How long does it take to get permanent residence?

My wife is Canadian; I am British. Our children are therefore citizens of both countries. We hope to move to Canada this year, if at all possible. There are, I think, two main ways in which we could go about it:

1. Apply within the UK, and await approval before we put the house on the market and jump on a plane.

2. Go on a holiday to Canada and, erm, decide whilst we are there that we wish to apply for permanent residence (PR) for me.

Firstly, has anyone here applied for PR within the UK as a spouse under the new-ish system whereby you have the medical and criminal record check done up-front and send all the fees with the application? The www.cic.gc.ca website says that this will cut down on the time it takes to be considered, but does anyone have any idea how long we can expect to wait, assuming the application is complete and straightforward?

Secondly, if we do go and apply from within Canada, are there many disadvantages other than my not being allowed to work until the PR is approved, and that I would need to get health insurance? Return flight tickets might be a good idea, I guess.

Many thanks for any help anyone is able to provide.

I think it it will be faster if you move to Canada and your wife sponsors you from within Canada.Then you will apply to CPC Mississauga which is responsible for sponsorship cases.They usually take about 6-8 months for complete processing.
If you apply from the UK, your application will go to the Canadian Visa Office in london which takes about 1 year(Processing times have increased) but they also depend on case complexity).

Make sure you submit all required documentation with your application so that the officer processses it quickly.Not sending all documentation will only delay ur application.
It is better if you apply after coming to Canada.

Many thanks for that. Have you done the same thing? I'm just a bit worried about being turned back at the airport because they think I'll not return to England if my application is turned down, especially as I intend to resign from my job and sell the house before we go.

I assume that I can, on a British passport, apply to have my stay extended beyond the six months I am allowed automatifcally, so that I am not required to leave Canada before the application for PR has been considered? The cic website is rather confusing about temporary residents and so on - and, being a civil servant in England, I am pretty used to reading obscure waffly documents.

In case anyone else is interested, I popped in to the Canadian High Commission in London this morning. For spouses, it takes six months for PR applications to be processed in London. Much quicker than I'd dared to hope.

This is one of the things I do not understand in the application for permanent residence for those applying outside Canada. I wonder whether anyone else has any idea at all, please…?

The document checklist (IMM5491) states, in the sponsor’s section: “If you are a Canadian citizen living exclusively outside Canada, you must include proof that you intend to live in Canada with your spouse… once they become permanent residents of Canada”.

How on earth can one really prove such a thing?

Job offers back in Canada or evidence of job hunting with relevant replies including invites to interview are usually a good indicator of someone intending to return to live Canada. This is not exclusive though and I am aware of people who have enrolled on courses for themselves or their Canadian Citizen children. You may also produce evidence of tenancy agreements and other accomodation related arrangements you have made. Has your spouse been filing Canadian taxes - this can be linked to an intent to Canadian Ties via payment of child benefit which will require her presence in Canada.

As you have noted the main advantage of an out of country application is the 6 month processing as compared to a 12+ month processing for inland applicants due to sever backlogs at the Vegreville centre. Note that if you ahd gone to Canada as a visitor as you initially mentioned then got married in country it may be have been deemed that you misrepresented your true intentions unless you had declared your intention to marry and apply for spousal sponsorship at the port of entry. Unlike the US the Canadians will let you into the country in such circumstances. Additional disadvantages of in country applications include not being able to work until an Authorisation In Principal is approved and that you cannot leave Canada until your application is processed - leaving the country before this happens means your application is abondoned.

Good luck

Thanks very much, Kayalami. It is a bit tricky to make too many arrangements before even putting in the application, but I understand from elsewhere that the sponsorship evaluation is pretty much a formality for a spouse, unless we have criminal records or similar. We don’t. We’ll be staying with my in-laws till we get settled, so we are going to ask them to send a letter “To whom it may concern” saying that we are making arrangements to move there later in the year, and also one from my wife to say that that is our intention. That’ll have to do, I think!

We’ll be staying with my in-laws till we get settled, so we are going to ask them to send a letter “To whom it may concern” saying that we are making arrangements to move there later in the year, and also one from my wife to say that that is our intention. That’ll have to do, I think!

Sounds good to me .

...and even better to me!

I am really lookng forward to it. I'm goin to get the forms finished over the weekend, arrange a medical, and then cross my fingers and snatch the post as soon as it begins to appear through the letterbox.

If you are considering private medical insurance before you are covered by provincial coverage you can check out weblink.

This post is from 2004!

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