Best process for spousal sponsorship

[YEGAsh]

Hi folks! I'm hoping someone can help me figure out the best route to go in my situation.

My partner and I have been in a long distance relationship for 11 years and finally have decided to close the distance and move him to Canada. I am a Canadian citizen by birth and he is an Australian citizen. We recently go engaged and our wedding date is planned for late April, when he will be travelling to Canada for a few weeks. He will return to Australia shortly after as he will not be done working until the end of June. He plans to come here in early July to stay for good. Now, initially I planned for us to submit our spousal application in April while he's here and then he can travel here on a visitor visa (because I believe if he were to travel on an eta he's need proof of a return flight?), but I have been doing some research and it appears that there's no guarantee that he would be able to re-enter the country in July with a visitor visa if we had an open sponsorship application. Would he be better off applying for an Open Work Permit instead in that case? Or would he need to be employed for that to work?

Alternatively, we have no problem waiting until he is here in July to submit the spousal sponsorship however I am a bit fuzzy on how the visitor visa works as he is supposed to prove that he will travel back to Australia by the expiry of the visa, but in this case he isn't planning on leaving Canada for the foreseeable future.

I feel like I am missing an obvious piece of information here, perhaps someone has a bit more experience in this situation and can share some wisdom. Feel free to ask more questions if something I said doesn't make sense.

 

[armoured]

Hi folks! I'm hoping someone can help me figure out the best route to go in my situation.

My partner and I have been in a long distance relationship for 11 years and finally have decided to close the distance and move him to Canada. I am a Canadian citizen by birth and he is an Australian citizen. We recently go engaged and our wedding date is planned for late April, when he will be travelling to Canada for a few weeks. He will return to Australia shortly after as he will not be done working until the end of June. He plans to come here in early July to stay for good. Now, initially I planned for us to submit our spousal application in April while he's here and then he can travel here on a visitor visa (because I believe if he were to travel on an eta he's need proof of a return flight?), but I have been doing some research and it appears that there's no guarantee that he would be able to re-enter the country in July with a visitor visa if we had an open sponsorship application. Would he be better off applying for an Open Work Permit instead in that case? Or would he need to be employed for that to work?

Alternatively, we have no problem waiting until he is here in July to submit the spousal sponsorship however I am a bit fuzzy on how the visitor visa works as he is supposed to prove that he will travel back to Australia by the expiry of the visa, but in this case he isn't planning on leaving Canada for the foreseeable future.

I feel like I am missing an obvious piece of information here, perhaps someone has a bit more experience in this situation and can share some wisdom. Feel free to ask more questions if something I said doesn't make sense.

You're overthinking. Apply 'outland' as soon as you can after getting married (you will need marriage certificate, which takes ... check your province).

He returns to Canada whenever he can. At the border, he should make it clear he is coming to visit. Yes, he might ahve a PR app, but he'll leave if he needs to. Generally they won't get too exercised about return tickets; for an Oz citizen, he's travelling to USA for a bit (for example, or UK, or whatever), for which he can get a ticket last minute cheap. Key thing: don't show up with all his belongings.

Now the only wrinkle: if in fact you only get the marriage certificate in, say, late May/June (or later): perhaps hold off and apply as inland. Only major advantage is inland is, apparently, faster. (I say apparently because there's a ... potential selection issue here, a type of sampling error. It includes a lot more people living together, or visa-free countries, where security and police stuff easier, far fewer from 'risky' countries. It's a bit like the education selection problem: does getting into a good university mean you get better jobs because you went to university, or because the university selected people who are talented and would get better jobs anyway? It's a non-trivial question.)

So don't overthink that either. Despite the math problem, I'd say ... wait and apply inland if it's less than a month to wait. Don't wait if it's four months or more. In-between: consult a psychic or psychiatrist, whichever makes you feel better.

He applies for open work permit when he is IN Canada and AFTER you get the AOR.

The obvious bit you're missing: mostly you don't have to PROVE his entry as a visitor in good faith. He has to convince the border officer, and the bar for that is pretty low for someone who already has a visa or ETA.