Chipotle

Dear all

I have been reading a lot of the posts with great interest and also great shock to find out the processing times for the London office. I married a UK citizen and have lived in the UK for about 6 years but we want to emmigrate to Canada. Given that my country of birth (citizenship) is Mexico I wonder if anybody knows whether I could apply for the PR in the Mexico City office. Their longest processing time as stated on the website is only about a year and a half!

Also what about working permits for NAFTA nationals like me (North American Free Trade Agreement)? I know there whole permit process is somehow made easier but it is unclear to me as to how exactly this is. Do I still need to get the permit from outside Canada or could I enter the country as visitor and then process the permit from inside the country? Thank you very much to all and hope somebody out there can shed some light for me!

Mayella

ginaf

Hi, I can only answer you first question. If you are appling via the skilled worker route it will depend on whether you are the main applicant. If you are you can apply via your country of citizenship (Mexico). However if your British partner is the main applicant you will need to apply through London unless they hold citizenship rights to another country.

I am pretty sure that is correct (my husband is from New Zealand, I am British we are applying through Sydney as he is the main applicant), but I am basing my answer on my own personal experience and not through any professional knowledge!

Good Luck!

Good Luck!

Chipotle

Dear Ginaf

Thank you very much for your encouraging reply. Yes, I will be the main applicant so I will apply to the Mexico City office. How long has your application been in Sindney and how long is the processing time there? Do you currently live in the UK? I wonder if the medicals and possible interviews could take place in the London office or whether we'll have to travel up to Syndney/MC

JAJ

If you are Mexican you can always apply to Mexico City, even if resident in the UK. Will you be the main applicant (I don't know if this works for a spouse)?

Have you considered applying for British citizenship before you leave the UK? You would need to check what Mexico's law says about dual citizenship (if you'd want to keep Mexican citizenship).

Start here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/index.html



Jeremy

ginaf

Hi, that's great news for you. We do live in the U.K, we can have our medicals in the U.K as will you, but there is always the possibility that applicants might be asked to go to an interview which would mean travelling to Sydney/MC,
you must present yourself to the visa office to which you have applied. It doesn't look likely that we will need to go for an interview but it will be a good excuse to go for a holiday and visit friends and family if we do.

We are still only getting our paperwork together and hope to send the application off by the end of the month, Sydney processing times range from around 10 - 27 months (I think), in an ideal world we would like to be there in summer 2007.

Good Luck!

Chipotle

Dear Jeremy

I do already have a British passport, but great tip anyway so thanks for that. Mexico just recently allowed us to have more than passport so I think it'll be ok. Thanks for the pointer to the work section on the website. I'll check it out. Are you applying or have you applied in the London office? where do you want to settle in Canada?

Mayella