American coming to Canada: Times for Social Insurance Number?

[canamera]

Hi everyone,

I have applied to sponsor my wife for permanent residency in Canada. She is American. I know when I immigrated to the US I had a Social Security number in 3 months (prior to my permanent residency card) which allowed me to work.

The current wait time for application review is 69 days. Does anyone know what a realistic time is to get a Social insurance number based on my profile?

 

[rachiy]

When she comes to Canada with PR, she will take her passport and PR details to a Service Canada office and they will give her the SIN on the spot. The card is mailed later, usually within 2-3 weeks.

 

[canamera]

Thanks! I guess my next question would be, how long are Americans who are already married to a Canadian having to wait to get their PR once the application has been received? I've been receiving very mixed answers. # months to 11 months to 2 years??

Has anyone recently experienced this? Thanks so much for your insight.

 

[CharlieD10]

Current time for sponsor approval is 69 days. The time it takes for your spouse to be approved when the application is transferred to a visa office (Ottawa, L.A., Detroit, Seattle) can vary between 3 and 12 months, based on the timelines from CIC:

Detroit - 12 months
L.A. - 10 months
N.Y - 11 months
Seattle - 10 months

Those figures above are the average for 80% of applications processed in the last 12 months. 3-4 months is the fastest average processing time for 20% of cases.

When she is approved and receives her Confirmation of Permanent Residence, she can "land" as a PR, and get her SIN number. It takes a few minutes to get the number, the card comes in the mail later. She can start working as soon as she has the number.

 

[canamera]

Amazing. Thank you so much for the feedback. Let's hope we are part of that 20%! I guess there are no sound strategies to fall into that category are there?

 

[amikety]

Amazing. Thank you so much for the feedback. Let's hope we are part of that 20%! I guess there are no sound strategies to fall into that category are there?

Not unless luck is a stragedy?

Well, it helps to have a complete application, i. e. not forget any paperwork, everything is signed, etc.

Good luck to you! I hope to become a member of the 3-4 month club in the near future too.