Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[ThunderousDice]

I thought I would post this little update regarding OHIP coverage for your spouse if he or she lands in Ontario and starts living here before her PR application is approved.

...

So, as far as OHIP goes, once you sign the consent form allowing the OERC to communicate with CIC, the OERC will send a letter to the visa office where your application is being processed and inquire as to whether you are an "AFP". If CIC confirms that you are an AFP you can get OHIP three months after the date that CIC determined you were AFP. You don't need to wait for the final determination of your PR status.

Hopefully that clarifies matters for anyone who, like me, came to Ontario with his wife before she had PR approval.

bartjones, you are the man! That is excellent background information and I'm so glad to hear it. Thanks very much for sharing!

Did they give you a timeline for their enquiry to CIC? How will you be notified and when do you think that your wife would actually be able to receive approval?

I'm asking because we're going to buy travel insurance to cover the first few months. I'm glad we didn't immediately go with the "year" option!

 

[bartjones]

bartjones, you are the man! That is excellent background information and I'm so glad to hear it. Thanks very much for sharing!

Did they give you a timeline for their enquiry to CIC? How will you be notified and when do you think that your wife would actually be able to receive approval?

She said about 4-6 weeks for a response from CIC, though each visa office is different so it could be longer or shorter. OERC will then notify me in writing and tell me whether and when she can get coverage.

When my wife's coverage will begin will depend on what date Manila determined she was AFP. OHIP begins from your AFP date plus three months. Her application has been in Manila since the beginning of April so I'm hoping they've already decided that she's AFP. I'll update this here, once I have a response from OERC.

I'm asking because we're going to buy travel insurance to cover the first few months. I'm glad we didn't immediately go with the "year" option!

Yes, I'd go with a three month renewable policy if you can. Make sure you change over your Korean drivers licenses ASAP when you arrive. That determines your Ontario residency date. Then wait three months and apply for OHIP.

It's a funny thing. I actually went to two different Service Ontario centers to get this all done. At the first center I submitted a coverage application for me and my wife. The Service Ontario rep there looked over my wife's application and supporting documents and said "okay, that all looks okay" and then looked at mine. She noted from her computer that I had had an OHIP card before I went to Korea and told me that I needed to reactivate my old coverage now that I had returned to Ontario. She said that she wasn't able to do that at her particular center and that I would need to go to a different center to reactivate my old card. She suggested just taking both applications there, which is where my wife subsequently got denied coverage. But, I'm pretty sure that the lady at the first Service Ontario Center was prepared to grant my wife coverage that day.

So, you might get lucky and get a clerk who doesn't really understand the rules who will give you coverage immediately. I know from reading elsewhere on the internet that this has happened to a lot of people. In fact I've read about people who just went from center to center getting denied until they found a clerk who was willing to grant coverage. I suppose if you had a day to kill, that might work too, lol.

 

[CanNZ]

Has anyone gone through the process of switching over their driver's license from a Korean one to their provincial one? What kind of documentation was needed?

 

[Korea2Canada]

Alberta has an agreement for South Koreans to simply swap for a Canadian one. Not sure about Canadians with SK ones.

 

[CanNZ]

Should have no effect, it is a valid drivers license regardless.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Should have no effect, it is a valid drivers license regardless.

Find out for sure and post here. Would be good to know.

 

[bartjones]

Has anyone gone through the process of switching over their driver's license from a Korean one to their provincial one? What kind of documentation was needed?

Not sure what the process is in Alberta, but Ontario has the same kind of agreement. I posted about the process back on page 38 or 39 of this thread.

Both my wife and I went to the DMV here back in May to get our Korean drivers licenses changed over to Ontario. The clerk said that before she could do that, we needed to take our Korean licenses to the Korean Consulate and have them "validated". So, we took them to the Korean consulate in Toronto (who knew exactly what we were asking about) and they provided us with a form signed by a consulate official which translated the information on the license into English and indicated the length of time we had been licensed in Korea. We took that back to the DMV and they issued Ontario licenses for my wife and I.

 

[bartjones]

Maybe someone can help me with this one. I'm a little confused.

This morning I got an email from the visa office in Manila regarding my wife's PR application. They are requesting 2 additional documents,

1. Appendix "A" PHL Passport Request
2. Korean Criminal Background Check

With respect to item 2, we submitted a notarized/translated copy of my wife's Korean CBC with the original application. Does anyone know why they are asking for it again? It was done in mid February and our application was submitted to CIC on March 8. The file arrived in Manilla on April 17. I know those Korean CBCs are only good for 3 months but a CIC rep I spoke with this morning on the phone tells me that means 3 months from the date CIC receives it, not 3 months from the time somebody in Manila gets around to looking at it.

Does anyone know what the deal is with this? It is going to be extremely expensive and difficult to submit another translated and notarized Korean CBC given that we are now living in Ontario.

Document 1 is really confusing. It's called a "passport request" but they don't seem to be requesting her passport. They are just asking for information regarding "you and all your family members" all of which information has already been submitted in other parts of the application. On the second page they seem to ask for more passport photographs, but I submitted these passport photos with the original application. Why do they want them again?

I just fired off an email to the VO in Manila asking about what's going on. Any help here would be much appreciated. I'm a little confused at this point.

 

[CanNZ]

I got a reply from Motor Vechicle governing body in Alberta, funnily enough, that didn't directly answer my question! Will have to send them another email.

Thank you for your inquiry.

If you have a valid operator's licence issued from anywhere
outside Alberta, you are required by law to apply for an
Alberta driver's licence within 90 days of becoming a resident
of Alberta.


Valid licences from another country are only recognized for
the first 90 days of your arrival in Alberta. After the 90 day
period, you must apply for an Alberta licence and your licence
from outside of Canada must be surrendered.


The Republic of Korea has a Reciprocal Licensing Agreement
with Alberta which allows a valid licence to be exchanged for
a Class 5 licence when you present a valid licence of equivalent
class. You can exchange your Korean driver’s licence for an
Alberta driver's licence if you are lawfully entitled to be in
Canada and have taken up residence in Alberta.

To obtain an Alberta driver's licence, you will need to apply in
person at any one of the Registry Agent offices. A medical
examination and vision screening may be required if:
- you have a medical condition that may affect your ability to
drive, or
- you are within 6 months of your 75th birthday or older.


You will need to provide acceptable identification, proof of
Canadian citizenship status and proof of Alberta residency. You can
find some examples of acceptable identification at the following:
www.servicealberta.ca/1305.cfm


If you are an applicant originating from outside Canada, you
must present immigration documents in addition to identification.
Some examples on proof of Canadian citizenship status include:
- valid Canadian passport
- permanent resident card
- citizenship card
- valid work permit or student visa.


Some examples of proof of Alberta residency include:
- Alberta Rental or Mortgage Agreement
- Letter from your employer
- Proof of personal taxes filed in Alberta
- Utility, telephone, or gas bill in your name and with
an Alberta address on them.

 

[CanNZ]

Maybe someone can help me with this one. I'm a little confused.

This morning I got an email from the visa office in Manila regarding my wife's PR application. They are requesting 2 additional documents,

1. Appendix "A" PHL Passport Request
2. Korean Criminal Background Check

With respect to item 2, we submitted a notarized/translated copy of my wife's Korean CBC with the original application. Does anyone know why they are asking for it again? It was done in mid February and our application was submitted to CIC on March 8. The file arrived in Manilla on April 17. I know those Korean CBCs are only good for 3 months but a CIC rep I spoke with this morning on the phone tells me that means 3 months from the date CIC receives it, not 3 months from the time somebody in Manila gets around to looking at it.

Does anyone know what the deal is with this? It is going to be extremely expensive and difficult to submit another translated and notarized Korean CBC given that we are now living in Ontario.

Document 1 is really confusing. It's called a "passport request" but they don't seem to be requesting her passport. They are just asking for information regarding "you and all your family members" all of which information has already been submitted in other parts of the application. On the second page they seem to ask for more passport photographs, but I submitted these passport photos with the original application. Why do they want them again?

I just fired off an email to the VO in Manila asking about what's going on. Any help here would be much appreciated. I'm a little confused at this point.

Wow, please keep us up to date on all of this and hopefully there won't be a problem for you. I wonder how much of this issue is because of Manila taking over the Korean PR applications.

 

[CanNZ]

Point of interest, apparently the National Driving agency here in Korea can give you a form in English stating that your Korean driver's license is real and validating all the info on it. Not sure if they will be accepted in Canada, but I will give it a shot.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Point of interest, apparently the National Driving agency here in Korea can give you a form in English stating that your Korean driver's license is real and validating all the info on it. Not sure if they will be accepted in Canada, but I will give it a shot.

Good to know. Post again if you get a more clear answer from Alberta.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Maybe someone can help me with this one. I'm a little confused.

This morning I got an email from the visa office in Manila regarding my wife's PR application. They are requesting 2 additional documents,

1. Appendix "A" PHL Passport Request
2. Korean Criminal Background Check

With respect to item 2, we submitted a notarized/translated copy of my wife's Korean CBC with the original application. Does anyone know why they are asking for it again? It was done in mid February and our application was submitted to CIC on March 8. The file arrived in Manilla on April 17. I know those Korean CBCs are only good for 3 months but a CIC rep I spoke with this morning on the phone tells me that means 3 months from the date CIC receives it, not 3 months from the time somebody in Manila gets around to looking at it.

Does anyone know what the deal is with this? It is going to be extremely expensive and difficult to submit another translated and notarized Korean CBC given that we are now living in Ontario.

Document 1 is really confusing. It's called a "passport request" but they don't seem to be requesting her passport. They are just asking for information regarding "you and all your family members" all of which information has already been submitted in other parts of the application. On the second page they seem to ask for more passport photographs, but I submitted these passport photos with the original application. Why do they want them again?

I just fired off an email to the VO in Manila asking about what's going on. Any help here would be much appreciated. I'm a little confused at this point.

It doesn't sound right. Couple questions:

- did you bring the online Korean CBC sample with you to the police station in Korea? I ask because, we did that, the officer said it was a good idea to bring because some people had it rejected. I don;t know if that's the case with you I am just wondering.

- did you send passport photos or immigration type photos - don't know if it matters but we sent immigration specs. photos.

- the passport request is strange. As you said, all the family info is in the application. Did you include copies of your passports?

 

[Korea2Canada]

I searched about the Appendix A Pspt. I see some posts on this site from others who had the same request for apx. A. I didnt see any info. on what it is or how they sent it in.

The CBC request must be an error on their part. Its good 3 mths from receipt. We all just have to hope it was completed properly.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Check this link for more on Apx. A:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t152931.0.html

It appears Manila request this earlier on vs at the end for other VOs.