Visitor's Extension and Sponsorship Application Questions

[tailfeather]

First post here, apologies if this is the wrong section for my questions.

Dealing with an immense amount of stress from what myself and my significant other are trying to undertake with marriage and sponsorship so I was hoping someone here might be able to help a bit more than CIC representatives.

We're going through with a civil marriage soon and we have a lot of questions regarding the application for sponsorship. To begin with, I was going through the required documentation for the application and it lists "original police certificates". I looked up the processing time to obtain those and it stated upwards of four months. This is extremely worrying for me, since I'm in Canada on a visitor's visa. I'm from the United States so it's the typical six-month deal and I have just under two months left. Do I need to wait on this document to send in my application or is the police document for the second phase of processing as a requested item? Should I apply for an extension to my visitor's visa while waiting on the document? How would I even argue or explain my case on the extension application?

Additionally we're considering having me apply inland to avoid going outland for an interview if I'm called to one. Is this a legitimate concern? If I were called to an interview does anyone know where it might take place? I heard there used to be a location in Buffalo, which would have worked fantastically, but it's no longer there. I feel extremely horrible about the prospect of being unable to work for eleven or so months if I apply inland [and that's before the work permit application which will take another six months] but we can't justify a flight to LA for something like that and we can't bear the idea of being apart for months either.

What options exist for someone like me?

 

[Leon]

You can apply for an extension based on having been married and working on getting your papers together to apply for sponsorship. Include a letter from your spouse verifying the same. Include proof of your spouses income showing that you do not have to work illegally to support yourself.

When you apply inland, you would include the application for an open work permit with your application so you would get it right away at first stage approval so there is no 10 + 6 months, only the 10 or 11 months it takes to get the first stage approval and then you get your work permit.

As for applying outland, you'd probably have your PR already in 10-11 months. There are more visa offices in the US than just Los Angeles. If you look at http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/pdf/kits/guides/3910e.pdf it asks you to choose between Seattle, Detroit, LA and New York. In any case, there is no guarantee that you will be called for an interview. If you are worrying about that, you might as well worry about what happens if inland wants an interview. That would be another at least a year of sitting in Canada not working and I think that is way more expensive than a flight to LA.

 

[tailfeather]

I didn't know what other locations there were aside from LA, so that helped a lot as a deciding factor. I feel I need to be prepared for anything.

With the extension application, how long I ask for [if they allow you to estimate how long you need] is determined by whether or not I need the police certificate when I first apply. Does anyone know what part of the process that document is required for?

 

[Leon]

When you extend a visit visa, you usually get 6 months and if you are not ready by then, you extend again. The first 6 months should be enough to get all your documents together. If you are in the situation of having to extend again, you should write in the application why you are not ready to apply for sponsorship yet and which documents you are waiting for. Immigration should not think that you are not serious about applying