LEGAL DISCLAIMER

I would like to start off by saying that I am not a Lawyer, Licensed Immigration Consultant or Canadian Government Official...I am a Successful Immigrant from the UK to Canada with a Family Class Spouse Application outside Canada that would like to pass on my experience and acquired knowledge to help unite couples that are currently or about to embark on Permanent Residence Applications.    

The information on this website is a reproduction of an official work that is published by the Government of Canada and has not been reproduced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada.

OUR STORY

My name is Hazel, I am 28 years old and originally from England. I met my Canadian 38 year old Husband 5 years ago in May 2005 and I have been fortunate to live in Canada with my Husband as a Visitor for 4 1/2 years. The down side is that I have not been able to work or study in Canada. My Husband has had the burden of Financially supporting me and our family in Canada for the entire time I have been here.

My Husband has 2 wonderful sons from his previous marriage and in December 2006 we had our first Child together. Which added to the costs and put more pressure on my Husband, we were left with no choice but to live at my Husband's parents house in the basement for which we are very thankful for, without their help we would not have been able to keep our family together. Unfortunately we came up against personal road blocks that stopped us from applying for Permanent Residency.

In June 2008 I went back home to the UK and took our daughter with me for 6 month's, its of the hardest things I have ever done in my entire life and a heart wrenching experience to see our 16 month old daughter say good bye to her "dada" at the airport, it still makes me cry when I think about it and saddens me to know that she doesn't recall having lived in Canada, her earliest memories are from living at Granddad's house in England. Sometimes if she sees photos from when she was a baby she will recognize things in the photo..but that's about it.

We kept in touch via telephone and occasionally on-line using MSN chat or emails. In November 2008 my Husband came to visit us at my Dads house in England. My Husband is terrified of flying and so it was a great achievement for him to cross the Atlantic twice in 2 weeks! We had a great time together as a family, unfortunately our daughter didnt know who her father was, he had become a "voice" on the phone! Another very sad moment for us, even though we have been back in Canada for 20 months now she has lost that father daughter bond she had when she was a baby!

We arrived back in Canada in December 2008 in time for Christmas and our daughters 2nd birthday. I don't know if our daughter was angry with her "dada" or he was out of context in England, but as soon as we got to her Nana and Papa's house she seemed to know where she was. 

On January 15th 2009 we became Engaged to get married on May 30th 2009. We had a wonderful day with a small intimate Wedding with 21 guests in a chapel in Niagara Falls Ontario and small reception to follow with 45 guests. On 30th August 2009 I received a visitors record from CIC Vegreville to remain in Canada until August 2010.

From then on we prepared our application for my Permanent Residency in Canada under the family class application, we decided to apply Outside Canada through the London Visa Office. I read the operations Manuals IP2 and OP2 for family members outside Canada found on the CIC website and filled out all the forms. Next we gathered our documents and I did my medical with a DMP in Canada. In May 2010 we were ready to submit our application and pay our fees, I also applied to extend my Visitors record to maintain a legal status in Canada, Vegreville granted me until August 2011 to remain in Canada.

MY APPLICATION TIME LINE

MY LANDING EXPERIENCE

My passport arrived back from the Canadian Embassy in London England on 22nd September 2010 via registered mail with Canada Post, it was so exciting to see a shiny new visa stuck in my passport! On Wednesday 29th September we drove to the US/Canada boarder at Lewiston/Queenston bridge. I was really excited and nervous about completing my immigration process. When we got to the US boarder I had to explain to the US-Customs and Boarder Protection Agent that I am required to leave Canada and then return as a Landed immigrant to complete the process, the confused man took my British Passport and my Husbands Canadian Passport and directed us to a parking spot so that we could enter the customs office. 

Once inside the office we had to sit and wait for my name to be called, after what seemed like a life time..which was really 50 minutes I was called up to the desk to answer some personal questions and explain that I didnt want to enter the US, I just wanted to turn right around and go back to Canada - known as flag poling for which there is an agreement between CBSA and US-CBP Agents. Within 5 minutes we were being escorted out of the building, back to our car and back onto the bridge to Canada, I was given our passports back and a letter stating that I had been denied entry to US, this letter is purely for Immigration reasons and makes no impact on future visits to the US! 

Within a few minutes we were at the Canadian Boarder answering more questions, this time I was not so nervous, we were again directed to Immigration, this time I did not have to wait as the office was tiny and there was only one other person in there and he was detained in a holding room. The CBSA Officer at the desk took my Passport and COPR and asked my Husband for his ID as my sponsor. I had to initial 3 places on my COPR and sign the bottom to state that I knew and understood my residency requirements. The CBSA officer the stapled my part of my COPR to my passport, signed my Visa, stamped my passport and gave me a Welcome to Canada Pack...this took 20 minutes in total...then we were on our way to Niagara Falls for Lunch and to apply for my SIN at Service Canada! 4 weeks later I received my Permanent Residency Card in the Mail.