General info regarding sponsoring spouse

[Keremy]

In advance, I apologize as I'm sure all these questions have been asked in the past but sifting through all the information on this site is very time consuming. I'm a Canadian citizen engaged to an American. I have found so much conflicting information that I'm not sure what is correct. My fiance is currently in the States and I am now back in Canada. He will be coming up for Christmas, and then back to stay permanently in April. We were going to have a summer wedding but because we cannot start paperwok until we're married we were considering a JP wedding in December so we could start the paperwork as soon as possible. Would a JP wedding look bad? I've never really cared about a wedding but we were worried it might look like a less genuine relationship compared to having an actual wedding. Also, I'm wondering if it's worth spending the money on an Immigration Lawyer. We're madly in love so I don't see why we would be denied but I'd be more than happy to spend the money if it would help our application a lot more. Last thing....(for now lol) processing times. I've read very different times. I'm wondering how soon he can work after we start our paperwork. And generally how long the entire process takes. I've read processing times are faster when filed outside Canada, but we do not want to stay apart. Thank you so much for any information you can help with.

[Leon]

Get together some good quality evidence to support your relationship claim, could be photos, emails, phonebills, something like that, even statements from family.  I don't think a quick wedding in december would look bad.  Not everybody has or wants a big wedding.

After you are married, you have two options of application, outland and inland.  If you apply outland, your spouse is officially living in the states but you can visit back and forth as you like.  Processing time first 7 weeks in Canada to approve sponsorship, then 3 to 9 months in Buffalo and then he gets PR and can officially move to Canada, work etc.  If you apply inland, your spouse is officially living with you in Canada, starting out on a tourist visa which you can apply to extend.  If you apply inland, you can apply for open work permit at the same time but it will not be issued until first stage approval which is approximately 6 months later.  It is not adviced to leave Canada while inland application is being processed.  PR takes longer with inland, 1-2 years.  One more thing about inland is that if you are refused, there are no appeal rights.  Outland has the right to appeal if it's denied.

If you decide to have a fast wedding in December and start sponsorship, it be faster because if you apply inland, you can not start your application until he comes back to stay with you in April.