Which application do we use? Living in Canada or Living outside

[Boredstiff]

I am a Canadian citizen, my Fiancee from Mexico is coming here this month to get married.

After which we will send our "Sponser a Spouse" Application from within Canada. While the application is being processed, she will live with me in Canada.

So should we use the application for a sponser living inside Canada? If she is here as a visitor? (she will stay until we have confirmation)

"If your spouse, partner or accompanying dependent child lives with you in Canada, use the Application for Permanent Residence in Canada—Spouse or Common-law Partner."


Thank You

 

[mitamata]

You can file either of the applications, it's your choice which one you will do. Inland applications normally take much longer than outland though. The process is slighty different as well, so choose carefully.

The main differences are, you can not appeal a decision on an inland application. If an interview is needed, it will be held in Canada. If your wife can't get to it, they can refuse the application. That's why it's important that you only file an inland application if you know she will be able to stay in Canada until it's done processing, which will likely be at least a year.

Personally, I would recommend an outland application. Mexico City is currently processing them in 5 - 13 months, so odds are you'll be done with it sooner. But, if an interview will be needed, she will have to travel there to attend it. So if that's not an option for you, then obviously go with inland.

I would recommend doing a search on this forum for "inland outland" and reading the threads that come up. This has been discussed many times before.

 

[Boredstiff]

Thank you for your quick response. I understand the differences now.

You say the processing time for the inland application is usually at least a year. But the website says 5-6 months. (I actually recall it saying 6-8 before). I guess this is that "First Stage Approval" at Vegreville. Which we cannot count on.

I don't think the risk of flying to Mexico City is a very good option as she is 5 weeks pregnant at this time.

I think we will go for the inland application.


Does anybody know the success rate of legit Spouse or Common Law Partner Class PR applications? (high-low)


Thanks

 

[Leon]

The website only gives the time for inland first stage approval. First stage approval means she can get an open work permit if you applied for one and possibly that she can get health care coverage which is important if she is pregnant. You would have to check on that with the health services in your province. The average for first stage approval with inland is sometimes 5-6 months and sometimes 6-7. Getting the actual PR happened for one couple here in only 10 months, others 18 months and still waiting.

Outland would take a month to approve you as a sponsor and then in Mexico, average 6 months to get PR.

 

[Boredstiff]

About the open work permit. So we can send that along with the Sponser a Spouse application.

Is it the kind of thing where they would grant you a open work permit if the PR was going to be accepted?


That would be unreal if we could get that for the health care as you said.


Thanks

 

[Leon]

If you apply inland, you send in one package all the sponsorship forms and application for PR, an application to extend visit visa in case the first stage approval takes longer than her 6 months visit visa and an application for an open work permit and write on it "to be granted at first stage approval".

You are right that first stage approval means that they are planning to approve her for PR. Send in a lot of good data about your relationship. The most common reason for people to be denied or having to wait longer is that immigration is questioning the relationship. If an inland application were to go bad, what happens is that they would forward the file without first stage approval to the local CIC office which would then call you for an interview but from what I've heard, not any time soon so that is not something you want.

 

[Boredstiff]

Thanks Leon, we plan to send allot of information about our relationsship eg. e-mails, flight tickets, pictures, ultrasound

Regarding her criminal check, originally I thought she need to get it from Mexico, but since we are applying inland I think we need something from the police authorities here in BC? She asked the police in Tijuana for fingerprints, they told her they have no special paper that they give to her, rather they do it simply as a favor for immigration purposes.(She did end up getting some fingerprints and "criminal paper"" although I do not know if they are relevant)

I think the important things she needs to bring with her are a translated birth certificate(from what I understand, does not have to be certified), and proof of our relationship.

 

[Boncuk]

She has to have a police certificate from any country she has lived more than 6 months in the past 10 years. Sometimes they even ask for others for any particular reason. See appendix A

 

[Boredstiff]

She has to have a police certificate from any country she has lived more than 6 months in the past 10 years. Sometimes they even ask for others for any particular reason. See appendix A

Are you sure you have to for an inland application as well? Since the person would be living in Canada, it seems they want you to go to the police authorities here.

 

[Leon]

Yes, they want every country you have lived in more than 6 months. Just because she's in Canada now doesn't mean she doesn't have a criminal record somewhere else.

 

[Boncuk]

I suggest you read the Appendix A again.. it clearly states that.

 

[Boredstiff]

OKay but I guess we could just send the letter that is provided, and not have to go down there.

 

[Leon]

You normally do not have to go to a country to get a police clearance from there. Imagine how expensive it could be for people who've moved around a lot. Normally you can get a police clearance through the mail. If she got a letter from the police in Mexico saying that she does not have a criminal record there, that letter is her police clearance.

 

[RobsLuv]

There's no guarantee that she would be eligible for healthcare - it would depend on her status in Canada and which Province you're in. As you know, healthcare is provincial. In addition, if she doesn't get "documented" status coming in to Canada, which happens sometimes when someone is coming from a visa-exempt country, and you file an inland application through Vegreville, it will be transferred to a local office for processing without getting first stage approval (which is what normally comes in 6-7 months or so). At that point the application can sit for up to 2 years without movement, depending on how backlogged your particular local office is . . . with no option for a work permit and probably no healthcare either. I know someone from a visa exempt country who filed inland and she is still waiting, after 4 years and 4 months, for finalization of her application. She only got first stage approval a little over a year ago - before that she had no healthcare and no work permit for all that time. This is happening more and more often. I really encourage you not to get caught up in inland when you don't have to.

Visa exempt nationals are almost always better off filing outland applications - don't get tempted by the work permit option on inland, because a visa office like Mexico City can finalize an application for PR in about the same amount of time that it takes a normal inland application just to get to first stage approval and the work permit. And, of course, as soon as she has landed status, she can work and have healthcare. In the meantime she can stay in Canada with you as a visitor - still without a work permit and probably healthcare, but with Mexico's processing timeline, it won't end up being really that much longer than waiting for AIP on an inland ap - and she'll still have the option to leave Canada during processing without forfeiting the application.