Bringing my Chinese wife back home to Canada

[Lionbear777]

Hello everyone. First of all, I just made my account, so I apologize if this is a common question or if I'm posting this in the wrong forum.

If there is a FAQ or a more suitable forum to post this question in, please let me know and I'll remove this post. I don't want to break any rules!

That aside, my question is a very general one: How do I start the process of bringing my Chinese wife back home with me to Canada? I understand that the virus isn't making things easy, and I'm not in an immediate rush - I expect the process to take at least a year (?). Some sub-questions I have are:

1. What path should we be taking? (Should she apply for a tourist visa so we can first visit? Should we just go straight for a sponsorship?)
2. What sort of resources can I be using to research the correct process/requirements? (there is so much information out there, I'm very overwhelmed and I want to do this correctly and legitimately).

Thank you so much for any insight and help, and I appreciate your patience if this is an overly-asked question. Again, I don't mean to break any rules for this forum, so if I've erred in posting this here, please point me in the right direction!

Some basic info that may help to get this process rolling:

• We're newly married (just got our Chinese marriage certificate in the end of May)
• We've been together almost 4 years (we have pictures that document our relationship and many friends who would be willing to vouch for us)
• We're both working in Beijing (my wife is a kindergarten teacher at an international school, I am a manager/lead teacher for a chain of training centers)
• I'm a Canadian citizen, originally from Ontario
• My wife is a Chinese citizen
• I've been in Beijing for about 8 years now, though I visit Ontario once every year
• My mom (in Canada) has a house that I stay at every summer when I visit
• My wife's English is very good (reading, writing, and listening)
• I have no primary assets in Canada, though I do have active bank accounts with almost no debt (under $5000 CAD on a mastercard)
• I have some savings but I am currently working on adding to it
• My wife has savings of her own (perhaps around $20,000 CAD)
• We intend to live with my mom as her caretaker, eventually getting our own house
• We also both intend to work (she as a teacher or daycare worker, my possibilities are a little more open ended)

 

[ryester]

1. Outland sponsorship
2. Following the instructions from IRCC

 

[Western Mountain Man]

Don't waste your time and money on a tourist visa..... Slim to no chance for that.

Outland sponsorship is the best way to go since she does not already have the travel visa. Make sure you read
and understand the application guide completely. Be open and honest and don't hide anything then you might
have a good chance. Since your wife is from the mainland you should expect delays and roadblocks due to past
history and especially now with all the virus issues. It could take one year or longer.
Are you confident she would like it here in Canada?

 

[Lionbear777]

1. Outland sponsorship
2. Following the instructions from IRCC

Thank you for the direct response. I appreciate it. I'll start looking into it ASAP. Cheers

 

[Lionbear777]

Don't waste your time and money on a tourist visa..... Slim to no chance for that.

Outland sponsorship is the best way to go since she does not already have the travel visa. Make sure you read
and understand the application guide completely. Be open and honest and don't hide anything then you might
have a good chance. Since your wife is from the mainland you should expect delays and roadblocks due to past
history and especially now with all the virus issues. It could take one year or longer.
Are you confident she would like it here in Canada?

Thank you for your response. I do indeed expect delays. That's why I want to start the process ASAP. But, not without doing it carefully, legitimately, and honestly. As you said, I want to be open and honest - I love Canada and I don't want to try and get around the rules, whatever that may entail.

I am very confident she would like it in Canada. We'll be living in Southwestern Ontario (pretty basic cityscape) but that will seem rural to her (coming from Sichuan province). She's particaurly fond of wild life, blue skies, flowers, baked goods, cycling, etc. Of course, ideally I would love to bring her round (with a tourist visa) during Christmas or something, just to show her some of the downsides (snow, the need for a vehicle, the cold, etc). But it's looking like we should be prioritizing the sponsorship instead - a tourist visa would be nice, but seems to be a bit of a luxury at this point.

Thanks again for your response. I'll be looking into the sponsorship for sure.

 

[thevisawhisperer]

I've found that once a spousal sponsorship has received stage 1 approval (approval of the sponsorship) IRCC is likely to approve a TRV application - 100% success rate so far, even in cases of multiple prior TRV refusals.

 

[Western Mountain Man]

Thank you for your response. I do indeed expect delays. That's why I want to start the process ASAP. But, not without doing it carefully, legitimately, and honestly. As you said, I want to be open and honest - I love Canada and I don't want to try and get around the rules, whatever that may entail.

I am very confident she would like it in Canada. We'll be living in Southwestern Ontario (pretty basic cityscape) but that will seem rural to her (coming from Sichuan province). She's particaurly fond of wild life, blue skies, flowers, baked goods, cycling, etc. Of course, ideally I would love to bring her round (with a tourist visa) during Christmas or something, just to show her some of the downsides (snow, the need for a vehicle, the cold, etc). But it's looking like we should be prioritizing the sponsorship instead - a tourist visa would be nice, but seems to be a bit of a luxury at this point.

Thanks again for your response. I'll be looking into the sponsorship for sure.

It's nice to hear you love Canada but much different here than Sichuan .....Not as spicy!
From my experience don't apply for a TRV if she has no past travel history especially from the mainland. Maybe after sponsor
approved then you can try but no guarantees. Maybe not too confident about the winter in Southern Ontario but If she is really
fond of wildlife then consider travel to BC to see the bears, eagles, killer whales and 2-legged rednecks.
Good luck