Student Visa or Permanent Residency option for a Colombian marriage

[CVK]

Hello

We would like to get some advice on which way to go for our immigration process. Im a Colombian female married to a Canadian citizen.

We have been in a relationship for almost two years. We have been physically together for most of that time in Colombia and other countries. We applied in July last year for a visitor visa but it got denied. The officer said I didnt have enough ties to my country and not enough money. Now were married and have tons of proof of our relationship being genuine; our families have met. Im not a criminal, Im healthy and have no family members inadmissible. My husband is soon returning to Canada to get a job and everything we need to live there.

We are almost ready to apply but we dont know which way to go. PR seems like it is a very long time -a year and a half but it seems to be the best way to ensure that I get my citizenship. Can I visit Canada after my sponsor gets approved? Because we dont want to be apart for a year and a half. The other option is a student visa which should take only a couple of months and after I finish school, Ive read you can do the transition to a PR.

Has anybody tried the student visa transition to PR? What is the best way to do it? Is it a smooth process? Should we apply for both processes?

We only want to do this once. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you

CVK

 

[Sweden]

Hey CVK,

Best option for you would be apply for PR right away - if you're married, you can apply under the "married couple, outland" category. The waiting time is long, and it's unlikely that you will get a visitor visa because you're married, and CIC doesn't believe that you will return to Colombia once your visa expires. So unless you have a new change of circumstances ( stronger links to your country etc), then you'll probably be denied again.
Once you have send the PR application ( which will give you a long term status in Canada once approved), then you can try and apply for a student visa - but there again you will have to prove that you have strong ties to your country.
If you're on a student visa in Canada when your PR is approved, you will have to send your passport to Colombia (some countries don't allow passport to travel by international courrier) to get it stamped at the embassy - or you could go yourself, travel to Colombia, get the stamp and then return to Canada and land as a PR. The "transition" from student to PR is not a problem, the more difficult part may be to get a student visa.
Also - the waiting time on the embassy website is the time it takes to finalize 80% of the applications, but quite a few people get done faster than that.
In addition, if your husband is Canadian ( not a PR), he can come and stay with you for the time of the application - he doesn't need to be in Canada to sponsor you, he can be outside of the country (he will need to prove that he intends to return but that's not too difficult). If that's the case you wouldn't be separated and you could wait out the PR together in Colombia ( or anywhere else you can both get a visa).
Good luck,
Sweden

 

[CVK]

Thanks Sweden,

I have another question. We have friends that applied through the dual intent visa. Which is temporary and permanent. She got approval within four months and she was working in Canada after 8 months somehow. She didnt even know english or french that well. They live in Quebec. Does Quebec have different rules? I was looking into the requirements and the one thing they want to see is strong ties to the country but its kind of confusing because were trying to move there, why would I have ties here if Im moving to Canada?

How can I show strong ties? Do you think the dual intent is a good option for us?

Once again, thanks for help.

CVK

 

[Sweden]

Well if you apply for a PR AND a Student visa at the same time, you are de facto "dual intent" as you are applying for a temporary visa ( where normally you go back to your own country once your visa expires) at the same time as applying for a permanent residency in Canada, and obviously have no intent to leave Canada after. so that's "dual intent". It's allowed in Canada.

Quebec has an extra step for sponsorship (certificat de selection du Quebec) but the spousal sponsorship is a federal program so everybody is assessed through the same criteria. Quebec has its own provincial programs for immigration, but nothing for spousal sponsorship (as far as I'm aware at least), and most of the provincial program require people to speak some french (it's a point system and french is definitely an added value).

I don't know which program your friend went through. It might have ben spousal sponsorship, which in general is one of the fastest. There is a Bogota Thread on this forum, and you can see ( I checked and see that you have asked the questions there as well), you can be done faster than the time on the website, if you have a straightforward application, and also a complete one. Make sure all the proofs are there, and send everything in as soon as possible.

I know that chances for Colombian are very slim to get a temporary visa once you are married to a Canadian, but it's your choice - you can always try to get a student visa if you want, and if you get refused it won't harm your application. So - your choice... but the best thing to do is to submit your PR application as soon as you can. Then as mentioned, if you don't want to be apart, your husband can stay with you.
Good luck,
Sweden

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