Inland or Outland - From USA - Child from Previous Marriage - Unsure what to do!

[LewisG]

Hello,

I have a bit of a complicated situation, and am looking for input on how to proceed. My wife (American) and I (Canadian) have been married for 8 years. We actually attempted Sponsorship before, but due to a miscommunication with CIC with regards to our daughters (her child from a previous marriage) status (Study visa so she could go to school) they were deemed inadmissible and were asked to leave Canada and we had to cancel the application for sponsorship. (We're past the time on inadmissibility and they have come back for visits since then, so this is a non-issue now)

It's been over 3 years since then, and we're looking to try and get her and daughter up into Canada. Our child is currently 16 years of age, so we know we require paperwork stating it's allowed for her to move to Canada (note: we do have signed paperwork from her ex from about 5 years ago that says it's ok for her to Move to Canada (not just visit) - would this still be valid? It has no date or time frame on it).

What I am looking for, and cannot seem to find anywhere, is the following:

1) What paperwork, above and beyond the Family Sponsorship application forms, do we need? This is primarily in regards to our daughter, an we want to make 100% sure we have everything before applying.

2) What is better do to - have them move up here and apply for Inland, or stay in the US and apply for Outland?
2a) If they move here and we do Inland, what do we have to do to maintain their legal status in Canada? I can never find anything saying "Do X to stay in legal status during processing times!" and don't want a repeat of our daughter becoming inadmissible due to not being able to renew her Study visa on top of the Visitor visa.

3) I have seen some posts indicating Outland is actually only taking 8-10 months from Start to Finish, but the processing times indicate 22-26 months from the US. While I know there is no definitive "it will take X amount of time" does anyone have insight into a rough timeline if we did do Outland vs Inland?

If anyone else has been through a similar situation, please let me know how it worked out! I'd love for us to finally be able to live permanently together before out 10th anniversary.

Thank you to anyone that replies.

 

[Ponga]

Hi,

I can only offer you very limited information, but I'm happy to get the ball rolling for you.

1. You will have one application (spouse and child, if you have legally adopted her...I believe), but you would pay the applicant fee for both ($475 x 2).
If you have not adopted your wife's daughter, I don't know how/if this changes things, but I'm sure a senior member here will tell us `both'. LOL!

2. You have to weigh the pros and cons of each and decide which works best for you and your family.

2a. You cannot have them MOVE to Canada...only VISIT Canada. You can certainly have them come to Canada to visit and then immediately start the Inland process, but you should ensure that they maintain their visitor status throughout the process. A person CAN apply Inland, regardless of their legal status, but that doesn't mean that if they lose their status they can remain in Canada. The CBSA Administrative deferral (that ended in November 2011) previously allowed a person that had an active Inland application to remain, while their application was being processed. This `courtesy' no longer applies, so it's a guessing game as to what happens now. All you could do would be to request visitor extensions for them and hope that they are approved. If you apply Inland and for whatever reason they are removed (or asked to leave), the application is wasted.

3. Since your wife (and her daughter??) are American, the processing time should be within the 8-10 month time frame. Americans are now being processed in Canada (CPC-O) which is why it's now much faster than the 22-26 months shown.

Having said all of that, you can apply Outland and still have them `visit' you in Canada. There is no requirement to be physically outside of Canada to file an Outland application, but they would have to maintain legal visitor status for the entire processing time...which certainly seems feasible.

Good luck!

 

[LewisG]

Thank you very much for your reply.

To add, I have NOT legally adopted our daughter. As Ponga noted, if anyone has insight into how this might affect the application please let me know - I do intend to call Immigration and see if I can find out for sure as well how it affects it.

I was not aware that Americans are now being processed via CPC-O, so that's good news at least! And honestly, that makes doing the Outland application a lot less daunting.

 

[Alurra71]

Hello,

I have a bit of a complicated situation, and am looking for input on how to proceed. My wife (American) and I (Canadian) have been married for 8 years. We actually attempted Sponsorship before, but due to a miscommunication with CIC with regards to our daughters (her child from a previous marriage) status (Study visa so she could go to school) they were deemed inadmissible and were asked to leave Canada and we had to cancel the application for sponsorship. (We're past the time on inadmissibility and they have come back for visits since then, so this is a non-issue now)

It's been over 3 years since then, and we're looking to try and get her and daughter up into Canada. Our child is currently 16 years of age, so we know we require paperwork stating it's allowed for her to move to Canada (note: we do have signed paperwork from her ex from about 5 years ago that says it's ok for her to Move to Canada (not just visit) - would this still be valid? It has no date or time frame on it).

What I am looking for, and cannot seem to find anywhere, is the following:

1) What paperwork, above and beyond the Family Sponsorship application forms, do we need? This is primarily in regards to our daughter, an we want to make 100% sure we have everything before applying.

2) What is better do to - have them move up here and apply for Inland, or stay in the US and apply for Outland?
2a) If they move here and we do Inland, what do we have to do to maintain their legal status in Canada? I can never find anything saying "Do X to stay in legal status during processing times!" and don't want a repeat of our daughter becoming inadmissible due to not being able to renew her Study visa on top of the Visitor visa.

3) I have seen some posts indicating Outland is actually only taking 8-10 months from Start to Finish, but the processing times indicate 22-26 months from the US. While I know there is no definitive "it will take X amount of time" does anyone have insight into a rough timeline if we did do Outland vs Inland?

If anyone else has been through a similar situation, please let me know how it worked out! I'd love for us to finally be able to live permanently together before out 10th anniversary.

Thank you to anyone that replies.

I will see if I can help answer some of this for you:

1. You need to fill out the sponsorship appplication as well as the PR application for your wife, which will list your daughter as her dependent. In addition, you will need a copy of your birth certificate and passport, your wife and daughters birth certificates/passports, your marriage certificate, the signed document from the daughters natural father, your wife will need an FBI clearance certificate and both your wife and daughter will need to do an 'up front' medical exam.

2. You should apply outland because it will be a faster process. Your wife and daughter can still come to 'visit' with you while this application is being processed. In order for your daughter to go to school (if it is indeed during a school year) you, as a Canadian resident, in theory can take your daughter and register her in school. There shouldn't be too much of an issue with her only having her application processed. You should NOT have to file for a study permit because she is only in high school, however, there may be some others that have more/better information regarding that part of it.

3. If you do decide on an Inland application, you are looking at roughly 11 months to get sponsorship approval and then roughly another 8 months for PR approval and landing. If you apply outland, MOST applicants coming from the US are indeed getting their COPR in as little as 8 months, with a few stragglers around 12 months. Outland definitely seems to be the best option for your particular situation.

I understand this is a struggle for you and this forum can help you answer many many questions. If you wish to speak with someone in the same type of situation as you, trying 'calling out' to Rice-racer. I know he just successfully sponsored his US wife and step daughter to come to Canada. Perhaps he would be willing to put in his two cents to give you better direction!

Good luck!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thank you very much for your reply.

To add, I have NOT legally adopted our daughter. As Ponga noted, if anyone has insight into how this might affect the application please let me know - I do intend to call Immigration and see if I can find out for sure as well how it affects it.

I was not aware that Americans are now being processed via CPC-O, so that's good news at least! And honestly, that makes doing the Outland application a lot less daunting.

You are not required to adopt her. You are sponsoring your wife and the daughter is included as her dependent. It will not affect the application.