US outland applicants' thread :)

[cgagnon]

Congratulations, cgagnon!

Does anyone know if I can order gmcs notes even though I'm already landed? Just out of curiosity.

Thank you!!

 

[santoki]

It's official are lawyers received our COPR!! Thank you to everyone for your support!! We will be landing shortly!

Amazing! Congrats!

 

[cgagnon]

Amazing! Congrats!

Thanks!!

 

[lleahdoll]

Another user suggested I come to this thread to get some more knowledgeable answers and users with experience.
I posted in the General Immigration section if you want to go read my thread there first.

If you don't want to read that whole conversation I linked to, here are the basics:

I want to eventually become a permanent resident in Quebec, Canada. I thought the easiest way besides getting married would be through the common-law visa. Since I am a student and have no job here, I can not apply for a work or student visa in Canada. So, it looks like me visiting for 6 months and if I get an extended stay approved should suffice for proof of my boyfriend and I living together, so I can get the common-law visa.

The most immediate thing I am concerned about is what I tell the immigration officers when I go through immigration flying to Canada.
Should I tell the absolute truth and say I am going to visit my boyfriend for a few months? Since you're allowed to visit on just a passport alone for 6 months.
Do I absolutely need a return flight booked already to "prove" I am going back to my home country?

Any help is greeeeeatly appreciated!

 

[Creampop]

Congrats cgagnon! I did the double happy dance for you and threw out my hip HAHA (that happens to old people) gives me hope, be 4 week tomorrow... errr it's after midnight so today!

 

[cgagnon]

Congrats cgagnon! I did the double happy dance for you and threw out my hip HAHA (that happens to old people) gives me hope, be 4 week tomorrow... errr it's after midnight so today!

It's on it's way don't worry!! ( I threw out my back and my hip it has nothing to do with age you should get it shortly!!!

 

[Creampop]

with my luck it will get lost in the mail

 

[amikety]

Another user suggested I come to this thread to get some more knowledgeable answers and users with experience.
I posted in the General Immigration section if you want to go read my thread there first.

If you don't want to read that whole conversation I linked to, here are the basics:

I want to eventually become a permanent resident in Quebec, Canada. I thought the easiest way besides getting married would be through the common-law visa. Since I am a student and have no job here, I can not apply for a work or student visa in Canada. So, it looks like me visiting for 6 months and if I get an extended stay approved should suffice for proof of my boyfriend and I living together, so I can get the common-law visa.

The most immediate thing I am concerned about is what I tell the immigration officers when I go through immigration flying to Canada.
Should I tell the absolute truth and say I am going to visit my boyfriend for a few months? Since you're allowed to visit on just a passport alone for 6 months.
Do I absolutely need a return flight booked already to "prove" I am going back to my home country?

Any help is greeeeeatly appreciated!

You will definitely need a return ticket. The airline shouldn't let you board the plane without one. You can get a refundable ticket if you're unsure when you'll actually return OR try to buy a super cheap ticket from a site like Priceline, so if you miss the flight, it won't be such a hit.

 

[aerogurl87]

Another user suggested I come to this thread to get some more knowledgeable answers and users with experience.
I posted in the General Immigration section if you want to go read my thread there first.

If you don't want to read that whole conversation I linked to, here are the basics:

I want to eventually become a permanent resident in Quebec, Canada. I thought the easiest way besides getting married would be through the common-law visa. Since I am a student and have no job here, I can not apply for a work or student visa in Canada. So, it looks like me visiting for 6 months and if I get an extended stay approved should suffice for proof of my boyfriend and I living together, so I can get the common-law visa.

The most immediate thing I am concerned about is what I tell the immigration officers when I go through immigration flying to Canada.
Should I tell the absolute truth and say I am going to visit my boyfriend for a few months? Since you're allowed to visit on just a passport alone for 6 months.
Do I absolutely need a return flight booked already to "prove" I am going back to my home country?

Any help is greeeeeatly appreciated!

Be honest and don't lie. You don't necessarily need a return ticket, althought it might not hurt to have one. I have barely any physical/monetary ties to the US. But I have went back every single year ever since my boyfriend and I started dating. Even when I was working, I went back to the States for 2 weeks to visit my family and friends down there. I think if you have a good track record as proof that you won't try to overstay and always leave when asked to do so, that will help you alot. But most of all be honest with them. And bring proof that you have paid for and submitted your application already and how you plan to take care of yourself while you're in Canada. Whether that's having your spouse pay your way or via savings you have, bring some proof with you. Also if you can bring your spouse along with you. If they can see them in person, then the immigration officer usually will be more lenient I've found.

P.S. For what it's worth, I came back to Canada with no record of a job, $50 in my Canadian bank account, $10 on my person, and with no return ticket. My boyfriend and I went to the immigration officer together, explained our situation, and I was given a visitor record that is good until December 31, 2013. So it's not always bad.

 

[lleahdoll]

Oh wow! So I guess my best bet is to secure a Visitor's Record when we come back from our US visit in March.
Thank you for the great advice

 

[Isometry]

Absolutely. If you do, I'd recommend ordering a physical copy of your file, rather than just the electronic case notes. I find the marginalia to be insightful - the visa officers actually write on the applications and documents and with a physical copy you can see not only your electronic case notes but also the physical notes they made on your file and you get a nice scanned copy of everything that went into your file (well, except for anything they choose to redact, of course.)

It does take longer - in my experience a couple of months - but since you're done it won't slow down your application's processing time.

This is good to know! Do you happen to have a link to the instructions for ordering them? The form's pretty short but I'm not 100% clear on what they're asking for some of these, but I know I saw a detailed forum post on this a while back.

Edit: Actually, the only thing I'm not sure about is "Location". Do they want the location of the file? If so, do I assume it's still in Seattle or what?

 

[computergeek]

This is good to know! Do you happen to have a link to the instructions for ordering them? The form's pretty short but I'm not 100% clear on what they're asking for some of these, but I know I saw a detailed forum post on this a while back.

Edit: Actually, the only thing I'm not sure about is "Location". Do they want the location of the file? If so, do I assume it's still in Seattle or what?

I've always listed the visa office and that has worked for me.

 

[Line]

Hi, I am sponsoring my common-law husband from the US. We are doing an outland application.

Application filed on July 27, 2012
application recd: on July 30th
October 12: letter from CPP-Ottawa requesting documentation
November 8: sponsorship approved

Our file is staying with CPP_Ottawa. Has anyone had any experience with them? How long do you think it will take for processing?

thank you so much.

 

[computergeek]

Hi, I am sponsoring my common-law husband from the US. We are doing an outland application.

Application filed on July 27, 2012
application recd: on July 30th
October 12: letter from CPP-Ottawa requesting documentation
November 8: sponsorship approved

Our file is staying with CPP_Ottawa. Has anyone had any experience with them? How long do you think it will take for processing?

thank you so much.

Congratulations! Now comes the long slow part of the process. People from January this year are still waiting for approval in some cases, with some people from March already approved.

 

[Rose2D2]

I just wanted to post this here as an FYI for those just starting their process. My husband and I applied for a study permit for me a month and a half back (because of the uncertainty with how long Ottawa would take, we didn't want to keep putting school off for me) before we got the PPR, and we just got the approval for it.

So, for those of you that this is an option for, it's certainly possible to get a study permit and go to school while you're waiting for your sponsorship application to go through. When I turned in my application for the permit this is what I included:
-The app itself
-The fees
-A statement of financial support from my husband
-One of his pay stubs (to show his income)
-My own statement of why I'm going to school and what roots I have in the states
-A lease that will continue while I'm in school (for roots in the states)

And that was it. Now, my lease is with a friend who will be storing my stuff for me while I'm gone. So I'm renting a space from her. When I wrote my letter, I just said that I was renting a place in the states, my stuff is there, my family is all in the states, and I kind of listed what jobs I could apply for in the US for "when I go back".

So just a good news story for anyone who might want to consider this route.