US outland applicants' thread :)

[surleplateau]

HELP....ANYONE FAMILIAR WITH QUEBEC APPLICATIONS??

So I just got married to my husband in Montreal.
I am now back in the US....and preparing my application for PR.

I have a couple questions....when should the CSQ be completed? Should it be handed in with the rest of the packet?
Is it better to do the medical exam prior to the application process?
How much proof do they need for our relationship?
We have cards, photos from the past year together, 20-30 pages of texting and conversations (we have over 1000 pages total)...
Anything else? Any help would be appreciated.
Oh and the FBI check was requested over a month ago.

Thanks! Shannon

CSQ is applied for *after* your sponsor receives Sponsor Approval (SA). SA arrives with instructions telling you now is the time to apply for CSQ. Just answer "No" to the relevant question and leave the date blank, CIC will know/understand. CSQ takes about a month to process (more or less, your mileage may vary).

The reason why there's a question on the Generic Form is because... it's a Generic Form for everyone. Sponsorship is different than applying directly for PR/CSQ (and you'll probably have to explain this to every other non-sponsored PR in Quebec, for them the CSQ is the *hard* part).

For a Sponsored Spouse/Partner, the CSQ is just a "formality" because the "hard" part is making sure you have enough valid Proof of Relationship to Sponsor.

**DO NOT send THOUSANDS of pages. They don't have time to scan and look through that.

**DO send a curated sample of your history together. I'm talking more like 20-50 pages. With all your other proof,

Print out and read the TWO CHECKLISTS carefully. It explains what they want in the "proof of relationship to sponsor."

If a question seems unclear to you, the quickest way to clear it up, in my experience, is to Google the key phrase +sponsorship (optional site:www.canadavisa.com), and filter search results for the past year.

Breath. The process is tedious, but doable.

 

[ChellyCat]

Comments for the OHIP waiting time.

I have been looking closely at this also. Below is the info from the official Ontario site. What I have found elsewhere is that you can make the application at any time during the waiting period. The “when” of an application does not make an actual difference, the counting starts at the start of establishing residency. So it is always better to take care of things sooner rather than later in case of glitches, but it does not need to be the first thing you do when you get to Ontario.

OHIP Coverage Waiting Period
Generally, there is a three-month waiting period for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage. It applies to most new residents and former residents returning to Ontario.
Is anyone exempt from the waiting period?
Yes; these include, but are not limited to:
• newborn babies born in Ontario;
• OHIP-eligible adopted children under the age of 16;
• protected persons (Convention Refugees and persons in need of protection); and
• people from another province/territory who move directly into a long-term care facility in Ontario, or who require admittance into a long-term care facility within 3 months of arrival in Ontario.

Thanks Dave.

 

[Majromax]

Question about the passport relinquishment. It says that a request will be made for the applicants passport my husband has only a card not a book will that be ok or does he have to get a book one? Wed rather not go thru the expense if we dont have to as his card is still good for 5 mlr years. Also once they ask for the passport how long doe it take to get it back? He visits most weekends

See Operational Bulletin 205-A. For applicants who are US citizens, CIC does not normally request the physical passport because it does not need to affix a single-entry visa for landing purposes. An applicant should be able to land with just the passport card.

 

[DanOCan]

So, the waiting process for me got a lot easier yesterday as my wife is now visiting me here in Canada until our application is complete.

With her apartment lease expiring at the end of October, we decided it was time to do the long-term visit routine. I drive down to see her last week and helped her pack up her place. We put her belongings into storage, except for a couple of suitcases and a few bags of loose items. We loaded everything into the car and drove back to Canada. We were a little nervous about crossing the border but figured as long as we were honest we wouldn't have any problems. The experience went very smoothly.

We pulled up to the window and handed over our passports. He asked us where we heading and where we had been. He asked us where we live and I told him my town in Canada and was very careful to mention my wife's town in the US. He then asked her what was bringing her to Canada and she told him she was going to be visiting (again, carefully worded!) me through the holiday season. He asked us some more standard questions (Firearms or weapons? Alcohol or tobacco? How long had I been in the US? What was the value of the goods I was declaring?) while very carefully peering into the windows of the car, I assume to see how much stuff we had with us. We had been very careful about what goods we packed in the car by asking ourselves "Is this something would bring with them on a vacation to Canada? Is this a reasonable amount of clothes for someone to have visiting Canada for at least three months in the winter?"

He then told my wife "It shows your last trip to Canada was in July. Did you fly on that trip?" She said she had. He then asked her how often she comes to visit me in Canada. She said she tries to come up two or three times a year.

At this point, I thought the conversation was going to take a bad turn because he says "Well, you know, once you establish some ties to Canada such as a marriage, they really expect you to have some sort of status in the country, especially if you plan on coming up on a regular basis." He asked us if we had any plans of applying for permanent residency and I eagerly mentioned we already have an application in the system, that we applied in April, and my sponsorship had already been approved and we're waiting for the final decision.

As soon as he heard we had an application in the system, he handed the passports back to us and said "Oh, if you're already that far along then I won't bother having you go in to talk to Immigration. Have a nice day." and he waved us through. As soon as we got to a safe place to pull the car over we stopped and started celebrating because this marked the official end to the "long distance" part of our relationship. It's taken more than three years but we finally made it this far!

It's going to be tough though. With her being unable to work we're going to have a hard time making ends meet, especially now that we have monthly storage fees to pay for while we wait to be able to ship her stuff up. It's also going to be very hard on her emotionally as she doesn't have her things so it really feels like she's living in "my" house instead of "our" house. And, now that I'm back to work she's alone in a new place without her support network of friends. We'll make it work though and hopefully soon we'll get her PR status so we can start getting down to a sense of normalcy.

 

[gooh]

Congratulations on your smooth crossing Dan! I'm possibly going to be doing the same thing this month.

My problem is I'm trying to decide which situation would be best for crossing. Obviously each time I imagine the PR app may come up and I will tell them each time about it. Already this far in I'd never risk our PR over an overstay.

1. Drive across the border with 3 family members + me. Tell the border guard I'm coming to get a CIC document squared (a notarized declaration), and in the meantime will be visiting my fiance over the holidays (say 2+months). And my family was there to visit him as well and see me off, which is true. It would explain the luggage a little more.

2. Have my fiance drive over the border to meet me and my family members so we can drive over together just us. I'll have some luggage in his car and the rest in my family's car with theirs. Same story above while in my fiance's car with him this time. Just say we're getting a CIC document for our PR and in the mean time I will visit him over the few months.

Do I need to bring much evidence for ties to the US?

Also I'm assuming once in Canada the applicant needs to submit a change of address to CIC, correct?

 

[Hnamson1]

oh my gosh, decision made!!!after 12 years from the first time I studied in Canada and met my husband. I am so emotional right nowhappy of course, and sad to leave my family.
7 months from the time they received my application. Best of luck to everyone, now fingers crossed on our landing.

 

[DanOCan]

Do I need to bring much evidence for ties to the US?

Also I'm assuming once in Canada the applicant needs to submit a change of address to CIC, correct?

The first question is tough to answer because so much depends on the border agent. Sure, everyone here says if you have an application in process that crossing over is pretty seamless, but there is always that chance that you get the guard having a bad day who just doesn't like you. We were really worried because if we had been turned back we didn't have much of a Plan B other than my wife would need to move into a friend's spare room and try to get some work through her previous employer.

And, yes, my first action this morning was to update our address with CIC so when the COPR comes it will come to us here in Canada. We forwarded her mail from her old address, but we're naturally concerned the COPR may be marked as "Do not forward" or the USPS might struggle with forwarding to Canada -- the postal agents we talked to didn't fill us with a ton of confidence on that front.

 

[missmegan]

Our COPR arrived at my US address today! My mom is overnighting it so we have it tomorrow, even though we can't head to the border until Friday probably. It was about 6 business days from DM to COPR which wasn't bad. Happy to finally be done with this process! I commented in the Ottawa forum a similar post and how I had a dream last night that we received our COPR and they put it in a frame for you if it's a yes, haha.

 

[gooh]

I think I'm worried, like most others, that I'll be denied at the border for whatever reason (officer not having a good day). But if I have actual Document Requested BUSINESS with CIC for my PR app (I need to go up there to have declaration of common-law notarized with my fiance), then they can't really refuse me can they?

And it would make sense that 7 months in I'd like to visit him for a bit.

 

[rugrat907]

I think I'm worried, like most others, that I'll be denied at the border for whatever reason (officer not having a good day). But if I have actual Document Requested BUSINESS with CIC for my PR app (I need to go up there to have declaration of common-law notarized with my fiance), then they can't really refuse me can they?

And it would make sense that 7 months in I'd like to visit him for a bit.

I think you'll be fine. Just drop the "see you off" part for the other family members - that sounds very much like you aren't returning. Might not even be a big deal given how far along you are in the process, but that statement might give a border agent cause to ask more questions.

 

[rugrat907]

oh my gosh, decision made!!!after 12 years from the first time I studied in Canada and met my husband. I am so emotional right nowhappy of course, and sad to leave my family.
7 months from the time they received my application. Best of luck to everyone, now fingers crossed on our landing.

Congratulations! I'm on pretty much the same timeline, in particular the day you went in process is the same as mine. So hopefully my decision made is right around the corner!

 

[Hnamson1]

Congratulations! I'm on pretty much the same timeline, in particular the day you went in process is the same as mine. So hopefully my decision made is right around the corner!

Sending good vibes your way!! I hope you get yours soon as well! We have 2 children so I am wondering if that made it faster. No idea, just thrilled!! Thank goodness because my husband was moving the 26th of November. Now we can go as a family!!

 

[gooh]

I think you'll be fine. Just drop the "see you off" part for the other family members - that sounds very much like you aren't returning. Might not even be a big deal given how far along you are in the process, but that statement might give a border agent cause to ask more questions.

Thanks rugrat. If I'm driving with my fiance I won't mention my family. If I am what would be best for us to say they're coming up for? Other than to drive me and see my fiance as well.

 

[rugrat907]

Thanks rugrat. If I'm driving with my fiance I won't mention my family. If I am what would be best for us to say they're coming up for? Other than to drive me and see my fiance as well.

Visiting your fiance is a good enough reason to visit. Nothing else needed...

 

[nmclean]

On the topic of choosing your words at the border: On two occasions my American wife was asked where she lives. Once she gave her state as the answer, and my province the other time. In both cases, the officer seemed unhappy with the answer and indicated that the opposite was what they wanted to hear. Instead of trying to carefully choose words to describe your trip, I would suggest it's best to simply say you are going through the immigration process or planning to. Whether you say you're moving or visiting etc., it can be misconstrued as deception either way. At the end of the day they are just concerned with whether you're circumventing the system, so if the first thing out of your mouth implies that you are aware of the system and are trying to follow it, I think you'll be better off.