Better to go with Inland or Outland for Spouse?

[BradAusrotas]

Hey all,

My wife and I are nearly ready to apply for her to become a permanent resident, but are waiting on a few factors. We are both in university, but she is here on a study permit, and thus is paying close to 20 thousand a year for tuition. Obviously we would like to knock this down to the domestic rate as fast as possible, so we're looking for the quickest method for her to become a permanent resident. I've heard that because she is living in Canada, she has the option to apply inland or outland, so which would be quicker? Her place of residence before Canada was the US.

We realize that she will be stuck paying crazy tuition next year, but we're really hoping that by third year (September 2013), she'll be eligible for the domestic rate. So what are the going rates for each and what's the best and worse that we can hope for?

Thanks very much.

 

[scylla]

Both inland and outland cost the same.

If she's an American citizen, outland should be much faster.

Inland is 11-12 months for stage 1. Stage two processing is officially listed as 8 months - but can be anywhere from a few weeks to more than a year.

The official processing time for outland is listed as 11 months (time required to finalize 80% of applications). However many get through significantly faster. My husband's application (for example) was processed in 2010 in four months.

 

[BradAusrotas]

Both inland and outland cost the same.

If she's an American citizen, outland should be much faster.

Inland is 11-12 months for stage 1. Stage two processing is officially listed as 8 months - but can be anywhere from a few weeks to more than a year.

The official processing time for outland is listed as 11 months (time required to finalize 80% of applications). However many get through significantly faster. My husband's application (for example) was processed in 2010 in four months.

Oh, wow. If only we could be that lucky! She's a permanent resident of the US, rather than a citizen. Does that change anything?

 

[RobsLuv]

No, it changes nothing. As long as she has valid status in the USA, she is eligible to have her PR application processed through Buffalo. In fact, if she was admitted to Canada with a study permit valid for a period of at least one year, she's eligible to be processed through Buffalo by virtue of that - regardless of her status in the States.

Also, she can still remain in Canada during outland processing, as long as her Canadian temporary status remains valid. Be sure she applies to extend it - with proof of the PR ap in process - before it's due to expire.

 

[BradAusrotas]

No, it changes nothing. As long as she has valid status in the USA, she is eligible to have her PR application processed through Buffalo. In fact, if she was admitted to Canada with a study permit valid for a period of at least one year, she's eligible to be processed through Buffalo by virtue of that - regardless of her status in the States.

Also, she can still remain in Canada during outland processing, as long as her Canadian temporary status remains valid. Be sure she applies to extend it - with proof of the PR ap in process - before it's due to expire.

She actually managed to snag one for the duration of her studies, so that won't be an issue

 

[Quince777]

If she's from US, you should apply outland without thinking.

 

[BradAusrotas]

Okay, thanks everyone. So, we send ALL of our stuff together in one envelope on to Mississauga, then? And then because she's from the US, they'll send it off to Buffalo from there, right? Oh, and one more: they say on the CIC website that if you pay both the $475 and the $490 fees together, it speeds up the process. That's a whole lot of cash to be laying down at once, so is there any truth to that statement?

 

[scylla]

Yes - send everything to Mississauga. Once Mississauga has finished their bit, then will forward the file to Buffalo.

Yes - paying all of the fees up front speeds up the processing of the file. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that not paying all of the fees up front slows down the processing of the file because they have to pause once they get to a certain point in processing your file to ask for more money from you. This can add as much as 6-8 weeks to processing times.

 

[BradAusrotas]

Yes - send everything to Mississauga. Once Mississauga has finished their bit, then will forward the file to Buffalo.

Yes - paying all of the fees up front speeds up the processing of the file. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that not paying all of the fees up front slows down the processing of the file because they have to pause once they get to a certain point in processing your file to ask for more money from you. This can add as much as 6-8 weeks to processing times.

Wow, okay! Definitely going to do it all up front, then! Thanks a bunch, you've been extraordinarily helpful so far