Canadian Citizen to Sponser US Husband

[DreamerGurl]

Hi, I'm very new to this whole process... for that matter.. I don't even know where to start! I considered consulting an immigration lawyer, but they're SO expensive... so I thought I"d try here...

My husband and I got married on Nov. 2nd of this year, so we're waiting on our marriage certificate before we begin the application process... bear with me, as I've so many questions I get side tracked...

A) Can he come live with me and still work in the states while we're applying for his immigration stuff (I live in Vancouver, so very near the US border)
B) does he need a visitors visa to live here and work there
C) I will be going on Maternity leave long before the applications are finished.. will that effect my ability to sponsor my husband?
D) Does Maternity leave count as "financial aid" from the gov't thereby nullifying my ability to sponsor him?
E) Should we apply from inside or outside canada.. and if we do in/outside, can he still enter Canada while the application is in progress
I guess that's all my questions for now... it feels like a lot.. cause I don't even know where to start... Thanks for your input in advance!

 

[Leon]

You can find most of your info at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp but

A) He can come "visit" you for up to 6 months. It might be a good idea for him to apply for a Nexus card if he doesn't have one for easy border crossings, see http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/nexus_prog/

B) After 6 months, he needs to apply to extend his visit visa, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

C) No because you don't need to prove income to sponsor a spouse

D) EI isn't financial aid since you have paid into it but to make sure, call CIC at 1 888 242‑2100, same goes for all your other questions you need to verify.

E) Inside, it's advised for him to stay in Canada while the application is being processed so he would not be able to work in the US. Outside, he is still "officially" living in the US but can "visit" you.

 

[RobsLuv]

If your husband is going to continue working in the US, and staying with you in Canada, he'll need to be careful coming and going between the US and Canada. There really is no provision for making those cross-border trips on a daily basis - he's not allowed to "live" in Canada until after he has been approved for PR, and while some US applicants are allowed to come to Canada and stay with their Canadian partners, they are never guaranteed re-entry if they leave Canada before processing is completed. I've heard that the IOs at the Washington/BC border are much more lenient than they are out here in the east, so that could work in his favour. It's just that, if you're really counting on him to be able to be with you right now because of a pregnancy, you might reconsider the back and forth stuff and maybe you could stay with him in the States until PR is finalized. You can do that and still be eligible to sponsor him as long as you're a Canadian citizen.

Also, under that scenario (whether he's going back and forth to work in the States, or you're in the States with him) you definitely do not want to file an inland application. For one thing, it takes 3 times as long to finalize as the outland process through Mississauga/Buffalo, and there is no right of appeal. For US applicants in particular, there is no real advantage to inland. Apply outland - normal processing timeline for Buffalo is 3-9 months, with about a month added on at the start for the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga to assess you as a sponsor.

Also, there are no visit visas for US citizens - US spousal partners can be granted a Visitor Record on entry to Canada if their Canadian sponsor accompanies them to the port of entry and proves that they are in a qualifying relationship and that they intend to sponsor the partner for permanent status. But the Visitor Record is not a re-entry permit, and in your husband's situation, the minute he leaves Canada the first time to go to work, his VR is invalidated. That doesn't mean it's not worth getting one - but he can't depend on it to guarantee that an IO is always going to let him come back home at night. It's says right on it - "No a re-entry permit". The only thing it would for sure enable him to do would be to apply to extend it, by mail from within Canada . . . but, if he's not staying in Canada, it's sort of irrelevant.

I'd actually suggest that you and your husband go to the border, ask to speak to an IO in secondary (inside) and be honest with them about the situation. Be sure you take your marriage licence with you, and proof that you are filing an outland PR ap. Tell them that he's going to continue to work in the States, (and they'll probably want to hear that he's maintaining a home there, too) but that you'd like him to be able to drive into Canada to stay over with you at least a few times a week due to the pregnancy - and ask them how it should work. If you go to them with an honest request and looking for a solution, you might get lucky and get someone who'll respond. The only down side is that the person you talk to won't be the person he encounters each and every time he hits that border, so even if the person you talk to says, "Oh yeah, no problem . . . just do thus and such", once you're out the door and that conversation is over, there are no guarantees. That's because whether or not to allow a foreign national to enter Canada is always at the discretion of the Immigration Officer s/he encounters at the port-of-entry. And it's the same way going to the States - we have a friend here in Canada who has a study permit to complete a Master's program at a university in Buffalo. She goes to Buffalo from Toronto two times a week and stays overnight . . . yet, even with her passport, her study permit, her re-entry permit and everything in order they stopped her two days in a row and pulled her car apart in a search. Detained her, both times, for well over an hour. Speculation is that they liked the car - a convertible Mustang with a pretty blonde driver.

 

[RobsLuv]

Oh, and BTW, check out the US2Canada website for US spousal applicant specific information on the Permanent Residence process.