Cdn girl sponsoring dutch guy...inland or outland?

[sharifah14]

I had already asked this question in a previous post but I think I may have overcomplicated my question.
Basically I would like to know from those of you with first-hand experience...which would be better/faster/more economical for my boyfriend who is coming out of the Netherlands...and Inland or Outland spousal sponsorship? (We do have a common-law partnership). And does anyone know if the papers will be processed in Berlin or the UK?
Thanks xo

[Love_Young]

I would apply Outland.
None of them are better but Outland is generally faster and a bit more economical as you can visit and go home when need to. Inland you have to survive on only one income for at least 10 months. And if applying Outland, your application will go through Berlin.

[sharifah14]

Thank you so much for your response. Based on most of the comments on this forum we've both noticed that everyone seems to be suggesting outland instead of inland. What sucks is that my boyfriend and I made the move to Canada on April 28th because 2 immigration lawyers here in Canada had told us that inland was waaayyy faster. If we had known otherwise we could have started the outland process months and months ago while we were still in the Netherlands.
What a waste of time...

[Love_Young]

Well if you are going to apply inland I suggest that you do the following:
1. Gather all documents needed
2. Include an Open Work Permit (with all necessary documents for it) with the PR application
3. Make copies of the application and any other important documents
4. Get tracking on your application to be assured of when it arrived
5. Send off PR application with the OWP before his stay is due to expire

If you send the OWP with the PR application before his status expires and have proof that they received the application before it did (just in case it is needed) then he will be on "implied visitor status" during the duration of the application. If he receives AIP (both applicant and sponsor portions reach initial approval) then he will then be given the OWP in the mail. That will be his new status document until PR. You will not know if he is approved for AIP until 9-10 months after Vegreville receives the application. If you believe that you can document your relationship well, is straightforward, not worried about appeal rights and you can survive on one income for at least 10 months then go with Inland. Just make sure your husband either sends an OWP application with the PR application before his status expires to keep it valid for the duration of the process or that he applies separately and keeps extending his status. Staying in valid status is important so as to not to run into any delays or issues. Berlin is taking an average of 13 months for the whole process so Inland and Outland for your situation are essentially about the same time frame. If you are already together in Canada then maybe you should consider Inland after all. I say go with your gut and personal circumstances on this one. Good luck!

[sharifah14]

Thank you so much for your advice. Honestly everything you have told us today has been more helpful than ANYONE we have talked to (lawyers/family members/etc.) in the past year.
I think we may go the inland route just because my boyfriend is here and I feel that our case is pretty straightfoward. We are both young, have good degrees, have no criminal records/bad history, are from visa-exempt countries, and can prove our relationship.
I do have one last question. This is a list of what we have gathered to prove our relationship. We want to cover ALL areas because I would rather provide too much information then just not enough.
So far we have:
-photos: about 150 during all stages of our relationship (vacations, with family, with friends, during special occasions)
-a few emails (we emptied out our inboxs quite often so we only have 1 or 2)
- text messages from the beginning of our relationship
- some msn messages to each other (also emptied this folder a lot)
- 10 letters from close friends and family members stating that they knew about our relationship from the beginning until now
-birthday cards for each other/random written notes to each other
- rental contract from the Netherlands showing that we lived in our apartment for 3 years
- a shared bank account
- documents from the tax office in the Netherlands showing that we resided under the same address and that we filed for certain taxes together
- pay checks from each of our work which both show the same address

Do you think this will be enough to show that we were both financially and emotionally dependent on each other for the past 4 years? Or do you have any other tips/ideas for things which we could share? We do also have prsents which we had bought for each other but I don't think it would be useful to take pictures of these items because its hard to prove that they were bought as presents.
What do you think?

[coldgirl]

i would apply outland. European visa offices process their application alot faster.

[scylla]

If you haven't done so already, read the first post in this thread:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

It's a great summary of how to approach sponsorship and what to expect - and may answer the additional questions you have.

I would go outland as well simply due to processing speed. We submitted my husband's application outland (while he was living in Canada as a tourist) and it only took four months to process. We would have waited a minimum of five to six months longer if we had gone inland.

Note that the 13 month processing time listed for outland Berlin is NOT an average. Instead, this is how long it took them in 2010 to get through 80% of applications. This means that the average processing time is quite a bit lower. If you take a look at my husband's case as an example, he was processed in four months - but the official processing time for Buffalo is listed as 11 months.

Ultimately the inland/outland decision is yours...

Your evidence looks good to me. However I would save your emails going forward so that you have a few more to throw into your package.

[canadianwoman]

The evidence looks fine. Two of those letters from family/friends have to be affidavits for a common-law application.
If you apply outland, it will probably be faster, and your partner can stay in Canada 'visiting' you while it is being processed.

[cuds]

Hi there,

If I were you I would apply outland, it will go through Visa Office Berlin since your partner is from Holland (I am from Belgium btw, yay to more dutch people in Canada)

Your "evidence" list looks great. Personally I wouldn't exagerate with the pictures though. We send about 30, and never got "questioned" about it. Mainly pictures of us together with family and friends over the years. Oh and MSN conversations and emails .. we didn't do that either. We fully intended to add them, but in the very end took them out. As at the end of the day ... we don't really believe anyone is going to read them when you provide enough hard evidence.

We send mainly "facts" rental agreements, tax papers, benefit papers stating benificiary, letters from family and friends (let 2 be notarised) and added a copy of their passport or drivers license just to show that these are real people, furniture we bought together, copies of plane tickets (her visiting me, me visiting her, and trips we taken together), wedding invitations addressed to both of us.

We didn't have any problems at all!

Good luck!

[sharifah14]

Thank you so much for the great advice! Two of you mentioned affidavits or notarized letters...do you know where we could get this done here in Canada (obviously at the lowest price?). And also Cuds my parents are in Belgium right now so do you have any advice on where to get a notarized letter done in Belgium? Is this something that is quite common and can be done anywhere or will it cost a lot especially to get it done in English? They are currently located in Brugge.
I feel like after all this advice we will probably go for the outland route. What is really making our decision difficult is the fact that through the outland route my boyfriend won't get that OWP and if he wants to work in Canada during processing he will have to try and find a job here that is willing to hire someone out of country. Cuds did you find it difficult to find work in Canada or did you not try until you got your PR?

[lovely20]

Thank you so much for the great advice! Two of you mentioned affidavits or notarized letters...do you know where we could get this done here in Canada (obviously at the lowest price?). And also Cuds my parents are in Belgium right now so do you have any advice on where to get a notarized letter done in Belgium? Is this something that is quite common and can be done anywhere or will it cost a lot especially to get it done in English? They are currently located in Brugge.
I feel like after all this advice we will probably go for the outland route. What is really making our decision difficult is the fact that through the outland route my boyfriend won't get that OWP and if he wants to work in Canada during processing he will have to try and find a job here that is willing to hire someone out of country. Cuds did you find it difficult to find work in Canada or did you not try until you got your PR?

For notarized letters in Canada, you can find a notary public office near your place thru the phone directory.  They charge from 20-30 CND per document/affidavit/letter. 

[cuds]

Thank you so much for the great advice! Two of you mentioned affidavits or notarized letters...do you know where we could get this done here in Canada (obviously at the lowest price?). And also Cuds my parents are in Belgium right now so do you have any advice on where to get a notarized letter done in Belgium? Is this something that is quite common and can be done anywhere or will it cost a lot especially to get it done in English? They are currently located in Brugge.
I feel like after all this advice we will probably go for the outland route. What is really making our decision difficult is the fact that through the outland route my boyfriend won't get that OWP and if he wants to work in Canada during processing he will have to try and find a job here that is willing to hire someone out of country. Cuds did you find it difficult to find work in Canada or did you not try until you got your PR?

We got two letters notarised in Canada (sorry no experience from Belgium) One letter was from my partners sister and the other one was from my partners friend/co worker. It costed $40 to let both of these be notarised, so not too bad. I did not want to get into the whole translating from Dutch to English and than notarising part if my family would have done it.

I was in Canada already when we applied and stayed in Canada during the duration of the application. I did not work during this time.

Anymore info?! Feel free to PM me.

[Love_Young]

Note that the 13 month processing time listed for outland Berlin is NOT an average. Instead, this is how long it took them in 2010 to get through 80% of applications. This means that the average processing time is quite a bit lower.

It is obviously an estimate but the chances of it taking that long are still there. Also OP, your husband is not going to get the OWP during the processing of the whole application during Inland, he will only get that if he passes AIP stage which is after 9-10 months. Really as stated, the choice is yours. But most people are going to encourage Outland no matter how much you think of Inland. You just have to go based on your personal circumstances and what you're comfortable with. That is what we did and I don't regret my decision only because we went based on our instincts and circumstances which is the best thing we did.

[scylla]

I feel like after all this advice we will probably go for the outland route. What is really making our decision difficult is the fact that through the outland route my boyfriend won't get that OWP and if he wants to work in Canada during processing he will have to try and find a job here that is willing to hire someone out of country. Cuds did you find it difficult to find work in Canada or did you not try until you got your PR?

Yes - but keep in mind that he won't qualify for an OWP until at least the 9/10 month mark with an inland application. So even if you applied outland, he still wouldn't be able to work for quite some time unless he finds an employer.

Since the outland process is typically faster - there's a decent change he could be completely done as an outland applicant well before he hits the 9 to 10 month mark.

Good luck whatever you decide to do!!!

[canadianwoman]

And also Cuds my parents are in Belgium right now so do you have any advice on where to get a notarized letter done in Belgium? Is this something that is quite common and can be done anywhere or will it cost a lot especially to get it done in English? They are currently located in Brugge.

It can be English or French, since Canada is officially bilingual and the visa officers are all bilingual. A French notarized letter or translation may be easier and cheaper to get in Belgium than English.