done their process. Can I leave to go to Buffalo or something? Sure, why not. It won't be for a long duration of time.

No use to panic. There are bigger things in life to panic about .

 

[methyl]

I don't think my consultant gave us the wrong information, as I already knew most of what people above have mentioned and the information that was provided to us was not a suggestion to choose one option over the other but basically just the facts regarding either option. I did know he could do the outland application from within Canada but it seemed as if it would be really difficult without him working and no source of income for the duration of the time the application would be processing..

I really was just wondering if I'd be able to travel outside of Canada for a short period of time! Now i'm feeling slightly panicked about this whole thing!

Just keep in mind that there might not be a work permit program by the time your application is being processed. It's a pilot program only.

 

[profiler]

It's a pilot program only.

It has been renewed twice, and according to independent auditors (paid for by CIC), the inland + OWP program has been wildly successful (despite the wait times), and they have deemed there a need to maintain it. The only real program the CIC has that got horrible marks from the auditors was PGP.