Would it be easier to just withdraw the inland app and start an outland one? without PR status, one basically has no life here.
Dear Babyhangon,
Withdrawing an inland case to pursue an outland one may not always be in the best interest of applicants. There are a number of factors that would need to be considered before making such decision.
The sponsored person's national origin, for instance, is a determining factor on how long and outland case may take. While this may be an attractive option for Turkish citizens whose applications are processed in as short as 5 months, it wouldn't be a reasonable alternative for Kenyan citizens whose outland applications are processed in 32 months. In this particular case, even if the application gets transferred to a local office and an interview is required before the applicant is granted AIP, it would make perfect sense for the applicant to continue with the inland process as it would undoubtedly take less time. What may be a very long 2 year wait for some, may also be a relatively short amount of time for others. In matters of immigration, and as proposed by Albert Einstein in his Theory of Relativity, time is a relative concept.
The good news is that once you get AIP, life can be much more enjoyable and productive. However, life could certainly be enjoyable and productive even before that, and I say this from my very own first hand experience as an immigrant to the US, first, and more recently Canada (by the way, I am the sponsor in our inland case). Those infamous processing times, which many refer to as "waiting" times, shouldn't be reduce to just that, waiting. I would rather prefer to refer to that period as "preparation time", as it gives the new immigrant (the sponsored person, of course) a very valuable opportunity to get ready for what is to come.
Have you, new immigrant, ever tried to get a job in Canada with little success because of lack of Canadian experience? Unfortunately you will hear that a whole lot more than you ever thought you would, regardless of your academic preparation and professional experience. However, during the "preparation period" you could get a volunteer (non-paid) position in the industry of your interest, which would give you the much needed Canadian experience, not to mention that it would help you enlarge your social and professional networks. (Yup, you can do that without an OWP since it is not work.)
What about brushing up your communications skills? Free, and almost free, English and French classes are administered by local school boards all over Canada, and many new immigrants would benefit from this type of activity.
Also, in one of the paragraphs above I used a key word in the Canadian job market: networking. For those new to the country it will probably be a huge surprise to find out that the real job market in Canada is
hidden. Only a tiny fraction of available jobs are advertised, and most positions are filled via networking. (This was tremendously challenging for me when I first arrived as the job market in the US behaves quite differently). What to do? Easy: become a master networker. That takes time and skill, but it can certainly be learned.
There are many more things that I could mention here but, as you can see, a proactive and creative approach may help sponsored partners hit the ground running once they are eligible to work, study, etc.. There is life before the PR, and the sooner sponsored partners embrace it, the better!
S.
Immigration Forum
