Canadian married to Irish wanting to move back to Canada

[swatters]

Hi,

I am a Canadian, married to an Irishman and we are thinking of relocating back to Canada for a few years. He is a skilled worker (FAS qualified plumber) and a have a Secretarial Diploma, and also years experiance as manager of a racing yard. We also have one daughter who is born in Ireland.

We are thinking of moving to BC as this is where all my extended family lives.

Is there many complications with arranging for us to relocate? Has anybody dealt with this. I understand that because I am a Canadian citizen and we are married he should be able to come over, but over here in Ireland it's taken us 2 years to sort out me being allowed to stay, and even still it's constant visits to the immigration officer.  It was even more 'fun' when I had to renew my passport.

We are just curious as to how long the process could take and what complications coulds arise? Does he require a VISA? Has anybody been in a similar situation?

It is very hard to get answers to questions over here. There is no VISA office in Ireland, and the one in the UK that I get directed to, doesnt actually answer the phone, its a case of sending in an email and waiting 'between 1 and 3 months; for a response, very frustrating when you have plenty of questions!

Thank you for any help.

[Leon]

The immigration Canada website, sponsorship section, is at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp  There is some red tape for sure but hopefully it will not take 2 years.  You have a choice of a couple of different applications.

You can apply to sponsor him while you are both still in Ireland.  To do this, you need to prove that you both intend to move to Canada when he gets his permanent residency.  You can prove this by showing that you have a job offer, that you have a place to live etc.  Maybe the relatives can help with that.

You can apply to sponsor him with you officially living in Canada and him officially living in Ireland (referred to as an outland application).  If you do that, you do not have to prove that you are intending to move to Canada because you already did.  This application takes first about 7 weeks to approve sponsorship, then goes to London and takes another average 4 months.  After that, he gets his PR visa and can officially "land" and get permanent resident status.  While this is being processed, he can visit you or stay with you in Canada but if an interview is required, he would have to go to London.  He can not work in Canada during this waiting period.

You can also apply with both of you officially living in Canada (inland application), he on a visa waiver as a tourist basically.  You can apply for a work permit at the same time and he would get that at the same time as first stage approval which is at around 5 to 6 months and he would get PR after 12 to 18 months.  During the processing of inland, it's not advised to leave Canada since if for any reason he was refused entry to return, this application is gone.

Whatever you do, just make sure he stays legal.  If his visitor status is about to expire and he's still waiting for the file to get processed, he needs to apply to extend his visit visa if he wants to stay longer, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

[slainte13]

Folks thanks for this being posted with a reply, has really helped me as an Irish fellow with a Canadian wife. Heading over in March looking forward to it but was worried about all the red tape and such.

[jennifer345]

Hi There,

I'm a Canadian citizen from BC, living in Ireland.  My partner and I recently got married here in Ireland, and we are planning to move back home next Summer.  If you could give me any advice or tips at all on how the whole process went for you and your partner, that would be really helpful.  Did you move back together and start the immigration process from Canada, or were you seperated for the four months?  Just wondering. 

Thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to give me! 

Jennifer

[emmagail]

I am here in Canada, married to a Canadian, about to apply for PR

Do everything from Ireland, just make sure that if your husband has a DUI, that he undergoes Criminal Rehabilitation.

Because of the visa office not answering phones, and there is only a consulate in Dublin, is it possible to grab a RyanAir special and get a Travel Lodge for the night? Or drive over on the ferry? 

It is much quicker to do the citizen cert for the child here, it only took 4 weeks for my daughters to get theirs.

Best of luck