innosense said:
Here is the link
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900ETOC.asp
If I live outside Canada, may I sponsor?
If you are a Canadian citizen, you may sponsor a spouse, a common-law partner or conjugal partner, or a dependent child who has no children of his or her own. However, you must demonstrate that you will live in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident.
Note: Permanent residents residing abroad may not sponsor from outside of Canada. Canadian citizens travelling as tourists are not considered to be residing abroad.
So, I got into a bit of this situation and I would like to share what happens in this situation. At the time of application, you are suppose to be in Canada and when you submit your proofs of communication etc, and travel history, they check to see if the sponsor is really in canada or not. In my case, I travel for work (i own a business in Canada with projects running overseas). I met my wife on these business trips and got engaged. got married 10-11 months later and even after that we stayed together as i was stationed outside of canada for major portion of the year. We even applied for spousal immigration almost 1.5 years later because at the time, we werent in a hurry and in the past, my relatives have gotten the immigration in 3-4 months, so we were unaware of the extended period they take now.
So, coming back to the point, they check your application and if they see you were outside of Canada even before applying and had jsut moved back to Canada to file the papers, they will send you additional documents request. The main thing they ask in this is your resettlement plans in Canada i.e. they want to see a job offer letter or employment letter staying that you are back in canada working. Secondly, they want your rental lease or house paper stating you have residency in Canada.
In case where you have already filed and waiting. you could get away with quiting your job and moving back to be with your spouse provided you dont end up with an interview where they can dig deeper. Very few ever send updates once the application is received to NDVO. so, they assume that nothing has changed since then.
as for the time limit you can be away, as long as you are really not moving away (like quiting your job, vacating your house to move back) you should be fine. there is no set of rules regarding that but you have to justify it when asked.
I know its hard to be away without your spouse, especially when you are newly married. Not to mention there is always the family and relatives pressure and constant interference which makes it even worse. However, my advice would be to take a little extra monetary hit and plan multiple smaller vacations. 1 month here, a weeks in christmas etc etc.
