Canadian engaged to American

[Edides]

I am a Canadian going to school in Canada. I am engaged to an American (living in Arizona). If we get married in Arizona can we both immediately come back into Canada to live? What are the proper steps to take to make this work?

 

[Riley Haas]

You need to sponsor your American future spouse. How you do that depends upon the location of your spouse when you submit the application. "Inland" means they are in Canada, "outland" means they are not in Canada. Rejected inland sponsorship applications cannot be appealed, whereas outland can. That is the most significant material difference between the two from a processing perspective. Of course, from your perspective, with inland you are together, with outland you'd have to go see them.

Americans are a special case, though. Americans do not need visas to travel to Canada so inland is theoretically easier.