Spousal Sponsorships - OVERSEAS

Without fail, at least twice a week and if not more, I get an anxious call or email from a client that goes something like this, “I have a great job, a loving family, strong friendships and my whole life ahead of me in Canada, and I just got married to a wonderful person who is resident in and a citizen of another country. It pains my heart that we aren’t living together in Canada, what do I do?”

The answer, 9 times out of 10 is to file a sponsorship application. There are a number of approaches that people can take when deciding how, where and when to sponsor a spouse’s immigration application. Generally, there are two options, applying from within Canada or applying outside of Canada. Last month I wrote on the in-Canada approach. This month I have written on the overseas application process.

The overseas application process differs from the in-Canada option in a number of key ways. This process is a two part application, comprised of the sponsor’s application to sponsor their spouse and the sponsored spouse’s or Applicant’s immigration application.

Both parts of this application are submitted to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) processing centre in Mississauga, Ontario. At that office, the sponsorship portion of the application will be assessed and once processed and hopefully approved, the immigration portion of the application will then be sent to the visa office outside of Canada that is responsible for processing applications from either the Applicant’s country of citizenship or the country for which the applicant has lawful status valid for at least one year. The applicant has the choice of electing where the application is processed if he or she is not resident in their country of nationality at the time of application.

The visa office will then assess the applicant’s admissibility (health, criminality, previous contraventions of Canada’s immigration laws, etc.) and the legitimacy of the marriage between the sponsor and the applicant.

Currently, the CIC office in Mississauga is taking approximately 40 days to process the sponsorship portion of these applications and visa posts are taking anywhere from 3 to 17 months to process the immigration portion. The international average for processing the immigration portion is 4 to 8 months.

Like the in-Canada process, it is the applicant and sponsor’s responsibilities to ensure that they have submitted sufficient evidence so as to make it easy for the assessing visa officer to determine that the relationship is genuine and was not entered into just so the applicant can immigrate to Canada. If necessary, the officer may request an interview, which will take place at the visa office.

While the application is in process the Applicant may reside in their home country or in Canada. Although there is no automatic right of entry as a visitor, student or worker during processing, if the Applicant wishes to reside in Canada during processing, there is no prohibition from applying for such status on the basis of having filed a sponsorship and immigration application. Basically, the applicant is free to travel, unlike the in-Canada process where the applicant and sponsor must reside together in Canada to qualify.

A good strategy is to check the CIC website as to where the quick processing times are and then elect the post that is most favourable in terms of processing times and travel convenience if an interview is called. Remember, the post elected must be the post responsible for the applicant’s country of nationality or for the country for which the applicant has lawful status for valid for at least one year.

If the applicant is already resident in Canada with lawful status, consider electing to have the application assessed in Buffalo, NY, the visa office responsible for residents in Canada, even if the applicant is not a citizen of the USA. This visa office can be favourable in comparison to other visa offices that take much longer to process cases and offers relatively close travel options to if an interview is called. An applicant will have the option of electing which Canadian consulate in the USA they wish to be interviewed at (Seattle, Detroit, New York, LA).

If the application is ultimately refused, unlike the in-Canada option, the Sponsor has the right to appeal the refusal to the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.

Making the right decision as two what kind of application to file when trying to re-unite spouses in Canada should not be as daunting as making the right decision as to whom you should marry, however, making the wrong choice in either instance can cause harmful consequences to all involved.

Ryan N. Rosenberg, B.A., LL.B., is a immigration lawyer with Larlee & Associates Law Corporation in Vancouver, B.C. Contact Ryan by e-mail at Ryan.Rosenberg@larlee.com or by phone at 604-681-9887.