Several questions

[svl]

My husband and I are moving to Canada in April, and I have so many questions about the application to become a permanent resident there.  He is Canadian, and I am from the US.  We were married in the US as he is a dual citizen, and we have a daughter together.  We won't be sending in the application for me to become a permanent resident until we arrive in Canada.  Here are my questions:

1.  In the airport, what do we tell customs about why I'm there?
2.  Before we leave the US, is there anything I need to get here for the application?
3.  If my application isn't approved until after 6 months have passed, do I need to leave Canada, or is it okay for me to stay?
4.  My husband will not have a job right away when we get to Canada.  Will he still be able to sponsor, or do we need a co-sponsor?

Thank you.

[next_Step]

My husband and I are moving to Canada in April, and I have so many questions about the application to become a permanent resident there.  He is Canadian, and I am from the US.  We were married in the US as he is a dual citizen, and we have a daughter together.  We won't be sending in the application for me to become a permanent resident until we arrive in Canada.  Here are my questions:

1.  In the airport, what do we tell customs about why I'm there?
2.  Before we leave the US, is there anything I need to get here for the application?
3.  If my application isn't approved until after 6 months have passed, do I need to leave Canada, or is it okay for me to stay?
4.  My husband will not have a job right away when we get to Canada.  Will he still be able to sponsor, or do we need a co-sponsor?

Thank you.

1- I don't think you need to tell them anything othe than you are visiting your husbands family. but I am sure some experts might disagree on that.
2. your criminal record check
3. you are allowed to stay in canada, but you must make sure your staus is legal at the time they issue you your PR. applying for an open work permit or an extension to your visitors status helps
4.tough question I think he needs to prove he can support you.

[RobsLuv]

You'll find most of the information you need at the US2Canada informational website . . . especially read through the info on Visitor Records at the Visiting tab. 

You really don't have to wait, and shouldn't, until you move to Canada to file your application. The only reason for doing that would be because you intend to file inland, and I seriously don't recommend that, ever, for US citizens.  You don't have to file inland in order to stay with your spouse in Canada during processing.  As long as you keep your temporary status current while you're waiting for the application to be approved, you're able to stay in Canada with the same status you'd have with an inland ap in process . . . filing an inland PR application does not give you any special status!!  You should go ahead and file an outland application ASAP, you can expect to have your PR status that way within about 6 months time, instead of having to wait for 12-18 months.  You'll understand more once you read through the info on the website, but feel free to email me if you have any more questions.

[Lia]

1.  In the airport, what do we tell customs about why I'm there?
2.  Before we leave the US, is there anything I need to get here for the application?
3.  If my application isn't approved until after 6 months have passed, do I need to leave Canada, or is it okay for me to stay?
4.  My husband will not have a job right away when we get to Canada.  Will he still be able to sponsor, or do we need a co-sponsor?

Hi SVL! I was in a kind of similar situation... Coming to Canada to stay with my husband but no sponsorship started yet. So, I'll try to answer according with my experiences. Hope it will help you.

1. I told at the Customs that I was here to visit my husband and meet his family, spend the Hollidays with them, and also told we were going to apply for sponsorship (outside Canada though). Since I was travelling by myself, I took with me an invitation letter, similar to the one sent to the Consulate when I applied for a visitor visa, but it was not required by the officer. He asked me a few questions and gave me 6 months to stay in Canada.

2. I brought my criminal checks from the countries and states I had lived in, documents (birth certificate, ID from my country, etc), and proofs of relationship such as e-mails, MSN chats, plane tickets from trips together... Basically everything that was missing for our application to be complete.

3. Since your husband will be going to apply for sponsorship inside Canada, I believe you will have an "implied status" and will be legal to stay in the country until your process is finished. My case is different, I am inside Canada but applied outside (already approved in Mississauga, yay!) and I will have to extend my stay in case my process is not finished until May.

4. I will pass it. Don't know the answer.

Good luck!