Canadian Immigration Questions and Answers with Attorney David Cohen

Every month, Attorney David Cohen will answer a few general Canadian immigration questions submitted by our readers. These questions cover immigration programs, eligibility, processing, language requirements, investing in Canada, landing, admissibility, studying in Canada, working in Canada, and much more.

Here are this month’s questions and answers.

1. Hello,

I applied under the FSW program under NOC 2132 (Mechanical Engineers) in December, 2014. I haven’t heard anything so far regarding my application. Can I apply under the Express Entry system without knowing the status of my previous application?
Kindly suggest.

Regardless of what the status of your existing application is, you may enter the Express Entry pool as long as you remain eligible for at least one of the three federal economic immigration programs processed through the Express Entry system. If you receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence in Canada through Express Entry and choose to make an e-application thereafter, you will first have to withdraw any previous economic immigration application you made previously.

2. Good Day,

Can I re-apply for spousal sponsorship (husband) once the previous application was withdrawn ? We are still married. We separated for a few months and now we are back together. If I could apply again, would I have to start the whole process again or we could re open the last application?

Really appreciate your feedback. Thank you and have a nice day.

In almost all cases, once an application is withdrawn it is withdrawn permanently. If you remained married to your spouse throughout the period of separation and satisfy all other spousal sponsorship requirements, however, you may be in a position to begin a new immigration application.

You may fill out a free assessment of your eligibility for spousal sponsorship, and I will get back to you regarding your options shortly afterward.

3. I have been picked from the Express Entry pool and invited to apply, but I’m unsure if I will get the FBI clearance back prior to the 60 day deadline under Express Entry. I used to live in the United States. Can I apply without it, but show that I have applied and should get the clearance in the near future?

In exceptional circumstances, some applicants may experience delays in obtaining police certificate within the 60-day timeframe allocated to submit a complete an application under Express Entry. In such situations, applicants should submit a letter of explanation as part of their application and include proof of having requested a police certificate (for example, a copy of the receipt obtained when they requested the police certificate from the prescribed authority). Efforts should be made as early as possible to obtain the relevant police certificate, and any receipt(s) should be forwarded with the letter of explanation when the application is made. Once the hard copy of the police certificate is obtained, it may be sent to the following courier address:

ATTN: CSU-EE

Centralized Intake Office

49 Dorchester Street

Sydney, NS B1P 5Z2

The officer’s discretion may be required in assessing whether police clearances that do not fall within these time limits are valid and reliable for the purpose of evaluating admissibility.