American Girl+Canadian Boy= Canadian Baby and Immigration problems (wedding, living)

[Powerstripe]

[SIZE=2] Hello all,

I had no idea how to label this message, because frankly, its how I feel. My wife and I have known each other for 10 years, been on and off for 5 years, and finally married June of 2007. So prior to the marriage, she 'visited' up here and everything was great. SO, we were somewhat 'slow' at sending in the application for her in-Canada permanent residency status, not because of laziness, but because we found out she was pregnant.
It is not the money I am worried about or anything of the sort, I'm lucky to have family to help out with that, but my question is concerning if her having our baby (which is coincidentally due 1 DAY after her 'visitors' status expires) would change anything from Immigrations point of view. We don't have a lot to 'prove' the legitimacy of our relationship. We have photos and maybe some emails dating back to 2003. Our marriage ceremony only consisted us and witnesses because we didn't want to invite my family and not have the pleasure of her family come up so we planned to have a large ceremony later. I guess my fear is my picture perfect family being broken up because someone at CIC is in a bad mood or I'm lacking the smallest little detail in the applications.

Took me 10years to get her to move here to Canada, I'm sure as heck not letting her go back to the States without a fight:P

Any information or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated![/SIZE]

[O&V]

Well personally I would start with going to the official canadian site for immigration.

Welcome to Citizenship and Immigration Canada

I highly doubt that the CIC may reject your perfectly proper request because they are in a bad mood or you haven't crossed your t's and dotted your i's. On the other hand if they feel you are trying to pull the wool over their eyes you may have more problems.

[KevK]

The baby will be a dual citizen of both countries but you will have to file papers and get a passport from the country the baby is not born in. That citizenship will be conveyed because of the citizenship of the parent.
As for you and your wife, it is very rare that Canada or the USA challenge legitimacy of marriages between the citizens of either country. Living standards being largely the same, there is not a problem with paid for or arranged marriages between the USA and Canada. And the fact you have a child together makes that even less likely. All they will want to see most likely is your marriage license and the baby's birth certificate (make SURE the hospital puts BOTH names on it).

[jraf]

The baby will not be a dual citizen automatically. It will be a citizen of the country of birth. You can apply for citizenship in the country of residency on the child's behalf. The US, of course, discourages this (but it is perfectly legal).

[tfontaine]

my situation is somewhat different; i am an american woman, and met my canadian now-husband, four years ago, and we decided to get married and that i would move to montreal. there are different ways to 'immigrate' to canada, and we chose the 'sponsor as a spouse' option, so we got married june 2007, then started our paperwork package. we did not have a huge wedding either, just close family, made some informal pictures, (not for documentation purposes, but for sentimental reasons, however we knew it would be good to include them in the package) then we followed the instructions. you have to get your FBI check (the person coming to canada) and that was not as long as we thought it would be. the paperwork is very extensive, (not sure, have you filled yours out yet?) and then had to complete the medical exam. THEN the packet was ready to send in. we sent ours end of august, and i just received word LAST WEEK, (so that is August 07 to April 08) that my application is ready for visa issuance.

basically i will be allowed to 'land' in canada as a permanent resident, as soon as my passport comes back from detroit, and as i cross the border 'offiically' i will be given a temporary PERMANENT resident card. then my 'REAL' one will arrive in the mail at my montreal address within 2 weeks.

this appears to be nearly over, but it has in my opinion, taken long enough, for such a simple and straightforward case. i have a clear FBI check, clear health history, etc., plus we are married. one thing the paperwork (both online, and 'real' paper) did not explain to us, is that i would 'need' an official visitor record! we were crossing the border into canada by car, and they sent us to the special office, once they realized we were married, and of different countries. they gave us a hard time until we went to the car and returned with our THICK file of immigration application, receipt to show we had paid fees for applying, etc. and then they made up a visitor record for me. the border guard says it is up to the individual immigration agent, whether to let ANYONE from another country in or not. and how long, they can stay. although supposedly, you can stay for 6 months, when it is 'stamped'. this agent saw our situation, told us it would be 8 to 12 months before our papers would 'probably' go through, and wrote my visitor record to allow me one full year, of staying in canada. check this out. please note, the papers i received last week, noted that if you are pregnant after the application was filed, the baby must be born in canada, otherwise you would have to apply for the baby to come along as well. : ( and that would mean extra time, extra fees, and of course, extra waiting for services. good luck with this.

[Cornerguy1]

we sent ours end of august, and i just received word LAST WEEK, (so that is August 07 to April 08) that my application is ready for visa issuance.

7 months doesn't seem terribly unreasonable. Many immigration applicants wait for twice that amount of time.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by O&V

Well personally I would start with going to the official canadian site for immigration.

Welcome to Citizenship and Immigration Canada

I highly doubt that the CIC may reject your perfectly proper request because they are in a bad mood or you haven't crossed your t's and dotted your i's. On the other hand if they feel you are trying to pull the wool over their eyes you may have more problems.

Everything in this reply is perfect and spot-on.
DON'T rely on what anonymous strangers say they THINK MIGHT BE your situation, and others' experiences are only mildly relevant. Go straight to the source, do your work, cross your t's, be polite to officials. Those are the rules of the game, and if you want to play you have to follow the rules. It's the same for any country.

It will work for you. Best of luck to you!