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Apply in or outside of Canada - Spouse

DGreen

Newbie
Aug 20, 2009
5
0
I have been living in Los Angeles with my American wife for a year and change, and we are ready to move back to Ontario. Having gone through the process to get a Green Card here, we know that immigration may be picky over our travel from country to country.

Is it better for us to apply from outside of Canada, or to move there and apply from within? Will my wife be able to come and go from Canada after we apply, whichever way we choose to do it? We wouldn't want to be stranded in Canada for who knows how many months without being able to visit her family. What have your experiences been with this issue?

Thanks,
Dave
 

RobsLuv

Champion Member
Jul 14, 2008
1,838
127
123
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
Original:14Mar2007; Reprocess began after appeal:26Apr2010
Doc's Request.
Original:9May'07; Reprocess:7May'10
AOR Received.
Original:28Apr'07; Reprocess:26Apr'10
File Transfer...
n/a
Med's Request
Reprocessing:7May2010
Med's Done....
Jun2010
Interview........
n/a
Passport Req..
30Nov2010!!
VISA ISSUED...
31Dec2010!!
LANDED..........
31Jan2011
As many people do, you are confusing the "inland" and "outland" process with where the applicant is living/staying during processing. That's not how it works - with the exception of the fact that all "inland" applicants are required to be in Canada. However, the opposite is not true - it is possible for an applicant to be in Canada with valid temporary status while their "outland" PR application is in process. It is not required that someone wanting to be in Canada during processing apply via the inland process. In fact, unless you are someone from a non-visa-exempt country who would absolutely not be re-admitted to Canada after leaving with a PR application in process, it's better to file outland. Outland means the application is processed at the embassy that represents the country of birth of the applicant. The outland process has no residency requirement - the applicant can be living or visiting anywhere in the world and it will have not affect processing. If you file inland, you forfeit your right to appeal a refusal, the process takes 12-18 months to finalize (as opposed to a US citizen processing time through Buffalo of 4-9 months, plus about 6 weeks for sponsorship approval first at the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, ON) AND an inland applicant is advised not to leave Canada at all during processing because, if they do and they are not re-admitted to Canada, they can't meet the requirement for approval of being resident in Canada with their sponsor and the application is forfeited.

If you are currently in the States with your wife, you should apply to sponsor her via the outland application process, and you can do that (if you're a Canadian citizen) while you're still living in the States. You will, however, have to provide proof with your application of your intention to re-settle in Canada. Whether or not she is admitted to Canada as a temporary resident prior to approval of her permanent status will depend on the discretion of the officer at the port of entry who interviews her. She will not be permitted to bring all of her personal effects into Canada until she has PR, so that could get dicey if you (as the Canadian) are moving back to Canada and trying to bring her along . . . but there are some guidelines for bringing a "visiting" spouse into Canada to wait with you while the PR ap is being assessed. You can read through them at the US2Canada website. Follow the links to Visiting, and then Visitor Record for more information.