Urgent Spousal Sponsorship

[Badhabitsneverdie]

Hello,

I've been going over various topics and some of my questions are still unanswered so I was hoping some members could give me insight.

First off my fiancée and I are getting married in the next week. She's an international student while I'm a working Canadian citizen. Our goal was to establish sponsorship and PR by the time school starts in Septemeber but I'm aware it's quite soon and processing times can vary from a year to two

Given that, she's here studying but has resided here for more than a year is it better to do the Outland application? I read that the time can vary from 4 months to a year for sponsorship if it's Outland.

If an interview were to arise in that situation are the interviews held here in Canada or back in here native country?

Our main concern is that we know that full sponsorship cannot happen before September but how long would it take to be considered for "approval in principle or preliminary/provisional acceptance/approval". Under her schools policy she would be able to pay domestic fees.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[MilesAway]

What nationality is she?
If she's been here for a year, and has a valid study permit for longer, then she might be processed through Ottawa, which is a fast office. Otherwise CIC will send the application to the VO responsible for her nationality. If an interview is required for an outland application, it would be held abroad, not in Canada. Interviews are not usually required, only for those with red flags, criminality issues, and so on.

If you apply inland, then it will take around 17 months for her to get Approval in Principle (AIP).

 

[Badhabitsneverdie]

She's born in South Africa.

We haven't had an extensive relationship; less than a year and I'm 10 years older so I don't know if that would be classified as a red flag?

I'm just curious as to how the stages of approval are in general. Is approval in principal a finalization or is it in the beginning process? The later being better as it could possibly be done before school starts.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

If you apply outland, her application will be processed in Pretoria, and their processing time is 80% in 16 months. Not sure what the average is, but the posted time of 16 months is that 80% of apps are processed within that time. (The average would be less. For example, for applications processed in London UK, the posted processing time is 14 months, the average is 11 months.)

Almost certainly wouldn't get your PR through by September, though, unless some serious luck came your way. I'd guess you'd get PR in a bit over a year from applying if you went outland.

AIP only applies to inland applications, which take about two years to get PR, but you get a work permit after 4 months.

 

[scylla]

She's born in South Africa.

We haven't had an extensive relationship; less than a year and I'm 10 years older so I don't know if that would be classified as a red flag?

I'm just curious as to how the stages of approval are in general. Is approval in principal a finalization or is it in the beginning process? The later being better as it could possibly be done before school starts.

If you apply inland, AIP (approval in principal) will take 16-17 months. So certainly this won't happen in time for September.

 

[Badhabitsneverdie]

If you apply outland, her application will be processed in Pretoria, and their processing time is 80% in 16 months. Not sure what the average is, but the posted time of 16 months is that 80% of apps are processed within that time. (The average would be less. For example, for applications processed in London UK, the posted processing time is 14 months, the average is 11 months.)

Almost certainly wouldn't get your PR through by September, though, unless some serious luck came your way. I'd guess you'd get PR in a bit over a year from applying if you went outland.

AIP only applies to inland applications, which take about two years to get PR, but you get a work permit after 4 months.

Oh, that I did not know about AIP. Under her guidelines for school it did state that:

"students who are (or who are dependents of) visitors who are authorized to work in Canada having been issued a work permit. Note 1) Visitors who are graduate teaching or research assistants are excluded from this category. Note 2) Students holding the Citizenship & Immigration Canada Off-Campus Work Permit are not eligible for this exemption."

The work permit issued in the case of inland wouldn't fall under the second note would it?

 

[Badhabitsneverdie]

My other question would be is that in lieu of doing the Outland application should we pursue the inland application and apply for the work permit during the process of the application to be exempt for international student fees?

And is attaining a open work permit a relatively common occurrence while doing sponsorship? As in would it require extensive paperwork and interviews like the sponsorship process?

 

[canadianwoman]

I would apply outland, as it is generally much faster. In addition, as she is studying, she does not need an open work permit, the main advantage of applying inland. Even if you applied inland, and got an open work permit, this will not make her exempt from international student fees. (Unless her particular school says so.)

 

[BonManush]

She's born in South Africa.

We haven't had an extensive relationship; less than a year and I'm 10 years older so I don't know if that would be classified as a red flag?

I'm just curious as to how the stages of approval are in general. Is approval in principal a finalization or is it in the beginning process? The later being better as it could possibly be done before school starts.

I'd like to point out that I'm born in a country that I'm not a citizen of nor do I hold a passport of. Is your fiancée born in South Africa and hold citizenship also? This answer could change where her file is processed.

 

[Badhabitsneverdie]

I'd like to point out that I'm born in a country that I'm not a citizen of nor do I hold a passport of. Is your fiancée born in South Africa and hold citizenship also? This answer could change where her file is processed.

Yes she's born in South Africa and is a citizen.

 

[annakrystyna13]

My other question would be is that in lieu of doing the Outland application should we pursue the inland application and apply for the work permit during the process of the application to be exempt for international student fees?

And is attaining a open work permit a relatively common occurrence while doing sponsorship? As in would it require extensive paperwork and interviews like the sponsorship process?

If you apply Inland, and she maintains legal status, she will get an Open Work Permit relatively quick, about 4-5 months. You need to send the application form for OWP together with the Sponsorship application. However, I believe that the Open Work Permit states "Does not authorize to study in Canada" or something along those lines, so she probably would not be able to pay domestic fees. She will still need her Study permit to attend school.