bazzarooney

Hi guys,

My situation is this, I'm a British citizen, I married my Canadian wife back in September. She is currently living with me here in England on 2 year Visa.

She is not adjusting well to the UK lifestyle and would like us to move back to Canada. I have no status there sop would need to apply for a Visa.

She is not working so does not meet the requirements of the sponsorship agreement, from what we can tell anyway.

How do we apply, can we even apply and how long will the application process take?

Her Visa for the UK was sorted out in less than a week so I find the Canadian process extremely frustrating.

Please help

Siphorous

Looking at the sponsorship guide in the scenario of your wife being back in Canada and you in the U.K. it would appear that your wife would have to sign an undertaking to provide for your basic requirements but proof of income would not be required unless children were involved and specifically - children that were named on the application that had children themselves.

That's if I'm reading the guide properly (I'm sure someone more experienced here will soon sort me out there ) - see the section here...:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/informa...s/3900ETOC.asp

...that begins:

"Sponsorship eligibility

In order to sponsor, you must…"

- bearing in mind all the other requirements listed. There is a separate guide for sponsoring were you in Canada with your wife (I'm unclear whether it would apply if you were obviously there as a visitor) - but the section on "In order to sponsor" appears to have virtually the same requirements as above (certainly as regards signing declaration and income).

Listed below for reference is the guide based on being in Canada. It says this takes longer than if your wife were applying with you outside Canada - but again, I defer this to more experienced folk here for real info on that.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/informa...s/5289ETOC.asp

Siphorous

Further, if your wife looks at the sponsorship evaluation form:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kit...s/IMM5481E.pdf

There is a check for marking herself as 'Unemployed' - and a question asking to provide details of how she supports herself, along with a separate question regarding net income for the previous 12 months preceding the application.

Naturally, that would tend to lead one to believe that CIC recognise not everyone who sponsors will be working - but I have no idea on what "weight" if any it has on the application.

Siouxie

If your wife is a Canadian Citizen then you can make an application for sponsorship under the family class (spouse) whilst you are still in the UK.

Your wife does not require a minimum income to sponsor you, spousal applications are income exempt.

Your wife will need to show proof of intent to return to Canada once PR is granted for you. This can be as simple as applications for jobs, enquiries about housing etc. If she has relatives that will give you accommodation and support initially get them to put that into a letter.

You can apply "outland" (meaning applying outside of Canada) and come to Canada as a visitor whilst the application is in process, but you would not be able to work. Alternatively, if you are under 31 you could apply for an International Experience Canada working holiday visa which would enable you to work whilst your application for spousal PR is in process.

Everything you need to know can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...-apply-how.asp

Do not apply for 'inland processing' as it takes far longer to reach 1st stage approval than it does for the complete process for 'outland' and you will not be able to leave Canada until PR is granted. "Outland" application is the one you should be looking at and it is perfectly legal (and quite normal) for applications to be made 'outland' even though you may be residing in Canada at the time of application.

Get the forms filled out and submitted and by the time you are packed up and ready to leave the UK you should be very close to gaining PR.