NZRoyal

Hi there,

Thought I'd say hello and introduce myself.

I'm a Kiwi but lived in the UK the past few years - currently serving in the British military. I've recently married a great Canadian lass and just starting the process of applying for PR to Canada (as well as finishing up with the military side of things).

I don't have any major questions at the moment but was wondering if I could get a bit of clarification.

As far as I understand it the process for Spouse Sponsorship goes:

1. My wife applies to be a sponsor
2. This hopefully gets accepted
3. I then apply for residency
4. This hopefully gets accepted
5. I move over to Canada and we live happily ever after

There's obviously a bit more to it but as far as I can fathom from the immigration website that seems to be the case.

My only real questions were:

1. Since I'm from NZ would my application have to go through the NZ office? I was going to apply through the London branch as I have residency in the UK and if they require an interview I could get down there without too much hassle (rather than flying to the other side of the world).

2. What general hints and tips for smoothing out the process are there? I saw something about paying the 'right of permanent residence fee' at the beginning and sending extra receipts to various offices in order to speed things up slightly.

3. I've seen something about the medicals being good for a year or so - is it the same for the criminal certificates?

4. After re-reading the official guide I'm actually even more confused. When we send the application off - do we just send her part applying to be a sponsor and when that is approved send my part off or send it all together and they will go through her documents and if it's approved then go through mine?

Sorry for the wall of text, I thought I understood the process but apparently not as well as I thought!

Cheers!

PMM

Hi


1. Go back re-read the instructions here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...sor/spouse.asp
2. Your spouse completes the sponsorship and you complete the application with proof of medical and Police certificates, as well as the proof of the relationship. Your spouse will have to include a statement on how s/he will re-establish yourselves in Canada, housing, work, education.
3. The sponsorship and application are sent to Mississauga, if the sponsorship is approved, then the application will be sent to the overseas office for processing. If you have been admitted to the UK for 1 year, you can select London as the processing office.
4. The medical, which you have upfront at a DP Dr., is valid for a year.
5. Police certificates are valid for 1 year, but can't be older than 3 months when submitted. Note you need police certificates from every country where you have resided for 6 months or more since turning 18. The instructions are here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/informa...cert/index.asp

SchnookoLoly

You don't have this exactly right - PMM has pretty well answered it though. The whole application is sent off together to Mississauga in one big package - your wife's application to sponsor and your application for PR all together. Police checks, medicals, etc are all done up front and included with the application. Mississauga will process your wife's application to sponsor (about one month), will email her with the decision, then will forward the whole application to London. London will then process your application for PR (about 6ish months on average - see the spreadsheet linked in my signature).

Then you do Step 5 above.

You can request that London process your application, which should be fine as you are resident there. However, CIC may choose to transfer the application to NZ for processing, in which case, not much you can do about that. Since you're resident in London and have been for awhile, though, it likely won't be a problem. But it's not guaranteed. But you can at least try!

Double-check, triple-check, zillion-check that your application is complete, and complete as much up-front as you possibly can. The majority of delays we see with applications are because the application was incomplete, a signature was missing, or extra information had to be request.

RPRF - yes, pay that up front. If you don't pay it up front, then CIC will not be able to issue COPR until you have paid it, which means they have to contact you to ask you to pay it, and they have to wait for your response and proof that it's been paid. It's just another unnecessary delay, and it's another chance for something to get lost in the post. (Neither Canada Post nor Royal Mail are renowned for their reliability.)

Medical - do it up front. You are technically supposed to anyway, but some people choose to wait until CIC requests they do the medical. Again, this just causes a delay, particularly in that some tests with the medical can take a bit to come back. Just do it up front.

Personal history - if you are able to, provide since you were 18, not just the last 10 years. Technically you are only supposed to provide 10 years, but the question is a bit ambiguous, and a load of people have been requested to provide since 18 anyway, so if you can provide it since 18, then do that to be safe. (At least make a best guess at it!)

Medicals are good for one year. The expiry of the medical will be the expiry on your COPR (unless your passport expires before that). (For my husband, he did his medical 13 Dec 2011; his COPR was issued with an expiry date of 12 Dec 2012.)

Police certificates can't be more than 3 months old when you file the application. If CIC needs a more updated one once they have started processing your application, they'll let you know.


Hope that helps!! Feel free to post more questions as you have them, the process can be a bit confusing (and at least you're trying to find the answers, instead of some people who are like "tell me everything I have to do, because I have read nothing." )

Good luck!

NZRoyal

Cheers guys, I've been reading and going through it all today. Loads of stuff to sort out but I'm feeling reasonably confident at the moment!

NZRoyal

As an aside - has anyone here used one of the companies that help sort out all the paperwork? And if so, how much does it tend to cost?

SchnookoLoly

Honestly, unless you have something really complicated in your case like messy divorces (multiple), criminal convictions, denied entries to Canada, etc etc, you don't need a lawyer. The paperwork is really daunting at first but about 95% of the people on this forum, myself included, do it themselves.

Once you print it out and start working through it it starts to become more clear, and this forum is a great place to get advice and ask questions.

If you really do want to go through an immigration lawyer it will cost you a few thousand (pick your currency)... given the process is already fairly expensive (all in will run you $1500-2000) most choose to just do it themselves and ask questions here.

Is your case straight-forward? From what you've posted it sounds like it but obviously I'm just guessing.

NZRoyal

As far as I can tell it's fairly straight forward. Just working through some of the questions now and some of the wording is rather frustrating.

ie. In the 'Background/Declaration' form the first thing it asks is whether you are the spouse or the principal applicant. I'm not sure whether I am the principal applicant as I am the one applying for residency or whether I am the spouse being sponsored.

Damn confusing. Going to have a search through the forums and see what I can find.

SchnookoLoly

Post the exact wording there to be sure, but generally, the spouse/sponsor refers to your other half, and principal applicant refers to you (as the person applying for PR).

christmasoompa

You're the principal applicant. You have to be, because you're the *only* applicant!

If you read the guide, there are lots of references to 'principal applicant' which make it clear who it is asking about (i.e. 'The sponsored person (principal applicant)….etc').

HTH.

Stewart84

Hi, just wanted to hi jack this if thats ok. My Canadian girlfriend is sponsoring me for PR, we both live in the UK at present but previous lived in Canada and...

I'm a little confused on the police checks. Do I need a police check from Canada done as well as the UK?

(im british)

Siouxie

You don't require a Police Certificate from Canada; if CIC want one they will ask you.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcen....asp?q=037&t=4

It's better to start your own thread, so if you have any further questions I would suggest a new one.

NZRoyal

Slowly but surely getting there - just have to sort out photos. I've got some taken but the white background in them isn't blindingly white like I've seen in the example photos.

How fussy are they? I'll upload it here in a bit and see what you guys think.

SchnookoLoly

Where did you get them done? If I'm not mistaken (and I may be as I'm going from memory) it says a white or light grey neutral and plain background.

If you went to a place that does proper passport photos then it should be fine. If you went to some back-alley shop... :P

NZRoyal

Here's the instruction sheet. I got the photo taken by a friend then was going to send it in to one of the places that crops it, prints it then sends them out.

I had a look at local photographers - they're either insanely expensive wedding photographers or it's the local booth at the supermarket (but the booth only has a grey background). That's why I was trying to sort it online.

Instructions: http://imgur.com/f8nixsO

phasee

I found it useful to print the check list off (below) and hang it on the wall. Checking off documents as I had them. Follow the official guide and the advice given on this forum and everything should be fine.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/3901e.pdf