Not sure where to begin.

[daughtervodka]

Ok this will be a bit long so please bear with me. I'm in the United States military currently, and my wife is a Canadian citizen. I'm going to be medically retired from the military in a few months and plan on immigrating to Ottawa with my wife. The problem is that I currently do not know when I get out of the military. Unfortunately I do not find out until about the last 30 days, and because of this I'm still technically "owned" and cannot complete the PR application. I have spoken with several lawyers and tend to get mixed info about what it is exactly I can do. I would really like to be able to exit the military and immigrate in country, which I have heard you can do. The problem is I do not fully understand how to do this. And I'm a bit reserved about getting a lawyer just yet most of the ones I have spoken with say I should file out of country. The problem is when I exit the military I for the most part will be homeless. I have a physical impairment that will make it some what difficult to find a job immediately and wait the estimated year processing time to immigrate. I plan on going to university in Ottawa and will be receiving a medical retirement, I just do not know how much. My wife has a home and is set up in Canada, that is why I would rather immigrate in country. I'm sorry about this long winded post, but I'm just really confused and unsure of my immediate future. I really appreciate any info in advance and would also be interested in any Lawyer recommendations. Thank you...

 

[CharlieD10]

First, you can complete an out-of-country application (Outland through the Ottawa office that now handles US applications or one of the local offices to which it may be assigned by Ottawa) even while you visit with your spouse in Canada. So if your plan is to come to Canada as a visitor and then wait out your PR processing, you can do so without filing an Inland application via Case Processing Centre-Vegreville. This is because there would be NO advantages whatsoever to you applying through that format.

Applying through Ottawa preserves your right to appeal a denial (slim to no chance this will happen, but you never know!) and also your freedom of movement is preserved in that you don't need to be present in Canada if you must return to the US for any reason (again, as an American if you applied Inland and had to leave the chances are slim you would not be permitted to return but it is not a guarantee).

For the time being, you can start preparing for submitting your application. It takes about 8-12 weeks for your FBI certificate to be sent to you after you apply for it, so you can prepare for that. Note that you should not apply for your FBI report unless you are certain you can have the rest of your application ready within that 8-12 week period. This is because the FBI report (and any other police certificates) can be no more than 3 months past its issued date when it is submitted to the processing office. Another thing you can do in the meanwhile is pay your fees. It's $1,040 Cdn for a spousal application. Don't book your medical until your application is just about ready to be submitted, you want to leave it for the last thing you do.

If you haven't already done so, go through the forms and get an idea of what else you need to submit and the questions to be answered. If you need to, ask questions, lots of folks here are happy to assist.

 

[Creampop]

Well like you said you can't file until the government no longer own's you as you put it, I understand your wanting to file inland but to me it sounds like the only reason you want to file inland is to be able to be with your wife. Just so you know you can file and outland application and still be in Canada with your spouse. I have been in Canada since April 19th 2012 didn't even mail my app in til April 20th and just sent passport off for the PR visa. When I crossed in I was given a visitor's record that was good for 8 months if I hadn't gotten my visa before the VR was to expire I would just apply for an extension to the VR or (flagpole) hop back and forth over the borders. if you are here filing an inland application you will not be able to work or study either way, it took me 6 1/2 months to get my PR visa will take you just about that long to get inland 1st stage approval (website is saying 5 to 6 months)l then another 6 to 8 months for PR visa. so I would say I agree with the Lawyers you have spoken with. also if you file inland you loose your right to appeal and will have to redo the whole process if for some reason you are denied, also if you file inland you can't leave Canada until the process is over or you risk not being allowed back in and if that happens they consider your application abandoned. wait until you know for sure when you will be discharged before sending in for the FBI check you can even have it mailed to your wife's address in Canada. Good Luck!

 

[thn394]

Just came across this post and have a question related to it. I'm currently in the US Military Reserves as a part time traditional reservist. This means I have on weekend a month and 2 weeks a year commitment. My enlistment ends in April 2016. My wife is a Canadian citizen and we have applied outland. My unit is aware of my intention to move to Canada and is supportive and allows me to reschedule my reserve weekends to blocks I perform about every 3 months. I can also go "inactive" until my enlistment ends and not have to perform any duties unless recalled. Before we applied I looked all through the application guides and saw nothing prohibiting me from applying for residency as a spouse due to my reserve job. We just go SA now I'm scared because I saw this post and would be crushed if our application was rejected. I have quite my civilian job and come to Canada to visit my wife for the summer while our application is processed. Did I miss something and a I screwed until next April???

 

[Gemmie]

Maybe since you intend to study at the University of Ottawa, you should apply for a study permit,
which you will need an acceptance letter I believe from the school and savings to show you can support yourself.
You probably will have the GI Bill so, maybe with that showing your ability to pay the fees for the study and your
stipend which will be the amount for a family of E5 you will have enough to prove you can support yourself
during your studies. Actually I think the MHA stipend for international students is about 1400 American. You can
check those with the website for clarity.
I say this because when you first get out of the military , being homeless, jobless , little ties to the USA and more ties
to Canada though your relationship, you may have issues at the border as did my husband when he first got out of the Marines.
He was basically given an option of withdrawing his application to visit Canada at the border, given a paper showing what he needed
to bring to the border to be allowed into Canada which was a job, or form of income, an apartment with a lease in the USA, a bank account showing
he had money , there are several things on the page they gave him. We had to put him in a hotel for a few weeks while he settled into
where he was going to be living and when he came back to the border he was allowed entrance into Canada. And this was just for
a visit. He had no intentions of settling in Canada at the time. It was over 2 years later that we got married and we decided to
proceed with an immigration application to live in Canada. Originality it was our intentions to live in border cities until my kids went
off to College and then decide what we would do , and we were leaning towards me moving to the United States, but things
change over time and this is where we are at now.

Applying outland for US is much faster then inland and you can appeal any decision made as well.

 

[thn394]

This is a bit of an old thread with a new question posted, some nice info from Gemmie to consider but was hoping for some other responses to my question. thanks.

 

[Gemmie]

Ah I did see that now .. lol

 

[Gemmie]

Maybe you should ask in a new thread. I did read your post but blanked on the older thread part.

When did you apply for PR? It's taking around 8 to 10 months from what people are saying on the forum.