Inbound Sponsorship - She Must Live Here?

[Vaughn]

Hello

I am in a situation where i am waiting for my wife to move to Canada under a work permit. When she moves here i plan to sponsor her as "inbound". I called Immigration and they stated that to sponsor your spouse as inbound she has to first reside in Canada. I have not found Immigration very helpful in my dealings with them so far and i would like to hear other opinions. Is there anything i can do now as far as filing or initiating paperwork when she is still living abroad to start the inbound sponsorship process?

Your opinions please.

[Love_Young]

Yes immigration is correct, to file "inland" they would need to reside within Canada during the whole process. You could start filing out the forms now if you like but you can't actually send it until she is in actually in Canada.

[Vaughn]

Thanks for the reply Love_Young

[Vaughn]

Oh... i just re read your email and you said she has to stay here the whole application process..... is that for certain? I thought she could still visit in the interim. She would have a working permit.

[canadianwoman]

If she leaves Canada, she may not be allowed back in. And if she can't get back in, the inland application is over. If she does not need a TRV to get into Canada, most likely she will have no problem getting back into the country, but it is a slight risk in any case.

[Vaughn]

Thanks for your input Canadianwoman

She has an Indonesian passport (even though she is a PR in Singapore) so she would need a TRV to enter back into Canada. I am not clear on this point. Why would someone who has a valid work permit not be allowed back into Canada while they have an inbound sponsorship being processed? I must be missing something here....

[CharlieD10]

Because a work permit does NOT guarantee re-entry.  The only persons with a right to enter Canada are citizens and permanent residents of Canada.  Everyone else enters at the discretion of the border agents.

And persons being sponsored Inland are specifically told IT IS BEST NOT TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY. 

[Kaycee1]

Why don't you sponsor her outland?? She can still visit you in Canada, stay here as long as she has a work permit and still be processed outland, which gives you a lot more freedom for travel. That's what my husband did, he applied outland through the Paris office, he was here from Portugal on a work visa and stayed with me the whole time. We did a lot of travelling and never had any problems. And in most cases its processed quite a bit faster than inland!