Look at these differences in the processing times for Asia! How to choose?

[thaihubbie]

Look at the differences in the processing times for spousal sponsorship in Asia. A difference of potentially 14 months! This is a hard decision when comparing 80& of applicants take 17 months via Singapore vs. 80% taking only 4 months in Beijing!
My husband and I can choose Singapore which is the main processing office for Thai people or Beijing because we have been living in Mongolia for more that one year. Every one is giving me different advice. Some say choose Beijing because of the potential shorter wait but others say Singapore because they will be more accustomed to dealing with Thai applicants, re. knowing documents and verifying info.and they speak more english.
What to do...? This decision seems to have to be made purely on subjective advice of forum members not by any objective rules...which makes me very uncomfortable but I still want your advice.

 

[CharlieD10]

The processing and interview (if needed) takes place either in the country of nationality of the applicant, or their country of residence if they have been legally admitted to that country for more than a year.

It's not just about choosing where you can have it processed fastest.

For example...I am a Jamaican national, so my application will be processed in Kingston, Jamaica. I also hold a US visa, so if I were living in the US for more than a year, I could select Buffalo as my processing centre, because I would have been legally admitted to that country.

If you and your spouse have been residing in your current country for more than a year, and expect to be there for at least another year, you will want to select the visa office that serves that country. If not, select the office that serves her country of nationality, in the event she needs to go for an interview, she will have no issues traveling there.

 

[thaihubbie]

I see what your saying Charlie but you do realize that Buffalo obviously processes thousands of applications of people who are not from the US originally so it isn't anything new for them. If my husband chooses Beijing he will likely be the only Thai applicant to be processed there. It might throw them for a loop. It could either be good or bad for us.

 

[Kess]

Which will be easier to get to if you have to go for an interview?

 

[CharlieD10]

As Kess said, you may want to work with the office where you can most easily attend an interview if one is required.

 

[HoneyBird]

i dont think you will be in a loop.
we are not that special.
they would have hadthat happen before.
just make sure the application is in english.
everyone speaks english not so? lol.

 

[thaihubbie]

Well we are all that special.
There are only 6 Thai people living in the whole of Mongolia.
There is only one Canadian married to a Thai in the whole of Mongolia and that's me.
There is no full running Canadian Embassy in Mongolia so we have to apply via Beijing.
So, yes there might be some loops hopefully good ones, for us to jump through.

 

[HoneyBird]

wow! well weird.
i am a trinidadian married to a hungarian.
and we thought we were special.
but thus far we have met three couples in the same situation.
i was applying my seemingly rare situation to yours...
but seems yours is out of this world rare!

 

[canadianwoman]

Thaihubbie, will your husband have any trouble getting a visa to go to Beijing for an interview? If you anticipate any trouble getting a Chinese visa for him (if one is necessary for Thais), then your choice is easy - Singapore.
If you know it will be easy for him to get into China for the interview, then I think Beijing is the better choice - it's a lot faster, and the approval rate is high. The embassy staff will know English; I think the Canadian embassy in Beijing outsources a lot of the application processing to a private company, whose workers will know English as well.

 

[thaihubbie]

Canadianwoman, you always seem to know what you are talking about. Somehow i really trust your opinion. Basically, I want confirmation that if an applicant is not in their home country but working and living abroad but they are in a remote place so they would be the only applicant of that kind. For example, totally randomly if a Argentinian was working in Russia for more than one year so they could choose Moscow not Buenos Aires then they would probably be the only Argentinian being processed in Moscow ever potentially. So all of their documents such as a Marriage Certificate, Birth Certificate etc etc would be quite curious for a Moscow officer to determine validity. Then if they had to do a background check from Moscow to Buenos Aires how does that work?
My mind is spinning...I am so stressed by this whole thing. Please be patient with me forum.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Canadianwoman, you always seem to know what you are talking about. Somehow i really trust your opinion. Basically, I want confirmation that if an applicant is not in their home country but working and living abroad but they are in a remote place so they would be the only applicant of that kind. For example, totally randomly if a Argentinian was working in Russia for more than one year so they could choose Moscow not Buenos Aires then they would probably be the only Argentinian being processed in Moscow ever potentially. So all of their documents such as a Marriage Certificate, Birth Certificate etc etc would be quite curious for a Moscow officer to determine validity. Then if they had to do a background check from Moscow to Buenos Aires how does that work?
My mind is spinning...I am so stressed by this whole thing. Please be patient with me forum.

In the Argentinian in Russia, if they were any doubts about documents then Moscow would send them to Buenos Aires for confirmation.

 

[canadianwoman]

Which would add to the processing time.

It is true that getting processed in a country that is not your home country will probably add to the processing time, as the visa officers may need extra time to verify documents. If they end up sending them to the home country, it will go by diplomatic mail, which can be slow. But even with the additional time needed because he is a Thai going through the Beijing office while living in Mongolia, Beijing will still end up being faster than Singapore, probably.

I think you have a straightforward case, because 1. you and your husband have been living together for quite a while, 2. you have a child together, and 3. you lived together in Thailand and then in Mongolia before the PR application, making it look like the reason for the marriage couldn't have been to get into Canada. This means your application will probably be processed faster than the average, so your wait if you go through Singapore should be on the shorter end of the time line.