sponsor my wife

[calcal]

Hi! I am a resident of Toronto and my wife is a resident of Hong Kong, my wife and I just got married last month in Vancouver. The reason that we got married in Vancouver is because my wife was divorced outside of Canada before and if we marry in Ontario, we need to submit a lawyer opinion letter to the Service Ontario to prove that the previous marriage of my wife had been terminated, and it takes about 6 months or more to process before the marriage license issued. The marriage ceremony was just a civil ceremony and none of our friends or relatives attended. Will this cause any troubles to my case? Also, my wife currently working in              Toronto with a working visa and it will expire in May this year, and we don't know whether the working visa will be extended or not! If her visa will not be extended, will she be asked to leave Canada even I submit the sponsorship application? She entered to Canada with the working visa, can she stay or re-enter in Canada while our application is processing if the working visa expired? When Should I submit the application? Now or after knowing her visa status?

Thanks for the advise

[klovek]

im soooooooo worried. IM A CANADAIAN CITIZEN IN CANADA .its so unfair to me and my husband because we got a letter from the embassy on jauary 14.2008. asking to re-fill  the SECTION C of the sponsor forms which we did and send it to them on january 21.2008. later on febuary 06,2008. my husband recieved another letter form the embassy saying they havent recieved nothing from us when we have proof of TCS mail.but re-send the documents again on febuary12.2008. NOW we are worried if they  even recieved it the second time . Our case is getting delayed because of the irresponsibility in the islamabad embassy of canada.Its been over 7months now 1 MONTH GOT WASTED..................................


PLESE TELL ME WAT WE CAN DO WE ALSO E-MAILED THEM

[graham]

they always want to know if family attended weddings and they will want to know why no-one else was there,you may want to get letters from your families stating they are aware and in support of your union and could not attend for unsaid reasone-lots of pictures will help I think but it might be worth calling an immigration lawyer-they usually charge a 50-100$ counsiltation fee and will answer your questions,better safe than sorry-good luck to you both

[AMB]

Calcal-

If you have lots of other information and proof of your relationship, it doesn't matter that you had a civil ceremony, how little people attended, if your parents were there etc etc.  When you submit the application, you can send a letter of explanation about why you chose to get married this way, and tell them if you have any plans for the future to do a bigger wedding or reception.  Anyway, just collect ALL the evidence of trips, correspondence, letters of support, proof that your lives are "combined" like joint leases, mortgages, insurance, bank accounts, beneficiary etc, and the officer will see your relationship is "genuine and continuing" despite your simple wedding.

Also, you should submit the application soon, and put in an application for an open work permit at the same time.  Then, at the first stage of approval (6-7 months from time of app), she'll get an open work permit.  Also, once the application is in, you can make an application to extend her stay in Canada, and change the conditions from work permit to visitor, with the reason of her staying with you during the processing of the sponsorship application.  It WILL be granted, and she won't be removed.  As long as she maintains legal status, she can remain here during the whole processing.

You should submit the application as soon as you are able to collect everything on the Document Checklist.  Even if you don't have things like the marriage certificate or criminal records, you can send the application now, and send accompanying documents later.

You don't need a lawyer- your case sounds pretty straightforward.  Since you're in Toronto or Vancouver, you should easily be able to locate a settlement agency where someone can help you with the forms for free.