Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[bartjones]

Bartjones, that was our plan. We have been in contact with KEB people who know how to send large sums of money. I was just worried on the Canadian end about such a large sum. Like would I be flagged and reported to tax authorities. I know my husband can bring in as much money as he wants tax free, but when the money goes into my bank account are there any questions asked etc....

I'm not sure about the implications of that kind of transfer. I don't think it would attract any tax consequences. It might be best to speak briefly to a Canadian tax accountant just to be sure.

 

[cometkim]

I have a question about upfront medical.
I'm submitting my outland application in Feb and thinking of getting medical a few week before.
My question is if CIC doesn't make a decision until Jan 2016 which will be a year from my medical, will they require another medical?
The total processing time for Manila is over 15 months, and I'm not sure if I should to provide upfront medical or not. I wouldn't want to spend another $250.
Please help!

 

[Rob_TO]

I have a question about upfront medical.
I'm submitting my outland application in Feb and thinking of getting medical a few week before.
My question is if CIC doesn't make a decision until Jan 2016 which will be a year from my medical, will they require another medical?
The total processing time for Manila is over 15 months, and I'm not sure if I should to provide upfront medical or not. I wouldn't want to spend another $250.
Please help!

You need to do an upfront medical. Do it as close as possible to when you actually submit the app.

Yes if your app takes a long time to process, CIC may ask you to to a brand new medical exam. Or they could extend your previous medical another year. It's all up to them.

And 15 months is NOT an average. It is more a worst case 80% time, meaning 80% of all applications through Manila are processed FASTER than 15 months. You should read the Manila thread to see people's current actual times, which I think are in the 10-month range. Korean apps through Manila have seen a much better processing time these days vs what they were a year ago.

 

[cometkim]

Thank you so much for your quick answer! I have another questions about visitor visa.
My working holiday visa will expire in Feb, and I need to apply for visitor visa before(Probably sometime in January). Do I need to mention that I'm applying for PR as a common-law partner and that's why I need to stay longer? We have been living together since Feb 2014 and I'm not sure if we are considered as common-law before we complete one year of cohabitation.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much for your quick answer! I have another questions about visitor visa.
My working holiday visa will expire in Feb, and I need to apply for visitor visa before(Probably sometime in January). Do I need to mention that I'm applying for PR as a common-law partner and that's why I need to stay longer? We have been living together since Feb 2014 and I'm not sure if we are considered as common-law before we complete one year of cohabitation.

No, you are only common-law for CIC and CRA tax purposes once you actually complete the 1-year cohabitation. Now you are just dating and trying to qualify for common-law.

However many people have included in their request for visitor status extension that they are in the middle of qualifying for common-law and will be applying for PR, and have been approved with 6 or even 12 months extension.

 

[shanerang]

I think your best bet is to just come back in March and tell CBSA that she is coming back for a visit. Have a return ticket for her. It's difficult to see why they would deny her entry in those circumstances.

Once you're here, you can marry, submit an outland PR application and thereafter apply to extend her visitor's visa. Once you've submitted the PR application, a visitor's visa extension should be pretty easy to get.

thanks for your answer bartjones and sorry for my late reply, I'm also wondering what is the best way we should go about doing this. I am not korean, dont know if that matters or not, should we do outland or inland? I've been reading many posters saying that outland is the best option, however the success rate is lower for being approved, we were initially thinking inland, any feedback would be great thankyou

 

[bartjones]

thanks for your answer bartjones and sorry for my late reply, I'm also wondering what is the best way we should go about doing this. I am not korean, dont know if that matters or not, should we do outland or inland? I've been reading many posters saying that outland is the best option, however the success rate is lower for being approved, we were initially thinking inland, any feedback would be great thankyou

I'm assuming you're Canadian and your wife is Korean. I would definitely do an outland application as it will get processed much faster. She does not need to be in Korea to submit an outland application, she can do an outland even if she's here in Canada as a visitor. Inland is just taking too long these days.

Whether you do it inland or outland has no effect on the success rate of your application. The same considerations apply to both types of application.

 

[shanerang]

I'm assuming you're Canadian and your wife is Korean. I would definitely do an outland application as it will get processed much faster. She does not need to be in Korea to submit an outland application, she can do an outland even if she's here in Canada as a visitor. Inland is just taking too long these days.

Whether you do it inland or outland has no effect on the success rate of your application. The same considerations apply to both types of application.

thanks for your fast reply again bartjones, you are correct i'm Canadian and she is Korean, we have heard inland will take a long time, we are really considering outland due to the speed, but we are concerned with the interview part, we have heard the inland dont require interview but the outland it would require one and it would have to take place in Korea, meaning my wife would have to leave the Country again, as I have work I'm unable to follow her, my wife would also like to ask: "what are the chances of them asking us for an interview (does this happen often in outland)if we do outland and if we do have to go to the interview, does she go alone or am I "the sponsor" also required to go, and are we able to request the interview to be changed to canada? or the time/date of the interview" thanks again bartjones, sorry if I'm overloading you with questions, we are fairly new to all this. If anyone has any insights please feel free to comment thanks in advance!

 

[bartjones]

thanks for your fast reply again bartjones, you are correct i'm Canadian and she is Korean, we have heard inland will take a long time, we are really considering outland due to the speed, but we are concerned with the interview part, we have heard the inland dont require interview but the outland it would require one and it would have to take place in Korea, meaning my wife would have to leave the Country again, as I have work I'm unable to follow her,

If you apply inland and they require an interview, it happens in Canada. If you apply from Korea and they require an interview it's held in Korea. Applying outland does not increase the likelihood that an interview will be required. If they have an issue with your application to the point that they request an interview it won't matter whether you've applied inland or outland. In short, in terms of an interview, it makes no difference whether you apply outland or inland.

my wife would also like to ask: "what are the chances of them asking us for an interview (does this happen often in outland)

Interviews are usually requested where they see a serious issue with your application that requires clarification. Typically this happens where they doubt the genuineness of your relationship or where there is a serious issue of criminality or health.

This thread has been around for a year and a half. There have been at least 12 different people apply from Korea. No one has been asked for an interview. Unless you have a serious issue, it is unlikely CIC will want one.

if we do outland and if we do have to go to the interview, does she go alone or am I "the sponsor" also required to go,

She can go alone or you can go with her. It's up to you.

and are we able to request the interview to be changed to canada? or the time/date of the interview"

I do not believe you can request that the interview be held in Canada if you applied outland. I believe you arrange a mutually agreeable date to do the interview.

Hope that helps.

 

[Rob_TO]

I do not believe you can request that the interview be held in Canada if you applied outland. I believe you arrange a mutually agreeable date to do the interview.

Right, with an outland app through Manila it's expected any interview would be in Seoul. Or perhaps you could request Manila to do the interview. But definitely not Canada.

But I don't think the process is "mutually agreeable". From what I've heard CIC basically tells you a date, and you need to meet it no matter what.

Of course unless an application has some glaring red flags, an interview should really not be required at all and no reason for the applicant to leave Canada.

 

[lengjai]

i just got en email from CIC stating that they are transferring process to ottawa from manila.

Please be advised that your file will be transferred to the visa office in OTTAWA. Should you need to
submit additional information or make any further enquiries regarding the Application for Permanent
Residence for your relative(s), you may contact the visa office by e-mail, fax, or in writing as follows:
CPC-Ottawa
CPC-Ottawa, NHQ - Centralized Processing Region
219 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON
K1A 1L1, Canada
Fax number: (613) 946-6059
Application Processing Times
Processing times vary. You can consult the processing times by visiting the CIC website at
ww w.c ic.gc.c a/english/information/times/perm-fc.as p. Please note that, given the high volume of
inquiries submitted to this office and Canadian visa offices abroad, status updates on cases are not
normally provided unless the processing time for a file is longer than the service standards outlined in
the CIC website.
When should I contact CIC?
You must notify Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) of any changes to your application.

is this a good sign? they started processing on july 2014 and i was hoping my wife will come in april 2015

 

[bartjones]

i just got en email from CIC stating that they are transferring process to ottawa from manila.


is this a good sign? they started processing on july 2014 and i was hoping my wife will come in april 2015

A couple other people in this thread had their files moved to Ottawa from Manila. It may mean that you get processed faster, who knows. Manila had been processing Korean PR apps fairly quickly the last little while.

You may be complete by April. If not, there is nothing to prevent your wife from joining you as a visitor and waiting out the balance of the process here.

 

[lengjai]

A couple other people in this thread had their files moved to Ottawa from Manila. It may mean that you get processed faster, who knows. Manila had been processing Korean PR apps fairly quickly the last little while.

You may be complete by April. If not, there is nothing to prevent your wife from joining you as a visitor and waiting out the balance of the process here.

Thanks for the reply. It would be good if she came for visitor visa but that means she has to get open plane ticket and we are worried she might have to go back to korea to finish the process.

 

[steveohan]

Hi folks,

I've spent a great deal of time reading through this thread on and off for the past few weeks. Thank you to everyone for sharing some great tips and advice.

My wife and I are preparing our docs, and I had a quick question about the different family relation certificates that are required. According to my wife, most of that stuff can be printed from home online by logging into some government websites. My question is, would it be alright if those marriage/family relation certificates are printed off this way? Or do we need to visit the dong/gu office to get these printed 'officially' by the government worker?

Thank you again!
Steve

 

[bartjones]

Thanks for the reply. It would be good if she came for visitor visa but that means she has to get open plane ticket and we are worried she might have to go back to korea to finish the process.

Yes, she would need a return ticket but you can always get a refund on a portion of it. We did that, and I think we ended up losing about $200 on the total ticket price.

Once she is here, if she has a PR application in process she will have little problem extending her visitor's visa until the process is complete.