US outland applicants' thread :)

[michicanuck]

Hmm, I'm kind of in a similar situation. My husband (Canadian) moved to the US and we went through the whole process to get his Green Card. We now want to move to Canada, and plan to settle there. Does he need to do anything/notify anyone, or will his Green Card just sort of get canceled on its own? If we wanted to move back to the US later on, do we need to restart the process?

I'm not sure how close he is to being in the U.S. for 5 years, but once he gets there he's eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. It only takes 2-3 months as well. My wife became a U.S. citizen (she's originally from Canada) somewhat recently and we're going to Canada now.

To your particular question, I don't know if his PR is cancelled on its own, but it will be cancelled somehow and in some way. He would almost certainly have to restart the process if you all chose to come back and too much time had elapsed. You need to look into the specific rules around U.S. PR; not sure it's easy to simply re-apply and get approval a second time, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Do your due diligence and you'll be fine.

 

[rubatrevor]

no, noone knows. all we know is that they have announced that ALL processing, no matter where the applicant is will not take longer than 12 months. this does not necessarily mean Ottawa's processing time will increase, it just means no one should wait longer than 12 months now. we won't know how the offices handle the new process until it starts.

Hi there!

Do you or anyone else out there think it would be worth waiting 2 more days for the new sponsorship package and re-fill everything for an outland US spousal sponsorship - is it going to make any difference in processing times? Our app and everything are almost ready to go just need to print and attach photos and pay the fees. Just don't know if it is worth waiting and re-doing everything...

Also if anyone out there knows if having a non-accompanying dependent on a US spousal sponsorship app will somehow affect processing times? Thankfully the medical and all supporting docs for the non-accompanying dependent are attached to the app.

P.S. the help this whole site gives to me and others like me is so amazing, I cannot thank everyone enough for sharing their experiences and knowledge and experience. Thank you!!!

 

[CDNPR2014]

Hi there!

Do you or anyone else out there think it would be worth waiting 2 more days for the new sponsorship package and re-fill everything for an outland US spousal sponsorship - is it going to make any difference in processing times? Our app and everything are almost ready to go just need to print and attach photos and pay the fees. Just don't know if it is worth waiting and re-doing everything...

No, no one knows anything about the new packet. if you've filled everything out and already have the PCC and Medical, then it's probably best just to send it in as is. the immigration website suggests they will accept the old application through the end of January.

Also if anyone out there knows if having a non-accompanying dependent on a US spousal sponsorship app will somehow affect processing times? Thankfully the medical and all supporting docs for the non-accompanying dependent are attached to the app.

generally, non-accompanying dependent issues happen when the other parent responsible for the child is not cooperative with the application. if the other parent is being cooperative, and all paperwork needed for the dependent is included, then there is less of a chance it will cause a delay.

 

[Joyce_tosf]

Hi there!

Do you or anyone else out there think it would be worth waiting 2 more days for the new sponsorship package and re-fill everything for an outland US spousal sponsorship - is it going to make any difference in processing times? Our app and everything are almost ready to go just need to print and attach photos and pay the fees. Just don't know if it is worth waiting and re-doing everything...

Also if anyone out there knows if having a non-accompanying dependent on a US spousal sponsorship app will somehow affect processing times? Thankfully the medical and all supporting docs for the non-accompanying dependent are attached to the app.

P.S. the help this whole site gives to me and others like me is so amazing, I cannot thank everyone enough for sharing their experiences and knowledge and experience. Thank you!!!

Hard to say about waiting. Everything is going to be newly introduced so I don't know how much different the entire process will be. My instinct says the sooner the better but really, no one knows.

As far as a non-accompanying dependent goes, I'm in the same position and my husband was just asked to provide additional documents: his dependent's birth certificate as well as a divorce certificate. We originally only included his son's passport and medical forms and he was only in a common-law relationship so he has no divorce certificate.

I advise that you include the dependent's birth certificate in the package to avoid delay. And also a divorce certificate, separation agreement, statutory declaration of severance of common-law relationship and/or anything to prove that the previous relationship is over.

Hope that helps!

 

[Aquakitty]

Hi there!

Do you or anyone else out there think it would be worth waiting 2 more days for the new sponsorship package and re-fill everything for an outland US spousal sponsorship - is it going to make any difference in processing times? Our app and everything are almost ready to go just need to print and attach photos and pay the fees. Just don't know if it is worth waiting and re-doing everything...

Also if anyone out there knows if having a non-accompanying dependent on a US spousal sponsorship app will somehow affect processing times? Thankfully the medical and all supporting docs for the non-accompanying dependent are attached to the app.

P.S. the help this whole site gives to me and others like me is so amazing, I cannot thank everyone enough for sharing their experiences and knowledge and experience. Thank you!!!

I don't think it's worth waiting since yours is ready to go. The new process will have bugs, and if anything they will want to get the old forms out of the system.

Any extra processing can cause a delay. But, since you seem to have all the docs in order it should be negligible.

 

[jms627]

So I had been excited, but maybe I've jumped the gun. Last week my ECAS showed my Permanent Residency as a "Decision Made" status. MyCIC however still shows that Backgrounds Check is "In Progress" and I haven't received any messages from CIC. Is it possible ECAS was updated in error? Or does MyCIC just lag in updates.

 

[CDNPR2014]

So I had been excited, but maybe I've jumped the gun. Last week my ECAS showed my Permanent Residency as a "Decision Made" status. MyCIC however still shows that Backgrounds Check is "In Progress" and I haven't received any messages from CIC. Is it possible ECAS was updated in error? Or does MyCIC just lag in updates.

it's quite possible the system is lagged and not updated, as neither system is a reliable source for application information. you won't receive any notification or messages about your approval besides the COPR (the approval paper) you receive in the mail. you will want to be on the lookout for a brown envelope in regular mail at the address listed in the application. generally, DM in ECAS suggests it's been mailed out or will be the next day. it can take 1-3 weeks to receive it depending on where it's being mailed to.

 

[Staunts2015]

I'm not sure how close he is to being in the U.S. for 5 years, but once he gets there he's eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. It only takes 2-3 months as well. My wife became a U.S. citizen (she's originally from Canada) somewhat recently and we're going to Canada now.

To your particular question, I don't know if his PR is cancelled on its own, but it will be cancelled somehow and in some way. He would almost certainly have to restart the process if you all chose to come back and too much time had elapsed. You need to look into the specific rules around U.S. PR; not sure it's easy to simply re-apply and get approval a second time, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Do your due diligence and you'll be fine.

He's been here almost 2 years and has had his Green Card for almost a year, but regardless, he wants to retain his Canadian citizenship. We've been meaning to look into Dual Citizenship, but I'm not sure how easy that is to attain. I just want to make sure there's nothing stopping us from moving out of the US.

 

[Aquakitty]

He's been here almost 2 years and has had his Green Card for almost a year, but regardless, he wants to retain his Canadian citizenship. We've been meaning to look into Dual Citizenship, but I'm not sure how easy that is to attain. I just want to make sure there's nothing stopping us from moving out of the US.

There's some threads on maintaining a green card and Canadian PR. It's apparently possible but very difficult due to the stricter US requirements. If you mean dual citizenship, there aren't any downsides really aside from the US and their tax rules (global tax).


What is the difference between GCKey and ECAS? Is there any reason to sign up for the GCKey once the process is completed?

 

[rubatrevor]

Thank you all for your help! I will just send everything as is using the existing process.

Wish us luck and good luck to all!

 

[michicanuck]

He's been here almost 2 years and has had his Green Card for almost a year, but regardless, he wants to retain his Canadian citizenship. We've been meaning to look into Dual Citizenship, but I'm not sure how easy that is to attain. I just want to make sure there's nothing stopping us from moving out of the US.

He would retain his Canadian citizenship regardless of if he became a U.S. citizen. I was just thinking that if he was close to 5 years, he could become a U.S. citizen, then you could go to Canada, and you all could return to the U.S. whenever you pleased. But yeah, another 3 years probably isn't feasible.

 

[MasterDen]

Ok, got AOR and then now on the application status for Sponsorship it says Decision Made! Do I have to wait for a letter or is there a way to check that online?

 

[tigermilo]

Ok, got AOR and then now on the application status for Sponsorship it says Decision Made! Do I have to wait for a letter or is there a way to check that online?

I got an email after a few days of it saying decision made and the email said I was approved as a sponsor.

 

[MasterDen]

I got an email after a few days of it saying decision made and the email said I was approved as a sponsor.

Thank you! I got the e-mail!

 

[tigermilo]

Thank you! I got the e-mail!

You're welcome! Yay!!