# Length of time for acceptance of Permanent Resident visa?



## Missplaced_NewYorker (Mar 9, 2012)

I'm just wondering if anyone knows the approximate length of time it takes to get an application for permanent resident visa from inside Canada approved because I want to start working as a care aide again and make plans for visiting my family back in Western NY. Oh yeah, and I've been asked if I've heard anything yet from them by my mom and a few aunts. Never mind that I haven't even heard anything back about my extension which I put in back in November.

Basically I'm just curious especially since my 7 year old keeps wanting to go home and visit my side of the family (my inlaws all live around us or at the very least in the same province). I've heard there is some backlog and my MIL has been filling my head with horror stories. But it can't be too bad since I'm married to a natural born Canadian citizen right?


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2012)

I'm not sure what you meant about the extension, but you can find the processing times here:

Processing Times: Family Sponsorship

I don't know how rigid they are, but so far I've been waiting for 9 months for Step 1...my husband's cousin's husband came over from South Africa and I think they said that Step 2 went a bit faster than anticipated, but I have no way to verify that. But after Step 1, you should be able to apply for an open work permit.

As for leaving Canada, technically you're not supposed to because they can deny you re-entry and your application will be abandoned. I had to sell my car back in October (after months of trying to sell it in the U.S. from Canada) and my husband couldn't accompany me...I drove down to visit my family and sold it there, made a couple weeks of it. To try to minimize problems we might have at the border, my husband picked me up at an airport in the U.S. and we drove back into Canada together. If you do that, bring a copy of your application and supposing they let you in, they'll also renew your visitor status. The lawyer we met with to help with our application says he hasn't heard of U.S. citizens having problems leaving and re-entering and that some people will actually leave and re-enter as a way to avoid having to pay the fee to renew their visitor status. I have no idea how likely it is for someone to encounter problems, but if you can avoid risking it, I would.


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## osiris7 (Jun 24, 2012)

So.....my residency visa began a year before I entered the country. If I stayed in the country for a year and a half, would that qualify for the 180 days in each of the preceding two years required for a permanent residency visa, even though it wasn't two years from when I actually entered the country?


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## Liam(at)Large (Sep 2, 2012)

osiris7 said:


> So.....my residency visa began a year before I entered the country. If I stayed in the country for a year and a half, would that qualify for the 180 days in each of the preceding two years required for a permanent residency visa, even though it wasn't two years from when I actually entered the country?


Are you asking about Canada or New Zealand?


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