Sponsoring my Korean wife for permanent residency

[scos]

Okay, now I'm worried. I sent our application to CIC by courier and it arrived Mar. 8. I double, triple and quadruple checked the package to be sure all the forms were complete, we signed everywhere we needed to sign and all the required documents were included. I included an email address so that all correspondence would be by email. A week later they send me an AOR by email.

So this week I'm expecting a decision on my sponsorship application. Nothing arrives, so today I check my status online. It says "Decision Made" and "We sent you a letter April 4 regarding your application."

What does that mean? And why are they sending me a letter when they are supposed to be corresponding by email? Makes me suspect that they are sending the whole package back to me. Anyone have any ideas?

Check your email, spam, etc. If you find nothing try the call center.

 

[Korea2Canada]

Check your junk mail too.

 

[costaudjoe]

Okay, now I'm worried. I sent our application to CIC by courier and it arrived Mar. 8. I double, triple and quadruple checked the package to be sure all the forms were complete, we signed everywhere we needed to sign and all the required documents were included. I included an email address so that all correspondence would be by email. A week later they send me an AOR by email.

So this week I'm expecting a decision on my sponsorship application. Nothing arrives, so today I check my status online. It says "Decision Made" and "We sent you a letter April 4 regarding your application."

What does that mean? And why are they sending me a letter when they are supposed to be corresponding by email? Makes me suspect that they are sending the whole package back to me. Anyone have any ideas?

It would be a little unusual to send it all back.

After about one month I got the email but never received the letter they sent...

 

[bartjones]

When I got the AOR email I marked CIC's email address as safe. I've been checking the spam folder daily to make sure. It's not there nor is it in my trash box which hasn't been emptied since February. I got nothing by email. Guess I'll try calling them tonight but the phone number they gave me in the AOR email 1 888 242‑2100 doesn't seem to work from Korea .

 

[bartjones]

I promised I'd report back on shipping costs so here it is. The shipping guy came today from Korea Shipping Co. Ltd. He measured everything up and it all came to about 32 cubic meters. Cost will be 7.6 million won with delivery to Toronto, door to door, in about 35 days. That was about a million won less than Hyundai Shipping, so we're going with the former. Hope that helps somebody.

 

[bartjones]

Just got off the phone with CIC. They have approved my sponsorship application and transferred our file to Manila. They sent me a letter by snail mail to advise me of that ???.

So I ask the representative this. The forms say if I include an email address, all subsequent correspondence will be by email. Why did they send it by ordinary mail which takes 3-4 weeks to arrive. He says yes, the forms do say that but sometimes they still send things by regular mail. It's up to the VO ???

Guess you can't believe everything you read in the forms.

BTW, if you have to call CIC and that 888 number doesn't work for you (it didn't for me) try this one (613) 944 4000. It works, though you'll be listening to some pretty long menus before you actually get connected to someone.

 

[bartjones]

I wonder if anyone can answer this question. It seems I assumed, apparently incorrectly, that CIC would be corresponding with me and my wife exclusively by email. Obviously that's not the case. In both my sponsor's applications and my wife's application, I indicated our mailing address as being our home here in Korea. In 3 weeks we're leaving here for good and moving to Canada. I don't want CIC sending any more snail mail here because we'll be long gone by the time it arrives.

I used the online address page at CIC's website to change my address to the place where we will be staying in Canada. I logged in using the UCI number they sent me with the AOR. The problem is, I think that will change my address as sponsor, but I don't think it's effective to change my wife's address for her application which is on it's way to Manila.

How do I go about changing her address so we can be sure any mail from Manilla will go to Canada, not Korea? She has no UCI number. Anyone know?

 

[costaudjoe]

I wonder if anyone can answer this question. It seems I assumed, apparently incorrectly, that CIC would be corresponding with me and my wife exclusively by email. Obviously that's not the case. In both my sponsor's applications and my wife's application, I indicated our mailing address as being our home here in Korea. In 3 weeks we're leaving here for good and moving to Canada. I don't want CIC sending any more snail mail here because we'll be long gone by the time it arrives.

I used the online address page at CIC's website to change my address to the place where we will be staying in Canada. I logged in using the UCI number they sent me with the AOR. The problem is, I think that will change my address as sponsor, but I don't think it's effective to change my wife's address for her application which is on it's way to Manila.

How do I go about changing her address so we can be sure any mail from Manilla will go to Canada, not Korea? She has no UCI number. Anyone know?

Shortly after your approval she should get her own UCI number. After I was approved, it took three months to get hers. She got an email that was "Acknowledgement of Receipt" with her own UCI number. However, I would not use that as a reliable measure since we are applying from Montreal. I had to jump through hoops to get her CSQ (Quebec's blessing) which added easily 4-6 weeks.

 

[costaudjoe]

PS You might want to wait for all this snow to melt. Around mid July you should be alright!

 

[bartjones]

Shortly after your approval she should get her own UCI number. After I was approved, it took three months to get hers. She got an email that was "Acknowledgement of Receipt" with her own UCI number.

Okay, I see. I'm still a little concerned. If they correspond by regular mail to our Korean address before she gets that UCI, we'll never get the letter. I wonder if I can email the visa office in Manila?

 

[Daantaat]

bartjones, congratulations on your SA and best of luck with your relocation to Canada. Is there any special process you have to follow to move to Canada with your wife while you are waiting for her visa? I would like to leave Korea after my contract is up in September and take my husband with me but I'm not sure if there are specific steps we need to do first.

 

[bartjones]

bartjones, congratulations on your SA and best of luck with your relocation to Canada. Is there any special process you have to follow to move to Canada with your wife while you are waiting for her visa? I would like to leave Korea after my contract is up in September and take my husband with me but I'm not sure if there are specific steps we need to do first.

Thank you. I don't think there's any special process. You'll have your sponsorship approval by that time so I imagine you'll just take that approval letter with you, show it to the guys at CBSA when you enter and, as others have said, just tell them your husband is entering as a visitor while his PR application is pending. Some people have even said the CBSA officer gave them a longer visitor's visa in those circumstances.

I'm still trying to find out how much information will show up on the CBSA database when we enter. I'm hoping that once they scan my wife's passport they will see that she's a PR applicant and will also be able to see the status of that application. Nobody seems to be able to answer that question.

 

[costaudjoe]

Okay, I see. I'm still a little concerned. If they correspond by regular mail to our Korean address before she gets that UCI, we'll never get the letter. I wonder if I can email the visa office in Manila?

Doesn't Korea's postal service offer the possibility to forward mail?

 

[bartjones]

Doesn't Korea's postal service offer the possibility to forward mail?

Probably, but then the letters will be coming from Manila to Canada via Korea. That could take a while.

 

[costaudjoe]

I was thinking that you could have them forwarded to someone in whom you could have confidence in Korea, someone who could relay information reliably...