Question about border crossing before applying for inland

[jokebreath]

I had a quick question about inland sponsorship, any help would be greatly appreciated!

My wife is a Canadian citizen and I'm a US citizen. We got married in the US and have been living here for the past 7 years. After being a PR in the US forever, she just recently received her dual US citizenship and now we're in the process of moving to Montreal where we'll be applying for inland sponsorship.

Since I'll be crossing the border without a visa, is there any likelihood border patrol will deny my entry? Would there be any danger in describing our exact situation and explaining we'll be applying for inland after we arrive? Should we do something like bring a copy of our marriage certificate and a lease to show some kind of evidence of intent?

Going through customs makes me irrationally nervous enough when we're just going up for a quick visit, I want to make sure to avoid any surprises that could come up. Thanks for your help!

 

[Jessilyn]

The thing about crossing the border is don't volunteer too much information. Just answer their questions and you should be okay.They will ask you where you are headed to, how long you plan to stay, if you have work in the states or if you're a student, etc. If you are an american citizen, you can receive an automatic visitor's visa once you both get there. You don't have to do anything at except show your passport. They will ask how long you plan to stay, so I'm not sure how to answer that for you.

Edit: Also, if you apply for Inland Sponsorship, also apply for an OWP with your application. It will grant you 'implied status' until CiC makes a decision on in, then you will have a status in Canada to stay legally. A visitor's Visa into Canada from the US is normally 6 months to the day you entered.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I had a quick question about inland sponsorship, any help would be greatly appreciated!

My wife is a Canadian citizen and I'm a US citizen. We got married in the US and have been living here for the past 7 years. After being a PR in the US forever, she just recently received her dual US citizenship and now we're in the process of moving to Montreal where we'll be applying for inland sponsorship.

Since I'll be crossing the border without a visa, is there any likelihood border patrol will deny my entry? Would there be any danger in describing our exact situation and explaining we'll be applying for inland after we arrive? Should we do something like bring a copy of our marriage certificate and a lease to show some kind of evidence of intent?

Going through customs makes me irrationally nervous enough when we're just going up for a quick visit, I want to make sure to avoid any surprises that could come up. Thanks for your help!

When do you actually plan to move to Canada? American outland apps are processed really quickly, averaging around 6 months, so outland is generally the better option for Americans.

 

[jokebreath]

Our timeline is pretty tight, we're moving to Canada in late June. Based on the timelines I'm seeing, since OWP seems to take 3-5 months with the inland application, that option seems quicker even if the outland application would ultimately lead to PR status quickest? I'm not sure if that's the right thinking or not.

 

[k.h.p.]

Montreal as your destination adds an element of complication, you will need to coordinate the application with Quebec's immigration program.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Our timeline is pretty tight, we're moving to Canada in late June. Based on the timelines I'm seeing, since OWP seems to take 3-5 months with the inland application, that option seems quicker even if the outland application would ultimately lead to PR status quickest? I'm not sure if that's the right thinking or not.

Shame you delayed in applying. Had you applied outland 6 months ago, you would likely be entering as a PR in June.

To be clear, you aren't moving to Canada in June. You do not yet have the right to live here. You are coming to visit while applying for PR. You should not have more than a few bags with you upon entering, like any normal visitor. Do not bring all of your worldly belongings with you.

The OWP has been coming a bit quicker these days, within a few months I believe. That is no guarantee that it will still be like that when you apply.

 

[jokebreath]

Yeah understood. It’s an unfortunate situation, but it is what it is. There were a number of factors that prevented us from applying earlier, not least of which was we had limited ability to show proof of intent we were planning on moving back to Canada. We now have a signed lease in my wife’s name.

It still seems like there are plenty of pros and cons in inland vs outland at this point in time. The entire Outland process will finish quicker and hopefully I wouldn’t have to extend my tourist visa. But it also seems like a minimum of 5 months without working, whereas the inland would seem to be a maximum of 5 months.

I’m just looking for a sanity check that I’m looking at these options right, does it still make sense to apply for outland now since the entire process will be over quicker? It makes me nervous that the official timeline is still 12 months for both inland and outland even though all experiences point to outland being much quicker.

 

[k.h.p.]

There is no guarantee that it is quicker - there is only a trend, that is more or less observable, from people who report their experiences here that outland sponsorship is sometimes faster than inland. However, we don't have a full picture of everyone who applies and their experiences, just the subset that are shared here.