In-Canada Spousal Immigration

 
If a foreign national is in Canada and gets married to a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident, he/she can be sponsored under In-Canada Spousal Immigration class without leaving Canada if otherwise admissible. It’s a three stage process where at the first stage a sponsorship application is filed with the appropriate Case Processing Centre of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
That case processing centre evaluates the application and makes preliminary determination, and if the reviewing immigration officer determines that a genuine spousal relationship has been established based on the information and supporting documents then the sponsor is determined eligible to sponsor and an approval letter is sent to the sponsor and the sponsored in this regard. If the reviewing immigration officer at the Case Processing Centre determines that further documentary evidence or personal interview of the sponsor and sponsored are required then the file is transferred to the local Citizenship and Immigration office for further processing; a letter in this regard is also sent to the sponsor and sponsored.

Once a positive determination is made on the application, then the sponsored spouse becomes eligible to apply for work permit and health card on that basis; but his permanent status remains pending until medical and security related admissibility is determined. Once a positive decision on merits is made on the application, any removal proceedings against the sponsored spouse are suspended and if there is any Pre Removal Risk Assessment Application pending with the Canada Border Services Agency its processing is also closed. The removal proceedings against the sponsored spouse can again become active if during security check up something serious is found in his/her record or he/she is medically declared inadmissible.

In-Canada Spousal Immigration can involve intricate legal and procedural issues if the current status of the sponsored spouse at the time of filing of sponsorship is illegal or he/she is a former refugee claimant and his removal is either active or pending before the Canada Border Services Agency. Therefore, it is very important to seek the advice of an experienced immigration professional at every step of the proceedings in order to achieve the desired results.