TRV for Spouse from Ukraine (with possible dual intent: Inland PR)

[Will Dixon]

I'm helping my friend Brian and his wife Anna, as well as their 3-year old daughter Masha. Brian is about to apply for a TRV for both of them.
Brian is a Canadian citizen (born and raised in Canada by citizen parents) who married Anna about six years ago, and he has been living with Anna in the Ukraine for the last six years. He is an editor and she is an English teacher. They both work online. Anna is a Ukrainian citizen. Their daughter Masha is a Ukrainian citizen as well, with a Ukrainian passport and travel papers. Brian has never applied for or renounced Canadian citizenship for his daughter Masha. Before they were married, Anna visited Canada with Brian on a TRV just over six years ago, and returned home with him on time. She has no other international travel history.
Brian and Anna want to go to Canada in June and possibly (likely) apply for Permanent Residence under the Inland application option, including asking for the OWP.
Unfortunately (possibly), Brian made a call to the CIC call center a year ago and was told the easiest way would be to just go to Canada together with a TRV and then apply Inland. However, the call center agent may have been a bit blithe in ignoring the difficulty of getting a TRV for Anna now that they are (a) married and (b) declaring the possibility of dual intent with respect to possibly applying for PR. As a result, Brian has made his plans based on how easy it was to get Anna a TRV last time. They have sold their main home in Ukraine and bought one-way plane tickets for June. They have purchased a home in Canada, as well.
Brian isn't much of a forum guy, so I've done some legwork for him. The immediate result of browsing the Canadavisa.com forums was to almost panic--just getting a TRV now that they are married seemed a lot less automatic than the CIC agent or Brian anticipated. Then add in the fact that they are declaring the possibility of dual intent (to both the Visa Officer and and Border Guards who ask), only have one-way tickets, are bringing a cat and winter coats in June, etc. They intend to be 100% honest. They will say they are going to Canada to try it out for a bit, and if it feels good, they will apply for a PR inland and stay. If they don't like it, or the PR is rejected, they will leave. That is why they currently only have one-way tickets and are bringing everything they need to stay longer term. They do have partial ownership of another home in Ukraine (they sold their main residence), and so they would have no problem returning. Their not-angle, angle in explaining all this is that they can completely prove their capacity to stay temporarily or longer-term in Canada, or to return to Ukraine at any time should that be required. The focus is on their capacity to follow the law--whatever it says. And their general lawfulness. They are not the type to break the law and overstay.
Right now, Brian intends to apply online for a TRV for his wife Anna and their daughter Masha. He's not getting any help or using any consultants, lawyers, or representatives.

So questions:

(1) If Brian and Anna did not mention dual intent at all when requesting the TRV, how would you have rated their chances? One of the more unique elements to their situation in this case is that Brian doesn't live in Canada nor work there. And Anna could prove a lot of binding ties to Ukraine (a son, age 18) still there, family and parents, property. Their jobs, being online, are a bit of a wash. I think that for the last TRV, the fact that Brian didn't live in Canada may have helped as there were few ties to Canada. However, they are now married and I'm aware that often makes getting TRVs harder.

(2) What impact could announcing even the possibility of applying for a PR have on their chance of getting a TRV for Anna and Masha? The last time Anna got a TRV, they interviewed her and the questions were pretty thorough. Brian hates to lie--even by omission--and wants to be upfront. However, in theory they could make this just a visit with family and friends. Get return tickets. Not bring their winter stuff or cat. And say that their small and cheap home in the Maritimes is just a summer place that was purchased jointly with friends. Would this greatly increase their chances of getting the TRV? How much lying and evading of questions would this require?
I'm aware that even bringing up dual intent changes a bit of the logic on her TRV application. She could no longer suggest binding ties to Ukraine that would force her return because she is obviously prepared to consider not returning for several years (time required to process Inland PR). Nevertheless, they could show their capacity to return and easily resume life in Ukraine.

(3) Ukraine kinda, sorta doesn't allow dual citizenship. Ukraine being Ukraine, it's all rather murky. Brian and Anna have applied for and received a Ukrainian passport for their daughter Masha, who is a Ukrainian citizen (age 3). However, I've heard that because she is technically entitled to Canadian citizenship (which has not been applied for or renounced), she might have trouble getting a TRV--even if dual citizenship is not allowed in Ukraine. She may need to ask for a F1 Facilitation visa/stamp in her Ukrainian passport instead. Does anyone have a comment or advice here?

(4) Chances of being turned away at the border: If they are honest about their (possible) dual intent, and somehow get the TRV, what are the chances of airport border guards still causing problems if the possibility of dual intent comes up based on questions, and they are traveling with one-way tickets, a pet, winter gear in summer, have a home in Canada now, etc.

(5) Even if he isn't living in Canada, can Brian provide the letter of invitation? Would it be better coming from the friend they will be staying with when they initially arrive in Toronto?

I know this has been a rather long post. Apologies for that. If you have gotten this far, thank you very much. Any comments on any of the questions, or anything else in the post, are deeply appreciated.

 

[Owl29]

But why not to apply Outland? It is much easier and quicker and they can start doing that right away.
Just Brian needs to show his intents to return to Canada, but as they have a house there it won't be an issue to prove that they want to return.
Most outland cases takes around 8 months and with inland they will be stuck for years.
Giving there long relationship I don't think to get PR will be hard. I think if they will apply now it will be faster than coming to Canada and waiting for OWP.

 

[Will Dixon]

The CIC call center worker gave them bad information. They should definitely have applied Outland before. But at this point, they just want to go.
My understanding was that IF you can get into Canada, it's pretty easy to then get the OWP or extend the visa long enough that you can stay until the PR is approved. Brian and Anna have a pretty slam dunk case for the PR. It's just getting in that seems a problem. At this point they don't mind waiting longer to get the PR Inland if they can stay in Canada the whole time.
If you get a 3-month or whatnot TRV, and then apply for a Spousal PR Inland within a week or two, isn't it pretty easy to stay in Canada until the PR is approved or rejected, either through a TRV extension, an OWP, or whatnot?
Is there a chance that Anna could get her TRV, and ultimately be approved for a PR (Inland) but have to go back at the end of her TRV because she can't get it extended or get a provisional OWP or whatever lets her stay in Canada until the PR is approved/rejected?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

(1) If Brian and Anna did not mention dual intent at all when requesting the TRV, how would you have rated their chances?

(2) What impact could announcing even the possibility of applying for a PR have on their chance of getting a TRV for Anna and Masha? How much lying and evading of questions would this require?
I'm aware that even bringing up dual intent changes a bit of the logic on her TRV application.

(3) However, I've heard that because she is technically entitled to Canadian citizenship (which has not been applied for or renounced), she might have trouble getting a TRV--even if dual citizenship is not allowed in Ukraine. She may need to ask for a F1 Facilitation visa/stamp in her Ukrainian passport instead. Does anyone have a comment or advice here?

(4) Chances of being turned away at the border

(5) Even if he isn't living in Canada, can Brian provide the letter of invitation? Would it be better coming from the friend they will be staying with when they initially arrive in Toronto?

1 and 2. Chances of a TRV are going to be even lower than they already are if they mention wanting to apply for PR. It would be better to act as if this is just a visit. Don't bring the cat and all of the stuff. Visitors don't do that.

3. They need to understand that their child IS A CANADIAN CITIZEN. There is no "entitled to" or anything like that. The child is Canadian, even if they don't have proof. Therefore, she DOES NOT qualify for a TRV; any such application would be refused. As they didn't apply for the child's Certificate of Citizenship and a Canadian passport, a Facilitation visa is their only option. This is quite a rare process, so I'm not even sure what the processing time would be

Regardless of the Ukrainian rules, and no offense to your friends, but it wasn't very smart of them to not have obtained the child's Canadian documents. Without them, they may face issues in Canada, such as obtaining provincial healthcare for the child, as many provinces require proof of citizenship, PR status or a work/study permit.

4. If they show up with a pet and all of their stuff, there is definitely the possibility of her being refused entry. They should carry only what normal visitors carry.

5. The letter of invitation needs to come from someone in Canada.

 

[canadianwoman]

Because she got a TRV before, her chances are better than the average applicant.
However, to get a TRV the applicant has to show ties to Ukraine, such as a house, a lease or mortgage, a job, money in the bank and investments, family, a child left behind, etc. Her husband living in Ukraine is also good proof - he could show proof he will be going back as well.
She should not try to enter Canada with too many belongings. She has to look like a temporary visitor. In particular, do not bring the cat. In addition, she needs a return ticket. One-way will arouse the suspicions of the border agents, and in addition, many airlines will not let a non-Canadian board a plane to Canada on a one-way ticket (unless the person has a PR visa or other long-term visa).
I also suggest she apply outland. Inland, even if she gets a TRV to get in, takes a long time. She would be advised to not leave Canada during the two years of processing. If she left for any reason - such as a death in the family, some problem with her son, whatever - and she was not let back in, the inland application is over. Since she needs a TRV to enter Canada, the likelihood is that she would not get another one and would not be allowed back in.

 

[Will Dixon]

Thanks for the tips so far. I didn't know that airlines sometimes have one-way ticket rules. I'll look into that.

My friends will definitely apply Outland if their TRV is rejected. And maybe try to tone down their border presence if they do get the TRV. It's really hard to judge what their chances are, but the forum is informative.