Resident Card Application or Family Sponsorship?

[gregory james]

Hello,
I wish to obtain a (Canada) Permanent Resident card for my Chinese wife. Are the applications for family sponsorship and permanent resident card different? Or are they one and the same issue? I am a Canadian citizen. She is a Chinese citizen but has been to Canada to visit once or twice. We've been married for 8 years. We currently live in China.
thank you.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Gregory,
I'm sorry to tell you that they are completely different and you must sponsor your wife. PR Card are for people who are already permanent residents.
Given your location, you will also have to show that you are intending on living in Canada in order for your sponsorship application to be approved.
http://www.immigroup.com/family-class-sponsorship

Hope this helps.

 

[gregory james]

Hi Mr. Haas...
Thanks for the speedy reply regarding my question. This is by far the best forum I have found on the internet for navigating the confusing requirements for coming/going to Canada. The Canadian government websites can be frustrating to say the least (as I'm sure you're aware..) Perhaps a couple more questions about the sponsorship route; when you said "you will also have to show that you are intending on living in Canada", do the number of days we have lived together here in China have any bearing on this 'intent'...Also, how does one go about showing such intent? I assume the sponsorship must precede the permanent resident status. However, my partner assures me that a few of her acquaintances (married to Canadian men), applied directly for PR cards, and received them, though they had only been married for a couple of years, and reside in China as we speak. Is this even possible? Ever heard of anything like that?...Thanks again for your time.

 

[Riley Haas]

Thanks for the feedback, Gregory. We appreciate it. Yes, CIC's website is difficult to navigate. Believe it or not, it is much, much better than it used to be!

No, the number of days you lived together in China would only really matter if you weren't already married (i.e. if you were applying as a "common law" couple). What matters is that you show an intent to live here - a property, a job (or job offer), Canadian accounts, things like that.

Sponsorship is for permanent resident status. Once the application is approved, your wife will receive her PR Card and won't need to renew it for five years. So that's probably what they mean by "applying directly". (That's my best guess.)

Lots of permanent residents live outside of Canada. It's a risk. Because they are breaking the terms of their permanent residence status. The government is cracking down ever harder on these people. It used to be if you maintained the bare minimum number of days in Canada for every five years, you'd get to renew the card no problem. Now, if you are 6 months off of the bare minimum, the permanent resident is usually issued a so-called "residence questionnaire" and told to account for their whereabouts. It's not a fun process. We would highly recommend that you seriously plan to reside in Canada .

Hope this helps.

 

[gregory james]

Hello Riley Haas,
I was pleased to see you are still here, and working with Immigroup. The last time we spoke was in 2015 as you can see by our thread. It appears this could be the year for returning to Canada, so I would like to speak with you further about this. What is the best way for us to communicate?/ Best regards, Greg

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Greg,
You can private message me if you are asking me something you don't want to ask in public.

If you are interested in assistance from a consultant, you can email us at [email protected].

 

[gregory james]

Thanks Riley. How do I private message you? I looked for your link but didn't see it.

 

[Riley Haas]

There's an icon under my picture which allows you to send me a private message (a little dialogue box). Or click on my profile and there should be a link or icon on it, as well.

 

[gregory james]

Hi again Mr. Haas. I tried the private message but couldn't seem to find the link. No problem as the issue was resolved. To simplify matters on sponsorship of my wife, I have returned to Canada to work and set up living arrangements for her and I and our son. I called immigroup for assistance in doing the application but was given a rough estimate of 4000 dollars. Yikes! Does that sound about right? Any suggestions? I don't mean the names of other groups, just suggestions on economics. I think our case is fairly straightforward. Married for years with child (11 years old), I worked there for 16 years in China, returned last week to New Brunswick Canada with my son. Wife is waiting in China. Is it easier to apply if she is here with me? She has been to Canada a few times and holds an extended visitor visa with multiple entries, good for another four years. Thanks again Riley. Absolutely the best on the web for this stuff.

 

[Riley Haas]

Well, whoever you spoke to would know better than me on the price. I think it's usually between $2,500-$3,500 for a couple. And a child, though it makes your application more believable, is more work. (Even when the child is a citizen, there's more work involved.)

We're actually quite reasonable compared to lawyers. If you think $4000 is a lot of money for this work, I'd suggest calling around and seeing what other consultants and lawyers would want for the total cost. One advantage with Immigroup, in addition to the price, is that we've specialized in sponsorships since we were founded over 13 years ago. Our consultants have done more sponsorships than just about anyone so you're paying for expertise.

It's not easier if she's here in Canada, necessarily, but it's different. The differences between "inland" (she's in Canada) and "outland" can best be summarized this way:

• Inland: She's here with you and can apply for a work permit or a study permit at the same time as you submit the sponsorship application. But she probably cannot travel abroad (unless it's with you) and there's no option to appeal a refusal.
• Outland: You're not together (though, in your case, she can visit because she already has that visa - though she may have trouble entering...). But you can appeal any refusal.

Thanks for the compliment. It's nice to get positive feedback.

 

[gregory james]

Thanks Mr. Haas. I saw on the Canada website a few different processing times. 8 months, 6 months, 6 weeks. What's the most realistic time frame, do you think?

 

[Riley Haas]

Do you have a link? The government has stopped publishing different processing times for the various visa offices. See http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/

However, if you are getting this information from a forum, such as Canada Visa, it's crowd sourced which means it's not a true average, but it might give you a better picture of the real world processing times, as opposed to the "12 months" publicly stated processing time.

 

[gregory james]

Hi Riley,
I was going over this application, and filling in the Relationship Information and Sponsorship Evaluation. It seems to me that Satan has a part-time job as an office clerk. Part C, questions 3, and 4. Are you living together now? You mean, like right now. No, not really. I just got back from China, she's still there. I mean, we did live together. For 12 years or so. So maybe that's a yes. But then again, maybe it's a no. Why not? Well..cause I just flew back and she didn't. Have we visited? If not, explain. Well, I just got here and the plane tickets and distance make it difficult to hop on a plane every other weekend. Gads!. Do you think just saying "possibly, possibly'..on the form would get by the initial assessment?

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi again,
Any time you encounter something like this you should attach an explanation rather than just answering with something ambigous. Remember,the agent knows nothing about you.