To whomever is reading this, Hi: I'm new to this website/forum. I found it yesterday while doing research relating to spouse sponsorship - and I'm happy to see there are alot of people who use the site, alot of discussions, alot of information.
I have a few questions which I need help with. I guess I should explain my situation first.
I am a Canadian citizen and a resident of Toronto, Ontario. My wife is an American citizen, currently a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts [Boston area]. We met here in Ontario in 2010 while she was visiting friends, have been in a relationship for a year and a half [we have spent a few months and weeks here and there each "visiting" the other's country, getting to know each-other's families (in total, being physically together 1/3 of the time of our relationship and apart the other 2/3); and staying in daily contact with Skype and phone calls] and just got married last month (January 2012), in Cambridge city hall.
We want to live together as soon as possible, ideally up here in Ontario, ideally with her having status so she can have OHIP, work, pay taxes, be a responsible citizen and all that.
We're currently filling out the paperwork for me to sponsor her (as my spouse) for permanent residency, her currently living outside of Canada. Our plan is to send in the application as soon as possible. Then in June or July she will travel up to Canada, and be staying here with me as a visitor - not working, not technically "living" here - and not planning to overstay the 180-day time period an American citizen is allowed to visit {{MORE ON THIS LATER IN POST}}.
She just had her immigration-certified medical exam in the Boston area yesterday (they are going to send the results to Buffalo); We have the impression that we are supposed to have this medical exam done already when sending in our application package, is this true?
She is about to apply for the FBI backround check to get the "no criminal record" piece of paper.
Question: on the CIC website, they say it normally takes 16 to 18 weeks for the FBI to process that sort of paperwork - is this most people's experience?
If I am not mistaken, we are supposed to wait for the record/letter from the FBI, and include it in our application immigration/sponsorship package, which we then mail to the central processing center in Mississauga (because she is currently outside Canada, we are applying that way). Question: Is this correct, that we need to include the FBI letter in our application package, which we send to Mississauga, {and which after the Step 1 processing time, would be sent to Buffalo}???[/b]
We are also about 7 weeks pregnant (both hers and my first baby) expecting in late Sept or early Oct.
In the midst of her allowable 180-day visit, she will be giving birth to our child. She's seeing an OB for pre-natal care down in Boston until she comes up to Toronto in June/July. And we have already lined up a midwife here in Toronto for pre-natal care for the last few months of pregnancy, and to deliver the baby. Midwives serve people without OHIP, so it will not cost us much (other than cost of blood work, ultrasounds, etc). If they say that it will be a low-risk birth, we could do it at home, hence, for free. But if it's considered a higher-risk birth, or if there are complications while laboring at home, we would need to go to a hospital, which could cost $1500 or more per day for a bed, $1500 or more if the midwives need doctor assistance, and so on, adding up to $7000-10,000 or more if for some reason she needs a c-section.
So, question: does anyone know of any private insurance policy we could/should look into the help cover the costs of childbirth? Or any charitable organisations or programs that could help us out? [By September we MAY have $10,000 in joint saving, but maybe not - so we could be screwed].
Note: I saw on another discussion one person suggesting another look into travelers insurance - - the 3 or so companies I looked into today would not cover childbirth and/or "pre-existing medical conditions." - - so that does not sound like an option.
What about trying to get my wife a work permit of some kind while we are waiting the 11-12 months for PR to kick in - thus hopefully giving her status sooner, and leading to OHIP sooner?
Either way I'm assuming it's legitimate for her to have our baby here in Ontario as long as we're willing to pay the hospital fees, and considering I am Canadian, AND considering that at the time of childbirth, our sponsorship-immigration paperwork will be submitted. Is that a safe assumption to make? [I've heard of women flying to Canada at 36 weeks pregnant to have a baby, then leave. She would be coming here at 24-28 weeks into pregnancy, which is considered safe, and I am sponsoring her anyways, because we want to live and raise our kid here.]
After childbirth in September/October, the end of my wife's allowable stay of 180 days would be close to Christmas, an ideal time for her, baby, and I to visit her family in Boston. After Christmas we would want to come back to Toronto. I'm guessing our sponsorship application will still be in process, so she would be coming again as a "visitor," intending to stay only another 180 days or until her permanent residency application would be complete (and mailed to her legal address in Boston).
My final question (for the moment), Does "180 days" means "180 days a year," and therefor she would/could be denied re-entry into Canada? Or is it legal/legitimate for her to visit for another 180 days only a week or two after ending a previous 180-day visit?
Actually one more question related to the spouse sponsorship paperwork. The CIC website, application checklist, and guide, all say that CIC want's copies of our phone bills, letters to eachother, etc. The thing is: my wife and I only ever sent mail letters to eachother once {but we do email back and forth often enough}; we don't have phone bills showing direct calls between us (usually I would dial into a phone card, call her with that), and we use Skype most of the time {and until I changed settings last week, Skype was not keeping track of my call history ... she still has to check hers}.
Would it be enough to have lots of affidavits, from her parents and siblings and my parents and siblings, who can attest to our daily phone/skype calls?
Also, would print-outs of our emails count in place of letters?
I have a few questions which I need help with. I guess I should explain my situation first.
I am a Canadian citizen and a resident of Toronto, Ontario. My wife is an American citizen, currently a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts [Boston area]. We met here in Ontario in 2010 while she was visiting friends, have been in a relationship for a year and a half [we have spent a few months and weeks here and there each "visiting" the other's country, getting to know each-other's families (in total, being physically together 1/3 of the time of our relationship and apart the other 2/3); and staying in daily contact with Skype and phone calls] and just got married last month (January 2012), in Cambridge city hall.
We want to live together as soon as possible, ideally up here in Ontario, ideally with her having status so she can have OHIP, work, pay taxes, be a responsible citizen and all that.
We're currently filling out the paperwork for me to sponsor her (as my spouse) for permanent residency, her currently living outside of Canada. Our plan is to send in the application as soon as possible. Then in June or July she will travel up to Canada, and be staying here with me as a visitor - not working, not technically "living" here - and not planning to overstay the 180-day time period an American citizen is allowed to visit {{MORE ON THIS LATER IN POST}}.
She just had her immigration-certified medical exam in the Boston area yesterday (they are going to send the results to Buffalo); We have the impression that we are supposed to have this medical exam done already when sending in our application package, is this true?
She is about to apply for the FBI backround check to get the "no criminal record" piece of paper.
Question: on the CIC website, they say it normally takes 16 to 18 weeks for the FBI to process that sort of paperwork - is this most people's experience?
If I am not mistaken, we are supposed to wait for the record/letter from the FBI, and include it in our application immigration/sponsorship package, which we then mail to the central processing center in Mississauga (because she is currently outside Canada, we are applying that way). Question: Is this correct, that we need to include the FBI letter in our application package, which we send to Mississauga, {and which after the Step 1 processing time, would be sent to Buffalo}???[/b]
We are also about 7 weeks pregnant (both hers and my first baby) expecting in late Sept or early Oct.
In the midst of her allowable 180-day visit, she will be giving birth to our child. She's seeing an OB for pre-natal care down in Boston until she comes up to Toronto in June/July. And we have already lined up a midwife here in Toronto for pre-natal care for the last few months of pregnancy, and to deliver the baby. Midwives serve people without OHIP, so it will not cost us much (other than cost of blood work, ultrasounds, etc). If they say that it will be a low-risk birth, we could do it at home, hence, for free. But if it's considered a higher-risk birth, or if there are complications while laboring at home, we would need to go to a hospital, which could cost $1500 or more per day for a bed, $1500 or more if the midwives need doctor assistance, and so on, adding up to $7000-10,000 or more if for some reason she needs a c-section.
So, question: does anyone know of any private insurance policy we could/should look into the help cover the costs of childbirth? Or any charitable organisations or programs that could help us out? [By September we MAY have $10,000 in joint saving, but maybe not - so we could be screwed].
Note: I saw on another discussion one person suggesting another look into travelers insurance - - the 3 or so companies I looked into today would not cover childbirth and/or "pre-existing medical conditions." - - so that does not sound like an option.
What about trying to get my wife a work permit of some kind while we are waiting the 11-12 months for PR to kick in - thus hopefully giving her status sooner, and leading to OHIP sooner?
Either way I'm assuming it's legitimate for her to have our baby here in Ontario as long as we're willing to pay the hospital fees, and considering I am Canadian, AND considering that at the time of childbirth, our sponsorship-immigration paperwork will be submitted. Is that a safe assumption to make? [I've heard of women flying to Canada at 36 weeks pregnant to have a baby, then leave. She would be coming here at 24-28 weeks into pregnancy, which is considered safe, and I am sponsoring her anyways, because we want to live and raise our kid here.]
After childbirth in September/October, the end of my wife's allowable stay of 180 days would be close to Christmas, an ideal time for her, baby, and I to visit her family in Boston. After Christmas we would want to come back to Toronto. I'm guessing our sponsorship application will still be in process, so she would be coming again as a "visitor," intending to stay only another 180 days or until her permanent residency application would be complete (and mailed to her legal address in Boston).
My final question (for the moment), Does "180 days" means "180 days a year," and therefor she would/could be denied re-entry into Canada? Or is it legal/legitimate for her to visit for another 180 days only a week or two after ending a previous 180-day visit?
Actually one more question related to the spouse sponsorship paperwork. The CIC website, application checklist, and guide, all say that CIC want's copies of our phone bills, letters to eachother, etc. The thing is: my wife and I only ever sent mail letters to eachother once {but we do email back and forth often enough}; we don't have phone bills showing direct calls between us (usually I would dial into a phone card, call her with that), and we use Skype most of the time {and until I changed settings last week, Skype was not keeping track of my call history ... she still has to check hers}.
Would it be enough to have lots of affidavits, from her parents and siblings and my parents and siblings, who can attest to our daily phone/skype calls?
Also, would print-outs of our emails count in place of letters?