US citizen marrying Canadian in April, moving in June--a few questions

[sbwv09]

This forum is a great place! I have had many of my questions answered already by the helpful posts, and I'm hoping to get a couple of more answers.

My fiance and I have moved our wedding up to early April in order to get my PR before the end of the year (hopefully!) so I won't be out of work for so long. I'm a teacher and I'll get paid through September, although I only work until June. I have applied to Canadian schools so I may be able to get a work visa that way, but I'm not counting on it.

Question 1: My lease and job are both over in June, and I planned on moving to Canada with my fiance at the end of the month. By this time, I had planned to have my outland application submitted (I plan on doing so as soon as the wedding is over in April). Will the border crossing people harass me about moving to Canada? I had planned on bringing all of my belongings and getting the move done then (UHAUL and all), but if I find out that they will hassle me about it, I'll just bring a few things and bring the rest once my paperwork is through. Since I plan on submitting my paperwork in April, I'm hoping it will be completed by October/November, which is well within the 6 months that I am permitted to stay in Canada... and I will be leaving Canada from time to time to visit family anyway (unless this complicates my paperwork).

Question 2: According to the website, I have to wait several weeks to get an 'offical' marriage licence after we are married (in Ontario-T.O. City Hall). Is that the paper that I have to send with my visa, or will I recieve something on the day of my marriage that I can include in the paperwork? I want to get it sent off as soon as possible! Everything else will be ready to go by then.

I appreciate your help!

 

[tamee]

i dont know all the technicals, but you will not be able to move with a uhaul to canada before your PR is completed. they will turn you around at the border and refuse you entry and then you will not be able to even come to visit. i put my stuff in storage until i was approved and ready to land in canada. also yes you will have to wait for the official marraige cert. to send in with your papers, also FBI, and local background checks, medicals, etc etc. it will take several months after your wedding in april before you can even send your application in. you also might want to check on doctors for your medicals, some have a long waiting list, depending on where you get them done, in the states or in canada. also the medicals are only good for 1 year, so you dont want to get them done too early or they could expire depending on how long your application process takes. I hate to sound like a downer, but a two month time span just isnt realistic, there is alot to the application itself.

 

[sbwv09]

Hi Tamee, I read your reply to a similar post and saw that you brought some things with you and were able to stay in Canada until all the paperwork is finished. Was that the case or not? I don't have to bring my furnature with me (may just sell it), but there shouldn't be a problem if I try to cross over with a few suitcases in the car, right? I've gotten all the other paperwork in the works (medical is scheduled next week, FBI papers already requested), so the only thing I will be waiting on in April is the marriage license, so I should be able to send everything in before the end of May, if the current timeline for marriage licenses is correct.

The end of June is when I need to leave because my job and lease on my place is finished then, so I won't have anywhere else to stay

 

[Asta]

well better know the truth than regret later..

marriage certificate in Canada takes about 6 weeks to arrive to ur home. thats how long we waited. on the day of marriage u get a paper that u married, but its not original, and u need to send copy of original with ur application.

about usa boarder. i had such experience. i married canadian, and we were trying to visit Buffalo for one day, but they didnt let me into USA, because i got married and we had not sent application yet. but if we had sent application by then i couldnt leave Canda anyway, so its a no for me.

on the other hand. i came to Canada as tourist, and stayed with my fiance. and then got married in a month in Canada. thats what u can do. just that u cant bring all ur belongings. only as much as tourist can have. u can try this way.

i think FBI is valid only for 6 months? i advise u not to hurry with police clearances. until u havent got married and certificate on the way.

 

[sbwv09]

Thanks, Asta! That's why we moved the wedding up, so that we can at least have the paperwork submitted before I went up there. That's how I'll do it then, go up there for 'visits' and bring or send for the rest of my stuff later. 6 weeks isn't so bad of a wait for the marriage license!

I had heard that the FBI certificate can take quite awhile (8-12 weeks?), so that's why I sent for it (but I did just send it off 2 days ago).

 

[tamee]

paperwork was sent in, my husband had been approved to sponsor, we received the letter saying he was approved, our application had already been sent in and was in buffalo when i came to canada, i only brought clothes, a tv and a few of the kids toys. like i said in the other post, each experience is different, it depends on the border agent you get and the mood they are in. there is no protocol for this, it is at their discretion wether they let you in or not, but if you show up in a uhaul, i guarentee you will be turned away and red flagged. we had a nice person, my husband showed them the approval letter and told them our plans and we asked them to stamp our passports in case i needed an extension. we married July 2007,we sent in the PR application October 31 2007, came to canada March 2008, got PR approved and landed in april 2008.

 

[sbwv09]

Hi, like I said, I'll just leave the furnature behind or get rid of it.. I don't have much anyway Our paperwork will be submitted by the time I cross as well, so I don't anticipate any problems if I don't bring a large amount of things. Got it! Thanks.

 

[tamee]

congrats on ur wedding and ur PR adventure, good luck, im sure you will sail thru smoothly ;D

 

[sbwv09]

Thanks! It's good to know I'm not alone... This is the 7th year I've been with my fiance.. we've been through a lot together, and we'll get over this last hurdle. I'm just very thankful that there's no major issue (at least at this point!!!) that seems to be in the way of everything going smoothly.. just have to make sure to get everything together and submitted, and play the waiting game For awhile I was worried about the salary requirements (he would probably be ok, but it would be close) but then I read that it doesn't apply for spousal sponsorship How long was it after you submitted the papers before he got the letter that he could sponsor?