Visitor Visa while waiting for PR

[MarsiaMS]

Hi all, I have a bit of a complicated situation here. Hoping to hear from all you wonderful people with a similar experience or actual knowledge about Canadian immigration system.

So, I am on a work permit and live in BC. I received a provincial nomination and recently submitted my application for permanent residence. I listed my spouse as my dependant and supplied all paperwork for him, stating that he is accompanying me to Canada.
Now, my spouse is a Ukrainian citizen who was refused both Canadian visitor visa and a spousal work permit in the past. Several times. No actual reasons, just the usual "you did not satisfy the officer that you will return to your home country" mumbo-jumbo. At this time he works as a freelancer, no day job, so he will have a hard time showing ties to his country of citizenship. He can show sufficient funds in his account, but that did not help us in the past.

My question is whether having a PR application in progress will make any difference for getting approved for a visitor visa? According to CIC, we can expect our PR in 16 months (if we are lucky). I do not want to wait that long before we can be reunited.
Thanks in advance for the responses.

 

[scylla]

It most likely won't make a difference. He will still have to overcome the refusal reasons in his previous SOWP/TRV applications.

 

[MarsiaMS]

Thanks for your reply, scylla. Unfortunately, the rejection reasons are very subjective and I have no idea how to overcome something so vague. We even hired an immigration consultant for our latest application and submitted a very strong package of paperwork. My spouse met all CIC requirements. None of it helped.

 

[mikeymyke]

The biggest reason is probably because he has been refused a visitor visa so many times, and even refused a work permit. This shows he has a strong desire to come to Canada, and thus may not be a genuine visitor.

Were all these refusals before you were in a relationship together?

 

[MarsiaMS]

Hello Mikeymyke, a few refusals happened before we were married, and a couple more after.
My spouse has multiple Shengen visas closed. He never breached visa conditions. They have no reason to mistrist him.

 

[nmtrjn]

Hi,

I applied for spousal PR in January 2016 and am still waiting for a response from CIC. I did, however, receive my OWP in May 2016 extending my work permit to 2018. My visitor visa is about to expire in May 2017 and I want to extend it.

I am not sure which form to use though. When I do the online eligibility check, I get Application for Visitor Visa (Temporary Resident Visa) Made Outside of Canada (IMM5257) in my online system as the form I need to fill. I don't understand why I am getting the 'outside of Canada' application even though I told the system that I currently live in Canada as a worker with an OWP. Is this the current form that I should be using even though I am applying from inside of Canada? Would I also need to fill out Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada (IMM 5257)?

Thanks!