Visitor Visa

[VGR1990]

If my visitor visa is going to expire before a decision is made on my permanent residency (from US, applying outland from within Canada), do I need to renew it? Sorry if this sounds dumb.

 

[floomy]

i would. Mine is expired soon too before i get pr, so i plan to renew soon.

You never know when you get DM and COPR.

 

[Sheps]

If you are outland, you should maintain a valid status if you are in Canada.

Depending on what stage you are in your application, you may have hit a stage where you are technically eligible for healthcare (in Ontario). There is a whole thread somewhere about this, but it sounds like basically once you pass certain steps in the processing (basically, middle of principal applicant approval for lack of a better description) you are "approved" pending certain checks (I think it has to do with security checks).

I thought I would post this little update regarding OHIP coverage for your spouse if he or she lands in Ontario and starts living here before her PR application is approved. Here is what I found out.

A lot of people on this board and elsewhere have said that Reg. 552 only applies to inland applicants. That's not correct. Here is what I've learned.

After my wife was denied coverage at the Service Ontario Center I wrote to the OHIP Eligibility Review Committee (OERC) requesting a review of the Service Ontario representative's decision. The letter explained my wife's PR situation and enclosed the denial document as well as the letter I got from CIC approving me as sponsor.

So, yesterday I got a letter from the OERC enclosing a consent form for my wife to sign which will allow OERC to contact CIC and make inquiries about the status of her PR application. I spoke with the people at OERC by phone today and they told me this.

I had always thought that the outland PR process was a two step procedure; sponsorship approval/denial and then PR approval/denial. Unbeknownst to me, according to the OERC representative, in outland applications there is an intermediary step that the visa office goes through behind the scenes where they take a preliminary look at each application to determine if the applicant appears to be eligible for PR. Unlike inland applications where this step is called Stage One Approval, they don't tell the outland applicant anything about this step. If you appear to meet all the PR requirements your application then moves forward and someone looks at it later in more detail. If you get this interim approval they call you an "AFP", (Applicant For Permanent Residence).

So, as far as OHIP goes, once you sign the consent form allowing the OERC to communicate with CIC, the OERC will send a letter to the visa office where your application is being processed and inquire as to whether you are an "AFP". If CIC confirms that you are an AFP you can get OHIP three months after the date that CIC determined you were AFP. You don't need to wait for the final determination of your PR status.

Hopefully that clarifies matters for anyone who, like me, came to Canada with his wife before she had PR approval.

 

[VGR1990]

I am in Alberta, so I don't know if that changes anything. The CIC website doesn't really help me like I wish it would. Looking at the page for extending visitor status, which fees would I pay?
Application $CAN
Multiple entry 100
Single entry 100
Visitor visa – maximum fee for family 500
Transit Visa (for less than 48 hours in Canada) 0
Extension of Authorization to stay in Canada as a visitor (temporary resident) 100

I would imagine to need to pay Single entry and Extension of Authorization to stay in Canada as a visitor, totaling 200?

 

[dedoz]

If you are outland, you should maintain a valid status if you are in Canada.

Depending on what stage you are in your application, you may have hit a stage where you are technically eligible for healthcare (in Ontario). There is a whole thread somewhere about this, but it sounds like basically once you pass certain steps in the processing (basically, middle of principal applicant approval for lack of a better description) you are "approved" pending certain checks (I think it has to do with security checks).

Thats an awesome news. Didnt know that and never knew that is even close to possible. Thanks for sharing!

 

[floomy]

Extension of Authorization to stay in Canada as a visitor (temporary resident) 100

 

[Lauralbank]

Extension of Authorization to stay in Canada as a visitor (temporary resident) 100