+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

Questions about Spousal Sponsorship Documents

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
Greetings all! :D

So my wife and I (We got married last month :D) is getting ready to send in the documents for Spousal Sponsorship and was wondering a few things. I am still waiting for my police clearance to arrive and we booked a medical so that we can send it all together, so we will probably be sending in the documents in November. I am applying inland.

1. My visitor visa expire in February... what do I do to extend that? Do I send the extension document with my Spousal Sponsorship documents or do I apply for that separately beforehand or how does that work? I saw online processing times is faster than paper, but the spousal documents seems to be paper only.
2. On the extension documents I saw they ask about how much money I have to support myself while I am here. Since we got married, we have been sharing cost of stuff, so what do I indicate in that field since we would be sharing costs as time goes on.
3. I read some places that I should apply for an open work permit with the Spousal Sponsorship papers? Is this wise and also does that count as an visa extension document too or how exactly does that work? Should I send in a visa extension document and a open work permit document together?

Thanks!
 

Rob_TO

VIP Member
Nov 7, 2012
11,427
1,551
Toronto
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Seoul, Korea
App. Filed.......
13-07-2012
AOR Received.
18-08-2012
File Transfer...
21-08-2012
Med's Done....
Sent with App
Passport Req..
N/R - Exempt
VISA ISSUED...
30-10-2012
LANDED..........
16-11-2012
All answers depend on - Are you applying inland or outland?
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
Rob_TO said:
All answers depend on - Are you applying inland or outland?
Oh woops! Sorry forgot to add that. I am applying inland.
Will add it to my first post too.
 

Rob_TO

VIP Member
Nov 7, 2012
11,427
1,551
Toronto
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Seoul, Korea
App. Filed.......
13-07-2012
AOR Received.
18-08-2012
File Transfer...
21-08-2012
Med's Done....
Sent with App
Passport Req..
N/R - Exempt
VISA ISSUED...
30-10-2012
LANDED..........
16-11-2012
1. No need to send any requests for extension. When you submit the application for OWP with your inland app, that will give you implied status for the entire duration of stage 1 processing (around 11 months). So all you need to do is stay in Canada. The second you leave Canada, your implied status would end.

2. No visitor visa extension needed, so this is not required.

3. The OWP application is your new status application. You should 100% definitely apply for OWP with inland application, in all cases.
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
Rob_TO said:
1. No need to send any requests for extension. When you submit the application for OWP with your inland app, that will give you implied status for the entire duration of stage 1 processing (around 11 months). So all you need to do is stay in Canada. The second you leave Canada, your implied status would end.

2. No visitor visa extension needed, so this is not required.

3. The OWP application is your new status application. You should 100% definitely apply for OWP with inland application, in all cases.
Thank you for your response. I have a few more questions regarding that.

1. I am valid to apply for an open work permit even though I am on a visitor visa since I am sending it with my spousal sponsorship documents, correct?

2. Do I send it as documents with my spousal sponsorship documents or do it online separately since it does not look like spousal sponsorship applications can be done online?

3. I saw there is a longer processing time for documents than online, is that a problem since my visitor visa expire in February?

4. Where do I actually get the Open Work Permit applications? Been looking around but can't seem to find it.

Thanks and sorry for the huge amount of questions, just want to make sure all my stuff is in order :)
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
93,070
20,599
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
1. Yes - you can apply for an OWP.
2. Include the OWP application with the sponsorship application.
3. n/a - you will be mailing everything in.
4. The OWP will be approved once your PR application has first stage approval. First stage approval is currently taking 11 months to complete.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
93,070
20,599
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
Sorry - misunderstood your last question! Just just the regular / standard work permit application.
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
scylla said:
1. Yes - you can apply for an OWP.
2. Include the OWP application with the sponsorship application.
3. n/a - you will be mailing everything in.
4. The OWP will be approved once your PR application has first stage approval. First stage approval is currently taking 11 months to complete.
scylla said:
Sorry - misunderstood your last question! Just just the regular / standard work permit application.
Thank you for your answers :D
I have been looking for the work permit application, but only one I could find is on this site: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/work.asp and that is when applying from outside Canada.

Also, I see the initial times is 11 months for inland... will that be a problem considering my visa expire in February? Will it take them 11 months to look at it?
 

Rob_TO

VIP Member
Nov 7, 2012
11,427
1,551
Toronto
Category........
FAM
Visa Office......
Seoul, Korea
App. Filed.......
13-07-2012
AOR Received.
18-08-2012
File Transfer...
21-08-2012
Med's Done....
Sent with App
Passport Req..
N/R - Exempt
VISA ISSUED...
30-10-2012
LANDED..........
16-11-2012
tynoxes said:
Also, I see the initial times is 11 months for inland... will that be a problem considering my visa expire in February?
No it's not a problem. If you submit the OWP application along with your inland PR app, you have implied status from the date you mail the application. Implied status last for as long as it takes to get the decision on OWP, so that would be approx 11 months later.

You just can't leave the country for any reason during this time, or the implied status ends.
 

charliem

Hero Member
Jul 26, 2013
351
75
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
27-09-2013
Doc's Request.
17-10-2013
AOR Received.
18-10-2013
File Transfer...
March 2014
Med's Request
March 2, 2015. AIP received same day
Med's Done....
March 3, 2015.
Interview........
"Decision made": 1 April 2015
tynoxes said:
Greetings all! :D

So my wife and I (We got married last month :D) is getting ready to send in the documents for Spousal Sponsorship and was wondering a few things. I am still waiting for my police clearance to arrive and we booked a medical so that we can send it all together, so we will probably be sending in the documents in November. I am applying inland.

1. My visitor visa expire in February... what do I do to extend that? Do I send the extension document with my Spousal Sponsorship documents or do I apply for that separately beforehand or how does that work? I saw online processing times is faster than paper, but the spousal documents seems to be paper only.
2. On the extension documents I saw they ask about how much money I have to support myself while I am here. Since we got married, we have been sharing cost of stuff, so what do I indicate in that field since we would be sharing costs as time goes on.
3. I read some places that I should apply for an open work permit with the Spousal Sponsorship papers? Is this wise and also does that count as an visa extension document too or how exactly does that work? Should I send in a visa extension document and a open work permit document together?

Thanks!
Doing the medical upfront will not wise. It will expire after 12 months and the current PR processing time is 19 months.
You're better off waiting until stage 1 is over.
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
charliem said:
Doing the medical upfront will not wise. It will expire after 12 months and the current PR processing time is 19 months.
You're better off waiting until stage 1 is over.
Ah dang, I did not think of it in that way :(
Is it best then if we cancel the appointments, if I even can? We did the booking and they send me to the places for the labs, but we havent done that part yet.
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
Also does this mean that it will be 11 months before I can get an open work permit?
So basically no work till then?
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
93,070
20,599
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
tynoxes said:
Also does this mean that it will be 11 months before I can get an open work permit?
So basically no work till then?
Yes - it will take around 11 months for the open work permit.

If you want to work earlier, you'll need to find an employer who is willing to give you a job offer. That employer will then need to obtain an approved Labour Market Opinion and as part of this process, prove no Canadian could be found for the role. If the LMO is approved, you can then apply for a close work permit tied to that specific employer. Unfortunately it tends to be pretty difficult to find employers who are willing to go through the time/cost/effort of obtaining an LMO - especially since approval is never guaranteed. You can read more about LMOs here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/employers/lmo-basics.asp
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
scylla said:
Yes - it will take around 11 months for the open work permit.

If you want to work earlier, you'll need to find an employer who is willing to give you a job offer. That employer will then need to obtain an approved Labour Market Opinion and as part of this process, prove no Canadian could be found for the role. If the LMO is approved, you can then apply for a close work permit tied to that specific employer. Unfortunately it tends to be pretty difficult to find employers who are willing to go through the time/cost/effort of obtaining an LMO - especially since approval is never guaranteed. You can read more about LMOs here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/employers/lmo-basics.asp
Thank you for the response Scylla, that gives us at least another option that we can look into.

Only questions then remain is:
1. Is it best I cancel my medical and get that done when they request it?
2. Where do I get the open work permit document?

Also with that latest response:
3. Can I apply for an open work permit and if I can find an employer willing to get an LMO for me, can I apply for that then too?
 

tynoxes

Star Member
Apr 10, 2013
73
1
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-12-2013
AOR Received.
05-01-2014
Med's Request
02-04-2015
Med's Done....
11-04-2015
LANDED..........
14-05-2015
tynoxes said:
Thank you for the response Scylla, that gives us at least another option that we can look into.

Only questions then remain is:
1. Is it best I cancel my medical and get that done when they request it?
2. Where do I get the open work permit document?

Also with that latest response:
3. Can I apply for an open work permit and if I can find an employer willing to get an LMO for me, can I apply for that then too?
Greetings all :D
Anyone have answers for my questions here?