Pim is with me now in Canada (I am Canadian, she is Thai) on a 6-month visitor visa, which expires September 22. She wants to apply for permanent resident status. We are common law partners. Question 1: While waiting for her Permanent Resident status, does she have to re-apply for visa extention or she is automaticall granted "extended visa while waiting for response" ? Question 2: While waiting for her Permanent Resident status, can we sail all winter from the Dominican Republic to the US (sailboat delivery), or she must stay in Canada? Once this is answered, then we must deal with Bahamas Visa, US visa, and back to Canada... Oh boy, why is the world so complicated...
Apply from inside Canada while traveling
- Thread starter michel savage
- Start date
If you have lived together for 12 months or more, you can sponsor her for PR. If you apply inland, means you say she is living in Canada and your papers will be processed in Canada, you can apply for an open work permit along with your application. Applying for the work permit gives her implied status so she would not have to renew her visa. However, she can not leave Canada if she applies inland.
If you apply outland, means she can be in Canada or outside Canada or travelling, there is no automatic extension of her visa. She will need to make sure that she has a multiple entry visa or that if she is staying in Canada longer than 6 months, that she applies to extend her visa before it expires.
If you apply outland, means she can be in Canada or outside Canada or travelling, there is no automatic extension of her visa. She will need to make sure that she has a multiple entry visa or that if she is staying in Canada longer than 6 months, that she applies to extend her visa before it expires.
Thank you Leon. Your answer raises other questions. 1: When you apply for PR from within Canada, is your visa automatically extended for as long as it takes? And 2: If you apply within Canada and during the waiting period you travel abroad for 5 months, does this mean that you lose your "PR extended visa" status, and that upon entering Canada again, you must re-apply for another visa?
michel savage said:
Implied status is having applied for another temporary visa before the other one expired and be waiting for an answer. This would happen if she were to apply for PR inland but at the same time applied to either extend her visit visa or applied for an open work permit.
Implied status is gone as soon as the person leaves Canada.
If she is planning on leaving Canada, you should apply outland. As she is not visa exempt to Canada, there is no guarantee that she will be granted another temporary visa to re-enter. Especially if immigration thinks that her purpose is not to visit but to stay permanently. Besides, a condition of inland is that one resides in Canada. Leaving for 5 months could well be seen as not residing in Canada. When one is found not to reside in Canada during inland processing or leaves and is not granted a visa to return, the inland application is automatically cancelled.
Leon. Thank you so much for your help. So, we will stay in Canada for as long as it takes to get PR. Then we will look at citizenship. But for now, here's a technical question for you: On September 23, we will send the online application along with an application for an open work permit. BUT on September 30, Pim's tourist visa will expire. Do I ask for a tourist visa extention, or do I wait for news from the PR application? Thank you.
michel savage said:
The other option would be to travel but to apply outland because then it does not matter where she is.
If you choose inland, why do you want to apply on Sept. 23rd? First you said that her tourist visa expires on the 22nd, now you are saying 30th? Why not apply earlier? Immigration would actually like you to extend visas 30 days before they expire but they are not too bad as long as you have applied before it expires. Therefore make sure they have the application before her visa expires so she has implied status.
As for applying for PR online, I don't see that option. The forms can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp For most people who are applying for sponsorship, it's a fair size package of documents, photos and other proof of the relationship. As long as you send the OWP application with the package, she will have implied status so no need to apply again to extend her visit status. For the OWP application, use this form here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/extend-worker.asp and where you can pick open work permit, write next to it that you request open work permit upon first stage approval just to clear any doubts that immigration might have about what you actually want.
Good mind Leon. The reason we cannot apply for PR before September 22, is because that's the first year birthday of our relationship. We need to prove we have been together for one year.. so that's officially September 23d... That's why we cannot apply for PR before. As to applying outside Canada, it creates risks because Pim must be in Canada again on March 2014 (because of my work). Anyway, what you are suggesting then, is that Pim asks for visa extention just in case the officials don't get our PR Application before Pim's tourist visa expires on September 30th (6 months)...
Things are beginning to look much clearer now for both of us. By making PR and citizenship THE priority, we will limite our travels to inside Canada as long as PR status is not granted. As for sailing this winter, well, I will do it alone - impossible for Pim to do a trip like that with all visa complications that it implies.
Finally, I know the Canadian law has changed since last October in relation to the definition of a "partner". So if I am correct, marriage does not change anything at all in regards to PR or citizenship. Am I correct?
Things are beginning to look much clearer now for both of us. By making PR and citizenship THE priority, we will limite our travels to inside Canada as long as PR status is not granted. As for sailing this winter, well, I will do it alone - impossible for Pim to do a trip like that with all visa complications that it implies.
Finally, I know the Canadian law has changed since last October in relation to the definition of a "partner". So if I am correct, marriage does not change anything at all in regards to PR or citizenship. Am I correct?
I see. If you need to buy time, she should apply for a visit visa extension showing your funds and your statement that you are paying for her expenses and showing that she has emergency and accident insurance (travel insurance of some sort) and state as a reason that you are going to sponsor her and you need more time to complete and send in your sponsorship application.
There are 3 classes you can sponsor a partner under, that's spouse, common law or conjugal. For spouse, you need to be married, for common law, you need to have lived together in a common law relationship for a year or more and you need to prove that and for conjugal, it is enough that your relationship has been ongoing for a year but there must be some barriers, immigration, legal or otherwise for you to not be able to live together as common law nor to get married but you must have a strong marriage like relationship. It is extremely hard for a straight couple to get accepted under conjugal and double hard for people who are already living together so I would advise not trying that. Rather wait until you have a year of living together and go for common law.
I am not sure which law you are referring to that changed in October. As far as I know, there are no changes at immigration except the one for conditional permanent residency for spouses. That's not a change in definition of partner. It is a change saying that your partner will get a conditional PR for 2 years and after that, they will check if you are still together. This was done to fight marriage fraud. Being married as opposed to being common law will not change anything with immigration except the burden of proof of having lived together for a year before you can apply.
There are 3 classes you can sponsor a partner under, that's spouse, common law or conjugal. For spouse, you need to be married, for common law, you need to have lived together in a common law relationship for a year or more and you need to prove that and for conjugal, it is enough that your relationship has been ongoing for a year but there must be some barriers, immigration, legal or otherwise for you to not be able to live together as common law nor to get married but you must have a strong marriage like relationship. It is extremely hard for a straight couple to get accepted under conjugal and double hard for people who are already living together so I would advise not trying that. Rather wait until you have a year of living together and go for common law.
I am not sure which law you are referring to that changed in October. As far as I know, there are no changes at immigration except the one for conditional permanent residency for spouses. That's not a change in definition of partner. It is a change saying that your partner will get a conditional PR for 2 years and after that, they will check if you are still together. This was done to fight marriage fraud. Being married as opposed to being common law will not change anything with immigration except the burden of proof of having lived together for a year before you can apply.
OK. It all sounds much simpler now. Thanks in part to your appreciated contribution. Next, I will look into an open work visa. In personal terms, this all means a cold and dark winter in Montreal instead of sailing the pristine waters of the Bahamas or riding a sport bike through the mountainous parts of Thailand. I love my GF, that`s why...
Well, you could apply outland but I guess you would go through Singapore and processing times are up to 26 months there so that would be a long time biking through Thailand waiting for that. Or you could just travel to BC where there is a bit less winter than in Montreal 
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