Applying from the US

[Lukester]

Greetings,

Here we go. It's kind of complicated.
I am Canadian my wife is American. We were married in Nov 2002 in Winnipeg MB. My wife and I kept renewing her visitors permit for a couple of years and never started the Permanent Residence application due to Financial hardship. My wife went to visit Family in 2005 for christmas and on her way back was refused entry back into Canada at the Emerson Border. We have been living In San Diego and want to start the process for her to immigrate to Montreal Quebec. We have a successful online business. So do you think there will be a big problem Due to her denied entry from 2005. I am assuming that I will have to go back to Canada before my wife and be apart for a while. Is this correct? If so when should I leave to come bacik to Canada, if we want to start the process in February of 2008.

Thanks

[thaiguy]

You didn't mention why your wife was denied entry.  That's kind of important.

[Lukester]

She was denied entry because we hadn't started the immigration process. The Lady at the border told her that she couldn't re-enter Canada even for a visit until the immigration paperwork was sent in and processed. She told my wife it could take up to 14 months and that was back in December of 2005.

[thaiguy]

If that were true, then anyone who wanted to visit Canada wouldn't be able to because they "hadn't started the immigration process."

It sounds like your wife was denied because you got married and she then became someone who wasn't "visiting" anymore.

That's fine.  I only asked to see if she was inadmissable.  And it seems she's not.

You can go back to Canada at any time to start the process.

Good luck.

[Lukester]

So do you think they would allow her back in with me at the same time or should I go back first and start the process and then have her come in to the country?

[thaiguy]

Start the process first.

[tamee]

time line is much faster to start the process and have it processed out of country rather than wait til you are in country.

[hypnotic8]

Ok, if you are a Canadian citizen you don't need to go back to Canada to start the application. You can sponsor your wife from outside the country. If you are a PR of Canada you can only sponsor your wife if you are in Canada. So you can pay the immigration fees and take the receipts with you when you cross the border with your wife. This way you'll have proof that you applied for sponsorship and you should be fine. At the border don't forget that your wife is just a visitor and she has to show strong ties to her country and that she intends to go back to the States if her application gets denied.