Advice Please - Outland Process and Maintaining Legal Status

[Shana_J]

Hey everyone! I've read through the forum posts and have become quite informed about the whole spouse sponsorship process; however, I have some specific questions with regards to my case.

I'm a Canadian citizen and I just recently got married to my wife who's a German citizen in early December of this year; the marriage took place in Canada. I already have the record of solemnization of marriage so I figured I should go ahead and get started on the sponsorship application (didn't want to wait 10 weeks to receive my marriage certificate!).

With regards to my wife, she came to visit relatives in Canada during the winter of 2009 and returned shortly after; this was when I first met her. She later came back with a work permit from summer of 2010 to summer of 2011, but before her status expired, she applied to extend her stay as a visitor for 6 months. Before her visitor status expired in December 2011, she applied for a 3 month visitor extension but was rejected because she was missing some documents. Since she had 90 days, she re-applied with all the necessary documents and is now waiting for a reply; she mentioned she should hear back by the end of February 2012.

I was debating between Outland and Inland application and eventually went with the Outland process as it would be faster and she would be free to travel. Although we would be doing the Outland application, we both would like to stay together during the process. I would like advice on how we should proceed with matter. Would it be best to extend her visitor status for 6 months stating we are in the process of doing the outland sponsorship and then go ahead with the sponsorship application? Thanks in advance!

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

Hey everyone! I've read through the forum posts and have become quite informed about the whole spouse sponsorship process; however, I have some specific questions with regards to my case.

I'm a Canadian citizen and I just recently got married to my wife who's a German citizen in early December of this year; the marriage took place in Canada. I already have the record of solemnization of marriage so I figured I should go ahead and get started on the sponsorship application (didn't want to wait 10 weeks to receive my marriage certificate!).

With regards to my wife, she came to visit relatives in Canada during the winter of 2009 and returned shortly after; this was when I first met her. She later came back with a work permit from summer of 2010 to summer of 2011, but before her status expired, she applied to extend her stay as a visitor for 6 months. Before her visitor status expired in December 2011, she applied for a 3 month visitor extension but was rejected because she was missing some documents. Since she had 90 days, she re-applied with all the necessary documents and is now waiting for a reply; she mentioned she should hear back by the end of February 2012.

I was debating between Outland and Inland application and eventually went with the Outland process as it would be faster and she would be free to travel. Although we would be doing the Outland application, we both would like to stay together during the process. I would like advice on how we should proceed with matter. Would it be best to extend her visitor status for 6 months stating we are in the process of doing the outland sponsorship and then go ahead with the sponsorship application? Thanks in advance!

You should submit your sponsorship and permanent residency application documents together. Do not send the sponsorship and then wait for approval before sending the permanent residency application. They want all documents at the same time, and will forward the permanent residency application to the appropriate consulate's office once your sponsorship is approved.

When she applies for an extension of her status as visitor she should explain that you are married, and are in the process of applying for her permanent residency under the family sponsorship category and that she would like to stay with you as a visitor while the application is being processed. Before the application has begun being processed they will want to see proof of application (i.e. copies of application documents, copies of your marriage documents, etc.). Once it's in process they will have record of it and you won't have to show those documents anymore. Generally if someone is from a visa-exempt nation they are fairly generous with the visitor status extensions while awaiting the processing of a PR application. Some people have had issues based on the language they use when asking for an extension. In other words, she shouldn't say that she wants to "live" with you or "move here" to be with you, but rather she wants to "stay" with you at your residence while you await the processing of the sponsorship and PR apps, and that you, the sponsor & spouse, will be covering general expenses while she is staying with you.

Side note, if you're anywhere near the U.S. border she could also do this at the border and have her extension immediately instead of having to wait (I assume German citizens are also visa-exempt under U.S. law as well). They also do not tend to charge for extensions of visitor entry/new visitor records when you do it in person at the border.

 

[Shana_J]

Thank you so much!

 

[parruda]

Side note, if you're anywhere near the U.S. border she could also do this at the border and have her extension immediately instead of having to wait (I assume German citizens are also visa-exempt under U.S. law as well). They also do not tend to charge for extensions of visitor entry/new visitor records when you do it in person at the border.

Can you explain this "at the border"? Im brazilian, i have the US visa and i pretent to stay ther with my wife while im waiting the result. For that, im gonna have to apply for this visa extension thing.

Thanks!

 

[Toryraj]

Send me your number will explain to you, what can be done?

 

[AmericaninQuebec]

Can you explain this "at the border"? Im brazilian, i have the US visa and i pretent to stay ther with my wife while im waiting the result. For that, im gonna have to apply for this visa extension thing.

Thanks!

You cannot do this for a visa extension. You must fill out the proper paperwork for a visa extension. The process I previously explained was only for nationals from visa-exempt nations who want to extend their visitor status in Canada. Again, do not try doing this as it does not apply to nationals from nations requiring visas (like Brazil) and you may find yourself denied re-entry to Canada!

 

[Leon]

I know it is common to leave and come back to get your new 6 months but fact is, they can also deny people re-entry to Canada who are visa exempt if they feel they are living in Canada on visitor status.

On each and every entry, it is up to the IO if they let someone in or not. The proper procedure if you want to stay longer is to apply to extend your visitor status before it expires. You can do it online and while you haven't heard back yet, your wife is under implied status and can stay.

 

[Shana_J]

Hi guys,

I'm currently in the process of finishing up my application and I'm looking to submit in the next couple of weeks. My wife's status is valid until Feb 29th, 2012 (Temporary Resident Visa). I would like to submit the application before this deadline so we can send an extension of stay stating that she would like to "stay" with me during the PR processing time. I basically got everything ready except for the police certificate and medical; from what I've read through the forums, the medical shouldn't take too long. However, when I spoke with the German Consulate in Toronto, they mentioned it'll take around 4 weeks!!! I'm not sure if I can go ahead and submit the application excluding the police certificate for my wife; I was thinking maybe I can write a letter explaining that the police certificate is in process.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[AllisonVSC]

Hi guys,

I'm currently in the process of finishing up my application and I'm looking to submit in the next couple of weeks. My wife's status is valid until Feb 29th, 2012 (Temporary Resident Visa). I would like to submit the application before this deadline so we can send an extension of stay stating that she would like to "stay" with me during the PR processing time. I basically got everything ready except for the police certificate and medical; from what I've read through the forums, the medical shouldn't take too long. However, when I spoke with the German Consulate in Toronto, they mentioned it'll take around 4 weeks!!! I'm not sure if I can go ahead and submit the application excluding the police certificate for my wife; I was thinking maybe I can write a letter explaining that the police certificate is in process.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Pay all our PR application fees and submit a copy as proof in your extension app. That has often been enough proof of PR intentions. For US applicants sending the PR app without FBI clearance has not resulted in apps being returned for being incomplete, but I am not confident that it works for German PR apps as well; you definitely should do the medical before though.

 

[Shana_J]

Deadline is fast approaching on the expiration of my wife's visitor status (Feb. 29th) and we've basically got everything completed minus some finalizing details; she applied for the PCC through the German consulate on Feb. 13th so we plan on attaching that proof with a letter stating we will forward the PCC as soon as we receive it to the appropriate VO processing our case.

I've looked up the latest processing times for both Inland (11-12 months for Stage 1 + 8 months for Stage 2) and Outland (53 days for Stage 1 + 11 months for Stage 2 Berlin); we're still undecided on which one to actually choose as the register of marriage occurred this past December but the actual Hindu ceremony is scheduled for July 7th, 2012 so obviously I need her here. The plan is to submit the Spouse Sponsorship application (Inland or Outland) ASAP and use the proof of payment to extend her visitor stay. I realize it says she is supposed to apply for an extension 30 days before her status expires but we have no choice...

One more thing to point out, she doesn't want to be sitting around doing nothing so she would like to work ASAP; in that case, with Outland we may potentially have to wait around 13 months for her to get her PR and work. With Inland, we would be selecting OWP as part of the application so she should get her OWP after AIP (first stage). Please confirm if I'm correct with all my statements and also please help me choose between Outland and Inland application.

I'm running out of time and I don't want to mess up the application and cause further delays in the future.

 

[Leon]

One more thing to point out, she doesn't want to be sitting around doing nothing so she would like to work ASAP; in that case, with Outland we may potentially have to wait around 13 months for her to get her PR and work. With Inland, we would be selecting OWP as part of the application so she should get her OWP after AIP (first stage). Please confirm if I'm correct with all my statements and also please help me choose between Outland and Inland application.

The timeline, at least for outland is 80% of applications processed by x months so the average time should be less. I am not sure if that is the case with the inland timeline. Check peoples actual timelines at trackitt.com

Some pros and cons of outland and inland..

inland pros: she will most likely not be kicked out while doing inland
inland cons: 1. it is also not safe for her to leave in which case she for some reason can't get back, you lose the application and 2. there is no appeal with inland and 3. if inland goes bad, sent to local office without first stage approval, you could be waiting for an interview for a year or 3 during which time she is stuck in Canada doing nothing.

outland pros: 1. she can come and go without it affecting her application and 2. if it goes wrong, you can appeal
outland cons: 1. if she is called for an interview, she would have to travel do her visa office to do it and 2. it is possible although not common that they might not allow her to extend her visitor status to stay in Canada while waiting for the processing to get done