Brazilian Canadian Inland Sponsorship

[raffesposito]

Good evening everybody,

Our story is not far off from everyone else. My husband and I got married on Sunday April 6th of 2014. Now we're looking at the necessary processes in order to apply for an inland spousal sponsorship. I'm Canadian and my husband is Brazilian. He was in Canada from January 2013 to August 2013 on a student visa that was combined with an open work permit. However, now he has been back in Canada since January of 2014 and his visa expires in July. Again, he has a student visa which is combined with an open work permit. For 3 months again he's been studying English (Jan-Apr), and then he can make use of his open work permit for the next 3 months (May-July). From everything I've read online, when submitting the application for spousal sponsorship, I understand he has the option to apply for an open work permit, which will later be granted once the first stage of approval has been completed. However, our main question so far is, can we submit an application to extend his current open work permit? or do we need to submit an application for a new open work permit?

Our next question is concerning his ability to visit Brazil for about 2 weeks (possibly in August). As mentioned earlier, his visa expires in July. So given the fact that there will be a significant amount of time in-between July and the date of first stage approval (roughly 11 months later March/April 2015), and given that we follow through with the submission of an extension of his work permit, will he be able to visit his family during this time of limbo? Will he be able to re-enter Canada based on his conditional status given from the spousal sponsorship application? or would he be able to re-enter Canada based on the status given to him from his expired open work permit, however supported by the extension that has been submitted along with the sponsorship application?

We apologize in advance if this is a lot. You could imagine how technically completed it is for us to wrap our minds around everything. But if someone could help us out, we would really appreciate it.

 

[jmd2014]

Wow, your situation is so close to mine it's almost scary. My girlfriend and I are in the same situation. We're going to apply as common-law in June once we've passed the threshold of living together for 12 months. She's also from Brazil and been in Canada under a study permit with an associated co-op work permit. Assuming this is the case, the conditions of the work permit are that the time working cannot be greater than the time studying. Therefore I don't think it's technically an open work permit. They can work for any company yes, but there are conditions attached to the work permit.

There's a a lot of information here and other places that advise that once you make the application for family sponsorship, it is inadvisable to leave to the country. If your husband were to be denied entry for any reason upon his return, the application is cancelled and you must re-apply. It's not guaranteed that this will happen, but the processing times and the expense makes it too big a risk for most people.

Re-grading renewal of the work permit, I'm a little unclear on this as well. I do know that in order to have a study or work permit, Brazilians require a TRV as well since they are not visa exempt. I talked to the CIC Call Centre yesterday asking about the renewal and since the work permit is part of a co-op study program, the work permit and the study permit are tied together, they must be extended together. I also had some communication with someone form Languages Canada who administers a lot of the language schools here in Canada. She advised me that the co-op work study programs will be ending in June and all application for such things must be accepted by CIC before then.

My understanding of my the situation is this:
- It's a bad idea to leave the country once the inland application has been filed, the risk is too great
- You can apply outland through the Sao Paolo office and your husband can come and go freely under the terms of his existing permits. The overall processing time is shorter through outland as well. However the problem is that if an interview is requested, he will have to travel back to Brazil to do the interview. You can also appeal the decision on an outland application as well where you can't on an inland application
- The inland application takes longer, but you can get the open work permit after the 1st stage approval - which currently is about 8 months
- With the inland application, he can continue to get extensions on his study and work permits, but since they are tied together, they must be done together. You could in theory try to extend only the work permit, but I suspect that application would be denied. But if you're willing to continue to pay for school you can continue to extend the permits in that fashion - subject to the cancellation of the co-op programs I mentioned earlier

For myself, I'm unsure as to exactly how we're going to proceed. bu tin the meantime we are going ahead and preparing all the sponsorship documentation so that we're ready once we're eligible to apply.

 

[Ellasg]

I am also a Brazilian and I was in Canada on a Student Permit, I applied Outland through São Paulo and my application status changed to "In Process" after 3 months (1 month and a half after being transferred to São Paulo). So my file wasn't sitting in queue for too long. I believe they're working faster now and I'd have regretted applying Inland and not being able to work or visit my family in Japan. :-[
It's my humble opinion.

 

[raffesposito]

My understanding of my the situation is this:
- It's a bad idea to leave the country once the inland application has been filed, the risk is too great
- You can apply outland through the Sao Paolo office and your husband can come and go freely under the terms of his existing permits. The overall processing time is shorter through outland as well. However the problem is that if an interview is requested, he will have to travel back to Brazil to do the interview. You can also appeal the decision on an outland application as well where you can't on an inland application
- The inland application takes longer, but you can get the open work permit after the 1st stage approval - which currently is about 8 months
- With the inland application, he can continue to get extensions on his study and work permits, but since they are tied together, they must be done together. You could in theory try to extend only the work permit, but I suspect that application would be denied. But if you're willing to continue to pay for school you can continue to extend the permits in that fashion - subject to the cancellation of the co-op programs I mentioned earlier

Thank you for sharing your situation. We share a similar story So given everything you've told me so far, if my husband and I were to follow through with an outland application, it changes a couple things.

Since now, with the outland application, he can travel back and forth between Canada and Brazil, is it still necessary to extend the study+work permit in order for him to have legal status to re-enter Canada (besides the conditional status)?

From what I understand about the student visa, he needs to provide the necessary information regarding his studies in Canada. However, if he's working and has no intentions to study anything, should we send the application for a new open work permit instead of extending the current visa? and could he still use the existing expired visa during the duration of the wait for first stage approval?

 

[jmd2014]

with the outland application, in order for him to travel back and forth all he should need is the TRV (the visitor visa). It wouldn't be necessary to extend the work + study permit.

You could apply for a new open work permit, but without a job offer or LMO etc. it's likely to be denied. I spoke to a lawyer today briefly and it seems there is no easy way to bridge the work permit from the expiry of the current one to the first stage approval of an inland application where you can apply for a OWP.

The thing that scares me about the inland right now is it seems with the transition of everything to Mississauga the processing appears to have come to a standstill.

the inland does have the advantage that you can be working again in ~8 months, but you can't go home for 16 months. Outland the process seems to be taking only 12 months through SP, but unless you have some other permit, you can't work that entire time.

Where are you located?

 

[raffesposito]

with the outland application, in order for him to travel back and forth all he should need is the TRV (the visitor visa). It wouldn't be necessary to extend the work + study permit.

You could apply for a new open work permit, but without a job offer or LMO etc. it's likely to be denied. I spoke to a lawyer today briefly and it seems there is no easy way to bridge the work permit from the expiry of the current one to the first stage approval of an inland application where you can apply for a OWP.

The thing that scares me about the inland right now is it seems with the transition of everything to Mississauga the processing appears to have come to a standstill.

the inland does have the advantage that you can be working again in ~8 months, but you can't go home for 16 months. Outland the process seems to be taking only 12 months through SP, but unless you have some other permit, you can't work that entire time.

Where are you located?

We're located in Toronto. My spouse is originally from Brasilia, Brazil, and we've been residing together for almost a month. I think our best option would be to apply outland. He would have the freedom to travel between Canada and Brazil to visit his family, however, he won't have the ability to work or go to school. From what you're telling me, and from everything else I've been reading, it's risky to leave the country while applied for the inland application, for the reason that he might be rejected entry into Canada.

Outland seems to be the best option. Thank you for your help. And you'll definitely see me here soon asking another round of questions. Thank you, and I hope everything work out well with you and your spouse. Good luck

 

[danib]

Hi guys

I'm brazilian inland applicant in the end of the process.
Be aware because once any brazilian leave Canada it is necessary a Visa to re-entry.
Now the Visitor Visa has changed and it is multiple entries which makes all the process easier.

Outland applicantions are faster than inland.
Good luck!

 

[jmarie]

We just submitted my Brazilian husband's Inland application! How long did it take you to get notification that they had received your application?

Thanks! Obrigada