J Marc

I am a US citizen currently working/living in Canada with an
Employment Authorization VISA which I could hypothetically continue
renewing for several more years. However, my girlfriend and I are
planning to marry within this year, at which point she will sponsor me
for Permenant Resident status. I am wondering what is the best and
quickest method to go about doing this. How long does applying within
Canada generally take? Is it faster to apply outside of Canada? I am
interested in the quickest way because I would like to attend school
in 2004 as a PR.

Thanks!
Joshua

The Wizzard

It is slightly quicker usually and more straightforward from outside,
however if you are already in Canada and have a work visa then it would make
much more sense to apply from within.

One of the main negative points of applying from within normally is being a
visitor and not being able to work until the issue of the AIP and open work
visa which can take several month, so the fact you can and are already
working would make the inland process much more bearable for you i believe.
There isn't really much difference in the forms etc and documentation you
require they are jsut sent to CPC Vegreville in Alberta instead of CPC
Mississauga in Ontario. Another difference is you do the medical before you
submit the forms instead of later on.

I think it would be theoreticaly possible for you to file an outside
application whilst staying in Canada as you have the work visa so there isnt
the issue of extending a visitor visa, but im not sure there would be that
much advantage and if you apply inland, once you receive the AIP then you
can apply for an open work permit that would give you the freedom of the job
market instead of being tied to one job.

You should be able to get yoru PR status within a year i think, even those
people who applied in early 2002 before teh new law who were suffering huge
delays in getting their AIP because of backlogs etc ended up being given
mostly PR at the same time as their AIP late last year so most even then
fell under 12 months even with those delays, i know people who applied in
July and August last year who already have their AIP and Work Visa and are
jsut waiting for an appointment fom the local office to get their PR so
thats a time lime of them so far of say 4-5 months to get the AIP and work
permit and i can gues only a few months more at most to get final PR, if
everything runs smoothly of course, you can never discount delays and
problems arising as I myself am currently finding out evena simple case can
seemingly be delayed for no reason. Anyway i reckon you could be done intime
for school in 2004 if you are getting married and applying soon.

Check out http://www.cic.gc.ca and the section on applying from within
Canada.

You may also want to join the yahoo group "canadian_immigration" which is
made up mostly of spouses and of those mostly US/Canadian couples and most
of them are applying from within Canada.

Drew



"J Marc" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I am a US citizen currently working/living in Canada with an
    > Employment Authorization VISA which I could hypothetically continue
    > renewing for several more years. However, my girlfriend and I are
    > planning to marry within this year, at which point she will sponsor me
    > for Permenant Resident status. I am wondering what is the best and
    > quickest method to go about doing this. How long does applying within
    > Canada generally take? Is it faster to apply outside of Canada? I am
    > interested in the quickest way because I would like to attend school
    > in 2004 as a PR.
    > Thanks!
    > Joshua

Bodza Bodza

[email protected] (J Marc) wrote:
    > I am wondering what is the best and
    > quickest method to go about doing this. How long does applying within
    > Canada generally take? Is it faster to apply outside of Canada? I am
    > interested in the quickest way because I would like to attend school
    > in 2004 as a PR.

If you apply outside of Canada it could take up to a year or more
going by past posts to this newsgroup.
If you apply inside Canada it could take between a year and two years
going by past posts to this newsgroup. The usual disadvantage (you're
OK) is that you can't work while the processing is taking place, but
since you have a work visa already you're best bet (in my non-expert
opinion) is to do an H&R inland process where your wife will sponsor
you. After a few months you should be able to apply for a study visa
with no problems.