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Family visa or FSW visa?

Z

zerogre

Newbie
Nov 3, 2014
7
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Greetings, first post here! I'm an American living in London and have an unusual situation. I tried searching for answers to this, but there were a lot of results and not many of them (at all) came close to answering my question, so here it is:

I've been married to a Canadian for 13 years. My company now has the possibility to move me to their office in Montreal. The question is, should I take the "job" offer and go that way and immediately try to convert to a family visa once I'm in-country or should I try to do the family route from London? Ultimately, I'm looking to get PR and then citizenship.

Thanks for any help!
 
i would imagine if you are a direct transfer, and you can get a work visa quickly, your best option is to go to Canada on the work visa, THEN apply for OUTLAND spousal PR. As a US citizen, DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT apply for "spousal pr in canada". Even though you will be IN Canada as a worker, you can apply OUTSIDE OF CANADA through the visa office that processes US applications, which is Ottawa. (Which stream of spousal pr you apply through has nothing to do with where you will be residing. it is based on where the application is processing) It is currently taking 3-7 months for straightforward us applications to get approved.

If you apply for spousal pr first and move to canada, then even though you can be IN canada, you will only be allowed as a visitor, and you won't be able to do any work for your employer IN Canada until you are approved for PR.

If getting a work visa will take longer than the PR application because of the employer needing to apply for a LMIA, then you may be better off applying for outland spousal pr through Ottawa, then moving to canada after approval with a job to go to.
 
You may actually not meet the criteria to apply for PR through FSW. If you were thinking of going the FSW arranged employment route, then having an ICT (intra company transfer) work permit isn't enough. Your employer also needs to get an approved LMIA.

I would forget about FSW and go the spousal sponsorship route. And yes - definitely apply outland.
 
rhcohen2014: Thanks, that's definitely some helpful info! I would assume that I would then take a jaunt to the US to pick up the visa, then? Can one actually file Spousal PR whilst residing within Canada? The odd part is that I would be the predominant money-earner, so that may (or may not) add a wrinkle to the plan.

Scylla: Thanks for the feedback! This would be for a senior IT Engineering position in Montreal. The company is a Fortune-25 financial firm headquartered in New York, but with offices in London and Montreal (Amongst others). I speak English and French, so I would imagine that this wouldn't adversely impact the LMIA, no? (As an aside, I'm assuming if a local applies for the position, HR would have to explain to the government why the local was insufficient for the role...)

thanks!
 
yes, people can apply for pr while IN canada, though they can not legally work because they are considered a visitor (unless there on a student or work visa). Since that will probably not work for you and your wife, your best option is to apply for OUTLAND PR either through London (since you have legal status there for more than 12 months) or Ottawa (for US citizen). My guess is applying through Ottawa is your best bet, because London still has a bit longer average processing time. The *risk* of applying through the US while in London is if an interview is called, you would need to go to LA for it. Interviews for straightforward applications are pretty non-existant, and a majority of applicants have the interview waived, so i wouldn't really consider it a risk.

CIC will send the approval paper to whereever your mailing address is. you do not need to have a US address for a US outland application. If you are living in London, then it will be sent to London.
 
zerogre said:
Scylla: Thanks for the feedback! This would be for a senior IT Engineering position in Montreal. The company is a Fortune-25 financial firm headquartered in New York, but with offices in London and Montreal (Amongst others). I speak English and French, so I would imagine that this wouldn't adversely impact the LMIA, no? (As an aside, I'm assuming if a local applies for the position, HR would have to explain to the government why the local was insufficient for the role...)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand your question. I assume your company plans to move you to Canada on an ICT. An ICT can be obtained without an LMIA. Here I don't believe you have a problem.

However in order to apply for FSW under arranged employment, you need an approved LMIA (the ICT is not enough). LMIAs are quite difficult to obtain (also long processing times and expensive). To get an LMIA your company would effectively have to prove that they can't hire anyone else for your role (not that you are the best candidate). LMIAs tend to be difficult to obtain for IT roles because there are so many IT professionals here and it's very difficult to argue that absolutely no one can do your job. That's why I'm suggesting to forget the FSW route and go spousal. Then you can avoid the LMIA.
 
scylla said:
I'm not sure I understand your question. I assume your company plans to move you to Canada on an ICT. An ICT can be obtained without an LMIA. Here I don't believe you have a problem.
Click to expand...

rhcohen2014 said:
yes, people can apply for pr while IN canada, though they can not legally work because they are considered a visitor (unless there on a student or work visa).
Click to expand...

Okay, herein lies the confusion; I was mixing my terms; I wasn't aware that the ICT visa existed; I suppose I should have known that first.

That said, if I do an ICT, it seems possible to apply outland for the Spousal visa and move forward from there whilst in Canada and working; is this a correct assumption?

Thanks for the handholding. :)
 
zerogre said:
Okay, herein lies the confusion; I was mixing my terms; I wasn't aware that the ICT visa existed; I suppose I should have known that first.

That said, if I do an ICT, it seems possible to apply outland for the Spousal visa and move forward from there whilst in Canada and working; is this a correct assumption?

Thanks for the handholding. :)
Click to expand...

yes, once here, you can apply for PR OUTSIDE of Canada. If you have a valid work permit, then yes, you will be able to continue employment with your employer. if there is NO work permit, you are only a visitor, and can not work until approved for PR.
 
rhcohen2014 said:
yes, once here, you can apply for PR OUTSIDE of Canada. If you have a valid work permit, then yes, you will be able to continue employment with your employer. if there is NO work permit, you are only a visitor, and can not work until approved for PR.
Click to expand...

Okay, makes perfect sense; I had to go through a similar process to bring the missus into the States, so I can imagine that it's the same in reverse.

Appreciate the pointers and help. :)
 
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