5ean

Hi,

I've been doing a good bit of reading on here (great site btw!) as well as filling out of the required forms needed for a Spousal visa applying outside of Canada in my spare time. To give a bit of background, my wife is from NS, Canada and we have 2 kids, our 2 year old has her citizenship cert and her passport should be here this week, we are waiting until after our next visit to Canada (hopefully in August/Sept) to apply for our 5 month olds Citizenship & Passport due to the requirement for all dual nationals to carry their Canadian passport. Whilst the IRCC lady from London was on the phone to me asking a couple of questions about my daughters passport she asked why I hadn't applied for PR as i mentioned we were looking in to moving back to NS in a couple of years. I said i thought i that was not possible and i would need to apply closer to the time but she was quite adamant that was not the case and i had up to 3 years to actually move there and live there permanently?

So with that, i have a couple of questions.

1. If i apply for PR outside of Canada, do i indeed have to plan to move to Canada as soon as it is approved or is there some kind of time limit whereby i have to activate it by going to Canada but don't actually need to live there for X period?
2. Whilst filling out the forms, there are many bold headings saying fill out all spouse and dependant info whether they are accompanying or not, is that still needed if my wife is Canadian and both children will have Citizenship and Canadian passports? I've had a look at the wiki but can't find that particular part, perhaps i'm just being blind..

Thanks for your time, i'm sure i'll have a few more questions going forward

Sean

PMM

Hi

1. If your spouse is issued a COPR (PR visa) you have to "Land" in Canada within it's validity. Usually 1 year from the date of the medical.
2. As you would be sponsoring from overseas, you have to submit a plan of accommodation, schooling, possible work on your return to Canada if your spouse is issued a COPR.
3. Why don't you apply for proof of citizenship for child while you are in the UK? There is no requirement that apply for proof of citizenship to be in Canada. You child would not be able to travel to Canada without a Canadian passport, as she would not be issued an ETA as a Canadian citizen.
4. The contact at the Canadian consulate probably didn't explain herself very well. See #1 above. To maintain PR Obligations you have to reside in Canada for 2 years in every 3 year period. But you have to "land" first. She probably didn't mention that if your spouse is accompanying you, Canadian citizen abroad, she maintains her PR status and doesn't have to meet the 2 in 5 requirements.

Hurlabrick

+1!

So you have encountered the infamous 'mis-information line' I see!

I think between you and the person on the phone, there was confusion between the PR Residency Obligation (physically in Canada for at least 2 years in any rolling 5 year period) and how long before you plan to move before you can apply for spousal sponsorship PR.

In your case, it would have to be 'Outland Spousal Sponsorship' (as your Canadian wife lives outside Canada). One of the questions she must answer as part of the sponsor assessment pack is to prove her intent to return to Canada if you are approved. They need concrete proof and ask when she intends to return. If the date she puts down is more than 1 year away from the date the pack is submitted, CIC will almost certainly return it unprocessed and tell you to apply when you are really ready to move and can prove it. Given they quote 1 year processing time, 1 ready ready to move is about the maximum they will consider. And yes, people have had their packs returned where they quoted longer timescales.

5ean

Hi, thanks for the replies!

I am waiting until after we are back from Canada before applying to the little ones Citizenship + Passport as she will travel on her UK passport which has a valid ETA. They seem pretty strict on if you have dual nationality you need to travel using your Canadian passport so I'll just hold off until after the trip to stop any unnecessary confusion.

That makes good sense though, we wouldn't be in a position to move in a year from now, closer to the 2 that i stated so i'll wait until nearer that time before moving it on any further and just keep doing my research and getting all of the documents in order.

Thanks again

Siouxie

She is already a Canadian Citizen - be careful you don't cause more issues for yourself by not applying for her passport now.

5ean

She is by descent, but so far as the border officer is concerned when we land she’s a British citizen using a British passport surely?

PMM

Hi

1. Nope, in the eyes of Canada, she is a Canadian citizen.

5ean

Ok, but surely it’s our choice whether we want to apply for her Citizenship and Passport? Is there any documentation online saying we must apply for Citizenship and Passport if she’s entitled to it as I can’t find any?

christmasoompa

But you're not applying for her citizenship, she already is a citizen and has been dual nationality from birth. A passport is simply proof of citizenship that somebody already holds. Same as somebody born in the UK to British parents may never travel abroad or own a passport - they're still a British citizen.

There's no rule that says you have to apply for her passport. You don't ever need to if you don't want to, but you will have to if you want to take her to Canada due to the rules about entering on a Canadian passport (other countries have the same rule). As a citizen she's simply not eligible for an ETA. https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpce...um=1100&top=16

HTH.

5ean

Hmmm, we didn't have any issues last year with my first daughter using her UK passport? I'll give the Embassy a call and see if they recommend an emergency travel document as i know i wont get a normal passport back in time assuming our flight goes ahead.

Thanks again for the helpful information.

christmasoompa

And you declared that she was a Canadian citizen on the application? That is very odd if so, the ETA shouldn't have been granted.

Do you have to go in August? I don't know your reason for needing to travel next month, but it may be better to postpone if you can so you don't have to quarantine for 2 weeks etc? Then you'd have time to sort your daughter's paperwork out too.