April 21, 2009

Can We Come to Canada Now?

Q. We would like to process our sponsorship application for immigration as soon as possible. We got married on 4th January 2008 in United Arab Emirates. Me and my wife, holder of a Canadian passport, currently resides in the United Arab Emirates. I have been in the UAE for 1 year, working in a real estate company. Our case is a bit complicated as my wife has lived in several places over the last 5 years (Pakistan – 2 years, Saudi Arabia – 2 years, UAE – 1 year). She does regularly visit Canada, around 3-4 times a year and has family there too. We genuinely want to go back and settle in Canada as soon as possible. How can we proceed?

A. As a Canadian citizen, your wife is free to travel without any effect on her citizenship status. She does not have to comply with permanent resident requirements, so the fact that she traveled a lot will not affect your application. The immigration status of the sponsor is very important. If the sponsor is a Canadian permanent resident, he/she cannot sponsor the spouse from outside Canada. He/she must first relocate to Canada and then proceed with the sponsorship application. But, Canadian citizens are allowed to commence their sponsorship applications while they are still abroad, on the condition that the citizen spouse can prove without any doubt an intentions of relocating to Canada once the sponsorship application is approved and the applicant spouse receives his/her permanent resident visa.

So Canada awaits your return!