Canadian Permanent Resident Visa

[zmikers]

Hello. I'm a Canadian citizen who has been living and working in Taiwan for almost 10 years now. My wife is Taiwanese and we are finally moving back to Canada. I've gone through all of the websites and documentation about immigrating to Canada, but we are still left with so many questions, mainly because my wife is 10 weeks pregnant. Basically, I'm looking for someone "official" to talk to who can give me advice, and because the visa office in Taiwan has closed, this is very difficult to find. Does anyone know of a lawyer or government official in the Taipei area that can help us with the process or at least answer some of our questions? If you have any information, you can post here or forward the info to zmikers@gmail.com. Thanks in advance.

[bababa]

Try looking at the forum canadavisa.com
It gives a lot of info about immigrating to Canada.
The first post in the "Family Class Sponsorship" section, titled "Spousal Sponsorship", is very helpful: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigr ... ship-b5.0/

The PR applicant has to have a medical exam which includes an x-ray, so your wife won't be able to complete it until after she has given birth. Some women get the medical done while pregnant, and the doctor notes that the x-ray was postponed until after birth, which is fine, but the government won't process it until it gets the x-ray in any case.

Your wife does not need a visa to come to Canada as a visitor, so if you want to move back before she gets the PR visa, she can come with you and stay as a visitor - don't tell the border agent she is 'moving' to Canada, just say she is visiting. If you can show that you have already sent in the PR application (or at least have the receipt showing you paid, since you can pay before you actually send in the application), then there is usually no problem getting in. She will usually be allowed to stay 6 months, and can apply to extend this period about a month before it ends. She won't be eligible for government health care during this time, so I would advise her to move back to Taiwan to give birth. She could give birth in Canada, but the price could easily be $10,000 (Canadian) or much more if there are complications.

[ChewDawg]

It's a pretty simple process. As a Canadian citizen, you are able sponsor your wife. Your baby will be able to become a Canadian citizen immediately (far ahead of your wife), but it's better for him/her to be born in Canada so he can pass citizenship to his/her children later in life. If he/she is born outside of Canada, he/she will need to have his/her future children in Canada for them to be Canadian under new laws.

You do not need to talk to any official. You need to fill out the PR application forms that are available on Citizenship and Immigration's website. Your wife will have to undergo a medical at a pre-approved medical clinic in Taipei and fill in the forms accurately. It then gets sent to HK. Processing time is 19 month or almost 2 years. That's quite a bit longer than it used to be when it was processed in Taipei. If she applied for PR in Canada, it would be 12-18 months application time as well. However, if she wanted to have the baby in Canada while waiting for processing, I think she would need private insurance to have the baby or pay the expenses out of pocket as she wouldn't be covered under the health plan until 1 month after obtaining PR.

My advice--have the baby in Taiwan, apply in Taiwan after the baby is born (including wife having x-ray after the baby is born), and then leave in 2 years. Your baby will just need to make sure when it's an adult that it will have to have children born in Canada for them to be Canadian.

[zmikers]

Thanks for the replies.

I have heard that we can not complete the medical while she is pregnant because of the x-ray. Is this correct?

[bababa]

You shouldn't, for the health of the baby. Some doctors can be persuaded to, and especially very late in the pregnancy it is not considered as dangerous. However, she is not going to get the PR before giving birth, even with the medical done right away, because the processing times are too long, so there is no reason to risk having an x-ray while pregnant.
If you want her in Canada with you while you wait, she can enter as a visitor. Private insurance won't cover the birth, so it is up to you whether you want to pay for it yourself in Canada or have it in Taiwan.
The average processing times in Hong Kong for a spousal sponsorship are over a year. However, Hong Kong processes applicants from southern China as well, and it is usually these applicants that take so long. Hong Kong residents and Taiwanese residents can expect slightly faster processing (anecdotally), though.

[Aranizer]

Hello
On the same subject. There is a quick almost instant way.
You let wife apply for tourism visa. When she puts foot in canada, it is a different game/ immigration process.
There is a legal process that take about 2-3 years before she is given legal status in Canada. Meanwhile she can not be deported but also she can not leave Canada until her legal status issue is resolved. If she leave Canada for whatever reason she can not come back.
Depending on your sitiuation, but bottom line is:
Legal way: long and encouraged
Illegal way: fast but with disadvantage
Take care

[ChewDawg]

The problem with doing it that way is that, from my limited understanding, she wouldn't be able to receive health care, education benefits, child allowances etc., that PR people are eligible for while they meet the time requirements for citizenship (three years and then a 18 month citizenship application process). I'd always suggest applying outside of Canada where, for spousal applications, as it still only take 6 months or so in some locations. Once you receive the visa, you're eligible for most benefits right away or after a month or so.

For extended family members etc., they actually aren't receiving applications at the moment but there is a new "super family visa" that is good for up for three years of visits. They have to deal with the sizable current backlog.

[bababa]

You let wife apply for tourism visa. When she puts foot in canada, it is a different game/ immigration process.
There is a legal process that take about 2-3 years before she is given legal status in Canada. Meanwhile she can not be deported but also she can not leave Canada until her legal status issue is resolved. If she leave Canada for whatever reason she can not come back.
Depending on your sitiuation, but bottom line is:
Legal way: long and encouraged
Illegal way: fast but with disadvantage
Take care

Note that this is not the 'illegal' way. There are two ways to sponsor a spouse to immigrate to Canada: one is called 'outland' and one is called 'inland'. Both are legal.
If the wife enters Canada as a visitor (note Taiwanese citizens do not need a visitor visa anymore), she can then apply 'inland'. This process can take up to two years. After the first part of the processing, which takes around 10 months, she can get permission to work. For the whole processing time she cannot leave Canada; if she does, she may not be let back in, and if she can't get back in the sponsorship will be denied.
They can also sponsor her while she is living in Taiwan through the 'outland' process. For almost all countries, outland processing is much faster than inland processing, so most people recommend the outland process for that reason. However, her application is going through Hong Kong, which has a very long processing time - about the same as the inland process.

I would still recommend she apply 'outland': 1. applications from Taiwan normally are processed much more quickly than the average for Hong Kong; 2. since she does not need a tourist visa to enter Canada, she can apply outland, and still come to Canada as a 'visitor' and wait there with her husband for the processing to be finished. She is free to leave Canada without jeopardizing her application.