Comments | canadabound: Questions about Inside Spousal

wyldstallyn in canadabound

Questions about Inside Spousal

May 15, 2009 12:07

My wife and I are torn between doing an inside spousal and outside spousal (we were recently married in April and she is up on a study permit which expires at the end of June). We've gathered the following conclusions both from discussion on this forum, other forums and contacting the CIC website.

1) Inside spousal (with an open work permit ( Read more... )

interviews, inside vs. outside spousal

Comments 8

peach12a May 15 2009, 18:52:46 UTC

we did outside spousal, beginning to end was almost 4 months, as soon as my spouse landed, we got her a SIN and if she wanted, she could then work. I would suggest doing that, then you dont hav to worry about work or study permits etc.

wyldstallyn May 15 2009, 19:05:07 UTC

About how long ago was this? The CIC websites are showing between generally 5 months wait and 12 for outside (they have the %'s of applications processed rather than on approximate time as long as I can see).

Our main concern about outside is whether or not we have to travel for any interviews that we do - my wife and I do not own a car and having us both fly to the states for an interview would add extra cost that we can't really afford.

If we have to go to a port of entry for both inside or outside, then it's a moot point which makes outside look not so bad anymore.

peach12a May 15 2009, 21:05:42 UTC

we didnt have to do an interview, my spouse landed two years ago June. I dont know where you live, but I think you can request that if an iinterview is needed, that its done close to you, IE if you are in Vancouver, it is done in Seattle, Toronto, in Buffalo. Like I said, we had no interview, and when she landed, we drove into the US, then crossed back, did the landing stuff, and came home!

sun_tzu May 15 2009, 21:38:57 UTC

For interviews, they are done in at the consulate to which the file is assigned. Proximity to you is not a factor. They are located in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Detroit, and Buffalo. My wife lived in Georgia when she applied, and I was in the Toronto area (she was actually up here at the time) and the file went to LA with the interview there. You get about two months' notice of the scheduled date for the interview.

zwist May 15 2009, 22:56:46 UTC

Is it not a factor at all? I'd be kind of pissed if I had to fly to Los Angeles, considering I actually live maybe five miles from the New York consulate.

sun_tzu May 15 2009, 23:54:38 UTC

Files get assigned to whichever consulate can process them the fastest. In theory you can ask them to change dates and consulates but the documentation does clearly state that it can cause delays. That said, interviews are rarely required. My wife's was utterly pointless, most of it was me and the visa officer swapping war stories, because we were both in the same Regiment of the Army.

heddychaa May 17 2009, 02:38:47 UTC

We did outside and we didn't have an interview. That was just a couple of months ago. Our entire application was processed before we could have gotten "first stage approval" and thus an open work permit through inside sponsorship.

wyldstallyn May 19 2009, 15:09:09 UTC

Thanks for the info!

I'm pretty sure she'll end up having an interview - she was denied entry once to Canada when coming up to see me (we were intending on living together for 3-6 months while we tried to figure out if we wanted to get married) and turned away at the border a few years ago and since then, coming up has always been a hassle, even though we eventually got her study permit all worked out.

How long did the whole process take for you?

I'm a bit worried about traveling for her interview as we are nowhere close to any of the CIC offices in the states so we'd both have to fly in the case that there was one (we do not own a car).