Hi everyone,
Quick question regarding a Canadian spousal sponsorship application (family class, outland).
Can the sponsor (a PR) leave Canada for about 6 weeks to visit their spouse after submitting the application but before receiving the AOR? The sponsor has been living in Canada for 2 years and will remain employed during the trip.
If 6 weeks is considered too long, would it be better for the sponsor to travel first for 6 weeks, return to Canada, and then submit the sponsorship application afterward?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
You won't be able to get a solid answer here, in that actual policy for PRs travelling is not explicit in terms of length of trips - 'short trips are okay' is what is written (paraphrased, but they do say 'short trips.')
So my opinion on having seen a few cases:
-better as a rule of thumb is to keep trips abroad under 4 weeks.
-enforcement tends to be spotty - if you limited it to six weeks, it might just not be caught (although period before AOR is perhaps more sensitive? We can only sort of read between the lines as to when they tend to look at the file)
-we do not know exactly how they handle - sometimes they send a letter, sometimes they may just wait and see if the sponsor returns, etc. If they do something, it's possible that it amounts to a pause that only gets lifted when the officer picks it up again.
To sum up:
-it might not get noticed, it might not get delayed, but if it does get delayed, no-one really knows how long it might be delayed for (it really could be unnoticeable, or you might not know until later). So no way to 'weight' the probability vs cost when no-one knows what either parameter is. (Sorry for geeky terms)
-if you wait until you return to submit, you won't have this risk at all. In addition, you'll have six weeks of time together to add to your 'proof of relationship' part of your application + some photos - which MIGHT be useful if your relationship/marriage is newer.
You have to decide, it's partly a function of how much of a rush you're in, your risk tolerance, and your ability to deal with worry while you wait.
The only specific advice I'll give: if this is an arranged marriage, I would
definitely wait until you return (more / more solid proofs of relationship). Less categorical, if your file is light on the factors I mentioned (time together, length of relationship, evidence of relationship, etc), then I'd seriously consider how much the extra six weeks improves your application - and I'd be more likely to go with that.
But just one opinion and your decision.
