Questions about Sponsorship

[nebulous]

Hi,
I have a few questions about sponsorship. I want to sponsor my husband who came to Canada on March 7th, 2016 for IEC - Working Holiday. He has a working visa for one year, so until March 7th, 2017. Here are my questions:

1. Can we apply for outland sponsorship when we both live together in Canada? If so, on the application under where it asks for his address, should we use the address we're currently living at or should we use his address in Poland?
2. How long will it take (on average) until he will receives a work permit, assuming that he will be accepted? We'll be applying through Warsaw as he is from Poland.
3. Will he be able to stay in Canada on a visitor visa until he is accepted? It's quite a long time, so do you think it would be problematic?
4. From what I know, there is a possibility that we could be called in for an interview in Warsaw. How likely is this to occur and would we both have to go or would it only be him?
5. Does his birth certificate have to be translated into English?
6. He has a criminal record check from Poland which was required for Working Holiday. He has been living in Canada since he got his last criminal record check (in Poland), so will he also need a criminal record check from Canadian police? Will I need a criminal record check as well?
7. Can we do medical exams for him in Canada? If so, approximately how much would it cost and would we be able to get this done at any medical facility? Would I need medical exams as well?
8. Before we met in person, we were talking a lot online. Should we print most of those conversations or just part of it? It's very, VERY long.
9. Can the application be sent online, or do we have to send it through mail? I've opened the files from the website and put in my answers and information, but when I save it, the files are blank.
10. He doesn't have specific information about his father, such as his father's address, because he doesn't have contact with him. Would it be a problem if that information was omitted from the application?

I know that we have a lot of questions, but the answers for many of them can be short.

Thanks for all of your help and answers!

 

[Aquakitty]

Hi,
I have a few questions about sponsorship. I want to sponsor my husband who came to Canada on March 7th, 2016 for IEC - Working Holiday. He has a working visa for one year, so until March 7th, 2017. Here are my questions:

1. Can we apply for outland sponsorship when we both live together in Canada? If so, on the application under where it asks for his address, should we use the address we're currently living at or should we use his address in Poland?
2. How long will it take (on average) until he will receives a work permit, assuming that he will be accepted? We'll be applying through Warsaw as he is from Poland.
3. Will he be able to stay in Canada on a visitor visa until he is accepted? It's quite a long time, so do you think it would be problematic?
4. From what I know, there is a possibility that we could be called in for an interview in Warsaw. How likely is this to occur and would we both have to go or would it only be him?
5. Does his birth certificate have to be translated into English?
6. He has a criminal record check from Poland which was required for Working Holiday. He has been living in Canada since he got his last criminal record check (in Poland), so will he also need a criminal record check from Canadian police? Will I need a criminal record check as well?
7. Can we do medical exams for him in Canada? If so, approximately how much would it cost and would we be able to get this done at any medical facility? Would I need medical exams as well?
8. Before we met in person, we were talking a lot online. Should we print most of those conversations or just part of it? It's very, VERY long.
9. Can the application be sent online, or do we have to send it through mail? I've opened the files from the website and put in my answers and information, but when I save it, the files are blank.
10. He doesn't have specific information about his father, such as his father's address, because he doesn't have contact with him. Would it be a problem if that information was omitted from the application?

I know that we have a lot of questions, but the answers for many of them can be short.

Thanks for all of your help and answers!

1) Use the address you are currently living together at, for everything. If you use his home country address as his residence and yours for the mailing address, you will have to submit a "Use of Representative" form. Yes you are allowed to live in Canada with outland sponsorship.

2) There's no work permit with outland sponsorship. You'll have to apply inland for that. Remember, the forms are together now, with different options and submission mailing addresses for outland vs. inland. If he applies inland, the work permit timeline is about 4 months.

3) Yes, assuming you apply now, he can apply to "change conditions or extend stay in Canada as a visitor" about a month before his work visa expires. If you go the inland route, that's not necessary as long as you apply for his work permit before the expiry of his current work visa.

4) That I don't know. Usually, interviews are less likely for non-visa requiring countries. You should check the Warsaw thread.

5) Yes, by an official translator.

6) Only he needs the police certificate, and it's still valid as you say he's not lived in Poland since it was issued. Nothing required for Canada, only for countries hes been in for 6 months or more since the age of 18.

7) With the new system, they will tell you when to go for the exam. Yes, you can have it done in Canada regardless if you apply inland or outland. No the sponsor does not require medical exams.

8) Yes, you need chat conversations. The instructions will tell you how many pages. Don't send them all the pages, a page of conversations from each year or month is good enough. Just show a wide range of conversation topics.

9) Mail only. You can fill out the PDF online, sort of, but you need to be able to save, print and validate the documents. I suggest just downloading Adobe Reader DC.

10) No, just use an extra piece of paper to explain why he does not have his address.

 

[nebulous]

Thank you for answers.

3) Yes, assuming you apply now, he can apply to "change conditions or extend stay in Canada as a visitor" about a month before his work visa expires.

Where should he apply for that? Online? Also, I've heard that it would be best for him to extend his stay as a visitor a few days before expiration, but would it be better to do it a month before his work visa expires?
And how likely is it that they'll let him stay for a couple months? It's quite a long time.

9) Mail only. You can fill out the PDF online, sort of, but you need to be able to save, print and validate the documents.

So should it be sent as a normal letter, or would it be better to have it registered just in case? Also, how will we know when they get the documents and begin reviewing our application? Lastly, what do you mean by "validate the documents"?

 

[profiler]

Where should he apply for that? Online? Also, I've heard that it would be best for him to extend his stay as a visitor a few days before expiration, but would it be better to do it a month before his work visa expires?
And how likely is it that they'll let him stay for a couple months? It's quite a long time.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

Yes apply one month before. Theory is one day is enough, but one month is good too.

People do it all the time. But I can't speak from experience. My wife did inland and holds an OWP.

So should it be sent as a normal letter, or would it be better to have it registered just in case? Also, how will we know when they get the documents and begin reviewing our application? Lastly, what do you mean by "validate the documents"?

I would send it by courier, but mail is ok. Couriers require a signature. You'd also know when they received the file.

Validation is where they inspect the documents you've submitted (passports, birth certificates, etc) and verify they are legitimate and fit the requirements. They send an acknowledgement once they begin processing (meaning the application meets the minimum requirements).

 

[Hurlabrick]

Lastly, what do you mean by "validate the document"?

In the context that Aquakitty made the 'validate' comment, I think this actually refers to the fact that some of the IMM documents you are required to complete, have the option to type the answers in using Adobe PDF (the recommended approach) and also have a 'Validate' button on the PDF's when opened using the Adobe PDF viewer program - it is a big blue button at the top of the form marked 'Validate' (e.g. see IMM1344 for an example).

The 'Validate' button does two things:

1. Checks the data you have typed in and highlights and errors so you can correct immediately
2. Generates the required barcode page that you need to send with forms