Re: Which processing office should I choose if Sponsored person not in home coun
iarblue said:
You must be a resident of a country in legal status for a year or more before you can apply from that country.So as you have not been there for a year as of yet the process will be done by the home country.
This is a common misunderstanding. You do
not need to be living in a given country for a year or more in order to apply through the visa office of that country. As canadianwoman says, you only need to have been legally
admitted to the country in question for a period of at least one year. Please see the OP1 Manual available here for more details: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op01-eng.pdf
"
3. R11(1) also stipulates that an applicant must have been lawfully admitted for at least one year
when applying for permanent residence.
Persons who are applying for permanent residence must be residing in and have been legally
admitted for a period of at least one year to the country which the visa office receiving the
application serves. The applicant is not required to have been residing in the country for one year
at the time of application, but to have been lawfully admitted to that country for a minimum oneyear
period at the time of application.
For example, under R11(1), an individual may have lawfully entered and be currently residing in a
country on the basis of a one-year work permit. Anytime during that year, the individual would be
eligible under R11(1) to apply for permanent residence to Canada through the visa office
responsible for applications from the country in which the individual is residing."
It doesn't really matter what kind of visa your husband has, as long as it was issued with validity of at least 1 year. But the bigger question is -- how long is his visa valid for? If it is due to expire soon, Beijing may be less likely to accept his application for processing and may forward it to Singapore. But I think it's definitely worth trying anyway since processing time is substantially shorter in Beijing (2-5 months) vs. Singapore (5-15 months). Even if his visa were not to expire soon, Beijing could still transfer his application to Singapore if they felt it was better suited to handle his application. Actually, any time you apply to a specific visa office, they still retain the right to transfer your file to another visa office that they think is better suited to handle your application. Again, from the OP1 manual:
"While the Regulations define where an application must be submitted, they do not stipulate where
an application must be processed. At times, visa offices may independently decide that issues of
program integrity merit the transfer of an application to another visa office."
I think you really have nothing to lose by selecting Beijing as your visa office. If they do process it, you're likely to be done quickly. And if for some reason, they decide to transfer the file, you'll be no worse off than if you had applied to Singapore directly.
Yes, Singapore processes all PR applications. Bangkok does the TRVs, study and work permits.
No, it definitely doesn't mean that if you apply in a visa office outside your country of origin that it will unnecessarily delay your application. My husband applied outside his native country and had his application approved in 4 months. I think it depends entirely on the number of staff available and the communication between offices. Poor communication or limited staff resources will obviously lead to a delay, whether in your home visa office or not. Good luck.
