US to Canada - Spouse Sponsor (Inland)

[Jazzercise]

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been checking out the forum for a few days now, and first let me say that this is such a nice community you all have created. Helpful, friendly, and really encouraging. With that in mind, I’d like to pick all your brains about a few things that have remained – even with all the threads I’ve read! – a bit confusing as my wife and I ready our spouse-inland PR application and my open work permit application.

First, I should give a brief background into our straightforward yet slightly complex situation. If there are gaps or unclear parts, it’s because I’m trying to be brief – my apologies. Anyway, I’m an American citizen who randomly visited Canada and met the perfect Canadian woman, and after many hours of chatting (text, phone, videocall), visits, and long stays (months, all legal of course) decided to wed in the U.S. What kept us apart before and after our marriage was the fact that I was a graduate student in the U.S., while she was working, in school (post-grad), and raising her child in Canada. Our first year of marriage was thus spent apart, though again, we visited each other as often as possible, usually about every 3 months. Then I got a bit lucky in my final year of graduate studies, as I was able to work and complete my degree remotely. In that final year I lived with my wife in Canada, though I hopped in and out as necessary (everything work-related was U.S.-based since it was through the university and completed online). After I finished my degree and celebrated two years of marriage, we still weren’t sure on what side of the border we’d settle in. Among other things, she now had to finish a great graduate degree she had started just as I was completing mine, so… We opted to remain in Canada for the foreseeable future. And here we are...

With this short history in mind, I wondered if any of you could provide any insight as to the right balance of evidence to provide to prove we are, in fact, in a real marriage. Ha! Obviously, we’ll provide some of what the application asks for (i.e. marriage certificate), and try to make up for the fact that most finances aren’t combined and don’t appear under the same address, primarily due to the fact that I was still just a visitor in Canada and tied to my American school. Luckily, we signed a lease to an apartment in the spring, and we do have evidence of me shuffling money to my wife (ex. she could deposit my American checks into her bank account) every month. Beyond that, we have the photos, texts, emails/letters, social media. Friends and family have written letters attesting to our marriage.

Before I forget, I do have a specific question regarding the police certificate and medical. So I did an FBI report in May (I thought it was going to take forever, but it didn’t), but then went back to the U.S. over the summer for about two weeks. Since I left Canada, do I have to do another one? Also, when do I do this RCMP and medical business? I’ve seen some posts about upfront submissions, but this info has only served to get me twisted after I had thought I had figured it out.

Apologies for the long post and questions. It’s all so… confusing and overwhelming. I just don’t want to mess up and have the SWOP and PR applications returned or, worse yet, rejected. I want to live with my family! I welcome any and all advice/feedback.

Looking forward to positively contributing as best I can around here. Cheers.

 

[1887CAN]

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been checking out the forum for a few days now, and first let me say that this is such a nice community you all have created. Helpful, friendly, and really encouraging. With that in mind, I’d like to pick all your brains about a few things that have remained – even with all the threads I’ve read! – a bit confusing as my wife and I ready our spouse-inland PR application and my open work permit application.

First, I should give a brief background into our straightforward yet slightly complex situation. If there are gaps or unclear parts, it’s because I’m trying to be brief – my apologies. Anyway, I’m an American citizen who randomly visited Canada and met the perfect Canadian woman, and after many hours of chatting (text, phone, videocall), visits, and long stays (months, all legal of course) decided to wed in the U.S. What kept us apart before and after our marriage was the fact that I was a graduate student in the U.S., while she was working, in school (post-grad), and raising her child in Canada. Our first year of marriage was thus spent apart, though again, we visited each other as often as possible, usually about every 3 months. Then I got a bit lucky in my final year of graduate studies, as I was able to work and complete my degree remotely. In that final year I lived with my wife in Canada, though I hopped in and out as necessary (everything work-related was U.S.-based since it was through the university and completed online). After I finished my degree and celebrated two years of marriage, we still weren’t sure on what side of the border we’d settle in. Among other things, she now had to finish a great graduate degree she had started just as I was completing mine, so… We opted to remain in Canada for the foreseeable future. And here we are...

With this short history in mind, I wondered if any of you could provide any insight as to the right balance of evidence to provide to prove we are, in fact, in a real marriage. Ha! Obviously, we’ll provide some of what the application asks for (i.e. marriage certificate), and try to make up for the fact that most finances aren’t combined and don’t appear under the same address, primarily due to the fact that I was still just a visitor in Canada and tied to my American school. Luckily, we signed a lease to an apartment in the spring, and we do have evidence of me shuffling money to my wife (ex. she could deposit my American checks into her bank account) every month. Beyond that, we have the photos, texts, emails/letters, social media. Friends and family have written letters attesting to our marriage.

Before I forget, I do have a specific question regarding the police certificate and medical. So I did an FBI report in May (I thought it was going to take forever, but it didn’t), but then went back to the U.S. over the summer for about two weeks. Since I left Canada, do I have to do another one? Also, when do I do this RCMP and medical business? I’ve seen some posts about upfront submissions, but this info has only served to get me twisted after I had thought I had figured it out.

Apologies for the long post and questions. It’s all so… confusing and overwhelming. I just don’t want to mess up and have the SWOP and PR applications returned or, worse yet, rejected. I want to live with my family! I welcome any and all advice/feedback.

Looking forward to positively contributing as best I can around here. Cheers.

Firstly, welcome! Secondly, with regard to your proof, I don’t think there can ever be too much. Someone on here is very likely to have been in your position, so they will be able to give you some specific advice.

As for convincing IRCC that your marriage is genuine, explain with a letter in the application, probably include it in the relationship evaluation form. State how you met, why you couldn’t live together at first, how you’ve made plans to be together post graduation, how you’ve executed said plans, why your finances are separate, etc. Then include proof of this, proof of your university schedules, contact logs for your communications, proof of transferring funds, etc. It may also be an idea to set a joint account up with a Canadian bank, that will provide you with a proof of address which will be helpful when you submit the application, and also provide some extra form of shared financial commitment.

As for the police checks, spending 2 weeks back in the US won’t make a difference, I don’t think. You need one for every country you’ve spent 6 months or more in, so a couple of weeks back there won’t invalidate it. As for RCMP checks specifically, I did one prior to submitting the application as I thought I had to. I’d been in Canada for more than 6 month at the time. According to the document checklist, I didn’t need to. IRCC will do it on their own accord later in the process. I included it with the one from my home country anyway, and it certainly won’t hurt to include one if you decide to do one.

Medicals are not required up front. Some people do, but they’re only valid for 12 months, and if that period of time elapses, you’ll have to get them redone. You’ll potentially waste around $300 to save almost no extra processing time. Await instructions from IRCC to get it done later in the process and the panel physician will send the result to IRCC electronically.

If you include an application for an OWP, make sure you pay the full amount of $255. It’s made up of two separate payments that are due at the same time. This seems to catch a lot of people out and many applications have been returned as a result.

There’s a huge group of people here are always willing to help, so ask any questions you may have. Good luck!

 

[Jazzercise]

Firstly, welcome! Secondly, with regard to your proof, I don’t think there can ever be too much. Someone on here is very likely to have been in your position, so they will be able to give you some specific advice.

As for convincing IRCC that your marriage is genuine, explain with a letter in the application, probably include it in the relationship evaluation form. State how you met, why you couldn’t live together at first, how you’ve made plans to be together post graduation, how you’ve executed said plans, why your finances are separate, etc. Then include proof of this, proof of your university schedules, contact logs for your communications, proof of transferring funds, etc. It may also be an idea to set a joint account up with a Canadian bank, that will provide you with a proof of address which will be helpful when you submit the application, and also provide some extra form of shared financial commitment.

As for the police checks, spending 2 weeks back in the US won’t make a difference, I don’t think. You need one for every country you’ve spent 6 months or more in, so a couple of weeks back there won’t invalidate it. As for RCMP checks specifically, I did one prior to submitting the application as I thought I had to. I’d been in Canada for more than 6 month at the time. According to the document checklist, I didn’t need to. IRCC will do it on their own accord later in the process. I included it with the one from my home country anyway, and it certainly won’t hurt to include one if you decide to do one.

Medicals are not required up front. Some people do, but they’re only valid for 12 months, and if that period of time elapses, you’ll have to get them redone. You’ll potentially waste around $300 to save almost no extra processing time. Await instructions from IRCC to get it done later in the process and the panel physician will send the result to IRCC electronically.

If you include an application for an OWP, make sure you pay the full amount of $255. It’s made up of two separate payments that are due at the same time. This seems to catch a lot of people out and many applications have been returned as a result.

There’s a huge group of people here are always willing to help, so ask any questions you may have. Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback. It's good to hear that a letter is okay, as we had already drafted a statement/letter providing a narrative and timeline, which would then be supported by the evidence we were going to provide (much of what you list!). As for setting up a joint back account, we'll probably try to set up a joint bank account soon since we want to get this thing in the mail already.

Regarding the police checks, I might go ahead and just do it again to be safe. The great news is that the FBI ones don't take very long to get anymore. I did mine through a third party here in Canada and got the results in minutes (link sent to email, click link, download). Going directly through the FBI isn't as fast, but it only takes a matter of days. I know this because I foolishly had my sister complete an FBI identity history summary check. I say foolishly because I both misread the instructions and misunderstood what IRCC classified as "family member." Oops. Anyway, she completed the form on the FBI website and paid the fee ($18 USD), went and got her fingerprints taken (cheap, but depends on place), then mailed the prints and her receipt to the FBI. Within about three or four days she had the results ready for download as a PDF. It was basically the same thing as what I got, except hers was not in color, which I don't think matters??? (Note: FBI/DOJ now accept digital print submission on their website, which only expedites the process since you're cutting out the mail.)

The SWOP application appears to be pretty straightforward. That said, should I include additional copies of the FBI report and marriage certificate? I'm not seeing that I have to submit anything else since my wife is a Canadian citizen and I'm a U.S. citizen. Minor complaint: It's a pain they don't have the feature to add rows in my employment section and instead force me to print out copies of the same page! You'd think that since they have the "add row" feature in one form they'd have it on others...

If anyone comes across this thread and has questions about how I'm building my "case," feel free to ask here. Also, check out this short thread which, while old, is useful: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/proof-of-relationship-what-to-include-how-much.242566/