Visitor Visa well waiting for sponsorship

[Playa08]

Can you apply for a visitor visa while awaiting family sponsorship or will it slow down the process?

 

[Prabhu]

Yes you can apply but it depends on the visa officer 80-20 chance.

 

[rhcohen2014]

applying for a visitor visa has no affect on the sponsorship application. it does NOT slow down the process.

you can certainly apply.

 

[Onemoretime]

And you probably should to maintain your status in Canada (assuming you are here in Canada and applied Outland).

 

[rhcohen2014]

And you probably should to maintain your status in Canada (assuming you are here in Canada and applied Outland).

a person can not apply for a visitor visa to come to canada once they are already IN canada. if they are already IN canada, and they want to stay longer, they will need to apply to extend their stay as a visitor. that is not the same as applying for a visitor visa to come to canada.

 

[Playa08]

My husband is in Mexico so we would be applying for him to come visit us while we wait for our family sponsorship to be approved.

 

[layla.bee]

My husband is in Mexico so we would be applying for him to come visit us while we wait for our family sponsorship to be approved.

Yes you can apply. My sister and mother applied for TRV while their sponsorship application was in process. They recently got visa.

 

[Onemoretime]

a person can not apply for a visitor visa to come to canada once they are already IN canada. if they are already IN canada, and they want to stay longer, they will need to apply to extend their stay as a visitor. that is not the same as applying for a visitor visa to come to canada.

We should be careful what is said and don't misinterpret the question being asked (or the properly qualified answer I provided). Remember that the question was "Can you apply for a visitor visa while awaiting family sponsorship". I did EXACTLY that myself and applied for a new TRV while IN Canada (and received it last week). Remember, they did not ask "can I extend my current visitor visa", or even "apply for a visitor visa to come to Canada" as you point out.

You can in fact apply for a TRV once they are IN Canada. See CIC note below when using IMM 5257 which I used and received my first TRV from within Canada while waiting for my PR for family sponsorship:

Use this application if you live outside Canada and you need a temporary resident visa (TRV) to visit Canada for a temporary purpose such as:
•tourism,
•a visit with family or friends, or
•a business trip.

If you are currently in Canada with a valid study permit or work permit, you must send your application for a new TRV to the Case Processing Centre in Ottawa (CPC-O), or visa office that serves their country of nationality.


So I qualified my answer with the assumption that they are already here (on a study or work permit) and applied outland and suggested that they make sure to maintain their Canadian status which is important (i.e., not to let your status lapse). Obviously if they applied inland, that would be whole different ball of wax.

 

[rhcohen2014]

We should be careful what is said and don't misinterpret the question being asked (or the properly qualified answer I provided). Remember that the question was "Can you apply for a visitor visa while awaiting family sponsorship". I did EXACTLY that myself and applied for a new TRV while IN Canada (and received it last week). Remember, they did not ask "can I extend my current visitor visa", or even "apply for a visitor visa to come to Canada" as you point out.

I don't understand, that is exactly what the op asked:

Can you apply for a visitor visa while awaiting family sponsorship or will it slow down the process?

I don't understand waht the difference is? is it because it wasn't specifically said TO COME TO CANADA? From what I understand, it is impossible for a person to apply for a visitor visa from inside canada and that if they are asking about applying for a visitor's visa, that usually means they are not in canada and want to come to canada. also, the question is asking about if it would affect the pr application. which it doesn't, which is what i advised. so i'm confused what the issue is here?

your assumption is that he is already in canada waiting for family sponsorship. where does the op say that? i don't see where he says he's currently IN canada and wants to maintain status?

the fact remains a person can't apply for a VISITOR'S VISA when they are already in canada and applying for one will not have any affect on the PR application. T If they are in canada, then they have already gotten a visa to enter canada, and if they want to maintain their status or extend their stay, their question wouldn't be asking about "applying for a visitor visa". generally, on this forum when people are asking about visitor visas they are asking about how to apply for one while they are OUTSIDE of canada waiting for a pr application to process. otherwise, the question would be asked differently.

information about how to maintain status while in canada is not relavant to the original question and is confusing the matter. The original question specifically asked about applying for a visitor's visa, not about maintaining status. Since a visitor's visa can only be applied for from outside of canada, they are asking how to GET to canada.the only time i mentioned extending their stay was when i was clarifying your response about needing to maintain status. again, they were not asking about maintaining status, they were asking about applying for a visitor's visa...which can only be done when not in canada... and whether it would affect a pr application...so that is the advice i gave.

 

[Onemoretime]

I don't understand, that is exactly what the op asked:

I don't understand waht the difference is? is it because it wasn't specifically said TO COME TO CANADA? From what I understand, it is impossible for a person to apply for a visitor visa from inside canada and that if they are asking about applying for a visitor's visa, that usually means they are not in canada and want to come to canada. also, the question is asking about if it would affect the pr application. which it doesn't, which is what i advised. so i'm confused what the issue is here?

Well I was going to go into some long explanation but I guess the easiest way to explain my point is to ask you directly this same question for my situation. So I'm asking you directly only this question: "I'm currently waiting for PR under the spousal sponsorship program. Am I able to apply for a TRV while waiting. I am currently in Canada."?

So according to your responses: "a person can not apply for a visitor visa to come to canada once they are already IN canada. if they are already IN canada, and they want to stay longer, they will need to apply to extend their stay as a visitor". That would suggest you are referring to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/visitor.asp and I would have to use IMM 5708. Is that correct?

However, since I've never had a initial TRV but rather a study permit, I'm required by CIC to follow http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/visa.asp and fill in form IMM 5257 and actually apply for an initial visitor visa from within Canada. Therefore, not "impossible". And when this initial TRV expires in 6 months, while I'm in Canada, I will then be able to apply to extend my stay with IMM 5706.

So all I'm saying is that your response was based on "generally, on this forum when people are asking about visitor visas they are asking about how to apply for one while they are OUTSIDE of Canada"

I was just cautioning people that we should be a bit more accurate in our questions firstly, and also provide as much detail on our responses as well (keeping in mind that some individuals posting questions may not know all the nuances of the CIC process). I only know this as I too struggled with which application to use from within Canada and whether I needed to do IMM5708 or IMM 5257. Both have different circumstances and would lead to wasted time and effort (or worse) if not done properly.

I'm just trying to be as accurate as possible and give as much info as possible so people can absorb it and make appropriate choices.

 

[rhcohen2014]

I'm just trying to be as accurate as possible and give as much info as possible so people can absorb it and make appropriate choices.

as am i. thank you for clarifying there are 2 different forms for extending a stay and applying for a TRV from inside canada.