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Landing - sponsor must accompany person landing? Conflicting answers:(

Juche

Star Member
May 28, 2009
80
0
Category........
Visa Office......
Warsaw
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
01-10-2009
AOR Received.
17-11-2009
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
15-01-2010
VISA ISSUED...
18-01-2010
We have been told on this forum and elsewhere that the sponsor (in this case spouse) must either be waiting in Canada or accompany the immigrant through the first point of entry. Yet today at the Canadian embassy, the lady at the window told me that this is not the case (ie I can go first and my sponsor can catch up to me a month later). Why the disconnect? I would just take the embassy lady for her word but instinct tells me to keep looking for another authoritative source...
 

jdod

Member
Jan 10, 2010
12
0
Edmonton
Category........
Visa Office......
New Delhi
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
13-10-2009
File Transfer...
29-10-2009
Passport Req..
08-02-2010
VISA ISSUED...
15-02-2010
My personal observation. If you have a PR sponsor, the sponsor is supposed to be in canada for the whole process but if you have a citizen sponsor s/he can accompany you and even stay with you while your app is still processing.
 

Juche

Star Member
May 28, 2009
80
0
Category........
Visa Office......
Warsaw
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
01-10-2009
AOR Received.
17-11-2009
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
15-01-2010
VISA ISSUED...
18-01-2010
the sponsor is a citizen of Canada but living overseas (with me). I wanted to go first, get a head start on job hunting, and find a flat; the sponsor (wife) would join me in about a month's time after she quits her job, and ties up loose ends, etc...that's our prefered plan anyway. The lady at the embassy window told me today that that is not a problem....
 

Karlshammar

Champion Member
Sep 3, 2009
1,554
97
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
The sponsor must be living in Canada when you land, from what I have understood.
 

Swede

Hero Member
Aug 18, 2009
787
17
Canada
Category........
Visa Office......
London, England
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
2009-10-27
File Transfer...
2009-11-12
Med's Done....
2009-08-11
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
2010-01-22
VISA ISSUED...
2010-01-20
LANDED..........
2010-03-05
Karlshammar said:
The sponsor must be living in Canada when you land, from what I have understood.
Yes. It says so in the sponsor's manual.
 

wilson

VIP Member
Oct 11, 2008
4,405
324
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Perhaps the Lady at the window may not (?) an immigration expert like an IO/VO who is thorough with the rules. During the process of my application once I called the local Canadian Embassy to ask a simple question and I got a vague answer from a lady over there. Later I contacted a PR applicant in the final stage and got a proper clarification from him. On this matter, I have seen many posts in this forum and understands that some visa offices used to ask the sponsor to proove his/her current presence in Canada before stamping the visa for the spouse. You may go thru the old posts if you are interested.

Juche said:
the sponsor is a citizen of Canada but living overseas (with me). I wanted to go first, get a head start on job hunting, and find a flat; the sponsor (wife) would join me in about a month's time after she quits her job, and ties up loose ends, etc...that's our prefered plan anyway. The lady at the embassy window told me today that that is not a problem....
 

YorkFactory

Hero Member
Oct 18, 2009
463
17
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Karlshammar said:
The sponsor must be living in Canada when you land, from what I have understood.
Your sponsor needs to live with you when you arrive in Canada. There's no requirement that they live there beforehand.
 

AllisonVSC

Champion Member
Nov 5, 2009
1,455
64
123
Category........
Visa Office......
Buffalo - Conjugal Partner
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
11-08-2009
Interview........
waived
VISA ISSUED...
04-11-2009
LANDED..........
04-11-2009
Would seem to me that if the sponsor's presence was required upon landing it would be mentioned in the CIC "your approved" letter in the instructions somewhere near how many photos/documents you need to bring as well as where and when to report.

I landed in Ontario in November by flagpoling to Buffalo after my conjugal partner app was approved. I followed the instructions in the letter. My sponsor did not attend nor did anyone ask his whereabouts. I was asked to confirm my residential address at the visa office and at the border. I do not know if requirements for spouses are any different. If it is different, then all the more reason for the CIC to be specific in the instructions.
 

mitamata

Hero Member
Nov 21, 2008
740
11
Category........
Visa Office......
Vienna
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
16-02-2009
AOR Received.
27-03-2009
Med's Done....
03-12-2008
Passport Req..
29-04-2009
VISA ISSUED...
06-05-2009
LANDED..........
27-07-2009
If the sponsor is already living in Canada, then it's not an issue. Of course they don't need to present at the landing.

Problems can happen when the sponsor is living abroad while sponsoring. In order to be able to sponsor, they have to prove they intend to relocate to Canada when the applicant becomes a PR, which would suggest they either have to go with the applicant to land or go to Canada before them.

I don't think I've read anywhere that the sponsor actually has to be in Canada when the landing is done. And I've never heard of anyone being unable to land because their sponsor remained abroad. By that, I think you should be fine with your sponsor staying abroad - this assumption is based on the lack of evidence to the contrary, not evidence that directly supports it, so it's your risk to take.

I checked the operating manual for landing (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/enf/enf04-eng.pdf see section 12), but there's nothing in there about sponsors living abroad, so... don't know.