U.S. husband to join Canadian wife- currently bounce between Toronto and Chicago

[one_fish_two_fish]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read my questions. Any help greatly appreciated.

So I am a US citizen and my wife (a Canadian citizen) and I were recently married. Currently, as per Canadian law, I don't/cannot work in Canada. I am a freelance designer and sometimes get breaks in my work schedule so go and stay at her flat in Toronto for several weeks at a time. Alternatively, she works a job where she doesn't have to be in a particular physical location for considerable stretches, so she comes to stay at my flat in the States for extended periods of time. This has allowed each of us to not need to get a Visa for the others' country.

(Note: Several years ago she had a student visa for the States, but when she got her current job we realized that she wouldn't need the Visa anymore, and wouldn't be qualified for it because she wasn't taking classes anymore, so we let it lapse. I'm just stating this to make a note that we do have verifiable history of living with each other for a considerable period of time. I think I rad something about if you live separately for over a year you might have to fill different "conjugal partner"? Im confused by the conjugal class...)

Eventually I may get a full-time position in either Canada or the US, depending on multiple factors, so do want to go the proper work permit route.

We are currently waiting for the actual physical marriage certificate to arrive to her Canadian address via the post.

We are going to start a family soon, so I have been tasked with filling out the paperwork for both a WORK PERMIT and my portion of the SPONSORSHIP OF A SPOUSE paperwork.

filled out IMM-5707 and IMM-1295 for the work permit, paid the fee and just sent it in.

Now comes the paperwork for SPONSORSHIP OF A SPOUSE. I am now referencing the IMM5533e Checklist,
and the first item I see on Item#5 (first detail for sponsored individual...) which states:
"To apply under the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class, you must be living with your sponsor in Canada."

Technically US govt considers me residing in the states, while Canadian govt considers her residing in Canada, which is true even though we travel to others home often...

Do I need to have a Visa to qualify for sponsorship of a Spouse then? Is there a better way I should be going about our circumstance? We are not sure where we will be in a few years, but want to have option to stay in Canada. She has some complications with her US citizenship, but we are progressing with that in tandem.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[scylla]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read my questions. Any help greatly appreciated.

So I am a US citizen and my wife (a Canadian citizen) and I were recently married. Currently, as per Canadian law, I don't/cannot work in Canada. I am a freelance designer and sometimes get breaks in my work schedule so go and stay at her flat in Toronto for several weeks at a time. Alternatively, she works a job where she doesn't have to be in a particular physical location for considerable stretches, so she comes to stay at my flat in the States for extended periods of time. This has allowed each of us to not need to get a Visa for the others' country.

(Note: Several years ago she had a student visa for the States, but when she got her current job we realized that she wouldn't need the Visa anymore, and wouldn't be qualified for it because she wasn't taking classes anymore, so we let it lapse. I'm just stating this to make a note that we do have verifiable history of living with each other for a considerable period of time. I think I rad something about if you live separately for over a year you might have to fill different "conjugal partner"? Im confused by the conjugal class...)

Eventually I may get a full-time position in either Canada or the US, depending on multiple factors, so do want to go the proper work permit route.

We are currently waiting for the actual physical marriage certificate to arrive to her Canadian address via the post.

We are going to start a family soon, so I have been tasked with filling out the paperwork for both a WORK PERMIT and my portion of the SPONSORSHIP OF A SPOUSE paperwork.

filled out IMM-5707 and IMM-1295 for the work permit, paid the fee and just sent it in.

Now comes the paperwork for SPONSORSHIP OF A SPOUSE. I am now referencing the IMM5533e Checklist,
and the first item I see on Item#5 (first detail for sponsored individual...) which states:
"To apply under the Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class, you must be living with your sponsor in Canada."

Technically US govt considers me residing in the states, while Canadian govt considers her residing in Canada, which is true even though we travel to others home often...

Do I need to have a Visa to qualify for sponsorship of a Spouse then? Is there a better way I should be going about our circumstance? We are not sure where we will be in a few years, but want to have option to stay in Canada. She has some complications with her US citizenship, but we are progressing with that in tandem.

Thanks for any advice.

You have a decision to make and will have to give something up as a result.

To qualify for an open work permit, you must be sponsored by your spouse through the inland application stream. Applying through the inland application stream is only possible if both of you are living together in Canada. What you are doing right now (visiting her when possible) is not living in Canada and does not qualify you to apply for PR through the inland route. You would need to come to Canada (as a visitor) and then remain here continuously to qualify for the inland route.

If you are unable to do the above, then your only choice is to apply outland. There is no open work permit available with the outland route. You won't be able to work until after the PR application is approved and you have officially become a PR of Canada.

 

[scylla]

I just re-read your post. It sounds like you already sent in the work permit. If so, that was unfortunately the wrong thing to do and it's guaranteed to be refused. The open work permit application can only be submitted either together with the inland sponsorship application or afterwards. If you've sent in the work permit application ahead of time, contact IRCC and try to withdraw it so that you can get some of the fees back. If you allow it to be processed and refused, you'll lose all of the fees. Having said all of that, maybe I've misunderstood and you haven't submitted the work permit yet (hopefully not).

 

[one_fish_two_fish]

Thanks so much scylla for the advice.

(You are correct I submitted that already ;(. Thanks for the advice though, I am trying to stop the processing of the application.)

Yes, we spoke with someone who claimed familiarity with this type of situation at a dinner-party who said that we could get started on the work permit in the interim but I guess either they didn't know what they were talking about or I didn't realize that I had to stay there for extended period and could not bounce back and forth.

You wrote:
"To qualify for an open work permit, you must be sponsored by your spouse through the inland application stream. Applying through the inland application stream is only possible if both of you are living together in Canada. What you are doing right now (visiting her when possible) is not living in Canada and does not qualify you to apply for PR through the inland route. You would need to come to Canada (as a visitor) and then remain here continuously to qualify for the inland route."

So The way I understand it is the US and Canada have a special relationship where visitors don't need to apply for Visas when they don't come to work and don't plan on staying more than 7 months in the Calendar year (?). I guess the clincher is that I technically am instating a "Visa" every time I travel to Canada, and it "resets" every time I leave and return?

So I must stay there for how long to be considered to "remain there continuously"?

 

[scylla]

Thanks so much scylla for the advice.

(You are correct I submitted that already ;(. Thanks for the advice though, I am trying to stop the processing of the application.)

Yes, we spoke with someone who claimed familiarity with this type of situation at a dinner-party who said that we could get started on the work permit in the interim but I guess either they didn't know what they were talking about or I didn't realize that I had to stay there for extended period and could not bounce back and forth.

You wrote:
"To qualify for an open work permit, you must be sponsored by your spouse through the inland application stream. Applying through the inland application stream is only possible if both of you are living together in Canada. What you are doing right now (visiting her when possible) is not living in Canada and does not qualify you to apply for PR through the inland route. You would need to come to Canada (as a visitor) and then remain here continuously to qualify for the inland route."

So The way I understand it is the US and Canada have a special relationship where visitors don't need to apply for Visas when they don't come to work and don't plan on staying more than 7 months in the Calendar year (?). I guess the clincher is that I technically am instating a "Visa" every time I travel to Canada, and it "resets" every time I leave and return?

So I must stay there for how long to be considered to "remain there continuously"?

To apply inland, you really need to be living in Canada full time with minimal to no absences from Canada. You would enter using your US passport as a visitor and then submit the inland application. Once the inland sponsorship application is submitted along with the OWP, you'll have implied status to remain in Canada until a decision in the application is made.

If you want to or need to be able to return the US frequently for business purposes, then you need to apply outland (which won't come with an OWP).

Unfortunately your dinner-party friend has no idea what he/she was talking about.

 

[one_fish_two_fish]

To apply inland, you really need to be living in Canada full time with minimal to no absences from Canada. You would enter using your US passport as a visitor and then submit the inland application. Once the inland sponsorship application is submitted along with the OWP, you'll have implied status to remain in Canada until a decision in the application is made.

If you want to or need to be able to return the US frequently for business purposes, then you need to apply outland (which won't come with an OWP).

Unfortunately your dinner-party friend has no idea what he/she was talking about.

Yes agreed, no idea indeed...

I guess my question is what type of timing that means to a typical application: 2 months, 6months? I suppose I could enter the country and apply the next day, and then whenever the application is processed then I would be legal permanent resident (assuming no processing hiccups). But I wonder what kind of processing time that usually takes?

Can I still enter the country for vacation and then decide to apply for permanent residency (we are already married in Canada) once within Canada, or must I make some sort of declaration at the border?

 

[scylla]

Yes agreed, no idea indeed...

I guess my question is what type of timing that means to a typical application: 2 months, 6months? I suppose I could enter the country and apply the next day, and then whenever the application is processed then I would be legal permanent resident (assuming no processing hiccups). But I wonder what kind of processing time that usually takes?

Can I still enter the country for vacation and then decide to apply for permanent residency (we are already married in Canada) once within Canada, or must I make some sort of declaration at the border?

Inland processing time is 12 months.

No declaration is needed at the border.

 

[one_fish_two_fish]

So can I leave on occasion for work related activities out of the country or must I remain for potentially 12 months strait? I can only stay 7 months in Canada max in 12 month calendar year (unless apply for another Visa) so I could see if it falls towards the end of that span it could add a ripple of complexity.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

So can I leave on occasion for work related activities out of the country or must I remain for potentially 12 months strait? I can only stay 7 months in Canada max in 12 month calendar year (unless apply for another Visa) so I could see if it falls towards the end of that span it could add a ripple of complexity.

Just apply outland. American apps take around 6 months and there is no issue if you leave Canada.