Hello, I've been directed to this forum by someone on Reddit.
I have a situation that seems atypical enough that I can't find specific answers anywhere, and am hoping someone here can set me straight. Summary of my situation:
I'm a natural Canadian citizen and have resided outside of Canada in Japan since September 2011. I have no residential ties to Canada as defined by Revenue Canada, with the possible exception of my parents residing in Canada. My wife is a Japanese national. I met my wife in Canada and began our relationship in 2007 and we married in 2012. We would like to move to Canada as soon as possible and it seems the only option is for me to sponsor her residency (Japan has renewable spouse visas for me, which are both nice and a pain in the ass at the same time).
After thought and some discussion with someone who went through the immigration sponsorship process in the past (though not from Japan), it seems like I have two options:
1) Apply for sponsorship/immigration outland from within Japan, then move with my wife once she receives her PR status.
2) Fly to Canada with her, taking advantage of her eTA 6-month visa-free visit, then apply for inland or outland from within the country and wait until it is approved.
Regarding option 1, I am unsure about a few things. My wife being Japanese is visa-exempt. Is it likely that we can apply outland and immediately move to Canada, wherein she waits out the process while I work and support her (not even necessary, thanks to savings and my parents)? Do we have to wait until my sponsorship is approved first? I understand that as of December 2014 people can legally work while waiting for their immigration approval. Would that apply in her case? Is it only for people who applied from within Canada? I have heard that Japanese nationals automatically receive a one-year work visa now upon entry, but I can't verify this. Can any of you? All I can see is that she gets 6 months, renewable at least once, thanks to the eTA system. Either way, it looks like her being Japanese might ease the entire process somewhat. Any truth to that statement?
Regarding option 2, I do not wish to risk anything that might deny her application. If we go on a vacation (say, 6 months to stay with my parents), then apply from within Canada, are they likely to view that as deception and deport her? Could she be turned away at the border simply for being married to me, if we state intent for a long visit? If I declare that the reason of application from within Canada is because I found a job and my wife was invited to stay by my parents (will be true on both accounts), will that take care of any such concerns?
Some secondary information that may be of use when forming advice:
1. I am presently "unemployed" in that I resigned from my office in Tokyo and moved up to my in-laws' house with my wife last year. We now receive room and board in exchange for helping on their farm. We have no other income. It isn't the standard definition of employment by today's standards. We do have about $14,000CDN equivalent in yen saved, if that means anything. Is my highly unusual employment situation likely to cause problems? If so, how should I go about explaining it? I noticed on the sponsorship application form they have a section for Unemployed (explain how you support yourself) and a section for Employed. My father-in-law is kind of like my employer, even though he owns no business, I signed no contract, receive no salary and don't consider him my boss. His phone number doesn't fit on that form, as it's designed for Canadian numbers. Should I go with "unemployed" and say I get room & board for farm labour and have savings?
2. My wife has been to Canada before. She spent a year (working holiday) back in 2007-2008, which is when we met and began our relationship. She has also traveled there on two other occasions. Not sure if that is relevant in any way. She speaks English at an upper-intermediate level, if that is useful information.
3. We have no children - no need to worry about that.
A few assorted questions I'll post here to keep this from being too messy to read:
1. In the case of a 4-year marriage to a Japanese national where I've lived in Japan with her, is it less likely that CIC will suspect our marriage and call for an interview? I've been approved for spouse visa renewals several times by the draconian and notoriously bureaucratic Japanese government. Should I include photocopies of my old ID cards with my previous visa expiration dates to prove that I've satisfied Japan with my marriage, or would that be irrelevant? We do have plenty of pictures from the past 9 years together, although we had a private wedding in Hawaii and we only have pictures of her with my parents - none featuring me with hers. I'm of the opinion that they won't question the validity of my marriage based on its length and my spouse visa status in Japan, so hopefully a nice selection of pictures will be all the added proof they need (we wrote no letters and used Skype instead of email to communicate, so no paper records really exist).
2. What's the best choice for my situation? Outland or Inland? Is it too risky for us to go to Canada to stay with my parents, and then apply from within, or is that fine since she's from a favoured country? Since my parents want us to stay with them, should I get them to write me an email stating as much so I can print it and include it in the application? Will staying with my parents hurt or help the application process?
I'll probably come up with other questions, and indeed think I've left a few out, but I'll end here for the sake of keeping this readable.
Thank you very much in advance for any help you can provide or advice you can offer!
I have a situation that seems atypical enough that I can't find specific answers anywhere, and am hoping someone here can set me straight. Summary of my situation:
I'm a natural Canadian citizen and have resided outside of Canada in Japan since September 2011. I have no residential ties to Canada as defined by Revenue Canada, with the possible exception of my parents residing in Canada. My wife is a Japanese national. I met my wife in Canada and began our relationship in 2007 and we married in 2012. We would like to move to Canada as soon as possible and it seems the only option is for me to sponsor her residency (Japan has renewable spouse visas for me, which are both nice and a pain in the ass at the same time).
After thought and some discussion with someone who went through the immigration sponsorship process in the past (though not from Japan), it seems like I have two options:
1) Apply for sponsorship/immigration outland from within Japan, then move with my wife once she receives her PR status.
2) Fly to Canada with her, taking advantage of her eTA 6-month visa-free visit, then apply for inland or outland from within the country and wait until it is approved.
Regarding option 1, I am unsure about a few things. My wife being Japanese is visa-exempt. Is it likely that we can apply outland and immediately move to Canada, wherein she waits out the process while I work and support her (not even necessary, thanks to savings and my parents)? Do we have to wait until my sponsorship is approved first? I understand that as of December 2014 people can legally work while waiting for their immigration approval. Would that apply in her case? Is it only for people who applied from within Canada? I have heard that Japanese nationals automatically receive a one-year work visa now upon entry, but I can't verify this. Can any of you? All I can see is that she gets 6 months, renewable at least once, thanks to the eTA system. Either way, it looks like her being Japanese might ease the entire process somewhat. Any truth to that statement?
Regarding option 2, I do not wish to risk anything that might deny her application. If we go on a vacation (say, 6 months to stay with my parents), then apply from within Canada, are they likely to view that as deception and deport her? Could she be turned away at the border simply for being married to me, if we state intent for a long visit? If I declare that the reason of application from within Canada is because I found a job and my wife was invited to stay by my parents (will be true on both accounts), will that take care of any such concerns?
Some secondary information that may be of use when forming advice:
1. I am presently "unemployed" in that I resigned from my office in Tokyo and moved up to my in-laws' house with my wife last year. We now receive room and board in exchange for helping on their farm. We have no other income. It isn't the standard definition of employment by today's standards. We do have about $14,000CDN equivalent in yen saved, if that means anything. Is my highly unusual employment situation likely to cause problems? If so, how should I go about explaining it? I noticed on the sponsorship application form they have a section for Unemployed (explain how you support yourself) and a section for Employed. My father-in-law is kind of like my employer, even though he owns no business, I signed no contract, receive no salary and don't consider him my boss. His phone number doesn't fit on that form, as it's designed for Canadian numbers. Should I go with "unemployed" and say I get room & board for farm labour and have savings?
2. My wife has been to Canada before. She spent a year (working holiday) back in 2007-2008, which is when we met and began our relationship. She has also traveled there on two other occasions. Not sure if that is relevant in any way. She speaks English at an upper-intermediate level, if that is useful information.
3. We have no children - no need to worry about that.
A few assorted questions I'll post here to keep this from being too messy to read:
1. In the case of a 4-year marriage to a Japanese national where I've lived in Japan with her, is it less likely that CIC will suspect our marriage and call for an interview? I've been approved for spouse visa renewals several times by the draconian and notoriously bureaucratic Japanese government. Should I include photocopies of my old ID cards with my previous visa expiration dates to prove that I've satisfied Japan with my marriage, or would that be irrelevant? We do have plenty of pictures from the past 9 years together, although we had a private wedding in Hawaii and we only have pictures of her with my parents - none featuring me with hers. I'm of the opinion that they won't question the validity of my marriage based on its length and my spouse visa status in Japan, so hopefully a nice selection of pictures will be all the added proof they need (we wrote no letters and used Skype instead of email to communicate, so no paper records really exist).
2. What's the best choice for my situation? Outland or Inland? Is it too risky for us to go to Canada to stay with my parents, and then apply from within, or is that fine since she's from a favoured country? Since my parents want us to stay with them, should I get them to write me an email stating as much so I can print it and include it in the application? Will staying with my parents hurt or help the application process?
I'll probably come up with other questions, and indeed think I've left a few out, but I'll end here for the sake of keeping this readable.
Thank you very much in advance for any help you can provide or advice you can offer!
