A question about Québec sponsorship visa! :)

[chelseahotte]

Hello/bonjour!

I'm a citizen of the U.S.A, married to a lovely French-Canadian who is currently living in Ontario. We have been together for five years, and married since December 2013. He is currently applying at jobs in every providence, and he's applied to many places in Montreal (due to him being laid off). I know we'd have to wait awhile to apply if he got a new job, but I'm the type of person who wants to be well informed on what we might be doing and what I might have to prepare for.

So, my question is this: Do I need to be able to speak fluent french before I can get accepted for a sponsorship visa, or can I start taking classes for french as soon as I get there (if we move and/or get accepted)? I was looking on the website for the sponsor visa. The website said the first thing I need to do is learn french when I move there, and that I could take classes for it. I just want to make sure that it is alright to not be french speaking and to take classes to learn as soon as I arrive. I would assume that getting a sponsorship visa would be very slim due to me not speaking french, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Thank you/merci for any tips, answers or advice you might have!

 

[CutiePie92]

hey chelsea, it's fine not to be french speaking, CIC doesn't require any diplomas or whatever that prove your knowledge in french.

however, MICC can offer you free french classes regardless of your skills - beginner/intermediate/etc. i plan on attending those classes myself when i arrive. have a look here: http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/french-language/learning-quebec/index.html

anyway , if i`m not mistaking, Montreal is a very multi-cultural city so you wouldn't have any trouble without french anyway.

 

[lleahdoll]

I am applying outland from US to Quebec.

You absolutely do not have to know French whatsoever to be sponsored by your husband.
Don't worry too much about that right now!

You can absolutely take the French classes provided by MICC after you land (as they are free like cutiepie92 mentioned). Also, not required though.
If you plan on getting a job it'd be helpful though of course. Downtown Montreal and surrounding areas are pretty English friendly from what my husband's told me. He lives in the suburbs away from the city and those places... not as English friendly.
Like I said, learning French would greatly benefit you in getting a job. If you will not be working, you could probably survive without French. I'm sure you'll pick up phrases here and there though that will benefit day to day living.

 

[QuebecOkie]

Just wanted to add my voice to what others have said. I, too, worried in the beginning that my lack of French would be a problem. There is, as you may have read, one extra step in the process for those who apply through Québec (it's NOT a big deal, it's just a "check in the box" really, where Québec's immigration ministry gets to feel good about rubber stamping your sponsor). I worried that I might be rejected at that stage. I've yet to read on this forum of ANYONE not getting their Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ - that extra step) from Québec with a family class app. You'll be FINE.

As others have mentioned, there are some EXCELLENT, FREE French classes offered to new immigrants in Québec. If you apply inland, you are eligible to enroll after AIP ("approval in principle," stage one/sponsor approval). If you apply outland, you are eligible after you get PR. I encourage US citizens to apply outland, as it is generally faster. You can often get PR in about the same amount or just a little more than it takes for just AIP for inland applicants. Also, if you plan to travel at all, you'll want to apply outland, as IF you are denied reentry to Canada at any point, it doesn't affect an outland app, but it cancels an inland app.

I just finished six months of those French classes (there are three levels, and I didn't take level 1, as I had been here over a year and already had a base in French). They are INCREDIBLE. Just had a fun real-world progress check. We are friends with a couple who are francophones. We last saw them in August of 2013. She is bilingual, but he speaks NO English. The last time we saw them, my husband or his wife would always have to translate for me and the other husband. I knew *words* in French, but I couldn't converse at all. Well, they came down this past weekend, and they were BLOWN AWAY. I can now converse pretty easily and follow conversations when everyone else speaks in French. Certainly, they used words I didn't know, and I missed some things here or there and asked for them to repeat, but those courses took me from "knows words in French" to "conversational" in six short months. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

If you're in the Montreal area, you won't have much trouble at all "getting by" in English until you learn some French. Working will depend on your field and what you can find. Service industry in Montreal, for instance, is pretty much staffed only with people who speak at least English and French. I'm sure there are plenty of jobs unilingual anglophones can do there, but I don't know just what the opportunities are. However, day to day life should be a breeze.

Good luck to your hubby on finding a job so you guys can start this next chapter of life!

 

[CutiePie92]

and here is QuebecOkie to the rescue ;D good info as usual!

 

[QuebecOkie]

Ha! You know I can't resist a thread with "Quebec" in the title.

Oh, one more thing, for the OP. When you start looking at the actual application paperwork - IGNORE QUÉBEC'S STUFF until after you've sent off the full application to Mississaugua (the full application includes the sponsorship application and the principal applicant's PR application, all sent together). We made the mistake of reading all of Québec's stuff for their one extra step, and we managed to screw up royally (sent only the sponsorship app, without the PR app, which meant our app wasn't complete and CIC couldn't start processing it). Québec makes it sound complicated, but it's really just one more step that's easy enough to complete, and you can't even do that extra step until CIC gets your app and sends you a letter telling you to submit your stuff to Québec to request the CSQ.

 

[chelseahotte]

Just wanted to add my voice to what others have said. I, too, worried in the beginning that my lack of French would be a problem. There is, as you may have read, one extra step in the process for those who apply through Québec (it's NOT a big deal, it's just a "check in the box" really, where Québec's immigration ministry gets to feel good about rubber stamping your sponsor). I worried that I might be rejected at that stage. I've yet to read on this forum of ANYONE not getting their Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ - that extra step) from Québec with a family class app. You'll be FINE.

As others have mentioned, there are some EXCELLENT, FREE French classes offered to new immigrants in Québec. If you apply inland, you are eligible to enroll after AIP ("approval in principle," stage one/sponsor approval). If you apply outland, you are eligible after you get PR. I encourage US citizens to apply outland, as it is generally faster. You can often get PR in about the same amount or just a little more than it takes for just AIP for inland applicants. Also, if you plan to travel at all, you'll want to apply outland, as IF you are denied reentry to Canada at any point, it doesn't affect an outland app, but it cancels an inland app.

I just finished six months of those French classes (there are three levels, and I didn't take level 1, as I had been here over a year and already had a base in French). They are INCREDIBLE. Just had a fun real-world progress check. We are friends with a couple who are francophones. We last saw them in August of 2013. She is bilingual, but he speaks NO English. The last time we saw them, my husband or his wife would always have to translate for me and the other husband. I knew *words* in French, but I couldn't converse at all. Well, they came down this past weekend, and they were BLOWN AWAY. I can now converse pretty easily and follow conversations when everyone else speaks in French. Certainly, they used words I didn't know, and I missed some things here or there and asked for them to repeat, but those courses took me from "knows words in French" to "conversational" in six short months. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

If you're in the Montreal area, you won't have much trouble at all "getting by" in English until you learn some French. Working will depend on your field and what you can find. Service industry in Montreal, for instance, is pretty much staffed only with people who speak at least English and French. I'm sure there are plenty of jobs unilingual anglophones can do there, but I don't know just what the opportunities are. However, day to day life should be a breeze.

Good luck to your hubby on finding a job so you guys can start this next chapter of life!

This is a huge relief! Free french classes, that's great that they offer them to new immigrants. I will make sure to check those classes out when/if my husband and I have to move up to Québec. From the looks of it, they are sure helpful I have been to Montreal once, and I had no problems when it came to speaking to other people

Thank you so so much for the information, I really appreciate it!

 

[chelseahotte]

This forum is marvelous. Thanks so much to everyone who posted helpful tips and advice!