Questions on Spousal sponsorship

[elvislevel]

Hello,
Some questions:

1) My wife, from China, is in Canada on a multiply re-entry tourist visa. There is nothing in the passport stamp to indicate length of stay. Is she good for 6m?
2) Once the PR application is submitted does something special have to be done/applied for to allow her to stay until the PR is done?
3) Does anything have to happen first if she wants to fly to someplace outside of Canada and be able to return? Drive?
4) Can police reports be submitted after the application? We have the Chinese one, but the one from Japan expired and getting a new one will take 2-3 months, by which time the Chinese one will expire. Annoying! It has been suggested we can just submit what we have and then send in the Japanese report when it arrives.

Thanks in advance,

EL

 

[Sweden]

Hello,
Some questions:

1) My wife, from China, is in Canada on a multiply re-entry tourist visa. There is nothing in the passport stamp to indicate length of stay. Is she good for 6m?
2) Once the PR application is submitted does something special have to be done/applied for to allow her to stay until the PR is done?
3) Does anything have to happen first if she wants to fly to someplace outside of Canada and be able to return? Drive?
4) Can police reports be submitted after the application? We have the Chinese one, but the one from Japan expired and getting a new one will take 2-3 months, by which time the Chinese one will expire. Annoying! It has been suggested we can just submit what we have and then send in the Japanese report when it arrives.

Thanks in advance,

EL

Hey,

I'm not sure about all the answers, so I'll answer the one I can! and let others chime in.

1-not sure.
2-if you are applying outland, you should ask for an extension of her visa BEFORE it expires. as a reason, you can explain that you have applied for PR and waiting for the results, and send a proof of that ( either the fee receipt, or the sponsorship approval if you have it already). It's quite often granted.
3-it's always a risk. There is never a guarantee that she will be let in the country again.
4-normally, you should submit everything together, but I can see how it would be difficult in your case.
What I would suggest: send your application now, but add a note to the japanese one explaining that you are aware that it is expired, but that you would like to ask for lenience ( or something like this) in accepting it for the time being, because of the chinese one etc... and that you are working on getting a new one from Japan.
Then - ask for the Japanese one, and WAIT until you have a file number (and most likely your application is transferred to your VO in China) to send it. If you send it before, it might get lost. If you send it to the VO with the File number etc, then it will be easier to match it to your application. The applicant background is checked mostly at the VO level ( the first stage is more about the sponsor, and making sure that your application is complete), so they will probably accept that. I did that for my Police Check (one took me 6 months to get, so I decided to send in my application and later sent it to the VO directly), and it was OK.

Good luck with your application,
Sweden

 

[elvislevel]

Hi Sweden,
Thanks for giving it a try. VO stands for what exactly? Note that the plan was to apply from inside Canada, so why send the application to China? Her last address was actually Japan, where we lived for 20 years.

It was my impression that they wouldn't kick her out while waiting for the visa to be processed, which is why we were going the inland route. If you had to leave what would be the point of the inland application? I've heard others warn of the dangers of taking trips outside Canada, though trouble at the border seemed to be about insufficient proof that you really had ties here. Presumably taveling with your two Canadian kids and their recent report cards would help.

By the way, I bent over backwards filling out those tedious B4 forms, but on my occasional trips back to Japan when I bring back a couple of 23 kg boxes of old belongings nobody at the Toronto airport has ever given a damn. You do need the B4s when you mail stuff. Probably also if you came driving over with a truck load.

Rgds,

EL

 

[Sweden]

Hi Sweden,
Thanks for giving it a try. VO stands for what exactly? Note that the plan was to apply from inside Canada, so why send the application to China? Her last address was actually Japan, where we lived for 20 years.

It was my impression that they wouldn't kick her out while waiting for the visa to be processed, which is why we were going the inland route. If you had to leave what would be the point of the inland application? I've heard others warn of the dangers of taking trips outside Canada, though trouble at the border seemed to be about insufficient proof that you really had ties here. Presumably taveling with your two Canadian kids and their recent report cards would help.

By the way, I bent over backwards filling out those tedious B4 forms, but on my occasional trips back to Japan when I bring back a couple of 23 kg boxes of old belongings nobody at the Toronto airport has ever given a damn. You do need the B4s when you mail stuff. Probably also if you came driving over with a truck load.

Rgds,

EL

Hey!

Sorry - I assume you were going the outland route, even while staying in Canada... so if you're going inland, then it's a completely different set of answer! I'll try again then!

So VO stands for Visa Office, but not relevant in your case if you're going the inland route. ( as chinese but residing in Japan she could probably choose either Japan - well Manilla - or China as VO if you decided to go outland - she could do that while being in Canada with you on a tourist visa).

So - back to your questions:
1- I still don't know!
2- Once her visa expires, and IF you have filed the application before the end of the visa, then she can stay in Canada, she will be on "implied status" until a decision is made on her application.
3-if you file inland, she should not attempt to leave Canada. She is not guaranteed back into the country, as she is supposed to stay in Canada. If she is denied entry, her inland application will be deemed abandoned, and you will have to start all over again, applying outland this time. (if you apply outland, she can travel back and forth, as long as she is let in the country, of course. If she is refused entry, it doesn't impact her application because she doesn't have to be in Canada in the first place). so - I would recommend NOT leaving Canada for the time of her application (that's why some people choose outland even when staying in Canada).
4-answers stays the same. As long as you explain what is happening, and send in the report, then it should be fine.

Good luck with the B4 - indeed it is tedious!
Sweden

 

[Victorswife]

Hey !

We are in same situation and just submitted inland application with Open Work permit to be granted implied status. ME visa valid till 2016

When I had asked on this forum... Other Senior members said it was still only valid for 6 months!
to fix this...
1.) You can either do IMM 5556 Stay in Canada as a worker... or as a temp Resident.... if Inland, I would suggest as a worker.
if you submit the Open work permit with the Inland aplication you can ask them to process it after the First Stage - Sponsor Approval.


If you search for my username and the posts I have been apart of the last while, I have asked a lot of these same questions and you will be able to see the responses.

All the Best!

 

[canadianwoman]

1) My wife, from China, is in Canada on a multiply re-entry tourist visa. There is nothing in the passport stamp to indicate length of stay. Is she good for 6m?

I'd say good for 6 months at a time, if there is nothing on the visa specifying otherwise.

2) Once the PR application is submitted does something special have to be done/applied for to allow her to stay until the PR is done?

With an inland app, she has implied status, so no.

3) Does anything have to happen first if she wants to fly to someplace outside of Canada and be able to return? Drive?

It is risky to leave Canada once an inland app is in process. If she is not let back in, the application is over. I would not risk it.

4) Can police reports be submitted after the application? We have the Chinese one, but the one from Japan expired and getting a new one will take 2-3 months, by which time the Chinese one will expire. Annoying! It has been suggested we can just submit what we have and then send in the Japanese report when it arrives.

Sending in the Chinese one and the expired Japanese one with a note explaining you have applied for a new Japanese police report (with proof you have applied for it) should be OK, per Sweden's experience.

 

[elvislevel]

Thanks all for your support. I tried searching for "Victorswife" but found it hard to know where to stop or start with 400 pages of comments in a typical thread. One thread that I found amusing started from pelipeli and her 313 pages to prove her love. Lots of congrats on the organization and hard work. Anybody in that 31 page thread ask if she was nuts? Where do people get the idea to provide phone records (people keep these??) or notarized letters from friends? Certainly not from the application form! In our case we've been married 15 years and have two kids. Lots of tedious e-mails I could dig up on piano and violin lessons I suppose. Would that make anybody at the CIC happy? Not much data on the "developing relationship". After 15 years and two kids is that really even necessary?

A bit disturbed to hear everybody say it is hard to take a foreign vacation while the application is being processed. People paid to answer these questions tell me either one has to do nothing at all and everything will be fine or to first give some notification then everything will be fine. A bit confused how this would work. My wife crosses a border, on return hands the guy at the airport her passport, he enters the number and the computer starts flashing red that she is an enemy of the state for taking a vacation while her visa is being processed? I'm not saying it isn't possible, but there is usually a logic to these things and I was wondering what that could be.

Dumb question:

I filled out the dependent section even though our kids are already Canadian. Would it kill them to say "leave this out if your kids are Canadian" or "include this even if your kids are Canadian"? The entire application seems to regard it as inconceivable that somebody might have kids with a Canadian before immigrating.

Dumber question:

I think my wife's tourist visa application entitles her to a UCI. Any thoughts on where this secret number can be obtained?

Dumbest question:

What is one to enter when they ask to what date we are living at our CURRENT address? Anybody notice that the answer to this depends on the date the question is answered? Am I supposed to guess the date that the CIC will open the application? Leaving it blank throws up an error when you press the validate button.

Thanks again. Sorry for the sarcasm. It's a coping mechanism. Native born Canadians will understand.

EL

 

[amikety]

Thanks all for your support. I tried searching for "Victorswife" but found it hard to know where to stop or start with 400 pages of comments in a typical thread. One thread that I found amusing started from pelipeli and her 313 pages to prove her love. Lots of congrats on the organization and hard work. Anybody in that 31 page thread ask if she was nuts? Where do people get the idea to provide phone records (people keep these??) or notarized letters from friends? Certainly not from the application form! In our case we've been married 15 years and have two kids. Lots of tedious e-mails I could dig up on piano and violin lessons I suppose. Would that make anybody at the CIC happy? Not much data on the "developing relationship". After 15 years and two kids is that really even necessary?

A bit disturbed to hear everybody say it is hard to take a foreign vacation while the application is being processed. People paid to answer these questions tell me either one has to do nothing at all and everything will be fine or to first give some notification then everything will be fine. A bit confused how this would work. My wife crosses a border, on return hands the guy at the airport her passport, he enters the number and the computer starts flashing red that she is an enemy of the state for taking a vacation while her visa is being processed? I'm not saying it isn't possible, but there is usually a logic to these things and I was wondering what that could be.

Dumb question:

I filled out the dependent section even though our kids are already Canadian. Would it kill them to say "leave this out if your kids are Canadian" or "include this even if your kids are Canadian"? The entire application seems to regard it as inconceivable that somebody might have kids with a Canadian before immigrating.

Dumber question:

I think my wife's tourist visa application entitles her to a UCI. Any thoughts on where this secret number can be obtained?

Dumbest question:

What is one to enter when they ask to what date we are living at our CURRENT address? Anybody notice that the answer to this depends on the date the question is answered? Am I supposed to guess the date that the CIC will open the application? Leaving it blank throws up an error when you press the validate button.

Thanks again. Sorry for the sarcasm. It's a coping mechanism. Native born Canadians will understand.

EL

I think a lot of the questions are hazy and even the guide isn't as clear as it should be.

Enter the address you're at when you mail the application. If you move, you call CIC or email the VO to update the address. If you know her Client ID number, it's the same difference from what I understand. It should be on the piece of paper... but don't ask me where. (I have a Visitor's Record instead of a visa.) When I needed to know my Client ID, I made a pretend application in MyCIC, got the number, then deleted the application. How's that for thinking.... true redneck style. Using duct tape..... mental duct tape.

My personal favorite is: "When do you plan to leave Canada?"

Um, never morons. I'm applying for Permanent Residence for a reason. I understand this may apply to other cases, but it just seemed to silly to me.

Sarcasm is soooooo awesome.................. Hahahahaha!

 

[Rob_TO]

What is one to enter when they ask to what date we are living at our CURRENT address? Anybody notice that the answer to this depends on the date the question is answered? Am I supposed to guess the date that the CIC will open the application? Leaving it blank throws up an error when you press the validate button.

For this particular date you need to enter, it really doesn't matter how you relay the info. You can type in the date you are filling in the app, the date you will mail the package, or some date in the future. Whatever you put, after its printed out just write in by hand "present address" or "to present" or something like that right beside it.

The VO working on your file will understand!

 

[elvislevel]

Thanks, Rob_TO. As usual, there is a sort of reasonable thing to do (more reasonable would be not asking questions that answer themselves).

amikety, I am not sure what you did when you used myCIC. Perhaps you already used this before for some more legitimate reason? I logged in via my bank account, which was weird, but then got stumped when I said I had a UCI and they went and asked for it. I then tried saying I didn't have a UCI and found myself with lots to do, but unclear it was ever going to a UCI at the end of the rainbow.

They said it was a pair of 4 digit numbers separated by a dash. Any chance it could be that single 8 digit number at the bottom of the visitor visa?

 

[amikety]

Thanks, Rob_TO. As usual, there is a sort of reasonable thing to do (more reasonable would be not asking questions that answer themselves).

amikety, I am not sure what you did when you used myCIC. Perhaps you already used this before for some more legitimate reason? I logged in via my bank account, which was weird, but then got stumped when I said I had a UCI and they went and asked for it. I then tried saying I didn't have a UCI and found myself with lots to do, but unclear it was ever going to a UCI at the end of the rainbow.

They said it was a pair of 4 digit numbers separated by a dash. Any chance it could be that single 8 digit number at the bottom of the visitor visa?

I know on my VR there isn't a dash.

I signed up originally before the security upgrade (which I like). If all else fails, call the Call Centre with visa in hand and read numbers until they give you a bingo. Btw, your UCI and your wife's UCI will be different from what I understand.

 

[Rob_TO]

They said it was a pair of 4 digit numbers separated by a dash. Any chance it could be that single 8 digit number at the bottom of the visitor visa?

Hmm well the UCI me and my fiancee used to log into eCAS was a single 8-digit number (no dash).

In most cases i'm pretty sure sponsor and applicant just leave these numbers blank on all the forms. I've never heard of this being linked to a visitor, student or tourist visa.

Also the instructions say "Indicate your Universal Client Identification number (UCI) or Client Identification number (Client ID), if known (8-digit number). Otherwise, leave it blank."
So even if you do have a UCI number, it seems to be ok if you don't know it to just leave blank.

 

[Sweden]

It's OK if you leave it blank - if CIC needs the UCI they will retrieve it in a short time.

just to answer some of your questions from before: the reason why you're supposed to stay in Canada during an Inland application is because - it's Inland. If you want to be able to travel back and forth without risking anything, then use the Outland route, even while staying in Canada. That's possible, and since you have a long history (15 years married + 2 kids), you probably will get approved very quickly. You will save yourself the hassle of having to worry about not being allowed back into the country, and having to do the whole process again.

About the amount of proofs - it depends on your relationship. Since you are living with your wife, have 2 kids, the nature of your relationship is quite obvious. It's not the same for everybody. If a couple needs to convince CIC that they are a genuine couple even if they live apart, then they will send everything they have - proofs of daily communication even if not living together... notarised letters from friends is actually a requirement for some VO (it was for London for example), so they are just doing what they are asked... London requires at least 2. Some VO have different rules.

Some VO are also more suspicious of a relationship, and almost systematically call for an interview. Trying to avoid that is the reason that people send so many things... what may seem too much for your case might be just enough to convince a VO to avoid an interview...

Remember - the forms are the same for everybody, but questions don't always make sense (About arranged marriage and being introduced to your sponsor etc at the beginning of the form - I had to read twice to really understand it!).

Good luck!
Sweden

 

[chipits]

A bit disturbed to hear everybody say it is hard to take a foreign vacation while the application is being processed. People paid to answer these questions tell me either one has to do nothing at all and everything will be fine or to first give some notification then everything will be fine. A bit confused how this would work. My wife crosses a border, on return hands the guy at the airport her passport, he enters the number and the computer starts flashing red that she is an enemy of the state for taking a vacation while her visa is being processed? I'm not saying it isn't possible, but there is usually a logic to these things and I was wondering what that could be.

Basically, you're doing an "inland" application, so everything needs to be done INSIDE Canada, including the landing interview.

If your wife leaves Canada, and then for whatever reason is refused re-entry (you say she is a Chinese national, and so she isn't from a visa exempt country, which makes it VERY unlikely that she will ever be given another entry visa while you have a PR application in process as the CIC official almost certainly won't believe she's not going to overstay) you cannot complete the process, so the application becomes worthless, as she cannot do her landing interview.

The light won't flash and say she's an enemy of the state, it's simply that when applying for a new visa, which she would have to do if her original one expired and she was on implied status, the cic officer would see that she is married to a Canadian citizen with a PR application in progress would almost certainly deny it.

Once you submit the application she has implied status, but only until she leaves the country. Once she leaves, she would need a new visa to re-enter.

The alternative, as has been mentioned, is to go the outland route despite being in Canada. The downside is your wife will no longer have implied status once her visa expires, but she can apply for an extension before the expiry date.

 

[canadianwoman]

Where do people get the idea to provide phone records (people keep these??) or notarized letters from friends? Certainly not from the application form!

They ask for proof of communication to show the relationship is genuine. For a couple who has been married for 15 years, this is not really needed - they will have other, better, proof the relationship is genuine.