Which visa office?please help!

[Zagalo]

Hey guys! i am a citizen of Cameroon, i received my permanent visa in May 2010 from Beijing office, China , i became permanent resident of Canada in August 2010 , then i returned to China where i continue to work i will definitely go back to Canada to settle at the end of this year 2011.Meanwhile , my girlfriend who was in Cameroon joined me here in China in December 2010, we are planning to get married at the embassy of our country in China in March and i plan to sponsor her immediately after i return to Canada , my questions are the following:
-Given the fact that she was on a visitor visa when she came to see me in China ( less than one year validity ),but her visa will be extended for a year when her previous visa expires, will her application be accepted to be processed in Beijing? or MUST we submit her application to the visa office responsible for our country?.
- I really would like to submit her application in Beijing given the short processing time there but i am confused about the regulations concerning sending application to a visa office different from that of your country of citizenship.
-Must someone hold a visa of at least one year when entering a foreign country to be able to send his/her application at the Canadian visa office opreatingin that country?
THanks to shed light!

 

[CalVdS]

Hi ZAGALO,
in the CIC instruction guide it is clear: "
Visa Office requested for the processing of your application: You must select and write the name of the Visa Office which serves:

•your country of nationality; or
•the country in which you are residing, provided that you have been lawfully admitted to that country for at least one year

This means the choice is yours.
You know that at the same time you have to apply for sponsorship, right?
Check out the procedure on CIC's website (I'm sorry, I am apparently not allowed to post links but follow "immigrate" "sponsor" and "spouse" ) for I am no expert on family sponsorship (I'm applying as a FSW)

Good luck!
Kris

 

[Zagalo]

Thanks for your reply Kris!
well i know what u mean but where am confused is at the level of :
["provided that you have been lawfully admitted to that country for at least one year"]
Does it mean that at the moment someone enters a foreign country , he /she should hold a visa /residence permit of that country for a validity of at least one year? or is it that after living legally in the country for a year someone can submit his/her application to the visa office operating in that country?
I really would not like to see my application returned because of the wrong choice of the visa office
Cheers!

 

[CalVdS]

OK, I think I know what you mean. Now, will your fiancé be residing in China after you move to Canada? If she stays in China after you leave, she will have been legally in China for over a year in Dec 2011 so it shouldn't be a problem to apply in China. If however, she will go back to Cameroon, she should apply there since then she won't be residing in China anymore.
I understand your concern about "legally admitted for one year" since it is normally not possible to reside in a country on a visitor's visa (even if you live there for months, you should always have an official residence in another country), so I take it her first visa will not count.
Anyway, your safest bet is always the VO responsible for your country of course. Are processinbg times so much longer over there? I think family class has priority over other immigration classes.
Hope it helps,
Kris

 

[Rinnerz]

Thanks for your reply Kris!
well i know what u mean but where am confused is at the level of :
["provided that you have been lawfully admitted to that country for at least one year"]
Does it mean that at the moment someone enters a foreign country , he /she should hold a visa /residence permit of that country for a validity of at least one year? or is it that after living legally in the country for a year someone can submit his/her application to the visa office operating in that country?
I really would not like to see my application returned because of the wrong choice of the visa office
Cheers!

I've highlighted the correct interpretation in bold above. "Lawfully admitted for at least one year" means exactly what it says, i.e. when she entered she would have had to ALREADY have a visa or permit allowing her to stay for 1 year. If it permitted her to stay but for less than 1 year and she just got her status extended, it would not count.

So if she's currently living in China BUT was not originally admitted for at least 1 year when she first entered, she'd have to have her file processed in her home country's visa office, not Beijing. There are plenty of older posts lying around on these forums where people have asked the exact same question and been given the same answer, if you wish to confirm elsewhere.

 

[Zagalo]

Thanks Guys , for the inputs , in fact , i thought it wise to use the advantage of fast procesing in Beijing , on the CIC website it is written 4 months , while for the visa office responsible for my country of Nationality it is 16 months.
I thought of the posiibility of leaving her in China on a chinese student visa valid for a year when go back to Canada and within this time, sponsor her .But if she had to have at least a 1 year visa before entering China i think i will have no other choice but to send her back home to apply
any other inputs?
cheers!

 

[waitingintz]

As I understand it, if your fiance is in Chine on a student visa valid for a year, she could apply through Beijing... but you'll have to wait with the application until she has the visa (can't apply on her current visa). Not sure when you would be able to get the student visa but that will determine whether it's worth waiting for or not.

Another consideration is that if you go through Beijing and it takes longer than expected she may have to re-enter for an interview. If for some reason her china visa request is rejected at that time you're whole application would be thrown out. Remember also that the times listed on the website don't account for all applications - your's could take longer. Especially when you are actually a resident/citizen of another country, the background check may take longer than normal.

A bit of a risk but understandable for avoiding a slow visa office if it's possible.

 

[Zagalo]

Yeah buddy i kind of follow what u said , but my doubt remains when it comes to the kind of visa she used to enter China , so do u guys mean that even if i extend her stay by getting her a student visa she won't be able to apply in Beijing office because she wasn't admitted on at least a one year visa when she entered China? or is it normal that after extending her stay thus at the moment of applying she would have already spent more than a year here , she can logically apply in Beijing?
It' s a little weird because i myself when i came to work in China in 2006 , i was not admitted on a long term visa , it is here that my employer extended my stay and i applied for Canadian immigrant visa in Beijing and got it after living in China for more than 3yrs ,China doesn' t give a year visa to people to enter the country even students do extend their visas only after entering the country on a short visa. so does someone absolutely needs to have a long stay visa in his passport when entering another country in order to be able to apply in the Canadian visa office of that country ? that's my doubt !
Cheers!

 

[canadianwoman]

Are the Chinese authorities extending these short-term visas, or are they giving you new visas? If your girlfriend entered on a short-term visa, but then enrolls in school and is issued a student visa good for a year or more, she can apply through Beijing.
The meaning of "lawfully admitted for at least one year" does not mean that you just have to live in the country for one year. You have to have a visa that is good for at least one year, but as soon as you enter on this visa you can apply through Beijing. You do not have to live in China for a year first.

 

[Zagalo]

Thanks Canadianwoman , yeah in case she is enrolled at a school here , she will be issued a new visa , a student visa good for a year meanwhile, before i leave China for Canada, she will be getting her visitor's visa extended because we can prove the relationship between us to the chinese authorities , so do u mean that once she has a student visa good for a year she can apply in Beijing? even though she first came on a visitor's visa?
thanks
cheers

 

[canadianwoman]

I think so.

 

[waitingintz]

so do u mean that once she has a student visa good for a year she can apply in Beijing? even though she first came on a visitor's visa?

Yes, she must actually have a student visa valid for at least one year before she can apply through Beijing but she can apply as soon as she gets it (she will have to include a copy of the visa in the application)

 

[Zagalo]

Thanks guys for your inputs , really helpful.

 

[missmini]

check this article; it's exactly related to ur question:

http://www.cicnews.com/2011/01/understanding-r11-visa-office-submit-application-canadian-permanent-residency-01822.html

i hope it's the Beijing office for u, it looks that they r so fast

 

[Zagalo]

Thanks Missmini ,
i have read this thread before and i think it is just like guys said before , once she gets her student visa , she can apply through Beijing office.
Believe me Beijing is pretty fast! i got my permanent resident visa there , that's why i am also struggling to sponsor my spouse from there
Cheers!