Sponsorship of Spouse outside Canada

[whiteeagle]

I am canadian citizen currently outside of Canada for some time, do I still have the right to sponsor my spouse who lives in India?

 

[britincanada]

Yes as long as you can prove you intend to return to Canada and live there with your spouse as your main home after she has been given PR...
For example if you can get a job and a place to live in Canada during or before her application process!

 

[whiteeagle]

I am not able to find a job right now in Canada. so I decided to stay with my husband in India for some time. Would that create a problem for our sponsorship application? Do I have to provide proofs that I am going back to Canada? If yes, what proofs are needed?
It is getting really hard to find jobs and along with this i could not afford to maintain a lease appartment in Quebec.

thank you again

 

[steaky]

I am not able to find a job right now in Canada. so I decided to stay with my husband in India for some time. Would that create a problem for our sponsorship application? Do I have to provide proofs that I am going back to Canada? If yes, what proofs are needed?
It is getting really hard to find jobs and along with this i could not afford to maintain a lease appartment in Quebec.

thank you again

Since you are Canadian citizen, you can sponsor your husband from India, but you have to convince CIC that you intend to return to Canada when your husband became PR. Example of proofs are: lease agreement in dwelling place in Canada, job offer, school admission offer and purchase agreement of a dwelling in Canada.


Have you tried to maintain a lease apartment outside Quebec? Try Craiglist

 

[toby]

My brother (living in Canada) negotiated a lease for me in Canada. Meanwhile I live with my wife in her country. Eventually, since the visa process took longer than hoped, I informed the landlord we would not be coming as arranged, and I forfeited the deposit.

In addition, in a cover letter I outlined our plans to settle in Canada (region, three cities under consideration, etc).

That sufficed to get me approved as her sponsor.

Once a PR is granted, and you spouse has landed (and received the PR card), if you really cannot get a employment in Canada, I see no reason why you could not stay abroad. Your PR spouse's time spent living with you ( a Canadian citizen) counts toward the PR quota of 730 days every 5 years. But seniors may want to confirm/deny this.

Eventually, of course, you'd have to live in Canada, especially when it comes time to renew the PR card.

 

[whiteeagle]

My brother (living in Canada) negotiated a lease for me in Canada. Meanwhile I live with my wife in her country. Eventually, since the visa process took longer than hoped, I informed the landlord we would not be coming as arranged, and I forfeited the deposit.

In addition, in a cover letter I outlined our plans to settle in Canada (region, three cities under consideration, etc).

That sufficed to get me approved as her sponsor.

Once a PR is granted, and you spouse has landed (and received the PR card), if you really cannot get a employment in Canada, I see no reason why you could not stay abroad. Your PR spouse's time spent living with you ( a Canadian citizen) counts toward the PR quota of 730 days every 5 years. But seniors may want to confirm/deny this.

Eventually, of course, you'd have to live in Canada, especially when it comes time to renew the PR card.

Could you please explain this more: Your PR spouse time spent living with you counts toward the PR quota.

thank you so much for the help

 

[whiteeagle]

My brother (living in Canada) negotiated a lease for me in Canada. Meanwhile I live with my wife in her country. Eventually, since the visa process took longer than hoped, I informed the landlord we would not be coming as arranged, and I forfeited the deposit.

In addition, in a cover letter I outlined our plans to settle in Canada (region, three cities under consideration, etc).

That sufficed to get me approved as her sponsor.

Do I have to send a proof like this (lease agreement) at the same time with the application kit to Mississauga? I mean did you send all the documents at the same time?

thank you again for the fruitful information
and have a wonderful day

 

[steaky]

Yes, but CIC may ask to provide the same later on

 

[toby]

Whiteeagle:

I submitted all documents (including lease) at the same time; otherwise if CIC must ask you for additional ones, that causes delays.

Yes, fortunately for world travellers, if a PR lives with a Canadian citizen abroad, that time counts toward the 730 day quota. There was a long discussion on this point in this forum, and I summarized it as follows in a final post:

Topic: Can Permanent Residents (PRs) count time abroad with a Canadian spouse toward their PR quota?

This topic has been discussed in other threads, but only as a secondary issue, buried under a topic heading that has nothing to do with a PR spending time abroad, and counting it toward the 730-day quota. The purpose here is to bring the matter to the attention of any PRs who cannot meet the PR quota by spending 730 days in Canada per five-year period.

This topic is discussed thoroughly in Permanent Residency Obligations, under the topic Buying an Apartment in Canada to Meet Residency Requirements. Thanks go to Matthew for his excellent research on this complex and important issue, and to the many others like PMM who also contributed important information.

In brief, it does seem that a PR may count time spent abroad toward the PR quota as long as the PR was living with a Canadian citizen. It does not seem to matter whether the PR accompanies the citizen while abroad, or the citizen accompanies the PR – as long as they were living together abroad.

I say “seem” because in one court case the judge would have ruled against the PR (only humanitarian considerations led to a decision in favour of the PR), saying that it was the citizen who accompanied the PR, not vice-versa, and therefore the time abroad did not count toward the PR Quota. To understand this narrower, legalistic interpretation of “accompany”, go to

Smith v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 CanLII 67256 (I.R.B.)

All these cases can be looked up on http://www.canlii.org/en/index.php

Notwithstanding the Smith v. Canada case, several others DO allow the PR to count days abroad IF they were living with a Canadian citizen spouse. The most recent case was Li v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2009 CanLII 74606 (I.R.B.). Most compelling is the judge’s decision mentioning previous cases, and giving a clear rationale:

“I have looked at two former decisions of this Tribunal which considered this issue. While these decisions are not binding upon me, I consider them to be indicative of the manner in which this Tribunal has interpreted subsection 28(2) of the Act previously.[4] In Mkdsi and Abraham the panels held that the word “accompanying” is to be interpreted according to the common sense and ordinary meaning of the word which includes to “coexist” or “coexisting”.[5] There was no suggestion that the appellant and his wife were not living together in China during the relevant period. Therefore I conclude that the appellant was accompanying his wife.”

The point to take from this decision is that it does not matter who (citizen or PR) had the principal reason to be abroad; the only thing that matters is whether they were living together or not.

So, there are several court or panel decisions that allow the PR to count time spent abroad living with a Canadian spouse, and one that (Smith v. Canada) that worries about who accompanied whom. It would be nice to have 100% certainty on this issue, but we don’t.

There may be some PRs who wouldn’t mind the uncertainty, time, and expense of appearing in front of a panel, but I’d prefer to avoid the whole process if possible. Here’s how.

At the border, if an Immigration Officer is dubious that the PR has met the 730-day quota, have at the ready proof of the days spent abroad with the Canadian spouse, and refer the border officer to CIC Operational Manual ENF 23 Loss of Permanent Resident Status, page 18, section 7.5. Here’s the relevant section.


7.5. Accompanying a Canadian citizen outside Canada
R61(4) provides that each day a permanent resident is outside Canada accompanying (that is, ordinarily residing with) a Canadian citizen constitutes a day of physical presence in Canada, provided that the Canadian citizen they are accompanying is a spouse or common-law partner or parent.

In the case of a permanent resident outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen, it is not necessary to determine who is accompanying whom, nor is it necessary to determine for what purpose. In other words, under A28(2)(a)(ii) and R61(4), as long as a permanent resident is accompanying a Canadian citizen, the intent and purpose of their absences are not relevant as the residency obligation is met.

For the purposes of A28(2)(a)(ii) and A28(2)(a)(iv), R61(6) defines a child as being a child of a parent referred to in those subparagraphs who is not and has never been a spouse or common-law partner and is less than 22 years of age.

Some may ask themselves why – given the clarity of the Manual – such cases ever go to court, but let that pass. I don’t know either. Maybe the PR did not know the manual, and maybe the Immigration Officer didn’t think to look at it. Who knows?

Of course, the easiest way is to spend the 730 days in Canada, but if that is not possible, have proof that the time abroad was indeed spent with a Canadian spouse, and have the Operational Manual (or the above abstract) at the ready. That should get the PR safely and peacefully through Immigration to the waiting arms of his or her family!!

 

[whiteeagle]

Hello

Normally to get a lease contract, they do some credit history check before. How did you manage to do that? is there a way to do it online?

Thank you again
All this HELPS a lot!!
Many thanks

 

[toby]

Hello

Normally to get a lease contract, they do some credit history check before. How did you manage to do that? is there a way to do it online?

Thank you again
All this HELPS a lot!!
Many thanks

My brother knew the landlords well, and so they accepted me for his sake. Besides, the arrangement was that if I did not confirm a month in advance that I would be coming, I would forfeit the deposit -- which suited them fine since they have lots of takers for their units. They in effect got a free deposit and very little risk.

Negotiating this from afar, with no Canadian intermediary, could be difficult.

 

[whiteeagle]

You have been really helpful ! Thank u so much
It is getting harder every day for immigrants to get decent jobs that fit with their skills (especially in Quebec) creating a lot of discrimination in the workplace. I am naturalized canadian citizen coming from an immigrant family and I still have a lots of difficulties in finding jobs. Hope this will get better! I don t know how it is in other provinces ...

have a wonderful day

 

[minna]

you don't *need* a lease to prove you will be coming back to Canada. Other kinds of information work, too, such as proof of applying for jobs (even if you have not found one yet), or a letter from a friend or family member in Canada that will provide you a place to stay when you land.

My proof is that I am currently researching graduate programs in Vancouver (but the application deadlines are not until after my application is submitted, and I won't hear anything back until Next January or February at the earliest), and I have a letter from my parents in Vancouver stating that they are aware of of our intentions to move back home, and they are pleased to offer us a place to live in their house for as long as we need to establish ourselves in a new city.

Many people are also submitting a timeline of steps that they will be taking after the application is submitted to prepare to move to Canada - there is a thread that discussed this, if you search the forum. My timeline starts with our decision to apply for PR for my partner, and continues through arriving in Vancouver in December of this year -- very optimistic!! but we just figured it was most important to have all the steps laid out (like, getting the right health certificates for our dog to enter Canada, selling off the belongings that we will not be taking, arranging shipping for the items that we will be taking, notifying friends and family that we have submitted the application and are planning to move to Vancouver -- that kind of thing).

Hope this helps!

 

[steaky]

minna is right

 

[whiteeagle]

Hello !

Well I am currently on the IMM 0008 application form and they are asking to fill the information of family members. Since I am only sponsoring my spouse from India, we do not have any dependent children. Do they refer to family member as his mum and dad or to dependent children if applicable?

I am also wondering whether providing a P.O Box on immigration forms would work? since I am right now in India, and I am planning to go back soon to Canada but I had to give away my lease contract in the mean time

Have a wonderful day
thank u again!!!