I was born and raised in Canada, and currently live in the USA with my American citizen wife and our children. The kids were born in the USA but have proof of Canadian citizenship, leaving my wife the odd one out. Due to a number of recent events we have decided to go all in and just move to Canada. Ideally we'd love for the kids to start school there this September. A relative who lives there has graciously offered to put us up in their house until we find a suitable place to rent. We have about $40k USD saved up.
Initially we were doing an outland PR application, due to the fact that we can appeal it if for some reason our initial application is turned down. Our application is fairly solid, and I am confident about being able to prove intent. I say "fairly" because there is one technical problem: Due to the fact that my wife arrived in the USA as a Vietnamese refugee when she was a toddler, she does not have a birth certificate. Fortunately, her elementary school has microfilm records of her school application materials and although the copies are of rather poor quality, her resident alien card (from before naturalization) and report card both corroborate the birth date on her immunization records, driver's license, and Certificate of Naturalization. These all should be enough, I think. But the danger of a rejection on technical grounds is still present. I am not too concerned with our ability to show intent; I think we have sufficient proof.
But the other option is to just move as soon as the kids are out for summer break, with my wife crossing as a visitor and then applying inland. This way she would then be able to also apply for an open work permit, and we would no longer need to show intent since we're obviously already there. The downside is that we would not be able to appeal should we be denied.
Assuming we intend to stay in Canada full-time until her PR status is granted, which route should we take?
Initially we were doing an outland PR application, due to the fact that we can appeal it if for some reason our initial application is turned down. Our application is fairly solid, and I am confident about being able to prove intent. I say "fairly" because there is one technical problem: Due to the fact that my wife arrived in the USA as a Vietnamese refugee when she was a toddler, she does not have a birth certificate. Fortunately, her elementary school has microfilm records of her school application materials and although the copies are of rather poor quality, her resident alien card (from before naturalization) and report card both corroborate the birth date on her immunization records, driver's license, and Certificate of Naturalization. These all should be enough, I think. But the danger of a rejection on technical grounds is still present. I am not too concerned with our ability to show intent; I think we have sufficient proof.
But the other option is to just move as soon as the kids are out for summer break, with my wife crossing as a visitor and then applying inland. This way she would then be able to also apply for an open work permit, and we would no longer need to show intent since we're obviously already there. The downside is that we would not be able to appeal should we be denied.
Assuming we intend to stay in Canada full-time until her PR status is granted, which route should we take?
