US to Canada

[Scotts230]

I've done a few searches, but nothing so far to help my questions:

My situation -

I'm 51, a US citizen and work in law enforcement. I can retire at 55.

Say what you will for the internet, but I found the love of my life.

We have been corrresponding daily via email and talk by phone at least every other day for an average of 2 hrs each call. This has been the case since the middle of Feb. 2014...and will continue until she comes to visit this summer (July) to meet my Family. I will then be going to meet her family in October.

We plan to get married when I am there.

I could return and wait out the outland process, but she has a stable carreer that ties her there (she is 50) I want to stay there with her...and quite frankly, I will have no reservations about becoming a Canadian citizen in time past PR status. At our age and life experience, we just know what is right for us.

My questions -

-So, If I freeze my retirement till age 55, enter Canada in October 2014, get married and stay with her, will I have any problems with the inland process in the 6 month time frame my US passport allows? Will I be able to extend it?

-Also, how long under those circumstances before I can apply to work part time? (I never really plan to retire completely)

Yes, I could return and keep working in the US through the process, but we don't need to, we're in our early 50's not our early 20's ...being apart for months just isn't in our desires, and travel back and forth gets expensive and tireing anyway.

Looking forward to some concrete advice/help...and a good direction or place to start. Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[wowsers]

I've done a few searches, but nothing so far to help my questions:

My situation -

I'm 51, a US citizen and work in law enforcement. I can retire at 55.

Say what you will for the internet, but I found the love of my life.

We have been corrresponding daily via email and talk by phone at least every other day for an average of 2 hrs each call. This has been the case since the middle of Feb. 2014...and will continue until she comes to visit this summer (July) to meet my Family. I will then be going to meet her family in October.

We plan to get married when I am there.

I could return and wait out the outland process, but she has a stable carreer that ties her there (she is 50) I want to stay there with her...and quite frankly, I will have no reservations about becoming a Canadian citizen in time past PR status. At our age and life experience, we just know what is right for us.

My questions -

-So, If I freeze my retirement till age 55, enter Canada in October 2014, get married and stay with her, will I have any problems with the inland process in the 6 month time frame my US passport allows? Will I be able to extend it?

-Also, how long under those circumstances before I can apply to work part time? (I never really plan to retire completely)

Yes, I could return and keep working in the US through the process, but we don't need to, we're in our early 50's not our early 20's ...being apart for months just isn't in our desires, and travel back and forth gets expensive and tireing anyway.

Looking forward to some concrete advice/help...and a good direction or place to start. Thanks in advance everyone.

I am replying though I am not from the USA and only because us oldies must support one another; and you are a babe in arms compared with me! First point is that I am unsure whether you appreciate the distinction between an inland and an outland application. You have the choice, whether or not you are in Canada when you apply. Generally speaking the members of this forum who have the choice prefer the outland route, because it is far quicker and because when making an inland application you are not supposed to leave Canada at all. Also I understand that if your inland application were to fail there is no available appeal process. The other worry I have about your plan concerns your proposed marriage. Your application will require you to explain how your met and ask for details of your relationship. If I understand you correctly you have not as yet met your future wife, have been chatting with her for a couple of hours daily but only since February (ie about one month ago?) and plan to meet only twice before getting married and applying for PR. I am afraid that that background is going to cause you a big problem. CIC is going to be looking for proof from you that you have a stable married relationship with your wife by the time you apply and that you are not getting married simply for the purpose of being admitted to Canada as a PR. Such an unusually short relationship is I am afraid likely to create big trouble! It would be far better for your application if you were to leave a much longer interval between your marriage and your application than you are at present contemplating and if you were to fill that period of time with frequent visits to one another despite the fatigue arising from the travel arrangements. You will, incidentally, not be allowed to work in Canada even part time for a while: if applying outland until you have been granted PR status and if applying inland until your sponsorship has passed stage 1. I understand that the timescale however is roughly the same for both those events. It sounds to me better if you were to remain in your job in the USA for a while after your marriage and, as I have suggested, visit frequently before applying.

 

[wowsers]

Second post. Lower down on this page (at present) you will find a longish thread started by gettingcrazy and entitled short courtship and quick marriage. I suggest you read it.

 

[Leon]

If you apply inland, you will have to apply to extend your visitor status before your 6 months are up. If you explain that you have applied inland, they will extend it for you. It takes around 8 month for inland first stage approval. At that point, you can apply for an open work permit. Getting the actual PR takes another 8 months according to the CIC website.

If you apply outland, you could get your PR in as little as around 10 months but there is no open work permit incuded with outland. Applying outland does not mean that you must stay in the US. You can also visit your spouse in Canada or even stay long term and apply to extend your status after 6 months.

wowsers is right in the way that an unusually short courtship may ring some bells at immigration. A problem with inland is that you must stay in Canada for the duration. If they have doubts about your application and decide to send it to local office without first stage approval, it can get delayed quite badly while you wait for them to have time to interview you. Sitting around at your wife's house, unable to work, while she is working could get tired pretty fast.

Outland on the other hand, if they have doubts, they will ask for an interview in the US and afterwards, you are still visa exempt to Canada and can still visit your wife.

 

[Scotts230]

Thanks for the information. we really hadnd't considered it excessivley short in that it will have been around 9 months from 'meeting' on the internet to actually getting married, and we will have logged
100's of hours (at a minimum, maybe into the 1000's by October) of time on the phone, mountains of paper worth of email, in addition to meeting each other's families.

We also thought age (being a bit more mature and established in 'life') would be a small benenfit in the process when CIC veiwed the application.

I have no issues with staying in Canada for the duration of an inland prosess, and working right away is not an major issue, as long as my stay can be extended without much hassle...the main question there would be the no appeal of a denial and where that would place us.

We considered, (based on that thread about quick marriages) that

- our age range was close
- we will have a religious ceremony (both of the same faith)
- our cultures are very similar
- we've met each other's families
- the wedding will be in Canada after 9 months of knowing each other - my parents probably couldn't travel due to age/ and my mom's health.
- there is an education diference...some college for me, she has a degree.
- we both have adult age children (18 +) mine are in there mid 20's and aren't going to be trying to move to Canada with me
- I'm going to be 'technically' retired when we marry (though I won't start drawing my retirement for about 3 years)

So, how many problems should we expect?

 

[scylla]

- the wedding will be in Canada after 9 months of knowing each other

This will be a bit of a red flag since you will effectively be meeting in person for the first time in July and then getting married in October only the second time after meeting in person and only three months after meeting in person for the first time. While many relationships begin online these days, CIC will still be looking to see that you have spent enough time together (i.e. in person) to validate that the relationship is genuine. Can you meet in person before July? Preferably very soon? It would be better to have more in person meetings before getting married.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Hi scotts230 - welcome!

My questions -

-So, If I freeze my retirement till age 55, enter Canada in October 2014, get married and stay with her, will I have any problems with the inland process in the 6 month time frame my US passport allows? Will I be able to extend it?

I would encourage you to consider applying 'outland' although you may be in Canada (not only allowed, but actually encouraged by CIC in their 'inland' instruction manual). As a US citizen, you'll probably be done with the whole process in about the same amount of time that phase 1 alone for 'inland' would take. See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp for details for 80% of the applications. On here, people are reporting completing the process via Ottawa in 8-10 months.

There are people who have successfully extended their visits to Canada while applying outland. Others have obtained visitor's records upon entry when they explain their situation to the Border Officer. The key is to remember you may only visit (not move) until you have been approved as a PR.

-Also, how long under those circumstances before I can apply to work part time? (I never really plan to retire completely)

Yes, I could return and keep working in the US through the process, but we don't need to, we're in our early 50's not our early 20's ...being apart for months just isn't in our desires, and travel back and forth gets expensive and tireing anyway.

Looking forward to some concrete advice/help...and a good direction or place to start. Thanks in advance everyone.

For inland, you may apply for a work permit once Phase 1 is completed (~8 months; likely to change as the office responsible for these has recently changed from Vegreville to Mississauga). For outland applications, the application itself won't grant you the right to apply for a work permit. However, once you are a PR, you won't need a work permit (~8-10 months for outland US applicants).

Regarding the comments on the length of your courtship, etc., it may help if you could clarify if the trips coming up are to meet your families or whether you've met each other before (but not your families).
Also, you may want to read through some of the success stories in http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/us-outland-applicants-thread-t106068.2535.html and the Buffalo thread prior to that. There are several US couples who have met online (gaming for example) and successfully applied. As others have mentioned in this thread, it's important to be cognizant of how your relationship may appear to a stranger, and take the time to explain it to the Officers in your application (much as you've been doing in this thread).

 

[Alurra71]

While I am with the other members of this forum and their answers, I would also like to point out, that because you are a US Citizen it is likely that you will be under less scrutiny, lets say than someone from Cuba.

I think even if you follow through with your plans, while it might initially raise a red flag for CIC about the short term relationship and corresponding quick wedding that if you were to include answers such as you gave us at the beginning of your post it might help to alleviate those 'flags'. A good application with solid answers to any red flags that it might raise will help to cancel them out. So if you are clear with CIC that you did indeed meet on the internet either via a dating website or some other common interest website (don't be embarrassed by this, many of us here have met our spouse that way also!) but you are both of the same religious beliefs, both very much wish to be together for the rest of your lives and are clear that because you are not young, you have more life experience and would never 'jump the gun' just to sate a moment of curiosity. I think you get the point I'm trying to make here. Be aware of the questions and flags that CIC will raise in regards to your personal circumstances and situation and answer those questions before asked with a good solid reason as to WHY that shouldn't be a concern for them.

I would definitely apply outland, and visit my wife in Canada to preserve my right to appeal if necessary. You can extend your initial stay online before your 6 months are up.

Please please please, keep in mind about Canada and their gun rules! It is NOT like the US. You can NOT bring your personal weapons across the border. This will yield you so much trouble. Make sure you don't have any of your weapons in your vehicle or personal belongings and such. I only tell you this not because I think you will try, but because a family friend is a border guard in Windsor. He had to send a Detroit PD officer back to the US on foot after he was found to have weapons not only on himself, but in his unmarked patrol car. The officers weapons and car were confiscated by CBSA and Officer Detroit (obviously not his real name) was returned back to CBP without his vehicle. Detroit never was able to get the car back.

 

[Scotts230]

So if we apply outland, we send the all the information together at one time? And to???

My employment in Law enforcement should make the police check a simple matter...getting a medical appointment thoug...can that be done while I'm in Canada on a visit, or must it be done in the USA?

I have too many questions I know, I just want to do this correctly and in the best order (mail all the forms together or separate, to the proper location, etc).

As for the firearms...I'm coming to Canada to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life. Not concerned with anything else but that.

 

[Alurra71]

So if we apply outland, we send the all the information together at one time? And to???

My employment in Law enforcement should make the police check a simple matter...getting a medical appointment thoug...can that be done while I'm in Canada on a visit, or must it be done in the USA?

I have too many questions I know, I just want to do this correctly and in the best order (mail all the forms together or separate, to the proper location, etc).

As for the firearms...I'm coming to Canada to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life. Not concerned with anything else but that.

Yes both sections of the application, Sponsor and Principal Applicant would be mailed together along with all of the proofs to Mississauga. I would have to look to find the exact mailing address, but it is noted on all the application forms you need to fill out anyhow. You will also need an FBI PCC , one from your state might be warranted because of your law enforcement job, but I am not positive about that. You can indeed do your immigration medical in Canada, but only via a CIC Panel Approved Physician. You can locate them on the CIC website for the area that you will be in.

I was just making a note about the firearms because I know how easy it is to just forget yourself when you are on your way to see that special someone. I have never tried to cross with anything dangerous, but I have had times where I've had a "DOH" moment crossing with things that I wouldn't normally have in my car for crossing the border. Things that aren't persay illegal, just things that I wouldn't want the entirety of CBSA privvy to if they were to look in my car closer, ya know? LOL

 

[tommcp5]

Good luck. I wish I had known about this website much earlier--it would have made the application process so much easier and I would have done it years ago!

 

[OhCanadiana]

So if we apply outland, we send the all the information together at one time? And to???

My employment in Law enforcement should make the police check a simple matter...getting a medical appointment thoug...can that be done while I'm in Canada on a visit, or must it be done in the USA?

I have too many questions I know, I just want to do this correctly and in the best order (mail all the forms together or separate, to the proper location, etc).

As for the firearms...I'm coming to Canada to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life. Not concerned with anything else but that.

The application and instructions to apply 'outland' are available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp. You would complete Part 1 (sponsor's application), Part 2 (your application), and Part 3 (specific requirements for US applicants) and mail them all to CPC-M. They will review the documents and forward the application to CPP-O for a more detailed review and approval.

For the police check, get a colleague to take your prints on an FD-258 card (or do them electronically and print them out) and mail them to the FBI (instructions at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/criminal-history-summary-checks/criminal-history-summary-checks - follow the FBI option. People have reported getting asked for the FBI version vs. the channeler option; if as law enforcement officer you have access to another avenue, make sure it is sent directly by the FBI so it has the watermarks they use on the document). Note that CIC wants to receive it within 3 months of the date it was issued.

For the medical exam, you can get it done by any Panel Physician. The list is available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/pp-md/pp-list.aspx. You'll want this to be the last step as it expires 1 year after submission (it can be extended if it's the only thing missing and everything else is done within 15 months but it's best to send it with max validity).

It may help you to download the forms and instructions for the application off of http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp and print out the sponsor forms, the sponsored (principal applicant), and US visa office specific forms. Consider also printing out the instructions. Then carve out half a day. Grab your print outs, a pen, and a notebook or pad of paper. Get a cup of coffee and put on some music and try filling in the application from end to end. If you are super familiar with Adobe forms you can fill it out on the computer and just highlight the questions you don't have answers to but otherwise just do it by hand. Key is not to get bogged down and go through it all so you can easily/quickly mark what you have and what is missing. For anything you can't do quickly write it down on your pad - don't get stuck. At the end, you should have a stack of filled out forms and clarity on what you are missing (eg detailed info on your wife's Mother's place of birth, middle names etc). Pat yourself on the back. Now you know what you have and what you need for your forms. And the whole process should feel a lot less daunting.

By the way, if you want to know all the details you can read all about how CIC will assess your application at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf and at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/ip/ip02-eng.pdf.

Good luck on this journey! And, keep asking away.

 

[Scotts230]

A couple of questions as I look over the forms:


As for "co-habitation"

If we apply as outland after being married, how do I answer the question "when did your spouse return to Canada?" We plan to marry in Canada (in her church) and the after a honeymoon there, I would return to work in the states to wait and visit as my work schedule (which can be crazy) allows. She would of course visit here too as her work permitted, but there would be no extended periods that would qualify as co-habitation in the states. Since I would have to check "no" to co-habitation with me in the US, what date would be her 'return' to Canada?


I would fill out part 2 and 3 and she would fill out part 1, they we combine them once complete...that would be best done on a visit after the wedding rather than individually while we are living apart I'm imagining. I think getting the medical on the visit might be easier on the same visit in Canada, just before mailing.

 

[OhCanadiana]

A couple of questions as I look over the forms:


As for "co-habitation"

If we apply as outland after being married, how do I answer the question "when did your spouse return to Canada?" We plan to marry in Canada (in her church) and the after a honeymoon there, I would return to work in the states to wait and visit as my work schedule (which can be crazy) allows. She would of course visit here too as her work permitted, but there would be no extended periods that would qualify as co-habitation in the states. Since I would have to check "no" to co-habitation with me in the US, what date would be her 'return' to Canada?

Consider writing "*" for the date on IMM5490 (convention for when not known) - see attached document and add an explanation to the effect of your first post. These forms are generic and sometimes separate explanations are required.

I would fill out part 2 and 3 and she would fill out part 1, they we combine them once complete...that would be best done on a visit after the wedding rather than individually while we are living apart I'm imagining. I think getting the medical on the visit might be easier on the same visit in Canada, just before mailing.

Do whatever is easiest for you. Some people mail them back and forth; some people have one person do the bulk of the "paperwork;" others split them down their respective parts; and others do it all together. Whatever works best for you 8)

 

[marlasinger]

A couple of questions as I look over the forms:


As for "co-habitation"

If we apply as outland after being married, how do I answer the question "when did your spouse return to Canada?" We plan to marry in Canada (in her church) and the after a honeymoon there, I would return to work in the states to wait and visit as my work schedule (which can be crazy) allows. She would of course visit here too as her work permitted, but there would be no extended periods that would qualify as co-habitation in the states. Since I would have to check "no" to co-habitation with me in the US, what date would be her 'return' to Canada?


I would fill out part 2 and 3 and she would fill out part 1, they we combine them once complete...that would be best done on a visit after the wedding rather than individually while we are living apart I'm imagining. I think getting the medical on the visit might be easier on the same visit in Canada, just before mailing.

that question had us scratching our heads too. how can you "return" to where you live if you answer "no" you've never lived anywhere else? especially after answering the question above that "have you ever lived together?" as No. my husband and I see each other every weekend - technically I "return" to canada constantly. it didn't make sense, so ultimately we placed an N/A in the date section and used the Maintaining Contact part of the forms to explain how we visit each other, giving specific dates up until the time we sent the package.