Sponsoring self employed spouse while both living outside Canada.

[Xammy2000]

Hello! My husband and I are considering a move to Canada and part of the process of weighing all of our options is finding out what the immigration process would entail and how long / stressful a process it would be.

I am Canadian and have been living in Europe with my Dutch husband for 20 years (married for 19). I have dual Canadian / Dutch citizenship and have both been living in France for the past 2.5 years after many years in Holland. My husband works remotely from Europe for a US robotics company, which is possible due to a construction where my he has his own one man company here in France and bills the US company as a contractor. His is our primary income.

I have so many questions, but I will try to knock off my main ones first.

1) After moving to Europe and trying to get established, I struggled with my student loan. I tried to sort it out but their requests were beyond what I was able to come up with at that time and they refused to budge, which lead to them not being paid back. This was almost 20 years ago, I have no idea what the status is now and they haven't called my family in Canada for a long time. No legal documents were sent and it all just went rather dormant after a while. I have been afraid to 'poke the bear' for fear of them starting to phone my parents, but am concerned with how this may affect my sponsorship. Is this an issue that may pop up during our application process?

2) I read that when doing a spousal sponsorship, you don't have to have proof of income, is that true? I have an income but it varies from one month to the next and our main and most reliable source is my husband's. For all intents and purposes, financially, it'd be better to just consider me a housewife in regards to the application. We have money in the bank, so we could prove that we'd have something to support ourselves, but I am concerned that my lack of steady income would be an issue.

3) Is there a better way we should apply for this other than the spouse application? My husband is rather highly skilled in his field (robotics for education) but doesn't have a masters degree and I'm not sure would be considered a highly skilled worker or cultural necessity by the immigration rules. He does speak four languages fluently though! With him being self employed and making a good wage, is the spousal sponsorship still our best plan with my above student loan and income issues considered?

3) What sort of timeline / cost are we looking at in full at the end of the process? I know it can vary but just a ballpark.

4) Once he has his permit and is able to enter the country, will he have the ability to start his business in Canada? When we moved from Holland to the France, he closed his Dutch business and reopened it in France, registering here to pay taxes etc while working for the US company. Is this something he'd be able to do right away in Canada or is there some sort of other permit or waiting time to start your own business?

Those are my main questions right now, I'm sure I would have a LOT later but this is just an initial investigation to help us have the facts in making our decision on whether to move or not. There are a lot of other factors to consider, but this would be a great help.

Thanks in advance for your time and advice!

 

[Wakki]

1. not paying your student loan damages your credit history and score.......however, student loan is not immigration loan and will not stop IRRC from processing you spousal sponsorship......but when you become a Canadian resident your student loan debt and non payment effect may resurface.

Who can’t become a sponsor

2. You may not have CRA NOA for recent taxation year if you have not been filing Canada tax and not working in Canada.....you need to provide explanation how you plan to support yourself and the persons you are sponsoring......your income, family savings, employment, etc.

3. Canadian citizens living abroad could sponsor their spouse but needs to provide proof to convince IRCC that you will move back to Canada once the PR visa is issued to the principal applicant you sponsored....you may sponsor your spouse and most spousal sponsorship application processing are completed within 12 months.......you husband may also consider Express Entry for skilled workers........

4. most spousal sponsor are processed completely within 12 months and minimum fee $1040 CAD......and depending on the sponsored family size may pay for dependent children..........check the fee section

refer.......Fees list

5. Yes....your spouse could registered their company but would have to be a resident in Canada before company could be registered......when your spouse becomes a PR in Canada, they could work.

To sponsor you spouse......you need to pay the fees and submit the forms and supporting documents as required in the spousal sponsorship checklist.

Get your checklist, forms and instructions

 

[Xammy2000]

1. not paying your student loan damages your credit history and score.......however, student loan is not immigration loan and will not stop IRRC from processing you spousal sponsorship......but when you become a Canadian resident your student loan debt and non payment effect may resurface.

Who can’t become a sponsor

2. You may not have CRA NOA for recent taxation year if you have not been filing Canada tax and not working in Canada.....you need to provide explanation how you plan to support yourself and the persons you are sponsoring......your income, family savings, employment, etc.

3. Canadian citizens living abroad could sponsor their spouse but needs to provide proof to convince IRCC that you will move back to Canada once the PR visa is issued to the principal applicant you sponsored....you may sponsor your spouse and most spousal sponsorship application processing are completed within 12 months.......you husband may also consider Express Entry for skilled workers........

4. most spousal sponsor are processed completely within 12 months and minimum fee $1040 CAD......and depending on the sponsored family size may pay for dependent children..........check the fee section

refer.......Fees list

5. Yes....your spouse could registered their company but would have to be a resident in Canada before company could be registered......when your spouse becomes a PR in Canada, they could work.

To sponsor you spouse......you need to pay the fees and submit the forms and supporting documents as required in the spousal sponsorship checklist.

Get your checklist, forms and instructions

Thanks for your reply!

The student loans coming back to bite me once we are there is also a major concern. We figure if we do decide to go ahead with the move, we will investigate what the status is and deal with it. Otherwise (should we stay in France) we will let that sleeping dog lie for now. I'm glad to know it wouldn't interfere with the application process.

Not having lived / worked in Canada for 20 years, I've not filed any taxes as it isn't necessary. How does it work when sponsoring someone if their income is what would still be supporting you both once you are there? would I need to prove an income of my own, or potential income for once I am there?

I will look into the skilled workers thing. Perhaps something like that is better if he qualifies. I don't know if he does, but it's worth a shot! Then I don't have to worry about how to prove I can support him, since he supports us both.

Thanks again for all of the info!

 

[Wakki]

Note: In most cases, there is no low-income-cut-off (LICO) for spouse, partner or dependent child sponsorships.

if you have not been filing Canada tax for previous years.....although in the checklist NOA is not mandatory and not sure of the effect but you may need to check

 

[Xammy2000]

Ok it's good to know that my income is not the issue.
Is it true that it takes much longer to get the residence permit when applying from inside Canada, rather than staying here in Europe and applying?

 

[kcward7]

Ok it's good to know that my income is not the issue.
Is it true that it takes much longer to get the residence permit when applying from inside Canada, rather than staying here in Europe and applying?

Inland apps are processed pretty consistently at 11-12 months. Outland target is still 12 months but are often processed faster.

 

[Xammy2000]

Also, just to confirm. So the process takes up to about 12 months, then he would have a permanent residence permit which would allow him to start his Canadian company up and get working as soon as we land in Canada? He doesn't have to organise a separate work permit or anything like that?

 

[kcward7]

Also, just to confirm. So the process takes up to about 12 months, then he would have a permanent residence permit which would allow him to start his Canadian company up and get working as soon as we land in Canada? He doesn't have to organise a separate work permit or anything like that?

No, once you're a PR you're good.

 

[Xammy2000]

Inland apps are processed pretty consistently at 11-12 months. Outland target is still 12 months but are often processed faster.

Ah ok great. We are trying to figure out what our best plan of attack is. He has a one man company constructed to allow him to work from Europe for an American company as a contractor (but on a rather permanent basis, it was just due to the fact that the company didn't have an office here). So, he would have the same construction from Canada... having his own business and working under a contractor construction.

He can work from outside of France on this French company but only for a certain period of time, and he'd only be able to stay IN Canada for a certain length of time if we went over, I assume.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to go earlier and do it inland while he can still work via his French company from Canada while we wait. I don't know if that would even be legal.

I thought inland took much longer. My sister sponsored her husband from the US and that took something crazy like 2.5 years or something.

 

[kcward7]

I

Ah ok great. We are trying to figure out what our best plan of attack is. He has a one man company constructed to allow him to work from Europe for an American company as a contractor (but on a rather permanent basis, it was just due to the fact that the company didn't have an office here). So, he would have the same construction from Canada... having his own business and working under a contractor construction.

He can work from outside of France on this French company but only for a certain period of time, and he'd only be able to stay IN Canada for a certain length of time if we went over, I assume.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to go earlier and do it inland while he can still work via his French company from Canada while we wait. I don't know if that would even be legal.

I thought inland took much longer. My sister sponsored her husband from the US and that took something crazy like 2.5 years or something.

It used to be 26 months, they've drastically reduced.

If you come to Canada and apply inland he can also apply for an open work permit (assuming they extend the pilot program). It takes 3-4 m to to receive.

 

[Xammy2000]

I

It used to be 26 months, they've drastically reduced.

If you come to Canada and apply inland he can also apply for an open work permit (assuming they extend the pilot program). It takes 3-4 m to to receive.

How does the open work permit work? We'd be looking to move to Nova Scotia, if that matters any in the decision making process for how to apply.

 

[kcward7]

How does the open work permit work? We'd be looking to move to Nova Scotia, if that matters any in the decision making process for how to apply.

It doesn't matter.

He would come to Canada as a visitor, you would submit the inland application with the open work permit app. Takes 3-4 months to receive, then he can start working.

The open work permit alongside the inland spousal stream is a pilot until Jan 31 2019 that they have not announced they are renewing. They usually wait until the last minute to announce renewal, though, and there's no indication think this won't be the case again this year.

 

[Xammy2000]

It doesn't matter.

He would come to Canada as a visitor, you would submit the inland application with the open work permit app. Takes 3-4 months to receive, then he can start working.

The open work permit alongside the inland spousal stream is a pilot until Jan 31 2019 that they have not announced they are renewing. They usually wait until the last minute to announce renewal, though, and there's no indication think this won't be the case again this year.

Would that be the residence permit he'd receive in the 3-4 months or just the ability to work? So he'd be free to stay and start his company after that period of time? He could work as a visitor (basically like he's on holiday) for that first 3-4 months and probably be ok in regards to working from his French company (as to them he'd technically be on holiday) but I'm not sure how it would work if it was denied or took longer.

 

[kcward7]

Would that be the residence permit he'd receive in the 3-4 months or just the ability to work? So he'd be free to stay and start his company after that period of time? He could work as a visitor (basically like he's on holiday) for that first 3-4 months and probably be ok in regards to working from his French company (as to them he'd technically be on holiday) but I'm not sure how it would work if it was denied or took longer.

No. He can't work as a visitor.

He would have to wait to work while that 3-4 months (ish) passes, until he receives the work permit. The work permit is NOT his permanent residency, it's simply a permit that allows him to work while he's waiting for the application to be processed.

 

[Xammy2000]

No. He can't work as a visitor.

He would have to wait to work while that 3-4 months (ish) passes, until he receives the work permit. The work permit is NOT his permanent residency, it's simply a permit that allows him to work while he's waiting for the application to be processed.

That's the thing, he can't not work... he already has a job and it's the one he'd be continuing to do once he is in Canada. He won't be working for a Canadian company regardless. Not working for 3-4 months isn't a possibility. If he's not working for a Canadian company, does it matter? He'd still be working for the US company while billing via his French company as though we'd just gone to Canada on holiday, know what I mean? We just got back from a month long trip to Canada where he worked while he was there, it'd be the same thing, no? Or is he just not allowed to work full stop, even if it has nothing to do with Canada or Canadian taxes already by that point? He has to just sit idle?