Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.

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Subject: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.
  Hello,

I am currently living in Santiago, Chile with my fiancé. I am a 29 year old male Canadian citizen and she is a 32 year old female Chilean citizen. We are getting married in late-March and plan to move to Vancouver, Canada in mid-April.

I have a rough understanding of the visa application process to allow her to live with me in Canada but I would like to post my plan in detail here with links and quotes from the CIC website in hopes that others can help me understand the process more clearly. I also have some questions at the end of this post in reference to the application process.

Step 1 - Visitor/Tourist

I plan to fly with her to Canada in mid-April with all the documents prepared and filled out in case immigration has questions about her intentions for entering Canada. Chilean citizens can now visit Canada for six months without a visa as of 2014-11-21.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/2014-11-21a.asp

Chilean citizens no longer require a visa to visit Canada. This means that Chilean visitors and businesspeople can now stay in Canada for up to six months visa-free.

Step 2 - Permanent Residence

Within the first 1-3 weeks we will hopefully have found an apartment and have a permanent address for mailing/contact purposes. We should also have separate Canadian phone numbers by this time. Once we have these things the next step is to pay the fees ($550) and complete the sponsor/sponsored applications for permanent residence then submit these to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. According to current wait times this process can/will take roughly 25 months. We intend to get her medical and police checks here in Chile before we go and have them translated by a qualified individual.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

If you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, you can sponsor your spouse to immigrate to Canada.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp

There are two stages in the process to sponsor your spouse to become permanent residents.
- First: As a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, you must apply to sponsor your family member.
- Second: Your spouse must apply for permanent residence.

You must send both your sponsorship application and the permanent residence application for your family members at the same time.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/fees/fees.asp
Applications to stay in Canada as a permanent resident (Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada Class):
- Sponsorship application = $75
- Principal applicant = $475

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp

Mail your completed application to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

There are two consecutive steps in processing family sponsorship applications. In order to know the total approximate time you must ADD the times together.

Person to be sponsored lives in Canada
- Spouse, common-law partner in Canada: 17 months + 8 months = 25 months (Working on applications received on August 29, 2013)

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/medical/medexams-perm.asp

You can contact a panel physician directly to get your medical exam if you apply under one of the following categories: Spouse, common-law partner.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/pp-md/pp-list.aspx

City: Santiago
Name: Philippa Moore
Address: Centro Medico San Jorge, Cruz Del Sur 177, Las Condes
Spoken Languages: English, Spanish

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/central-south-amer/chile.asp

Name of document(s) to get: Certificado de Antecedentes (for criminal convictions) and Hoja de Vida del Conductor (for convictions related to driving)
You can apply in person at any office of the Registro Civil e Identification, with your “RUT” or online with Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificacion (available in Spanish only).

Step 3 - Open Work Permit

At the same time that we apply for permanent residence we will also apply and pay the fee for an open work permit under the new pilot program that began on 2014-12-22. This permit if accepted will allow her to work in Canada for 24 months from the date of approval which should be enough time for her permanent residence application to be approved. This open work permit will be processed within 4 months of submitting the application which should be before her 6 months temporary resident status as a visitor expires.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who-eligible.asp#inside

You can only apply for a work permit from inside Canada if you are in Canada because you have already applied for permanent residence from inside Canada.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/fees/fees.asp

Applications for visas and permits (Work Permits):
Work permit = $155

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/updates/2014/2014-12-22.asp

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will commence issuing open work permits to certain spouses or common-law partners before the approval in principle decision is made.

New applicants should complete a permanent residence application and an open work permit application and submit both simultaneously.

Applicants will have their application for an open work permit processed within four months of receipt of their work permit application.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/admissibility/open.asp

An open work permit enables a person to seek and accept employment and to work for any employer for a specified period of time.

Officers will issue open work permits to applicants if they meet the following requirements:
- A permanent resident application has been submitted.
- A Canadian citizen has submitted a sponsorship application on their behalf.
- The applicant resides at the same address as the sponsor.
- The applicant has valid temporary resident status (as a visitor, student or worker).

These work permits will be valid for two years.

Questions

Now that you have read my basic plan I would like to ask some questions about things I am unsure about in regards to the process. Thank you for reading and answering any questions you can help me with.

#1 - What should I tell immigration when we arrive in Vancouver?

Should I tell them she is my wife and that we plan to apply for permanent residence and an open work permit within the first month?

#2 - How should I mail these documents?

Should I mail all the documents (Permanent Residence Sponsor, Permanent Residence Sponsorship & Open Work Permit) in 1 envelope to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario?

#3 - Do we need to pay the Right of Permanent Residence Fee & Principal Applicant Fee?

Applications to stay in Canada as a permanent resident (Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada Class):
- Principal applicant = $475

Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF)
- Getting your permanent resident status = $490

[21-01-2015,17:14]
[***.28.237.87]
Dustin Brett
(in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
WRONG!!!!!!!

REALLY BAD CONCEPT.

First your new wife or fiance will be sent right back because she has no intention to remain for a temporary period of time.

Or you could get married tomorrow in Chile submit the application outside of Canada. You get on a plane and come home establish yourself while the process is in progress. Then bring her here to visit friends and family in about five months from date of submission.

If no interview is called she gets Landed. APPROXIMATELY 14 MONTHS LATER.

Roy
cvimmigration.com

[22-01-2015,12:44]
[**.101.88.17]
Roy
Hmm (in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
Well that response seems a bit extreme with the capitols and exclamations. I intend to talk to border Canada and the consulate here and abroad. Hopefully they will be more positive about my idea or offer a solution that doesn´t have Mr spending 14 months away from my wife when we both have the means to live in Vancouver today.
[22-01-2015,22:03]
[**.249.83.154]
Dustin Brett
(in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
Better capitals then to have her put right back on the plane.

Read the regulations yourself.
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/

or ask DocD aka CBSA what he would do if you showed up at the port of entry with your future wife.

Roy
cvimmigration.com

[23-01-2015,11:54]
[**.101.88.17]
Roy
(in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
Dustin,

Bad idea. Read the link that Roy sent you.

A visitor to Canada has to prove that they will be coming to Canada as visitor!!!!! meaning that she will leave Canada at the end of her visit.

With your plan, there is a very high risk that she might be refused of entry into Canada mainly because she has the wrong paper work!. She is coming to Canada with the intention of staying without a visa that permits her to do so.

Your best is option is marry your honey, apply for a permanent resident visa from outside of Canada and once that is approved, then she can safely move to Canada with you or you can pick her up at the airport.

As for talking to the consulate, I can tell you that chances are, they are going to refer you to the CIC website.

A border officer, we´ll do one out of two things:

1- Refuse her entry and tell you that your plan was a bad plan to begin with and you should´ve read the entry regulations that are applicable to visitors.

or

2- Give her a piece of paper with an specific date when she has to leave Canada.




[23-01-2015,19:17]
[***.115.153.178]
DocD
Reply (in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
Well thanks for the advice guys. I have posted on canadavisa.com´s forum also and got a lot of advice suggesting my chances are higher then it sounds here. They have forum threads with 100´s of people who applied for inland spousal visas and more then a few of them did something similar to my plan without issue. I can get a refundable return ticket also but I don´t see what grounds she would be denied if we have:

- A ticket showing she will leave in 6 months, which I will refund once the perm res application is approved.
- The fees paid for and proof of payment for a perm res application, sponsorship rights for me and an the open work permit application
- Proof of funds over $6,000 CAD in her bank account and credit of over $25,000 CAD

And I have read the rules from the CIC in regards to be denied entry and it seems to me we can meet those requirements under dual intent.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/visa/dual.asp
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/section-22.html?term=22

Temporary resident

22. (1) A foreign national becomes a temporary resident if an officer is satisfied that the foreign national has applied for that status, has met the obligations set out in paragraph 20(1)(b), is not inadmissible and is not the subject of a declaration made under subsection 22.1(1).
Marginal note:Dual intent

(2) An intention by a foreign national to become a permanent resident does not preclude them from becoming a temporary resident if the officer is satisfied that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay.

[25-01-2015,15:38]
[***.28.245.36]
Dustin Brett
(in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
A two year stay is NOT a temporary resident!

Check out processing times.

[27-01-2015,07:56]
[***.34.128.147]
Roy
(in reply to: Advice for bringing my Chilean wife to Canada.)
Dustin,

Good luck.

There are two things that you are missing here:
"2) An intention by a foreign national to become a permanent resident does not preclude them from becoming a temporary resident if the officer is satisfied that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay".

What makes you think that an officer will be satisfied that she will leave the country when everything else points at she is coming here to stay?

Count on an officer that actually will believe that she will leave at the end of her visit not on your "interpretation of the law" or even worse, I read it in other forums, blah blah.
That won´t hold any water.

When it comes down to things like these, I am good source, I kind of do this for a living and no, I am not an immigration consultant or a lawyer.


[28-01-2015,19:43]
[***.115.153.178]
DocD
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