SG81 said:
I'm very new to the workings of a forum, so please let me know if I should be posting elsewhere!
I'm marrying my Canadia fiance this July. I'm Scottish, he's from Northern Ontario.
There seems to be SO much information to get through, it's quite daunting.
We're really not looking forward to being apart when married, but I have work commitments over here, as does he over there.
We were trying to decide whether to apply outland or outland for my visa once married. My fear is that if I stayed after we married (we're marrying in Northern Ontario when i'm there for a holiday this summer), it would take up to 2 years for my visa, and in this time I wouldn't be able to come home to see my family - nor would I be able to work. Does anyone know which is the best route to take? Outland or inland?
We thought outland would be better, what with the processing times being 9 months.. but to not be able to live together as man and wife in this time really gets us down (we're keen to start a family as soon as we've set up home together) as we can only see each other every couple of months in this time.
I really have no idea where to start! He'll be my spousal sponsor, but apart from this we don't know what to fill out, what fees we'll need to pay, or what happens during he full process.
Anyone who has been through this, I'd love it if you could explain the process, application, and fees - just so we know what to expect.
Has anyone had to wait longer than 9 months? (i hate the thought of this happening!)
The other thing we wondered was.. has anyone applied outland, then changed their mind and waited out inland for the visa to be processed here, returning for medical and interview?
I hope this makes sense! As I said... SO much to consider, and i'd love to be able to do this without playing the fees of an immigration lawyer
Thanks everyone x
Hi SG81 - welcome to the forum!
You're in the right place! Although if you want you could create your own topic for your questions - it's up to you. The advantage to asking here is that you're asking people who are applying through the same VO (visa office), so answers would be tailored to you a bit more.
Anyway, I'll try and answer a few of your questions.
For starters, if you apply inland you're faced with a longer wait for the entire process to be complete. I believe it's currently around 18 months? You're also not meant to leave the country during this entire time from what I understand, otherwise your application is void.
I'd certainly say that applying outland is the way to go. The wait time is a lot shorter and you're more than welcome to
visit - emphasis visit, you can't 'live' in Canada during this time. Some people like myself visit for almost, or all of the entire application process. So I was in Canada with my wife pretty much the entire time. The only disadvantage is that I wasn't able to work, so she was supporting us both.
The 9 month processing time for stage 2 is how long it takes London to process 80% of their applications, so many applications are processed much quicker - my application was just recently approved and it took roughly 5 months in total. The thing is, the London VO processes applications from countries other to those in the UK, many of those aren't visa exempt, so those applications take longer than ours, and in turn push the overall average up. It's not as bad as it looks!
If you're a UK citizen and your application doesn't have any complications (such as previously being deported from Canada, any criminal activity, etc.), you could probably expect the entire process to take about 6 months, maybe a little more if things slow down.
There is a fair amount of paperwork to do, unfortunately. Depending on how much evidence of your relationship you choose to submit, it might take you a while to get it all together. Again, if you're a UK citizen, you don't have to go too over the top with supplying evidence of your relationship as there's less reason to enter a fraudulent marriage just to get into Canada than someone from a poorer or country currently in war. Just supply what you can!
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So you can find all the paperwork you need to fill in here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp
There are two stages to the application. Stage 1 is about your sponsor (the person you're marrying who is a citizen or PR of Canada), so your SO will fill these forms in generally (although you have to sign one of them as the applicant, from what I remember). This is just general information about your sponsor's family, education, travel history, any criminal convictions, employment history, etc.
Stage 2 will be your set of forms to complete. It's a bit more in depth than the forms in stage 1 and will ask you all sorts of questions about your life and your relationship with your sponsor.
It's probably best to have a read of them all and try and soak it all in. It's a lot to take, though! You'll likely have a lot of questions that only crop up when you come to fill in all the forms. When that happens just come here and ask, that's what I did
.
Don't forget to check out part 3 of that page - click the appropriate geographical region (again, assuming you're applying through London, West Europe would be the one to click). The PDF it opens will give you a checklist of everything you need to send as part of part 2 (there's additional stuff like photos and copies of birth certificates, etc. you need to send as well as the forms). I can't remember where the checklist for part 1 is!
Again, have a read of it all and ask from there!
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Once you've got everything together, you'll send your forms and documents to your SO in Canada. He or she will then bundle it all together with their forms and documents to form a complete application (parts 1 and 2). Your SO will send everything to the office in Mississauga, who will process stage 1 sponsor approval, which will take around 15-30 days normally. Once sponsor approval is done, they forward your application to London who put it in a pile and let it gather dust for a few months!
In total, all application fees come to $1,040 I think.
Here's a tip - if you can, do your medical in Canada. It's about half the price of what they charge in England! You can get your medical done anywhere in the world, as long as it's done at an approved physician (there's a list of them all on the CIC website somewhere, but where it is exactly escapes me). Bear in mind though that once your medical is done, you have to submit it alongside your application within 3 months, otherwise you'll have to do another. Medicals are valid for a year, but have to be submitted within 3 months.
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I hope I've not thrown too much information at you. There's plenty more I could say! Please feel free to ask any more questions.
