Swedish marrying Canadian (best way for work visa)

[browntrout]

Hi, need some suggestions/help with the best and fastest way to obtain a work visa for Canada. Been reading several threads on this site today, but i know each case is different so here is my situation.

I am a Swedish Citizen, getting married June 1st to my Canadian finance. We are planning to move to Canada (BC) right after the wedding which would be held in Sweden. We both currently live and work in Hong Kong. I have previously not worked or lived in Canada, but my finance is a Canadian citizen, passport and lived in Canada most of her life. We have lived together for 7 years, and have documentation to prove so.

I know there are ways to apply for a work visa now, outside of Canada correct? this would be a good thing, as we could get the visa underway now, then when we move there all would be ready to go. Would this work, or is is better/faster to apply in person when we arrive into Canada? ideally, i wouldn't want to move there and just "hang around" waiting for the visa to be ready, much rather get all done before we enter Canada. When we both lived in London, UK for a few years we did apply for a spouse visa for my fiance, that application process took 6 months, but within 2 weeks we got a temporary "pending approval letter" which made it possible for her to work almost immediately when we moved there. Is it the same in Canada? that i can get a pending approval letter, or stage 1 approval on which i can work?

greatly appreciate any help/suggestions.

 

[scylla]

The fastest way will be for you to find an employer in Canada who is willing to hire you. That employer will then have to obtain an approved LMO (labour market opinion) and as part of the process prove they advertised the role and were unable to find a Canadian to hire. Once you have a job offer and approved LMO, you can apply for a work permit at the border. Note that it can be quite difficult to find an employer willing to go through the LMO process.

Alternatively, your fiance can sponsor you using the inland process after you have married and after you have arrived in Canada (you must both be in Canada to apply inland). Once your application has first stage approval, you will qualify for an open work permit. First stage approval is currently taking six month from the time the application is received.

 

[scylla]

Sorry - just to add...

If you're willing to put off moving to Canada. Then get married and apply using the outland process. Once you have been approved for PR you can then move to Canada and work immediately.

 

[browntrout]

thank you scylla. Actually, if we both need to be on ground in Canada for apply for the inland method, that would mean we would both leave our jobs in Hong Kong, move to Canada and then i would be unable to work until first stage approval is obtained (6 months you said) right? that doesn't really make economic sense.....also, we were planning that i leave Hong Kong first, enter Canada, and once i land a job, my Canadian wife comes. But since she would be required to be present at the inland method that wouldn't work.

using the outside of Canada method might be better in our case. I see that processing time, at some locations around the world is a short as 1 month. I am Swedish, but Sweden doesn't have a visa office, can i apply using any of the global listed offices? taking one with a short (1-2 month) usual application time? or do i have to choose the one closest to where i live or where i am from? another question, this work visa (assuming there is one one type) would make me completely eligible to work, ie no extra work for the employer is needed right?

 

[scylla]

I think you're looking at the wrong processing times. There is no visa office that has 1-2 months processing times. The correct processing times for the outland process can be found here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp

No - you cannot pick any visa office you want. Applications from Sweden are processed through the London office.

If you apply outland, there is no work visa. Once you are approved for PR and arrive in Canada and officially become a PR, you can work without a work visa.

 

[Rob_TO]

No - you cannot pick any visa office you want. Applications from Sweden are processed through the London office.

I believe if he has resided in HK for at least 1 year, he could also choose to have the application processed there.

It's kind of a moot point now, but you guys should have applied a while ago! You have been in a common-law relationship for quite some time now, so should be a relatively simple process for you to apply as common-law couple. In this way you could have applied outland while both continuing to work in HK, and then you could move to Canada with PR in hand.

 

[Swedish citizen]

Hej!

I would suggest to apply for sponsorship family class outland through London visa office. I´m not sure if you can do it through HK or not, but London seems to have shorter average times.

If you want to move to Canada at the end of the process, it´s not a problem. But I can´t really recommend to wait around here, I´ll go nuts every once in a while!

You don´t have to be married, it´s the same process for common laws, so I wouldn´t wait until June, better to start with the application and hopefully get it done before June, it takes some time to fill in all the papers, gather documents etc. And I guess you have a lot of other proof of your relationship anyway.

I don´t know what business you´re in, but I´ve heard from skilled workers, that it takes some time to get a work visa, even if you have a job offer. So that´s why I would rather start with the sponsorship application.

Good luck with the immigration process!

 

[browntrout]

Hej!
I would suggest to apply for sponsorship family class outland through London visa office. I´m not sure if you can do it through HK or not, but London seems to have shorter average times.

This might be possible, do you know if i have to appear in person in London in this case? Im planning to enter sweden may 1st this year, and then spend +1 month to plan for the wedding, so could send the application to London. Do i need to hand over my passport at the initial application? i see average completion time to finish step1 of the process is 28 days, does that mean that after step1 is completed you can actually enter Canada and begin work?

I believe if he has resided in HK for at least 1 year, he could also choose to have the application processed there.

It's kind of a moot point now, but you guys should have applied a while ago! You have been in a common-law relationship for quite some time now, so should be a relatively simple process for you to apply as common-law couple. In this way you could have applied outland while both continuing to work in HK, and then you could move to Canada with PR in hand.

this is what we planned initially, we always planned to apply around the time of the wedding. the only factor that changed is that are w looking to relocate to Canada sooner than originally thought.

I think another step is that my spouse need to be first approved as a sponsor, once that is done, the applications are all sent via Ontario office, and that in the application you select the closest VISA office to you for potential interview or followup documentation completion. This would have to be Hong Kong, since this is where we live. I hope that is ok....

I guess the only question i have now is what rights to you have after step 1? There must be some rights? Also, reading the processing times at stage 2 around 8-12 this would mean that we wouldn't be able to relocate until mid 2014.

 

[Rob_TO]

This might be possible, do you know if i have to appear in person in London in this case? Im planning to enter sweden may 1st this year, and then spend +1 month to plan for the wedding, so could send the application to London. Do i need to hand over my passport at the initial application? i see average completion time to finish step1 of the process is 28 days, does that mean that after step1 is completed you can actually enter Canada and begin work?

You actually submit the entire application to CPC-Mississauga. After they approve the sponsor (stage 1), CPC-M would then send the package to London to do applicant approval (stage 2).

You need to wait for full PR before you can land and start working in Canada. Until then you can just go to Canada as a visitor.

The only reason you would ever have to go to London office, is if they are suspicious of your relationship and request an interview. In vast majority of cases this is not required. Since you have a visa-exempt passport, i believe you don't ever need to send your actual passport (just a photocopy will do).

 

[browntrout]

You need to wait for full PR before you can land and start working in Canada. Until then you can just go to Canada as a visitor.

Thanks, and that's what i was afraid off. Having to wait for stage 2 before moving over. If i could check with the HK office and have them process stage 2 (they are usually quite efficient here) nonetheless i would have to wait 9 months before even thinking about moving to Canada.

 

[Sweden]

Thanks, and that's what i was afraid off. Having to wait for stage 2 before moving over. If i could check with the HK office and have them process stage 2 (they are usually quite efficient here) nonetheless i would have to wait 9 months before even thinking about moving to Canada.

If you've been admittedto hk with a visa of 1 year or more, you can askti be processed in hk. But cic might decide to send your file to london anyway. 9 months is the time it takes to process 80% of applications so quite a few people are done before. If you look at my signature you will see the average time for stage 2. You can also move beforeyou get your pr on a tourist visa-it's calledvisiting....- and wait out the pr here... It's a way to get familiar with new surroundings, network etc, and ince the pr comes, you can start applting for a job. Not ideal, but feasible.
Good luck,
Sweden

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks, and that's what i was afraid off. Having to wait for stage 2 before moving over. If i could check with the HK office and have them process stage 2 (they are usually quite efficient here) nonetheless i would have to wait 9 months before even thinking about moving to Canada.

According to CIC stats, the London office is quicker than HK. So you would be better to do outland app via London office even if you qualify for HK.

You can check the thread dedicated to London VO about current processing times people are seeing. In many cases for easy straightforward cases people get their full PR outland, in around the same time it would take to get just stage 1 approval inland. http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-outland-london-uk-applications-t49436.9735.html

 

[browntrout]

You can check the thread dedicated to London VO about current processing times people are seeing. In many cases for easy straightforward cases people get their full PR outland, in around the same time it would take to get just stage 1 approval inland.

Tnx Rob_TO, see that in some cases it appears extremely fast. I guess if they arent busy, and if everything is in order (important) it should/can be very quick. Hopefully june/july would be low volume months for them in London so that when my application comes though all goes smooth and fast