Visitor visa or temporary resident visa, which is easier ?

[ArturoG]

Canadian marrying Colombian in January. Outland marriage. Can wife apply for visitor tourist visa OR temporary resident in order to wait out the long months ? if so which is easiest,better ? Any other possible alternatives?
Thanks all.

 

[scylla]

A visitor visa and a TRV are the same thing.

 

[ArturoG]

Thank you. But now the question remains, can she apply for that visa just after she's married or does she have to hibernate and wait the 12 months there.?

 

[scylla]

She can certainly apply. Whether the TRV will be approved is a different matter. Unfortunately there is a decent chance it will be refused.

 

[ArturoG]

So if she and I don't marry, will the chances of her getting a visa be improved ?
If that's the alternative, how about she stays single, applies for a tourist visa, and if she gets it comes to Canada, we marry in Canada after she arrives, and she waits with me in Canada. Sweet and simple.......Let me guess...
CIC will kick her out back to her country and force her to wait there.

 

[scylla]

So if she and I don't marry, will the chances of her getting a visa be improved ?
If that's the alternative, how about she stays single, applies for a tourist visa, and if she gets it comes to Canada, we marry in Canada after she arrives, and she waits with me in Canada. Sweet and simple.......Let me guess...
CIC will kick her out back to her country and force her to wait there.

Wrong guess...

If she can get a TRV - then you can get married and she can stay here while the application is being processed.

To be approved for the TRV, she will need to demonstrate that she has strong ties to her home country and has no plans on remaining in Canada long term (so yes - the opposite of what she actually plans to do).

 

[ArturoG]

Great. Can she get the TRV long enough around 14 months to wait it out here with me ?
That is the approx waiting time for her country.
If she only gets 6 months stay, can she apply for an extension?
She has very strong ties to her country, 2 brothers, a daughter, a fully paid apartment, land, active member of her church doing voluntary work for over 10 years. Once she marries she is definitely not abandoning her country and family. As a fact we are planing our retirement to live there 6 months out of the year.

 

[ArturoG]

How does one get to sit down and talk to a CIC officer/personnel to go over a few questions pertaining to spousal sponsorship before I get married ? I went to a Canada Service office near me today figuring I can get some information as to how I can get to speak to a CIC person to person, not eMail or phone, to a real person. The said they don't deal with immigration and couldn't give me any advice either. OK so where do I go from here ? Is going to my downtown Canadian embassy a good start or they will also say they don't deal with immigration ?
Where does one go to sit across a desk and talk to a CIC person ?

 

[canadianwoman]

You can't, really. If you are outside Canada, you can go to the Canadian embassy or consulate, but they will state that they cannot help with advice about immigration. I got in to talk to someone (twice) simply by saying I was a Canadian who needed help, and while the visa officer was nice, she couldn't really give me any advice. Both gave very generic information, that you could just as easily have gotten on this forum.
You can phone the CIC help line if you are in Canada, but these people are not visa officers, and often give wrong advice.
Ask your questions here. Not everyone agrees, but there is a lot of experience gathered in the forum.