Sponsorship and study permit

[canuck78]

Yeah, I definitely can't speak to any other province at all; I've been researching Ontario exclusively. But I've spent enough time working in bureaucracies (university admin, no less) to know the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing, so I will absolutely be bringing in my research in case. Always good to know what your rights are going in so that you can't be intimidated by people who don't understand their own policies (living in paperwork-happy and rule-obsessed Germany has been good practice for this ).

It's good that you point out a situation like PRs who are returning but haven't met their ROs, as that sounds like it would be a much different case in the eyes of the powers-that-be than the (relatively) straightforward case of a person who is a dependent of a citizen (not a PR) and who has already acquired a valid student permit. (Of course, I'm already dreading getting confirmation of his actual domestic tuition costs in order to apply for said student permit, as there is no way we can prove enough money to pay international tuition! It just never ends....)

Just so you know you don't lose your PR if you don't meet the residency obligations. PR cards do have an expiry dates so that is the way people end up losing their PR status. They can't get back into Canada. A PR card is just a travel document that lets you into Canada. That's why people try to enter via the US border using a visa exempt passport or landing document or a US passport by air or land. The system is getting there but for example there is no way to tell how many days someone has been in Canada when someone arrives at the border. CBSA looks at the entry and exits records quickly and guesstimates or looks for expired PR cards. Shocking how many things aren't linked. OHIP is brutal and doesn't keep track of whether people are meeting the residency requirements. Most people, including Canadians, don't realize that there are residency requirements for using the healthcare system and you can't just fly home if you get sick and need treatment.

 

[canuck78]

Actually, I just realized this situation does make logical sense as well if you follow it through: in order to register at an Ontario university you must show them proof of legal status in Canada, so even my husband will need to show one of three things: a PR card, citizenship, or a valid student permit. (He can't just show up and say he's married to me and then register for classes.) So for people without a valid PR card, it doesn't matter if they're dependent on a Canadian, they're not able to prove legal status in the country, which is their ultimate problem. ... Right?

See my previous post.

 

[schweisy]

Just so you know you don't lose your PR if you don't meet the residency obligations. PR cards do have an expiry dates so that is the way people end up losing their PR status. They can't get back into Canada. A PR card is just a travel document that lets you into Canada. That's why people try to enter via the US border using a visa exempt passport or landing document or a US passport by air or land. The system is getting there but for example there is no way to tell how many days someone has been in Canada when someone arrives at the border. CBSA looks at the entry and exits records quickly and guesstimates or looks for expired PR cards. Shocking how many things aren't linked. OHIP is brutal and doesn't keep track of whether people are meeting the residency requirements. Most people, including Canadians, don't realize that there are residency requirements for using the healthcare system and you can't just fly home if you get sick and need treatment.

Oh wow, good to know. I mean, I can't say I'm surprised, both about the lack of interconnection between government arms and people's unawareness about residency requirements for health care (I don't think I started grasping the full details of that until I myself left and had to deal with it). But serious yikes for OHIP having no clue whether people have actually met residency requirements....

So the problem with an expired PR card itself is mostly that it's a red flag at the border that the person may have been gone from the country too long. I can see how it would be really frustrating if you did still have status in Canada but for whatever reason didn't have a valid PR card because in that case I am sure you would be denied registration at an Ontario university, period.

My father is a PR but he basically never travels anywhere (ha), so I don't myself have a detailed understanding of the rules and obligations for PRs as of yet (although of course I know my dad loves to complain about the card expiring quickly and taking forever to renew!). He's been a landed immigrant/PR for 60 years at this point, and the system seems to have become much more convoluted in the past 20 years in the post-9/11 security world. Our name was mistranslated originally when they immigrated to Canada and it caused us tremendous headaches when they first rolled out the PR card system....

 

[canuck78]

Oh wow, good to know. I mean, I can't say I'm surprised, both about the lack of interconnection between government arms and people's unawareness about residency requirements for health care (I don't think I started grasping the full details of that until I myself left and had to deal with it). But serious yikes for OHIP having no clue whether people have actually met residency requirements....

So the problem with an expired PR card itself is mostly that it's a red flag at the border that the person may have been gone from the country too long. I can see how it would be really frustrating if you did still have status in Canada but for whatever reason didn't have a valid PR card because in that case I am sure you would be denied registration at an Ontario university, period.

My father is a PR but he basically never travels anywhere (ha), so I don't myself have a detailed understanding of the rules and obligations for PRs as of yet (although of course I know my dad loves to complain about the card expiring quickly and taking forever to renew!). He's been a landed immigrant/PR for 60 years at this point, and the system seems to have become much more convoluted in the past 20 years in the post-9/11 security world. Our name was mistranslated originally when they immigrated to Canada and it caused us tremendous headaches when they first rolled out the PR card system....

Why doesn't your dad apply for citizenship if he spends most of his time in Canada? To fly into Canada you need a valid PR card (or PRTD). Most can't get to Canada. Those who can fly into the US without a visa can try entering via a land border and perhaps will try and show their visa exempt passport. It is a visa vs. visa exempt passport issue many times. US citizens can fly into Canada on their US passports.

 

[umayadav]

Hi all,

I've spent hours reading through various threads via Google search, and I haven't been able to find any situations like mine, which are a bit unique, so I'm creating a new thread.

I'm a Canadian citizen, and my wife is Korean. We got married in Korea and still live here, but we're looking to move to Quebec in July (wife has applied to school there). Now, things are a little bit complicated.. let me explain.

We would like for her to be able to start her studies in September, but average processing times for a sponsorship application is 12 months. Because of that, we are thinking that she would apply for a study permit first, get it approved, and then we would start the sponsorship application. Has anyone done this before? I heard that if you are married to a Canadian citizen, it may be quite difficult to get the study permit approved.

Any advice and shared experiences would be super appreciated. Thanks!

Hi,

I am in a similar but not entirely similar situation.

Can you share what you guys ended up doing and what was the outcome ?

Thanks.

 

[cjr]

We would like for her to be able to start her studies in September, but average processing times for a sponsorship application is 12 months. Because of that, we are thinking that she would apply for a study permit first, get it approved, and then we would start the sponsorship application. Has anyone done this before? I heard that if you are married to a Canadian citizen, it may be quite difficult to get the study permit approved.

We did the opposite - PR application was/is in process, then applied for a study permit when my wife was accepted at a University in the Vancouver area.

No problems whatsoever. When applying for the Study Permit, we *specifically* mentioned the PR application, and explained that applying for the Study Permit was "in case PR app doesn't come through in time".

We entered Canada in late June with her Study Permit approval in hand, crossing by land, specifically mentioned the PR application that was underway, that we were entering "for the length of the Study Permit, and hopefully past that if PR app gets approved".

No problems whatsoever.

We also applied for a Study Permit for my oldest son once here, as he was accepted at a different University in BC. Yet again, specifically mentioning the PR application that's in process.

Yet again -- absolutely no problems whatsoever.

I'm the Canadian, she's a US citizen. Married 20+ years. 3 US dependents since I was born outside Canada, and they're second generation born outside of Canada.

Hopefully PR comes through before September as tuition for both will be *considerably* less!

 

[cjr]

Hi,

I am in a similar but not entirely similar situation.

Can you share what you guys ended up doing and what was the outcome ?

Thanks.

I just realized that this is an old thread I'm responding to. See my post above this one for our very recent experience.

 

[canuck78]

We did the opposite - PR application was/is in process, then applied for a study permit when my wife was accepted at a University in the Vancouver area.

No problems whatsoever. When applying for the Study Permit, we *specifically* mentioned the PR application, and explained that applying for the Study Permit was "in case PR app doesn't come through in time".

We entered Canada in late June with her Study Permit approval in hand, crossing by land, specifically mentioned the PR application that was underway, that we were entering "for the length of the Study Permit, and hopefully past that if PR app gets approved".

No problems whatsoever.

We also applied for a Study Permit for my oldest son once here, as he was accepted at a different University in BC. Yet again, specifically mentioning the PR application that's in process.

Yet again -- absolutely no problems whatsoever.

I'm the Canadian, she's a US citizen. Married 20+ years. 3 US dependents since I was born outside Canada, and they're second generation born outside of Canada.

Hopefully PR comes through before September as tuition for both will be *considerably* less!

US citizens are treated very differently than other countries especially those who need a visa to enter Canada. You benefitted by just showing up at the border.