US outland applicants' thread :)

[changisme]

Hi Gurus!

I am a Canadian sponsoring my husband, an American citizen for to become Canadian PR. I have a question if anyone could help me out.

I have been living in the States (WA) for the past 4.5 years, so I assume that I am in the category of "exclusively living outside of Canada". I have heard that, for people like us, we need to prove that we intend to move back upon receiving PR status for my husband. I have thought about showing a rental lease. Do you think this would be enough?

Thanks for any help!!!

 

[lawgrrl]

Hi Gurus!

I am a Canadian sponsoring my husband, an American citizen for to become Canadian PR. I have a question if anyone could help me out.

I have been living in the States (WA) for the past 4.5 years, so I assume that I am in the category of "exclusively living outside of Canada". I have heard that, for people like us, we need to prove that we intend to move back upon receiving PR status for my husband. I have thought about showing a rental lease. Do you think this would be enough?

Thanks for any help!!!

Dear Changisme--My Canadian husband has been living with me (the American citizen) in the U.S. for almost 20 years, and I received my COPR (Certificate of Permanent Residency) on March 1 of this year, a belated birthday present, so I have some current experience with this issue.

Yes, you have been "exclusively living outside of Canada" and because you and your hubby are both together outside of Canada (presumably, legally) you will need to prove to CIC your intentions to re-establish yourself in Canada. Because we are homeowners (just listed our house for sale yesterday) we didn't want to sign up for a lease until we knew our house is sold. And my husband is self-employed, to boot, so we couldn't show a job offer. So, what he did was find a Canadian web host and signed up for a Canadian web address (www.blahblah.ca). Then he got emails from business associates saying that he could be the dealer or rep for their stuff once we move to B.C. He also included email from his aged parents, saying how much they are looking forward to us being closer and able to help them out.

Everyone's situation will be different, but put some effort into this, just as much effort as you do in establishing that you have a "genuine relationship." The reason being is that the Family Class exists to re-unite families in Canada; if you're together legally somewhere else, CIC figures you're good. We skirted around this issue in our initial application and had to provide more "proof" to the L.A. VO, so I know that this is a concern of CIC's.

Good luck from a fellow Northwesterner! (We're just south In Oregon.)

 

[cempjwi]

Hi Gurus!

I am a Canadian sponsoring my husband, an American citizen for to become Canadian PR. I have a question if anyone could help me out.

I have been living in the States (WA) for the past 4.5 years, so I assume that I am in the category of "exclusively living outside of Canada". I have heard that, for people like us, we need to prove that we intend to move back upon receiving PR status for my husband. I have thought about showing a rental lease. Do you think this would be enough?

Thanks for any help!!!

As lawgrrl says, each situation is different. In our marriage the Canadian citizen has been in the US since he was 2.5yo (about 45yrs). We applied and we had to provide the Canadian citizen's proof of intent to return to Canada. Fortunally, a job offer came through by the time we had to submit proof and that seems to have suficed. We are just waiting on the extension of the medical certificate. I've read that some other people have provided admission to schools in Canada, lease agreements, documents showing visits to Canada for job interviews, etc. It is all about proving 'intent' to return to Canada.

 

[changisme]

Thank you for your responses! What kind of document did you show about the interviews? Were they emails/phone bill records?

 

[brightredscream]

Re: Have Americans completed the PR residency (fmaily sponsorship) recently?

True, I'm just basing my guess on the fact of how slow Ottawa is going right now, which is why I think it might be another two months for them with all the backlog that Ottawa is creating for themselves *shakes head*

They may not be creating any backlog for themselves, there are way more people applying for immigration than what's on these forums....could just mean that none of us forum dwellers are getting any news because lots of non Internet people are!

 

[parker24]

Re: Have Americans completed the PR residency (fmaily sponsorship) recently?

They may not be creating any backlog for themselves, there are way more people applying for immigration than what's on these forums....could just mean that none of us forum dwellers are getting any news because lots of non Internet people are!

What I mean is, they don't work consistently enough to NOT have a backlog.

 

[simb]

What I mean is, they don't work consistently enough to NOT have a backlog.

i agree with you.. first thing they dont want to work that much and another they dont have that much staff to handle so many applications... and dont know they dont want to hire people.. (may be they dont want to increase their expenses)

 

[amikety]

i agree with you.. first thing they dont want to work that much and another they dont have that much staff to handle so many applications... and dont know they dont want to hire people.. (may be they dont want to increase their expenses)

I doubt they set their own budgets - and it's probably like most places. The head honchos meet their "goals" and they get a fat bonus. So keeping expenses low is a priority. For that person/persons.

 

[cempjwi]

Thank you for your responses! What kind of document did you show about the interviews? Were they emails/phone bill records?

In the case of a personal interview I would think airlines tickets (which we submitted, but we also obtained a formal written job offer), hotel reservations/receipts, and even I would think a list of companies/jobs you have interviewed for would also work.

 

[computergeek]

It is all about proving 'intent' to return to Canada.

The legal requirement is that the Citizen must be residing in Canada by the time the spouse/partner becomes a permanent resident. That's why they push on this - it's really a statutory requirement.

 

[changisme]

I was looking at the processing times. There is still a row for Seattle, and currently the processing time is 11 months. However, isn't the Seattle office closed? What do they mean by that processing time? I saw on the top of the page, that this is updated weekly. Does that mean this time is just ... old?

 

[changisme]

The legal requirement is that the Citizen must be residing in Canada by the time the spouse/partner becomes a permanent resident. That's why they push on this - it's really a statutory requirement.

If I (the sponsor) rent a place in Canada in the near future before I send out off the application, and move there, can I say I live in Canada now? I do work in Seattle, but it's only 2.5 hours away from the Lower Mainland. We will rent a place after we move eventually anyway. I just wonder if this would greatly improve our chances.

 

[amikety]

If I (the sponsor) rent a place in Canada in the near future before I send out off the application, and move there, can I say I live in Canada now? I do work in Seattle, but it's only 2.5 hours away from the Lower Mainland. We will rent a place after we move eventually anyway. I just wonder if this would greatly improve our chances.

You can if you want to - but here's something I've noticed. A lot of people aren't including much "intent to return proof" and the VO asks instead right before issuing the COPR. So you can include what you have and then once you get the request, rent a place and start the job search, then send in that proof.

 

[leodr]

If anybody has had experience with opening a bank account after landing in Canada. How difficult is it? What would i need for it? Thanks.

 

[computergeek]

I was looking at the processing times. There is still a row for Seattle, and currently the processing time is 11 months. However, isn't the Seattle office closed? What do they mean by that processing time? I saw on the top of the page, that this is updated weekly. Does that mean this time is just ... old?

Seattle is not closed. Files from CPP-O may be referred to NYC, Detroit, Seattle or LA. Typically this happens for cases that require special handling, such as an interview.