Questions about residence and employment for sponsor

[SpousalSponsor]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum so hope I am posting this in the correct place I am starting the process of sponsoring my husband for PR. I am a Canadian citizen. My husband is Guatemalan and we were married in December 2012 and had a baby in May of this year (I am writing this with babe in arms so please forgive any spelling errors .

I have a couple of questions because I have been back and forth between Canada and Guatemala for the past several years, and because I am currently on maternity leave.

Since I am on maternity leave (through Canadian EI), and intend to return to my work with my previous employer in March, 2014 (and have a contract saying so), should I say that I am unemployed and explain the circumstances or should I put that I am employed?

Also, I work for a Canadian NGO and in theory spend half the year in Canada and half in Guatemala. In practice, I wanted to be with my husband as much as possible during my pregnancy and mat leave and so have been more than 6 months in Guatemala since last Sept. I maintain a Canadian drivers license and bank accounts and have a Canadian employer, and enter Guatemala on a tourist visa. However I have physically lived in Guatemala for more than 6 months of the previous year. Do I apply as a Canadian resident or not?

Thanks so much. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Sweden]

Hey, and welcome to the forum,

I'm not 100% sure of what you should put because in both cases, it could be either / or! But what you could do is:
1 - put employed, and attached a letter explaining your current situation, and the proofs of it. CIC wants to see that you have a plan, and means to support yourself and your husband when he comes. Get a letter from your employer, or if you can't, put a copy of your contract, so it's obvious that you have a job to go back to.

2 - Same : it's tricky. But I would put resident, as you have more ties to Canada than to Guatemala, and that's where your work is. Here, if you declare that you are a non-resident, you will have to explain what you will do to re-establish yourself in Canada, which doesn't make much sense, as you have not really "left" Canada. So I would put employed, and add the proofs of driving licence, work contract, bank account etc. but explain at the same time that you have been spending the majority of your time in Guatemala - which is a good thing because it will count towards "proofs of relationship" to prove that your relationship is genuine. As you're a Canadian citizen, you can be outside of Canada when you sponsor your husband, so there is no issue there.

Good luck,
Sweden