ray52

Hello All,

I live in USA and work here on temporary work visa. I recently got my Canadian permanent residency approval (passport stamped)as a skilled worker. I need to enter Canada before May, 2004. But before that I am planning to get married. My would be wife is not a Canadian PR/citizen.

Could you please let me know if I should land in Canada first (get my PR card) and then go to out to get married or should I get married before I go to Canada.

In either case how can I bring my wife to Canada (as a visitor or ?)?

I will appreciate your help very much.

Thank you.

Best Regards,
-ray

Andrew Miller

Don't even think about changing marital status before landing. If you do
then it will invalidate your visa.

--

../..

Andrew Miller
Immigration Consultant
Vancouver, British Columbia
email: [email protected]
(delete REMOVE from the above address before sending email)
________________________________


"ray52" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hello All,
    > I live in USA and work here on temporary work visa. I recently got my
    > Canadian permanent residency approval (passport stamped)as a skilled
    > worker. I need to enter Canada before May, 2004. But before that I am
    > planning to get married. My would be wife is not a Canadian PR/citizen.
    > Could you please let me know if I should land in Canada first (get my PR
    > card) and then go to out to get married or should I get married before I
    > go to Canada.
    > In either case how can I bring my wife to Canada (as a visitor or ?)?
    > I will appreciate your help very much.
    > Thank you.
    > Best Regards,
    > -ray
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Webcrawler

Ray --

I don't wish to be rude, but based on your other message and this one,
it seems that you are trying some pretty slimy tactics.
It seems you want to sail in two boats at the same time, eat your cake
and have it too, and several other proverbs apply to you.

First of all, if you get married before you land, you will need to
return your landing documents and qualify again with your wife.

Secondly, if you do land before getting married, and then return
immediately to the US (with or without the PR card), as you indicated
in your other message, you won't be able to sponsor your wife.
In order to sponsor your wife, you must be *living* in Canada and
prove beyond reasonable doubt that you are in fact a *resident* and
not someone merely holding a PR card.
There is a world of difference.

Also, forget about getting your future wife as a "visitor".
You will be asking for a lot of trouble.

As for your other message about your job, if you land in Canada and
return to the US for work, you will most likely lose your PR status
after a while.
One can land in Canada and then return to another country to wind-up
job contracts, project committments, financial committments, etc.
But that should take a few months, and not several years.

Hope this helps.

ray52 <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
    > Hello All,
    >
    >
    >
    > I live in USA and work here on temporary work visa. I recently got my
    > Canadian permanent residency approval (passport stamped)as a skilled
    > worker. I need to enter Canada before May, 2004. But before that I am
    > planning to get married. My would be wife is not a Canadian PR/citizen.
    >
    >
    >
    > Could you please let me know if I should land in Canada first (get my PR
    > card) and then go to out to get married or should I get married before I
    > go to Canada.
    >
    >
    >
    > In either case how can I bring my wife to Canada (as a visitor or ?)?
    >
    >
    >
    > I will appreciate your help very much.
    >
    >
    >
    > Thank you.
    >
    >
    >
    > Best Regards,
    >
    > -ray

ray52

Webcrawler,

Thanks much for your help.

>It seems you want to sail in two boats at the same time, eat >your cake and have it too, and several other proverbs apply to >you.

Maybe you are very correct!But it's a matter of life.Every sane person should explore his/her choices.

>Secondly, if you do land before getting married, and then return
>immediately to the US (with or without the PR card), as you >indicated in your other message, you won't be able to sponsor >your wife. In order to sponsor your wife, you must be *living* in >Canada and prove beyond reasonable doubt that you are in >fact a *resident* and not someone merely holding a PR card.
>There is a world of difference.

OK. Not that is what I am willing to do. After I land in Canada as single and be a *resident* (with job and address), ok what next? I don't think that people remain celibate forever there just for the sake of being the Canadian PR. Now if I briefly visit my country and get married, then how can I bring my wife to Canada? What are the choices?
Cannot my wife come to Canada on any dependent visa or so?
(In USA anyone on F1/H1B/GreenCard holder can *easily* bring their wife as their dependent on F2/H4 visas).So what is the similar rule in Canada?I am not talking about sponsoring but how can I just bring her in Canada?

>Also, forget about getting your future wife as a "visitor".
>You will be asking for a lot of trouble.

I do not think my question is too complex in nature. Getting married, getting kids.. these are the ways of life.. And life goes on in spite of *lots of trouble*..

>As for your other message about your job, if you land in Canada >and return to the US for work, you will most likely lose your PR >status after a while.

Just need to understand the *rule* that CIC says in their website that you need to be present in Canada for 730 days in every 5yrs time period. Rules are blunt and irreversible. If this is the rule, then how can someone lose the PR status if he works in USA for first 2years (with PR card) and then land in Canada and continues to stay there??

Maybe many proverbs may apply to me.ok.but just need to understand the rules.any comments that you may have, I will appreciate very much with utmost respect.

Best Regards,
-ray

Webcrawler

Ray --

I was merely teasing you with the proverbs.
Didn't mean to upset you (which is why I said up-front: I am not being
rude)

Here are my answers to your questions:

    > Maybe you are very correct!But it's a matter of life.Every sane person
    > should explore his/her choices.

When you apply for immigration to any country, I would think that you
have already made your choice, and are pretty convinced where you want
to live.

Because immigration is such a complex, time-consuming and difficult
process, you can't just apply for immigration to several countries and
then take your pic.
I know several people do so, but they are simply complicating their
life.
You need to maintain residency in several countries, file taxes,
manage passports, etc. etc.

    > OK. Not that is what I am willing to do. After I land in Canada as
    > single and be a *resident* (with job and address), ok what next? I don't
    > think that people remain celibate forever there just for the sake of
    > being the Canadian PR. Now if I briefly visit my country and get
    > married, then how can I bring my wife to Canada? What are the choices?
    >
    > Cannot my wife come to Canada on any dependent visa or so?
    >
    > (In USA anyone on F1/H1B/GreenCard holder can *easily* bring their wife
    > as their dependent on F2/H4 visas).So what is the similar rule in
    > Canada?I am not talking about sponsoring but how can I just bring her
    > in Canada?

You are comparing apples and oranges (to use another clichéd proverb)
H-1B, F-1, etc. are non-immigrant visas.
That is why it is easy to "bring" one's spouse easily.
You must be aware that in such cases, the spouse's status has severe
restrictions, like they that cannot work, cannot get SS number, etc.

About US Greencard (similar to Canadian PR): when was the last time
you knew a US Green Card holder get married and simply "bring" his/her
spouse to the US easily.

Have you any idea whatsoever how long it takes to process a spousal GC
when a US GreenCard holder gets married to someone from another
country?

Until the time the spouse gets his/her own GC, there is no way that
he/she can visit the US, period.
Every single petition for non-immigrant visa (including F-1, H-1, B-2)
will be denied without second thought by the US consulate abroad.

Finally, you cannot compare US and Canadian immigration. They are
totally different beasts.

    > I do not think my question is too complex in nature. Getting married,
    > getting kids.. these are the ways of life.. And life goes on in spite of
    > *lots of trouble*..

Sure.
You asked about next steps.
Since you are a Canadian PR now, you need to land by your visa dates.
Then get a job, get a house, settle down.
Get married whenever you want to, and file a spousal application for
your wife (if she is not a Canadian).
Once that is approved, she will be able to join you.

If she is from a country that is on the visa-waiver program with
Canada, she can visit you for short durations as a visitor.
But you can't just "bring" her.

    > Just need to understand the *rule* that CIC says in their website that
    > you need to be present in Canada for 730 days in every 5yrs time period.
    > Rules are blunt and irreversible. If this is the rule, then how can
    > someone lose the PR status if he works in USA for first 2years (with PR
    > card) and then land in Canada and continues to stay there??

The idea is the establish residency in Canada first.
If you immediately leave for the US, you have not established
residency.

You can work for 2 years outside Canada, but the burden of proof is on
you to prove that you have established enough ties with Canada (house,
car, bank account, utility bills, tax returns, etc.)

Hope this answers your questions.

ray52

Webcrawler,

Thank you for your help.Do you know of any forum or site where people discuss Spousal Sponsorship outside Canada.
I am willing to land in Canada as *good/honest* PR. No intention to stay out of Canada after I land.

I got this info from an attorney's website about the spousal sponsorship:

=====
If you marry prior to landing in Canada, your immigrant visa will
automatically be null and void. This is because you have changed your marital status. You will then have to apply for your wife's Canadian permanent residency. This process takes approximately ***4 to 6 months***.

If you land in Canada, and subsequently marry, you will then have to apply to sponsor your wife to Canada. This process takes approximately ***one year***.In other words, you risk being separated for this period of time.
=====

who wnats to live without spouse. Could you please comment which one might be a choice if you were me!

Thanks and regards,
-ray

ray52

All,

They recently made some changes (favorably, thanks god) to spousal PR visa application procedure...

Here is the link:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/sponsor/medicals-faq.html

Anybody has idea what a typical process time is when Canadian PR (sponsorer) is in Canada (obviously), and Canadian PR's spouse is outside Canada?

Thanks much,
-ray

Webcrawler

Ray --

ray52 <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > Webcrawler,
    > Thank you for your help.Do you know of any forum or site where people
    > discuss Spousal Sponsorship outside Canada.

I am sure there are several forums/bulletin boards.
When I was searching for such a group before the start of my own
application process 2 years back, I had browsed through several such
groups and found this one to be the most active and informative.

If you would like to subscribe to several groups, a quick search using
Google (or Yahoo groups) should bring back several hits.

    > I got this info from an attorney's website about the spousal
    > sponsorship:
    > If you marry prior to landing in Canada, your immigrant visa will
    > automatically be null and void.

This is true.

    > This is because you have changed your
    > marital status. You will then have to apply for your wife's Canadian
    > permanent residency.

True.

    > This process takes approximately ***4 to 6
    > months***.

I would think a lot more, especially now-a-days.
In most cases, it will take longer than 4 - 6 months just for the
background check.
If your future wife has lived in several countries, it could take a
lot longer.

    > If you land in Canada, and subsequently marry, you will then have to
    > apply to sponsor your wife to Canada. This process takes
    > approximately ***one year***.In other words, you risk being separated
    > for this period of time.

True.
You will be separated from your spouse either way.
The question is: which is the correct and natural way to go.

    > who wnats to live without spouse. Could you please comment which one
    > might be a choice if you were me!

Depends on how bad you want to get married )
If you need to marry ASAP (and have good reasons to do so), then
obviously you gotta do what you gotta do.

Otherwise, I would say go ahead and settle yourself in Canada - get a
job, get a house, absorbe the culture, etc.
Then get married and sponsor your wife.

For spousal sponsorship, you won't need to meet any income
requirements, and probably the process will be a lot smoother and less
risky than the other option.

Do you want to risk returning your PR visa and going through the same
process all over again?

It is your call.

Best wishes.