dee999

Hello My husband lives in vancouver bc.. i am currently residing in the United states.. I was wondering if there was anyway for me to be able to go and stay there while applications were processing? and IF so how to go about this. I have two children and they would be accompaning me and want to make sure they are aloud to go to school and such. I checked on work permits but I thought it said something about having to have a job offer. We've been married since march and its so hard to be apart and I live on the east coast so it makes it even worse. IF there is any way I can go about this and be able to be there while processing it would be amazing. If anyone could help me I would greatly appreciate it.. Seeing as neither of us haev ever done this before we are both clueless on what to do i have all the forms and info with them but its still a tad bit confusing

lins and Stef McLachlan

Hi
I don't really have an answer for you, but I would contact the area education board for where you want to live and ask them. I know that when I made enquiries for Ontario, I could have put the children in school but would have to pay medical coverage for them at $50 per month each. I would need to prove that we were waiting for our application to be finalised.

From Uk we can go to Canada for up to 6 months on a visitor visa, you would need to check what the position would be doing it from the US.

You haven't said whether the children are your current husbands, only that you have recently married. If they are from another relationship then you would need to check that you have their fathers permission to take them to Canada to live. As from the Uk we would need permission....these are all things to be considered.
Hope I have given you something to think about and may have helped in some small way.
Good luck
lol
Stef and Lins

dee999

Thanks for your words.. I heard about the visitor visa but no sure how to go about that and it is 6months for Us too.... My children are my exhusbands but he signed over all custody rights to them so legally I've already checked into it and they can get passports and move.so that isnt an issue The process to me is so complicated but I really dont want to pay for a lawyer ya know?
I have all the forms filled out and everything waiting on medical exam to be done and insurance wont cover it cause its over 250 miles away out of insurance zone or whatever. WHICH SUCKS so i sent a letter to ontario asking for it to be approved closer that was 2 months ago and no response. Im just ready to start my life there.
Did u move from uk to canada then???? It shows the processing time for sponsorship is 6months total but i was reading where you can apply for the sponsorship part then be there while waiting for the PR part.. but Im not sure how to go about a visitors visa?!? sorry I probably sound stupid but i've never done this before..so all suggestions or past experience is much appreciated

lins and Stef McLachlan

No we are still in Uk waiting process
Have a look on Canadian Immigration website and see if any of your queries are answered in the frequently asked questions for spousal sponsorship....someone may have already asked the question you are asking
Worth a try at least.
Good luck
lol
Stef and Lins

Paul Wildy

Your husband needs to sponsor you (spousal sponsorship) to become a permanent resident so you can live in Canada permanently with him. See: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...sor/spouse.asp

You can come to Canada on a temporary visitor visa and start the process from within Canada if you prefer. Apparently from within Canada it takes longer (but then the time is probably less of an issue if you are together during the process).

Normally you only get a 6 month visa at point of entry as a US citizen but you can ask for longer. Immigration officers have discretionary power to give you a visitor visa for up to 12 months at the border (not many people know that) and 12 months would give you a better chance of getting the sponsorship finalised. If it takes longer than 12 months it doesnt mean you have to go back, you can apply to extend your visitor visa as long as you do so at least 30 days befopre the current one expires.

For your children to go to school you probably need to apply for study permits (though this seems to vary by province) and its possible that you will have to pay for them to attend school (even the regular state school) until you and your kids get permanent resident status. You need to check this though with the relevent school board for the area you would be moving to.

Good luck!

Paul Wildy

with regard to getting a visitor visa you have 2 options....

1) just turn up at the border. I assume you are a US citizen? As long as you make it clear that your are "visiting" and not moving to Canada you are entitled to enter and stay for up to 6 months.

2) if you want to come as a visitor for longer and dont want to run the risk of not being granted a longer visa at the border you could apply in advance for a 12 month (or longer) visa to your local Canadian embassy.

I think you would be safe just turning up though, getting six months (try asking for 12 months - theres no harm in asking) as you can always apply to extend it.

As a "visitor" you wont qualify for healthcare but there is a company that specilises in providing private healthcare policies (you have to pay for them) for non-residents. I can remember the name of them off the top of my head but if you need it let me know and I'll look it up for you.

dee999

We have all the papers for sponsorship but were not sure if they had to be submitted before or after i were to go there? I know i am legally aloud to stay up to six months but are u even able to purchase a one way flight? I just dont want to be held up at customs saying yea im in process for immigration and here me and both my kids are like ok so were here please let us in lol. i wasnt sure if the US had to apply for temp visa or if we were able to just GO??!?
when u say 12months do you mean that I would have to wait till I was at customs to ask for that? or there is a form or way to do so before hand?!? See I know when u get to customs they immediately are like how long are u here for and so forth and i am worried if im like oh we are staying for a while why immigration is being processed if they will say anything because I mean my husband we would obviously be staying with him. this proceeduer seems complicated. I guess it makes sense to take longer being already there because then it doesnt seem such a priority of bringing someone there who they are apart..
ANd im frustrated with this medical exam stuff. I sent a request to Mississauga about approving a closer location for medical exam the closest one to me is in cincinnati and thats over four hrs and 250 miles away and i read if it iwas farther than that you could reqeust it be closer. If im already in canada lets say and i haev to do that part right will I be covered under his insurance since we are married to take the exam there?!?!

sorry so many questions i just feel overwhelmed and we've been apart so long alraedy i just wanna get this over with so we can be together full time!

dee999

Ok when u say that you would apply at a canadian embassy to tell u honestly i have no idea where one by me is.. Im starting to wonder is it cheaper for me to just file and wait?!? or is it better to go and be there while processing?!? I think u sent me a private msg but for some reason it wont let me view?? no idea why?!?
i was readin the processing time it says for sponsorship part its only 42 days but says PR is up to 6 months. i figured it would be faster than 6 months seeing as im just in the US but who knows with these things. Now if we just file lets say sponsorship here and then i go there and we file PR when im already there do i have to do medical exam BEFORE PR or is that for the PR part of the application?
also sorry for the millions of questions!!! i did a criminal check already back in april because it said it may take a while to come back it only took 2 weeks and i got it but I thought i read that if it was 3 months past and papers where nto filed i needed to do another one.?!? any idea on that

See its the time lines and what goes with what application im confused on and even though i hae all these guides its just not easy LOL