MelM

all messages by user

9/11/2014 Topic: Applying for a Canadian University - Questions MelM	Yes - having good grades gives you an advantage. You are more likely to be accepted by a good school in Canada and you are also more likely to be approved for a study permit by CIC. International student tuition fees are quite high. If you are attending a university, you should plan to pay close to $20K for your tuition. To be approved for a study permit, will have to prove to CIC that you have enough money in the bank to cover first year tuition and also have an additional $10K to cover your living expenses.
9/12/2014 Topic: Breakup after First Stage of Approval MelM	If you leave him then you will need to withdraw your application to sponsor him (doing otherwise will be fraud on both of your parts). Once you withdraw your sponsorship, this will cancel his PR application. Whether he is able to appy for PR on his own will depend on whether he meets the requirements of any immigration program (e.g. skilled worker, provincial nomination). Unfortunately it's impossible to say if he can qualify for PR on his own or not based on the very limited information you have provided. I don't know if he will be able to keep his open work permit or not.
9/15/2014 Topic: Ontario Works and Sponsorship MelM	Unfortunately your options are quite limited. Being on Ontario Works disqualifies you from sponsoring your husband. If you wish to sponsor him, then you will have to stop taking OW and remain off OW for the entire period his application is being processed. Alternatively (if you are unable to stop taking OW), your husband could apply to immigrate to Canada independently if he qualifies through immigration programs like Federal Skilled Trade, Federal Skilled Worker, or one of the Provincial Nominee Programs. Good luck.
9/15/2014 Topic: Dependent Child MelM	You must include your daughter in your application as a dependent when your fiance sponsors you for PR.
9/17/2014 Topic: Working while Waiting for Sponsorship MelM	Your options are limited. If you qualify to apply for another working holiday visa - this would be one option. Otherwise you do need an approved LMIA (new version of the LMO) in order to qualify for a work permit. You can try to find a new employer who is willing to go through the LMO process - espeically if you have skills that are highly sought-after and difficult to find in Canada. Failing that, you will have to wait until first stage approval is received for your inland application before you will be eligible for an open work permit. Note that if you leave Canada while your inland application is in progress, you'll end up abandoning/canceling the application since you're expected to remain in Canada while the application is being processed. If the application is canceled since you've left Canada you'll have to apply again from scratch using the outland process. If I were in your shoes I would withdraw the inland application and apply outland immediately. This will give you the flexibility to leave Canada if you have to without abandoning your application. The outland application process comes with no open work permit but it will be much faster overall.
9/17/2014 Topic: Extension of stay on Visitor Visa MelM	No - the online application doesn't have to be done a month ahead. That's just a recommendation. The process you need to follow is here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp
10/2/2014 Topic: Expired PR While Self Employed Abroad - Questions MelM	Unfortunately being self employed outside of Canada is not accepted as a valid exception to the residency requirement for PR. Only the days you were physically in Canada can be counted towards the 730 day requirement.
10/2/2014 Topic: PR Card Renewal Questions MelM	No - you can't apply now. You must wait until you actually meet the residency requirement (2 years out of the last 5) to apply to renew your card. The number of days you can count towards your residency requirement is locked in on the day CIC receives your application. This means that if you apply today, you won't have enough days and your renewal request will be refused. You must wait until you have enough days. Don't apply a day sooner if you want to keep your PR status.
10/7/2014 Topic: Canadian Citizenship MelM	The new citizenship rules apply to both existing and new immigrants. Whether the new rules apply to you is determined by when you submit your citizenship application (not when you became a PR). The new citizenship residency rules are slated to come into effect next summer (July 2015). If you are applying for citizenship before this date then you will fall under the old rules. If you are applying for citizenship after this date then you will fall under the new rules.
10/10/2014 Topic: Ineligibility Issue - Sponsorship MelM	Unfortunately you can never sponsor your spouse for PR because you got married before you became a PR and then didn't add your spouse to your PR application. The sponsorship application is going to be refused by CIC. If your spouse wants to immigrate to Canada then she will have to qualify to immigrate on her own through an immigration program such as skilled worker or provincial nominee. You can never sponsor her.
10/10/2014 Topic: Can he apply for Citizenship with us? MelM	Your husband must meet the citizenship residency requirement in order to apply for citizenship. If he has not lived in Canada for 3 out of the last 4 years, then he does not qualify and should not apply along with you. He will have to wait until he does meet the residency requirement before applying. There is no way around the residency requirement. He has to meet it if he wants to become a Canadian citizen.
10/13/2014 Topic: Citizenship Calculation MelM	The current citizenship residency requirement is 3 years of residency out of the last 4 years (not 5 years). Based on the information you have provided you won't have sufficient residency days in 2016 to apply for citizenship then. Additionally, the citizenship residency requirement is changing to 4 years of residency in Canada out of the last 6 years effective June / July next year. So you will actually fall under this new rule. If you returned to Canada in April 2014 after being out of Canada since 2011, then you won't qualify to apply for citizenship until April 2018 (provided you don't leave Canada until then).
10/13/2014 Topic: Sponsoring an Aunt MelM	Unfortunately sponsoring their aunt through family class isn't possible (neither you nor her meet the requirements for family sponsorship). If she wishes to immigrate then she will have to qualify independently (e.g. through the skiled worker or provincial nominee class).
10/15/2014 Topic: Do they Need to Submit a New File? MelM	They will have to submit a new sponsorship application.
10/20/2014 Topic: No PR card - Citizenship Application in Process MelM	I would withdraw the citizenship application and resubmit it again for yourself only. You can apply for the PRTD for your children and they should have no issues being approved. Your spouse, however, is a different matter. Does your spouse have H&C reasons for having failed to meet the residency requirement? Being outside of Canada for work or education reasons isn't accepted for H&C purposes. If your spouse has been outside of Canada due to a serious personal illness or due to a serious family illness (e.g. parent illness) and can provide evidence to prove this prevented a return to Canada for several years - then there is some chance the H&C PRTD will be approved. Otherwise you will have to sponsor your spouse for PR through the family class (spousal sponsorship) immigration program.