Hello everyone,
I know that applying for Permanent Residence can be a very stressful time. I completely understand because I went through it and I want to share my experience so it can hopefully help you. I am a US citizen and my partner sponsored me through the outland route. I 100% recommend applying outland as it saves so much time and is less of a headache if you come from the US. We sent out the application end of July 2015 and we received the letter that my PR has been approved early February 2016. So it took roughly 6 months for my PR to be approved. I think it would have been quicker but we live in Quebec so we also had to go through Quebec's part of immigration. Still even that to wait 6 months is better than waiting three years. Yes, applying inland has some positive things about it like the fact that you get an open work permit and access to health care. But the decision you make is entirely up to you as I'm sure it all depends on your situation. But if you have money saved up and you don't mind not working for a while and your partner doesn't mind that either it will only take 4-6 months for your application to be approved. Mind you I think a quick approval also means that you don't have anything unusual in your application that can cause a hindrance to your application. If everything is straight forward everything should be approved with in 4-6 months.
When you send in your application be sure that everything is thorough especially the part about describing your relationship. Provide plenty of pictures and any other supporting documents that might help prove the authenticity of your relationship like a lease with both your names helps too. There may be things you cannot physically prove but you can mention it in your application like if you don't have a joint bank account/credit card but you use each others cards and know their PIN number. Even small mentions like that help. You want to provide as much proof as you can to try to avoid an interview. When we applied we weren't summoned for an interview which thankfully didn't happen because I think my stress levels would have gone through the roof.
If you do apply outland you are able to leave and enter Canada as you please until a decision has been made. Where as if you apply inland you will not be allowed to leave Canada until a decision has been made. Since the US is so accessible you can take a weekend trip to visit family or go on holiday if you want. I went to Europe two times while my application was being processed. I think I would go insane if I couldn't travel for three years. But be sure you have legal status in Canada if you choose to remain in Canada until a decision has been made.
While waiting though I would check on the status of my application every day just to see where it was. I have read some where that some times if your application gets processed quickly that things just don't update on the CIC website and it never did. My letter that my PR has been approved came before anything on the website could get updated. This did worry me at times as I thought okay maybe CIC lost my application or maybe my application is sitting in a pile of other applications and mine was on the bottom of this pile. So many negative thoughts were constantly going through my head while waiting. As I mentioned above you have to keep your status legal while waiting for a decision. My visitor permit was going to expire end of December. I applied to renew it but it never even showed up because my PR was approved. Which means I lost 100$ but I think getting my PR is worth a lot more than 100$ being refunded.
I hope that this helps those coming from the states. Best of luck to everyone what ever you choose to do.
Cheers!
I know that applying for Permanent Residence can be a very stressful time. I completely understand because I went through it and I want to share my experience so it can hopefully help you. I am a US citizen and my partner sponsored me through the outland route. I 100% recommend applying outland as it saves so much time and is less of a headache if you come from the US. We sent out the application end of July 2015 and we received the letter that my PR has been approved early February 2016. So it took roughly 6 months for my PR to be approved. I think it would have been quicker but we live in Quebec so we also had to go through Quebec's part of immigration. Still even that to wait 6 months is better than waiting three years. Yes, applying inland has some positive things about it like the fact that you get an open work permit and access to health care. But the decision you make is entirely up to you as I'm sure it all depends on your situation. But if you have money saved up and you don't mind not working for a while and your partner doesn't mind that either it will only take 4-6 months for your application to be approved. Mind you I think a quick approval also means that you don't have anything unusual in your application that can cause a hindrance to your application. If everything is straight forward everything should be approved with in 4-6 months.
When you send in your application be sure that everything is thorough especially the part about describing your relationship. Provide plenty of pictures and any other supporting documents that might help prove the authenticity of your relationship like a lease with both your names helps too. There may be things you cannot physically prove but you can mention it in your application like if you don't have a joint bank account/credit card but you use each others cards and know their PIN number. Even small mentions like that help. You want to provide as much proof as you can to try to avoid an interview. When we applied we weren't summoned for an interview which thankfully didn't happen because I think my stress levels would have gone through the roof.
If you do apply outland you are able to leave and enter Canada as you please until a decision has been made. Where as if you apply inland you will not be allowed to leave Canada until a decision has been made. Since the US is so accessible you can take a weekend trip to visit family or go on holiday if you want. I went to Europe two times while my application was being processed. I think I would go insane if I couldn't travel for three years. But be sure you have legal status in Canada if you choose to remain in Canada until a decision has been made.
While waiting though I would check on the status of my application every day just to see where it was. I have read some where that some times if your application gets processed quickly that things just don't update on the CIC website and it never did. My letter that my PR has been approved came before anything on the website could get updated. This did worry me at times as I thought okay maybe CIC lost my application or maybe my application is sitting in a pile of other applications and mine was on the bottom of this pile. So many negative thoughts were constantly going through my head while waiting. As I mentioned above you have to keep your status legal while waiting for a decision. My visitor permit was going to expire end of December. I applied to renew it but it never even showed up because my PR was approved. Which means I lost 100$ but I think getting my PR is worth a lot more than 100$ being refunded.
I hope that this helps those coming from the states. Best of luck to everyone what ever you choose to do.
Cheers!
