Thai Wife to Canada, Seeking Visa Advice

[jerojero]

Reaching out to fellow Canadians whose wives obtained Permanent Residence (PR). Starting the process soon and would appreciate some real life experiences. Including those who perhaps got rejected. How long wait time from initial application to decision rendered? Is there pro or con if she gets Temporary Resident visa (visitor, tourist ) before applying for PR? What should definitely and definitely not be mentioned in the PR application? We're having no formal wedding or village celebration, nor big honeymoon, but PR application asks for these details. Suggestions to ensure we prove marriage is legit, as this seems to be a major hurdle. Thanks all.

Edited April 29, 2015 by jerojero

[theoldgit]

This would be better in the Visas to other countries forum.

[LuckyLew]

I went thru this process to get my non ex-Thai wife to Canada

If you are already married you cannot get your wife any kind of visitor visa

It will get rejected and they will tell you to apply for a PR based on marriage

Save yourself these fees and do not bother to even try

The process for PR is long and seems to take forever, but if you are really married and have all the documents and proof there is no reason for them to reject the application, reasons for rejection are if you ahve declared bankruptcy in the past, either of you have a criminal record or she has a bad illness / desease or sickness.

The paper work is seemingly long but take your time filling it out and make sure all is in order and filled out properly. As a suggestion think of it as a presentation where you are trying to prove your marriage, include lots of photos of you two together and include any receipts where both your names are on it like airline tickets

You first send you application somewhere in Canada where they will review everything and if all is good they send you a letter advising you your paperwork has been forwarded to Singapore for further review / inspection.

for us the whole process took about 8 months and cost about 1200. Apparently now the fees are lower and am not sure about the length of time it takes.

If you have any question, please PM me

Good luck to you

[rokgryphon]

I have been through this process as well. My wife is coming up on 3 years in Canada this coming September. The process took about a year for us to complete. About 3 months for my part to be approved and then a further 9 months for Singapore to review her documents and get approved.

There are only a couple of doctors in the country approved to do the medical check in BKK and Chiang Mai, so plan on making the trip to get that done. As well the process takes that long, by the time the visa is ready to be issued then she will have to get another one done as they are only valid for 12 months so will be expired by the time you are ready to travel.

It is not true that you cannot get a TR visa when you are married. I have friends here in Canada now with Thai wives who are on TR visas and they are going through the process in Canada to apply for their wives to get PR status. Though the process of applying within Canada is longer than applying from outside the country.

Are you getting your marriage registered at the local Amphur Office? That should prove legitimacy of the marriage, though you do have to get all of these documents translated and have the translation certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in BKK. Usually your translation office can take care of this for you as a part of the services they are providing.

Make sure you application is absolutely complete, if they have to come back and ask questions it causes delays and sends you further down the queue. Submit as many pictures as you can of you being together in different places and you and her meeting each others families if you have been able to do that. You will get all of the pictures returned to you at the end of the process.

You do not get much information from the government regarding the status of the application. However, you can contact your local MP in Canada and they can have you sign a form that allows CIC to disclose information to them and they are able to find out much more detail on the status of the application and where it is in the process than you are able to on your own. I did this with my MP in Toronto and within 2 months of them inquiring on my behalf the PR was approved and my wife was in Canada with me.

You can PM me for more details if you like.

RG