Sponsor your Spouse
Do you and your spouse not live together and miss each other dearly? Are you hopeful that you could be together in Canada? Or is your spouse currently in Canada visiting you and you wish for them to permanently stay in Canada? Do you wish you could have someone help you make this possible? At Akrami & Associates, we can try our best to unite you and your spouse permanently. In this blog, you will learn about some tips and things to consider when you sponsor your spouse to make the process a little easier.
Before your Spouse’s Arrival
It is essential for you and your significant other to be married in order to sponsor them as your spouse. If you have not yet married one another, then you must decide where you would like to marry; whether you would marry in Canada or outside of Canada. If you marry your significant other within Canada, then you should take into consideration the time required for your spouse to obtain the necessary visas for their visit. If you marry your significant other outside of Canada, you must provide a certified translated copy of your marriage certificate for authentication.
After you get married, you can sponsor your spouse and apply for their permanent residence in Canada. At first, if your spouse is in Canada as a temporary visitor, it is important to note that they can only stay for the authorized time frame allotted by the Canadian government. If you wish for your spouse to stay longer in Canada and/or permanently in Canada, then you will need to apply for the spousal sponsorship immediately before their time in Canada expires. If you need more time to get all of your documentation for your spousal sponsorship, a visitor visa extension is possible, but keep in mind there are also processing times for that application.
It would benefit you tremendously if you apply for your spouse’s visa ahead of time and have completed and gathered all of the appropriate paperwork and documentation before the wedding.
There are 4 simple steps for applying for a spousal sponsorship. You must: determine you and your spouse’s eligibility; get the application package; pay the government fees; and lastly, submit your application.
2 Types of Spousal Sponsorship
In order to sponsor your spouse, there are 2 main ways of doing so in Canada. The 2 spousal sponsorships can be done inland or overseas.
: Your spouse is within Canada and you may submit the application from within Canada. With this type of sponsorship, your spouse may reside within Canada until a decision is made by the government. A benefit of doing the inland spousal sponsorship is that your spouse may apply for an open work permit while awaiting their decision. Additionally, it is not necessary for your spouse to have legal status in Canada when doing an inland spousal sponsorship.
Certain tests are conducting when applying for an inland spousal sponsorship. Your spouse will have to go through a medical, criminal and background check in order to determine their risk to Canadian security.
Overseas Spousal Sponsorship: Your spouse is outside of Canada and the sponsorship application will be done within Canada, by the sponsor, for a spouse outside of Canada. A benefit of doing the overseas spousal sponsorship is that the applications are usually not too timely. However, a disadvantage of this type of sponsorship is that you are unfortunately not with your significant other during the time of the application process, unless you have an approved visitor visa.
Work Permit
While your spouse is within Canada and you apply for spousal sponsorship inland, your spouse may apply for an open work permit that allows them to work while they await their decision. If they wish to work in Canada, without a work permit, this would not be possible. They must not work in Canada until they either obtain a valid social insurance number and/or a work permit. On the other hand, if they wish to work in Canada but have applied through the overseas spousal sponsorship, they will have to obtain a work permit beforehand, along with a valid job offer from an employer in Canada. The process of hiring a foreign worker is timely and it is highly advisable to look ahead of time and determine which route would be best for your spouse and your specific circumstances.
Health Insurance
The great benefit to all Canadians is that public health care is costless; however, for foreign nationals that wish to come to Canada permanently this wonderful benefit would not apply just yet. The public health care plan is only available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Therefore, your spouse would not have public health care within Canada. But if you, the sponsor, are currently employed by a Canadian employer that has additional health benefits, you may want to add your spouse onto the health coverage for your own piece of mind. This would ensure that your spouse is adequately covered for their health care if anything were to happen in Canada. Another possibility is to acquire a private health insurance for the waiting period.
Contact Akrami & Associates
It is essential that you have taken all of the aforementioned tips into consideration before you attempt to apply for Spousal Sponsorship. Sponsorship applications are difficult applications to pursue on your own and it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients unite with their spouses and they are now extremely happy living in Canada. Please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at 416-477-2545 for more information, or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advise.
With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!
