American coming to Canada, for inland sponsorship

[Clyde Barrow]

OK, I've been reading the forums, perusing all I can on the subject in IMMIgroups pages. I would like some clarification to make sure I have it correct.

Quick background-

I (Canadian) cannot enter the US (criminal record 30yrs ago, have pardon) I have awesome job, make very good money.

Fiancee is American. We plan on her coming here to live with me, get married.

Plan is for a Inland Spousal Sponsorship.

Now I read this from a previous query-

.......You inform the CBSA at the border that you intend to apply for inland sponsorship and then apply once you are allowed in. You may get hassled but the CBSA are supposed to let you in because of something called "dual intent" - they are not supposed to deny a temporary resident entry if they intend to become a permanent resident.

Soooo... Does this mean she can show up at the border, tell them that she is coming to marry me, and we are applying for the ISS, and they will let her in?

Or, does she just say she's coming to visit, and leave it at that??? She'll be bringing her dogs with her as well. No furniture or anything, clothes, and dogs.

Next question- So she gets here, can we then apply for provincial medical, work permit, etc immediately? Or, do we have to wait until we actually make the application for ISS?

Thank you very much in advance for your time answering this.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Clyde,

Soooo... Does this mean she can show up at the border, tell them that she is coming to marry me, and we are applying for the ISS, and they will let her in?

Yes, that's what it means. It's supposed to be easy. We know that sometimes it's not. However, since your fiancee is American, she is likely to have fewer issues than non-Americans.

Or, does she just say she's coming to visit, and leave it at that??? She'll be bringing her dogs with her as well. No furniture or anything, clothes, and dogs.

I would strongly suggest she be completely honest. (Also, does she have the information she needs to bring dogs into Canada?) If she doesn't tell the truth, it could have potentially major consequences later.

So she gets here, can we then apply for provincial medical, work permit, etc immediately? Or, do we have to wait until we actually make the application for ISS?

You have to make both applications at the same time, if she wants to apply for the spousal "open" work permit. (Medical insurance is a provincial matter and not related to immigration exactly.) For example, if she came here, and you married, and she submitted a work permit application before you submitted the sponsorship application, she would likely need a job offer from a Canadian employer and something known as a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from the Government of Canada. If she submits the work permit application with the sponsorship, that stuff isn't required.
Hope this helps.
Riley

 

[Clyde Barrow]

So here's where we are at now-

She is in Canada for the week visiting me.

The plan is for her to move here in May. Uhaul van with boxes, heirloom desk. plus her four dogs.

From what I understand we need to make an appointment at the crossing she is going to appear at. - then claim that we are applying for the ISS.

Is there anything, I mean anything we need to know more than this?

We are aware of required passport, birth certificate, bank statements, utility bills, rabies documents for dogs, all boxes labeled/numbered with accompanying pages listing contents.

One other thing, she is disabled, will this affect the ISS in any way?

Thank you for your time in answering, it is much appreciated.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Clyde,
The problem with getting information from a forum such as this, and not from an immigration consultant and lawyer, is that the person posting on the forum is sometimes wrong. It seems I have been wrong for some time about notifying the CBSA about the intent to marry in Canad and apply for sponsorship. My understanding was that you tell the CBSA your intentions and they have an obligation to let you in. This is apparently not true.
It's a little more dicey than I made it out to be: she will have to prove to the satisfaction of CBSA that she is able to leave Canada if the sponsorship application is rejected. And that's a tough one.
However, the good news is that Americans are in a rather unique position with regard to coming to Canada and it is our belief that Americans in the situation your fiancee/wife is in are more likely to be allowed in.

I'm sorry for the confusion. I honestly thought I had both read and been told multiple times of an obligation on the part of CBSA to allow inland sponsorship. They do not have that obligation so the key is for your partner to show that she is capable of leaving Canada to return to the US if the sponsorship application is rejected. This is known as "dual intent." If you google it you will find some more information.

I'm really very sorry. I know how important this is.