Which visa office?

[pineywoods]

My wife is a Canadian citizen and I am a U.S. permanent resident and right now we are living together in the US. I have decided to move to Canada and she will be sponsoring me. On a side note, I have lived, studied and worked in Canada before, got married there and had my son there too.

If this is where the story ended, then I think the visa office my application for PR would go through is Buffalo, NY (correct me if I am wrong). However, I am a Bangladeshi citizen and Bangladeshi applicants apply through Singapore (again, correct me if I am wrong). On top of that, I am going on a temporary work assignment in Saudi Arabia (during which I hope the Canadian immigration process will be completed). Since my wife lives at home and never worked and most likely will not work in the future, I intend to show my income from Saudi Arabia as supporting evidence that I will not be on social welfare once I become a PR in Canada.

Now, which visa office would my application go through? I believe the processing times vary by visa office. Obviously, I would like to go through that particular office that has the fastest processing times but that will only be the case if I get to choose the visa office. Do I get to choose the visa office or is there some sort of criteria that determines the visa office and I have no choice whatsoever? If the latter, what is the criteria?

[Zouk Princesse]

As a US permanent resident, you have the right to go through the Buffalo office, and given your options, this would likely be the fastest.

[pineywoods]

Thanks for the reply. But could you tell me what exactly determines the visa office? Any link to official information is highly appreciated.

[mel_n]

Permanent resident applicants – Family and economic (federal skilled workers, Quebec skilled
workers, provincial nominees and business classes):  
R11(1) requires that all applicants for permanent residence (other than applicants who come
under Part 8 of the Regulations – Convention Refugees Abroad and Humanitarian Protected
Persons Abroad) must submit their applications to the visa office responsible for:
• the country where the applicant is residing, if the applicant has been lawfully admitted to that
country for at least one year; or  
• the applicant's country of nationality, or if the applicant is stateless, their country of habitual
residence other than a country where they are residing without having been lawfully admitted.

From the OP1 (Overseas Processing Manual) found here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/index.asp

[pineywoods]

Thanks a lot.

I have two more questions:
1. Do I, the person being sponsored, obtain all the documents such as medical and police certificate etc. and fill out the part 2 forms and hand it to my wife, the sponsor, so that she can submit it along with the sponsor's forms (part 1 forms)? Or do I have to submit them myself directly to the visa office only after the sponsor has been found eligible by CPC-M?

2. Since my spouse is sponsoring me, I understand that there is no income requirement that needs to be fulfilled. My wife did use to receive Child Tax Benefit but stopped in 2009 because she left Canada. She received no further financial assistance whatsoever from the Canadian govt. since then. But, since she does not work as I already mentioned, her total income in 2010 and also in 2011 has been 0. She did not file her Canadian taxes for 2010 and does not have a Notice of Assessment. Is the NOA a necessity or is it optional (but recommended)? If yes, she will file her taxes for 2010 and also for 2011.

On a side note, does anyone have an idea what SIN she will put in her tax return for me, her spouse, because I left Canada in 2009 and my temporary SIN expired on Dec 31, 2009?

Thanks a lot.

[annabruce]

Your wife is going to need to show somehow that she intends to resettle in Canada.  The fact that she is a citizen allows her to live out of Canada while the processing is completed, nonetheless she will need to show proof of her intent to settle in Canada.  Job offer, lease, etc.  How do the two of you plan on supporting yourself once you're in Canada?  Is your employment relationship in Saudi ongoing?

When my wife first arrived in Canada, I was told by Canada Revenue Agency to just use 000 000 000.  

[pineywoods]

Actually she is going back to live with her parents in Canada just for this purpose. So, that should not be an issue.

Through out our marriage of 3 and 1/2 years, I have been the income-earner for the family. I have tax records and pay stubs for Canada up to 2009 to show this and for US up to 2010 (and soon 2011 once the tax-filing season begins) to show further evidence.

Once I settle down in Canada as PR, I intend to find a job and continue providing for my family and have no intentions of taking any welfare from the govt. I completed my Masters from Canada (and have another M.A. from the U.S.) and that should further signal my employability in Canada to CIC.

Do you think the above will be enough or does my wife need to show more?

[annabruce]

Actually she is going back to live with her parents in Canada just for this purpose. So, that should not be an issue.

I honestly don't know if that is enough.  It likely would be if she submits the application after qualifying for a medical card in the province where you plan to live.

Wait for someone more experienced to answer this.  I'm not certain.

[mel_n]

The advice we got was that just by showing a rental agreement should be enough to show intent. I'm living outside Canada with my husband.

[sidkrose]

I honestly don't know if that is enough.  It likely would be if she submits the application after qualifying for a medical card in the province where you plan to live.

Wait for someone more experienced to answer this.  I'm not certain.

This is incorrect. I filed our application about a week after returning to Canada, and had no problem. As long as she has returned and her address is in Canada, it will not be a problem.

As for the tax info, if she does choose to file her taxes, she should attach a note saying that you are foreign and therefore have no SIN. If she does not submit and option C or notice of assessment, she should include a note stating why, and include other financial info for both of you, such as bank statements, your pay stubs, and plans of how you will support yourself (ex. if you will be staying with friends of family when you first get to Canada, or if you have savings, etc).