+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

Cost for spousal sponsorship?

yogini

Star Member
Sep 26, 2010
50
0
Hi everyone,

I have been looking around in this forum to get somes idea of applying for spousal sponsorship.
My bf and I have been together for 1.5 years, and we are talking about of getting married. Since I cannot work in Canada, my bf is the sole bread-maker, we do not have much saving and it worries us that can we really "afford" to get married? I think in order to prove that our relationship is genuine, we will have to provide "proof" while submitting the application? We have photos, friends and bank account to prove that but what about getting wedding pics taken, buying wedding rings , having wedding banquet itself...... would all those cost quite a lot of money??

For those of you who have submitted all the documents or have gained PR status, could you briefly tell me how much money have you spent for the whole process of sponsoring your spouse?

Thanks!!
 

yogini

Star Member
Sep 26, 2010
50
0
1040 Canadian dollars? That's it???? Including wedding banquet, ceremony, wedding rings?

Thank you very much! :)
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
92,538
20,358
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
yogini said:
1040 Canadian dollars? That's it???? Including wedding banquet, ceremony, wedding rings?

Thank you very much! :)
$1040 is the cost for sponsoring your spouse - in other words, these are the immigration fees for filing a sponsorship application. On top of these fees, you also have to get a medical (couple of hundred dollars) and the cost of police certificates.

Anything related to holding an actual wedding would be extra.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
92,538
20,358
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
Oh - and if you have been living together for at least a year, you can apply as common law partners and don't have to get married to apply.
 

yogini

Star Member
Sep 26, 2010
50
0
Hi Scylla,

Thanks for your quick replies. However, I think i saw one of the posts saying that she "maynot apply for work permit" while they are processing the application. So, if i apply for common-law sponsorship, i would not be able to work, we still would not have much money to get married. So is spousal sponsorship still the best way to go?

Please help.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
92,538
20,358
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
I'm sorry - I don't understand your question.

You don't have to be married to apply using the spousal sponsorship route. People who are common law can apply using the spousal sponsorship route as well. Since you have been living together for over a year - it sounds like you are common law.

There are two different ways to apply for spousal sponsorship. If you apply "inland", you will be able to work after step 1 of the processing has been completed. Step 1 currently takes 10-11 months. If you apply "outland" you will be able to work once your file has been approved and you have landed in Canada and become a permanent resident.

I would recommend you read the first post in the following thread. It contains a lot of good information that will probably be helpful:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html
 

Mrs Proper

Hero Member
Apr 2, 2011
627
4
Visa Office......
kgn
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
11-20-2010
Doc's Request.
-
Nomination.....
-
AOR Received.
-
IELTS Request
-
File Transfer...
10-01-2011
Med's Request
redo May 2011
Med's Done....
Oct 2010
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
oct19,2011
VISA ISSUED...
oct 25,2011
LANDED..........
landed in toronto oct 27,2011
You don't need to have a huge wedding to prove your relationship is genuine. I don't think what yer rings look like or cost as well and wedding really matters to them. Its jus proving how genuine you two are. I dint have a big wedding only like 6 ppl came and my husband is now here.
 

parker24

VIP Member
Nov 26, 2011
3,324
72
123
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY --> Los Angeles, CA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
File Transfer...
05-06-2012
Med's Done....
16-11-2011
Passport Req..
16-11-2012
LANDED..........
04-01-2013
In Ontario, here's the breakdown of the immigration cost for us:
1050 for actual application
200 for physical
80 for x-rays
20 for blood work
Total: 1350 Canadian Dollars

Wedding: Parents paid for it, and it costs about 500 dollars. Obviously it was a SMALL wedding.

You can apply for a work permit AND the sponsorship as a spouse.
 

Kedeisha

Champion Member
Apr 15, 2011
2,769
77
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
parker24 said:
In Ontario, here's the breakdown of the immigration cost for us:
1050 for actual application
200 for physical
80 for x-rays
20 for blood work
Total: 1350 Canadian Dollars

Wedding: Parents paid for it, and it costs about 500 dollars. Obviously it was a SMALL wedding.

You can apply for a work permit AND the sponsorship as a spouse.
1040 for the application

medicals vary depending on the doctor as the doctors set their own fee but cannot exceed what is considered normal for those services so those fees are not right unless u are going to this specific dr and they also could have changed their fee
 

sariss

Hero Member
Jan 18, 2011
385
4
Collingwood Ontario Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
May 13, 2012
AOR Received.
August 22, 2012
File Transfer...
August 22, 2012
Med's Done....
April 4, 2012
Interview........
Waived
Passport Req..
November 29, 2012
VISA ISSUED...
December 10, 2012
LANDED..........
December 12, 2012
If you are looking at costs of weddings as well, I did mine for about $7,000. You can do it a lot cheaper if you decide to just go to town hall and do it, but I wanted to have an actual ceremony for my own reasons, and also I figured having a ceremony and reception along with pictures would help with the immigration process.

Wedding rings combined were about $2,000.
Men's tuxedo rentals were about $300
I managed to rent a great wedding dress for $700
I got the venue for free - we had the reception at the same place, on my co-workers property that she does for weddings.
My mother covered the cost ($2000) for food.
Most expensive part for me was the setup. Tent, chairs, tables, cutlery, etc etc etc. That was almost $3k.
Other costs added to it like invitations, gifts, certificate, officiant etc. We had about 80 people.
 

Isometry

Hero Member
Aug 18, 2011
494
11
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo-->Seattle
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
Oct 28 2011
File Transfer...
Jan 9 2012-->Feb 9 2012
Med's Done....
Sept 19 2011
Passport Req..
March 21 2012
VISA ISSUED...
April 21 2012
LANDED..........
May 17th 2012
My medical cost $400, though I think that's on the high end. You can call doctors that do medicals and ask for hat cost over the phone.

For parker34's cost, remember that you also have to add the cost of getting your birth certificates, marriage certificate, and police clearance. None of those is a lot by itself, but I got a couple copies of each (just in case) and the total cost for all that was about $200.

As far as an actual wedding, my husband and I eloped, and had a ceremony with just the commissioner and two witnesses. It was exactly what we wanted, but may not be for everyone. On the other hand, it sounds like you already qualify for common-law. Don't rush into a 'cheap' wedding if that's not what you want.
 

Elizabeth Joe

Star Member
May 3, 2011
139
6
Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
Berlin
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
15-09-2011
AOR Received.
16-12-2011
File Transfer...
28-11-2011
Med's Done....
02-09-2011
VISA ISSUED...
17-02-2012
LANDED..........
24-04-2012
Depending on where you're from you need to pay to get documents translated, too.
In total we spent about $2500 for everything. Very small wedding, all documents and certificates, translations, medical, pictures, fees. But it'll depend a lot on the country.
 

parker24

VIP Member
Nov 26, 2011
3,324
72
123
Ontario
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo, NY --> Los Angeles, CA
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
06-03-2012
File Transfer...
05-06-2012
Med's Done....
16-11-2011
Passport Req..
16-11-2012
LANDED..........
04-01-2013
Ah yes I forgot the fingerprints! (Have to remember so much!) They were 25 dollars in my city then another 22 dollars to express post it to WV. There were only two doctors close to us that were on the list of doctors to do the medical. The only one that spoke English clearly (As I'm hearing impaired and phones are lovely with people who have accents :( )

And naturally you have to add in the cost of sending everything, including the return postage for the fingerprints. My husband had his BC already since you need it for your passport. We're waiting on the marriage certificate but I was told I could use the... The word is gone but the one we signed at the ceremony as it has the licence number on it. CIC told me I could use it (Called in and asked). Also need to factor in all the printing needed and if you have a lawyer as well. It's an expensive process, but worth it in my opinion!
 

yogini

Star Member
Sep 26, 2010
50
0
Thank you everyone for your useful replies.
My bf and I are decided to go for the Common-Law-Sponsorship simply because we can save up more money later, take our time to plan for a decent wedding...etc.

I LOVE this forum!!!! :D