Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[bartjones]

Alright, I'll definitely hold off on the name change then. Last thing we want is a reason for a delay. We'll be gathering all the documents for translation and notarizing in the next week. We need to do this for the 3 Korean documents from my soon to be wife, so that should be 3 of them?
Family registry
Marriage certificate
Cancelled old registry.

Is that correct? Anything else that will need it? Is the criminal check in English?

And make sure that when you do the criminal background check the police search all databases including lapsed records. That's been a pitfall for a few Korean applicants.

 

[ctcruiser]

Yeah I figured there would be risks involved. We were just going to wait until the PR but with times looking like they are stretching over a year, that's a bit longer than we thought. Waiting until we're 36 to even start trying could be stressful in its own right. At least I'm Albertan so the healthcare will help. We'll be moving to Calgary this fall most likely. Guess we'll see how processing goes. Nothing new on the documents front yet. Wedding on Saturday, then focus on it more next week. She's getting the criminal check tomorrow and I told her to make sure to get the right one. Hope she doesn't have issues.

 

[bartjones]

She's getting the criminal check tomorrow and I told her to make sure to get the right one. Hope she doesn't have issues.

Download this criminal history request form and follow it exactly. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/asia-pacific/korea-south.asp

Hope you have a great wedding day.

 

[Rob_TO]

Yeah I figured there would be risks involved. We were just going to wait until the PR but with times looking like they are stretching over a year, that's a bit longer than we thought. Waiting until we're 36 to even start trying could be stressful in its own right. At least I'm Albertan so the healthcare will help. We'll be moving to Calgary this fall most likely. Guess we'll see how processing goes. Nothing new on the documents front yet. Wedding on Saturday, then focus on it more next week. She's getting the criminal check tomorrow and I told her to make sure to get the right one. Hope she doesn't have issues.

If you are covered in Alberta for healthcare, then I say just go for it. Trying to time a pregnancy around CIC will drive you nuts. So I would do whatever comes naturally first, and worry about possible repercussions with CIC after. You are absolutely right that with increasing age, it's not something you want to delay.

At a minimum though just make sure she does the up-front medical first, before you start trying!

 

[flatblack]

Very grateful if anyone could give me insight on this ...

Have Korean applicants had their passport requested (PPR)? (I've read that PPR is not required for visa exemption countries. In some cases they ask for a scanned version of the passport.)

For those that received their COPR, was it addressed to the sponsor or spouse (the name on the actual envelope that was mailed)?

 

[ctcruiser]

Thanks guys.
Yeah I think we'll get settle in Canada and make sure we have coverage, etc, and then start trying near the end of winter/beginning of spring. That way hopefully the pr process will be fairly far along.
Also, she got the criminal check today so I'm going to take a close look at it later to make sure it's the right one. I made sure she knew about the "lapsed records" part.
Hopefully we can look at getting documents translated by the end of next week.

 

[Rob_TO]

Very grateful if anyone could give me insight on this ...

Have Korean applicants had their passport requested (PPR)? (I've read that PPR is not required for visa exemption countries. In some cases they ask for a scanned version of the passport.)

For those that received their COPR, was it addressed to the sponsor or spouse (the name on the actual envelope that was mailed)?

We were never asked for anything since we already included scanned passport with original application. However some visa offices will also ask for a new scanned copy of passport close to end of process, to make sure nothing has changed.

Visa-exempt applicants do not need to send in actual passport. However sometimes an office that handles lots of visa-required applicants (like Manila) will send out a generic form letter asking for it. So if you do get a request for actual passport, I would send them a scanned copy only and an email saying you are visa-exempt so don't need a visa placed in passport.

COPR is always addressed directly to the applicant's name only.

 

[CanaSask]

Hello,

I was recently approved for sponsoring my wife, but received an email asking for an upfront medical report for her dependant son even though he is not accompanying. Her son is 18 and she was divorced and does not have custody of her son. Technically, her son should not even be considered a dependant. Also, she has no contact with her ex-husband and has no idea where her son lives or how to contact either of them.
Can I just submit a letter explaining this? It will be impossible to track him down and try to convince him to get a medical when he was never a part of his life.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello,

I was recently approved for sponsoring my wife, but received an email asking for an upfront medical report for her dependant son even though he is not accompanying. Her son is 18 and she was divorced and does not have custody of her son. Technically, her son should not even be considered a dependant. Also, she has no contact with her ex-husband and has no idea where her son lives or how to contact either of them.
Can I just submit a letter explaining this? It will be impossible to track him down and try to convince him to get a medical when he was never a part of his life.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yes you can explain it. And your wife will most likely have to include an affidavit that she understands/accepts that by her son not doing a medical, he is excluded from being sponsored under family class forever.

CIC does not like this, because peoples situations often change so they don't want people excluding their families only to turn around and try to sponsor them later through appeals process. Even if they are non-accompanying now, they may want to come to Canada later. For example, what if in 1 year the father passes away and suddenly the son wants to go to Canada to live with his mom? Not saying this would happen here, but these kinds of things have happened before. So CIC prefers even non-accompanying dependents to get medicals, just to keep them eligible for future potential sponsorship.

So anyways explain the son is estranged and you can't even contact him, and CIC should accept the affidavit and remove him as dependent completely.

 

[jmomcc]

Hi guys, my fiance and i are applying from korea soon and I have some questions, maybe you guys will know. We are in a bit of a different situation though as she is Canadian and I am Irish. I have a few specific questions for you guys.

1 Is a month optimistic for getting all our documents together? I can get a criminal check from ireland pretty quickly so mostly talking about stuff we need to get in Korea.

2 Do I apply through Manilla or London or can I choose? The site is unclear as it says 'home country or country you've been resident in for more than a year'. Does the 'or' mean I can choose?

3 We are doing a common law application but we will be married before we go to Canada. Is that a problem?

4 When it comes to proving co-habitation, we don't have any bills in both our names and the place is under my name. How do we prove it? We have been registered at the same address at immigration since march 2013 though. Can I use that and is there a form I need?

5 In terms of health checks, do the results come back in the normal lightning quick korean fashion? That would be awesome.

Thanks!

 

[Rob_TO]

Hi guys, my fiance and i are applying from korea soon and I have some questions, maybe you guys will know. We are in a bit of a different situation though as she is Canadian and I am Irish. I have a few specific questions for you guys.

1 Is a month optimistic for getting all our documents together? I can get a criminal check from ireland pretty quickly so mostly talking about stuff we need to get in Korea.

2 Do I apply through Manilla or London or can I choose? The site is unclear as it says 'home country or country you've been resident in for more than a year'. Does the 'or' mean I can choose?

3 We are doing a common law application but we will be married before we go to Canada. Is that a problem?

4 When it comes to proving co-habitation, we don't have any bills in both our names and the place is under my name. How do we prove it? We have been registered at the same address at immigration since march 2013 though. Can I use that and is there a form I need?

5 In terms of health checks, do the results come back in the normal lightning quick korean fashion? That would be awesome.

Thanks!

1- Ya a month should be good. You'll need police check from Ireland, Korea, and any other country you've lived in for at least 6 months since age 18.

2- If you have a valid Korean visa of at least 1 year length, you qualify to apply as Korean resident through Manila office. Although London is MUCH quicker, so I would definitely choose London instead based on Ireland citizenship. Just know any potential interview would be in London (though chance of interview is very rare).

3-It should be ok. I've read cases of some people applying as common-law, getting married, sending in proof of marriage to visa office and they just switch their category to married spouse instead of common-law partner.

4- You might have a tough time proving cohabitation. Can you get a letter from landlord? Testimony letters from friends are a must (at least 2 need to be notarized). Can you get a shared credit card? Life insurance on each other? Anything joint you can think of that show you live together or have financial dependence on each other.
Also is your fiancee still considered a resident of Canada, and paying Canada taxes? At a minimum she should change her status with CRA from single to common-law, effective the day you reached 12 months of living together. Can do this via CRA online account, and print out the page as proof.

5- You don't get results. After the medical, they automatically send the results to any one of the regional CIC medical offices (RMO), where your visa officer will be able to electronically access the results based on the file number in the receipt you'll get from doctor after completing medical. So you can only expect to hear back from the doctor, if you have some serious issue about your health you need to be aware of.
Remember you can only go to CIC panel doctors for your medical, so need to check the list for Korea.

 

[costaudjoe]

My goodness, avoid Manila at all costs.

 

[jmomcc]

1- Ya a month should be good. You'll need police check from Ireland, Korea, and any other country you've lived in for at least 6 months since age 18.

2- If you have a valid Korean visa of at least 1 year length, you qualify to apply as Korean resident through Manila office. Although London is MUCH quicker, so I would definitely choose London instead based on Ireland citizenship. Just know any potential interview would be in London (though chance of interview is very rare).

3-It should be ok. I've read cases of some people applying as common-law, getting married, sending in proof of marriage to visa office and they just switch their category to married spouse instead of common-law partner.

4- You might have a tough time proving cohabitation. Can you get a letter from landlord? Testimony letters from friends are a must (at least 2 need to be notarized). Can you get a shared credit card? Life insurance on each other? Anything joint you can think of that show you live together or have financial dependence on each other.
Also is your fiancee still considered a resident of Canada, and paying Canada taxes? At a minimum she should change her status with CRA from single to common-law, effective the day you reached 12 months of living together. Can do this via CRA online account, and print out the page as proof.

5- You don't get results. After the medical, they automatically send the results to any one of the regional CIC medical offices (RMO), where your visa officer will be able to electronically access the results based on the file number in the receipt you'll get from doctor after completing medical. So you can only expect to hear back from the doctor, if you have some serious issue about your health you need to be aware of.
Remember you can only go to CIC panel doctors for your medical, so need to check the list for Korea.

Thanks, man. I'll try to confirm for sure if I can do it through London, but if I can I will go that route.

In terms of proving co-habitation, we don't have any shared accounts or policies. Would it be worth it to do at this point? We can easily get a letter from the landlord, i'd guess (i don't see any reason she wouldn't do it) and it will be pretty easy to get testimony letters. Is it better if these are from Canadians also?

We share the same address on our Alien Registration Cards and have done since last March. Does that qualify as proof? She has also recieved official mail from govt to this address but she does get most mail to her school. We have also travelled extensively together and I've visited her family and vica versa. Does that help with the co-habitation claim? I really wish we had just put her name on the lease. We were dealing with an old korean travel agent who thought it was crazy I would even ask. I should have insisted.

I'm not sure if she's considered a resident of Canada or not. She's been in Korea for over 2 years. We will have to look into that.

edit - we also have bank records where she sends me half the amount of our rent every month - is that proof?

edit 2- if we get married and apply as spouses, does that solve the co-habitation problem? we are planning to get married in indonesia at new years but I guess we could do it legally first and then do a ceremony. We'd rather not though.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks, man. I'll try to confirm for sure if I can do it through London, but if I can I will go that route.

You can 100% based on your citizenship. In fact people often try to submit apps based on where they are currently a resident, and CIC sends it to the office based on citizenship anyways.
Apply to London. There is no doubt you are allowed to.

In terms of proving co-habitation, we don't have any shared accounts or policies. Would it be worth it to do at this point? We can easily get a letter from the landlord, i'd guess (i don't see any reason she wouldn't do it) and it will be pretty easy to get testimony letters. Is it better if these are from Canadians also?

Sure get some shared accounts now if it's easy. Will just add to the proof.

Letters don't need to be from Canadians, but if they are in Korean will need to be officially translated.

We share the same address on our Alien Registration Cards and have done since last March. Does that qualify as proof? She has also recieved official mail from govt to this address but she does get most mail to her school.

Yes mail addressed to each of you, delivered to same address, is great proof.

And yes include the addresses shown on registration cards. Even better if anything has a date on it that goes back to around the time you first moved in together.

We have also travelled extensively together and I've visited her family and vica versa. Does that help with the co-habitation claim? I really wish we had just put her name on the lease. We were dealing with an old korean travel agent who thought it was crazy I would even ask. I should have insisted.

Definitely yes. Show photos of travels, and old airline tickets, flight email confirmations or itineraries. Each of your families should write a testimony letter that mentions you lived with them as a couple while staying at their homes, and they are fully aware of you living together in Korea.

I'm not sure if she's considered a resident of Canada or not. She's been in Korea for over 2 years. We will have to look into that.

Has she been filing Canadian income tax every year, and paying a portion of her earnings in Korea to the CRA?

To become a non-resident to be excluded from Canada taxes you have to go through various steps to declare non-residency. If she can't remember, she probably didn't do it. Unless she has an accountant back in Canada that is doing everything for her.

Either way, still get her to change her status with CRA online account to common-law.

edit - we also have bank records where she sends me half the amount of our rent every month - is that proof?

Definitely yes. Again show it dated going back as far as you can.

 

[Daantaat]

My husband's COPR arrived via courier today! We'll be heading down to the U.S. border so he can officially land. I can't believe this whole process is finally over.

Thank you to everyone on this board who has been so helpful, and I hope your wives all get their visas soon, too.