Sponsorship Within Canada - Need Advice

[elithx]

Hi there,

I am a Canadian who is engaged to an American. We were both born in our own respective countries.

We got engaged last week. We will be getting married in 5 months, and she will be moving to Canada with me.

I have been doing quite a bit of research on these boards and through the government websites.

I haven’t really found a comprehensive plan or step by step guide, but this is what I am planning to do. I would love to have some people check it over to see if it is sound:

ASAP:

• Work on the sponsorship paperwork to get it ready (from what I understand I can’t submit this until we are legally married)
  Get fiancée’s Health, and Police paperwork that are required

At time of wedding (in America):

• Bring all her paperwork with us (birth certificate, etc) I don’t know if we will have the marriage license in our hands at this time. I believe they will have to mail it to us in Canada after it gets all signed)

From what I understand Americans can live in Canada 6 months with no questions asked, however what do we tell the person at the boarder? Do we say that we are married and that we will be filling her application for PR status?

I don’t see a whole lot of advice with this particular aspect of the process.

Then while we are living together as a married couple. I will be purchasing private health insurance for her. We will have submitted our applications. And then I’m assuming we will need to extend her 6months stay since the application will take longer than that to be approved.

Would there be any benefit of getting married in Canada over the US? Also, would it be wise to just get married at city hall before our official wedding so that I can start the application process?

We are thinking of opting for the outland method due to the speed or processing as well as the travel freedom.

Any advise on any of the above steps would be greatly appreciated!

Eli

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello Eli,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us.

Regarding your question,

From what I understand Americans can live in Canada 6 months with no questions asked, however what do we tell the person at the boarder? Do we say that we are married and that we will be filling her application for PR status?

You can find some additional and detailed information regarding Dual Intent on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website.

Here is an excerpt,

Assessing dual intent

A person’s desire to apply for permanent resident status in Canada may be legitimate. An officer should distinguish between an applicant whose intentions are bona fide and an applicant who has no intention of leaving Canada at the end of their authorized stay if the application for permanent residence is refused.

In assessing bona fide, the individual circumstances of the temporary resident applicant must be examined; refusals of non-bona fide temporary residents may only withstand legal challenge when the refusal is based on the information related to the specific case before an officer.

In assessing an application for temporary residence an officer may also consider factors such as:

-the length of time that the client will be spending in Canada;
-the means of support;
-obligations and ties in the home country; and
-compliance with requirements of the IRPA and Regulations applicable to temporary residents (visitors, students and workers).

If an officer has concerns/doubts about the applicant’s bona fide, the applicant must be made aware of these concerns and given an opportunity to respond to them. If an application for temporary residence is not approved, the CIC visa officer will provide the client with a letter explaining why an application has been refused.

Temporary residence status might be refused for several reasons, including:

-history of having contravened the conditions of admission on a previous stay in Canada;
-lack of or insufficient proof of adequate funds to support oneself while in Canada, and to affect one’s departure from Canada;
-medical inadmissibility;
-not satisfying the visa officer that the individual will leave Canada at the end of their period of authorized stay.

Regarding your question,

Would there be any benefit of getting married in Canada over the US? Also, would it be wise to just get married at city hall before our official wedding so that I can start the application process?

You may be able to find some helpful information regarding what is expected/what they look for with conjugal relationships, (some ideas that may help with your application even though you are looking to get married) in this OP 2 Processing Members of the Family Class manual.

You may also be able to find some helpful infomration in these previous Settlement.Org Which is better for sponsorship inside or outside? and How do I sponsor my wife from inside Canada? discussion threads.

You may want to contact the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Call Centre for more information and the to confirm the information provided above.

Some of our users may also be able to share their experience with you.

The information provided above is not legal advice. If you want legal advice please consult a community legal clinic or a lawyer about your particular situation.

We also hope that others can provide some suggestions regarding what they have done and what worked for them.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org