LondontoVictoria

I wondered if anyone can give me some advice...
My Canadian wife is sponsoring me (outland) for residency. We live with our young children in the UK (kids are now Canadian citizens). We are hoping to move to BC together end of July to get settled before school in September, which means we will need to sell our house soon. And I want to be able to work soon after arriving if possible.
We made the application mid-December. We got acknowledgement of receipt mid-January. I did my biometrics and medical mid-February.
When am I likely to get residency (guidance is it takes 12 months but if we are skilled etc could it be quicker)? At what point will I know that I am definitely going to get residency?
Can we move to Canada while we wait for residency to be processed/finalized? And can I apply now for an open work permit or does my wife need to be in Canada before I can apply? If I wait until I am in Canada to apply for an open work permit, then how long will it take to process (I've heard it can take 7-8 months)? Or can I apply at the border (actually flying to Seattle and then taking ferry to Victoria but presumably there is a border official at the ferry port in Victoria?)
Thanks in advance for any advice!

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE.

Not sure where you've read that if you're skilled it could be quicker? That's not the case, all spousal applicants are treated the same regardless of their job/qualifications.

An outland application is dual intent, so you can move as soon as you've got Sponsor Approval (I assume you already do). You can't apply for your work permit at POE (https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...rk-permit.html). I'd say 5 months is the norm for processing times though rather than 7-8 months.

HTH, good luck.

LondontoVictoria

We were advised by an immigration consultant that we were a straightforward case (high quality applicant but also not requiring checks with other states etc) and should be processed relatively swiftly. We were told background checks and eligibility assessment might be done within four or five months of the application being submitted.

Do you know how long it is currently taking to progress from sponsor approval to applicant background and eligibility checks being completed?

We need to sell our home but don't want to commit to selling it until we have more of a indication that it will be processed relatively swiftly.

christmasoompa

Background/eligibility checks aren't done until the end of the process. But Sponsor Approval should be any day now if you've not had that already, and then you can move under dual intent.

Good luck.