ARGGGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! help~~

[justinly]

Hi!
Ive been spending over a week trying to get my fiance her permanent residence.  She is Japanese and currently living in Vancouver with me. I found the experience with immigration truly frustrating and consuming. Thank God I have found this site and forum.  It has helped me out immensely with many of my questions, but there was this one question I could not find any information on this site.

On the form IMM 1344 (application to sponsor and undertaking) --> Section C -> Question 6.

If you are sponsoring a member of the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class, do not complete b) and c); proceed to 7 immediately.

I am not entirely clear on what "Canada class" refers to. Actually, I'm not entirely clear about the entire question.

c) Do you wish to have the application for permanent residence of the person you are sponsoring processed at the visa office responsible for this country?
Yes?
No? --> The application will be processed at the visa office responsible for the country of which the person you are sponsoring is a national.

This question has me totally baffled. I literally want to shred my IMM1344 document into little snowflakes. Any help clarifying would be much appreciated by my finance and sanity. Thanks!

[Leon]

Question 6 is asking about address.  This is the difference between inland and outland application.  If you plan to do an inland application, you give your fiance's address as your address and you do not have to complete b) and c)

If you are doing an outland application, you would give your fiance's address in Japan, then would skip b) and c) because she would be living in her country of nationality and the application would be processed in Japan.

If your fiance was living in a 3rd country on some kind of visa, you would write an address there, answer b) yes and then have a choice for c) yes if you want to file the application through the 3rd country and no if you want it processed in Japan.

[justinly]

hi leon! thanks for the info.. i have just given up trying to figure out what the question means and im going to go by your input. so.. i guess im going to have to take a leap of faith in you. hehe.
your help was much appreciated!

[Leon]

Or you can call CIC at 1 888 242‑2100  I think you have to go through the first couple of menus, then you can press 0 to get a person.

[RobsLuv]

The reason this question says,"If you are sponsoring a member of the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class, do not complete b) and c) . . . " is because this same form is used for both inland and outland applications, and inland applicants are going to use their Canadian address anyway.  But applicants in Canada can also file outland applications - and it is that situation, in particular, where b) and c) of Ques #6 is applicable.   

You didn't say which type of application you are filing, but you need to know that it's possible for you to file to sponsor your fiancee via the outland process, even while she is staying with you in Canada.  If an outland applicant who is in Canada was initially admitted for at least one year, they are eligible to have their outland application processed at the overseas visa office that represents legal temporary residents in Canada (Buffalo), rather than having their application processed at the overseas visa office that represents their country of birth (Manila for your fiancee).  The advantage, of course, would be that if an interview was required, an applicant in Canada would only have to travel to Buffalo to attend, and Buffalo would also receive and process the passport once PR is approved. 

So, when this is an option, Ques #6 becomes very important.  First, the applicant's Canadian address is listed as the residential address.  The second question - if this address is not in the country of nationality of the person you are sponsoring, has that person been lawfully admitted for a period of at least one year in the country where he or she is living?  IF the answer is "Yes", you have the option to have the application processed at the visa office that represents that country (Buffalo for applicants in Canada) or opt to have the application processed at the visa office that represents the country of nationality. 

[justinly]

Hi Robsluv..
Thank you for the further clarification.. something more to chew on for me.
I am completing an application to sponsor a spouse for permanent resident. She has been admitted as a visitor and is allowed to stay 6 months where she will leave and come back again. I think I will be doing an "inland application".

Sorry, this is kind of off topic.. this leaves me wondering if there will be any complications with our processing if she only is admitted as a visitor and what if CIC tries to contact her or wants to interview her when she is overseas? Because we don't know exactly how soon or long this will be processed and be contacted. Will that have severe consequences for our application?

[Leon]

She should not leave and come back again.  When doing inland, it is not advised to leave while it's in process.  She should apply to extend her visit visa 30 days before it expires, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

[RobsLuv]

Leon is right - you can apply to extend her stay from within Canada using this application.  As long as the application is received by CIC BEFORE her current status expires, she can remain in Canada with legal status until a decision is made on the extension.  The alternative is to file the extension application, requesting an "initial work permit" WITH the inland PR application - but again, you have to get it to CIC before her current status expires.  If you choose the inland option she will have "implied status" until first stage approval, which happens approximately six months after the application is received by CPC-Vegreville.  The disadvantages to the inland process are that there is no right of appeal, an applicant should not leave Canada during processing because if they are refused re-entry they cannot complete the process (as it happens entirely within Canada) and the application will be forfeited, and it takes 12-18 months for an inland ap to reach final approval.  Being that your wife is in Canada, with legal temporary status, and is from a visa-exempt country, you might want to consider the outland process.  Processing timelines are significantly shorter than inland, there is a right of appeal, she can leave Canada without affecting the processing of the ap (and may have to do so if an interview is required).  There is no guarantee that she would be readmitted to Canada, but the PR ap would continue to process.  Also, if her initial visitor status was granted for a year, she is eligible to apply through Buffalo (as opposed to Manila).  Manila is actually finalizing aps faster than Buffalo is (4-6 months as opposed to 3-9 months for Buffalo), but if an interview was required, she could attend in Buffalo rather than Manila.  Either way, she can "land" at the end of the process by simply crossing the border into the States and coming back to Canada.  There's also new legislation in process that will allow outland applicants to "land" at an inland Immigration Canada office, as long as they have legal temporary status in Canada when approved for PR.