Inland or outland - Thailand

Hello Everyone!

I am asking this question for my friend who has married a woman from Thailand.  She is living in Canada now on a work permit which expires in January.  I was wondering if anyone could recommend which visa office to send the application to - ie inland our outland?

If they do decided to go the inland route, can they send the application with a work permit application which would give implied status so she can continue to work at her current job?

Thanks so much!

It's a tough call.

But inland is going to take about six months before it reaches first stage approval. Here's where it gets iffy, she can include an open work permit application with it and they may or may not issue the OWP. If she does not get first stage approval, the file will just be transferred to the local CIC office and no work permit will be issued. She will not have implied status to continue working, once her current work permit expires she would no longer be legally allowed to work in canada.

Going outland would have her being processed in Singapore. Their processing time right now is 5-15 months. So she could get lucky and be done processing in 5-6 months, or she could end up taking longer, plus there's the issue of needing to fly to Singapore if they require an interview.

She also is not from a visa exempt country so she may not be granted a visitor visa to stay with her spouse while things process.

If she knows that she has a strong case, I would go the inland route. She can stay and work, and hopefully receive an open work permit with first stage approval. But she should know that she must stay in Canada while this processes. Even if she does not get an OWP, she has to stay in canada. If she leaves and is not allowed to enter again, they'll reject her application.

If her employer will not extend her work permit and she does not get first stage approval and an OWP, she can apply to change her status to stay as a visitor while everything processes. But she can't work so her husband would have to support her. She also does not need to have legal status in the country to have her application processed, but without legal status she risks being deported before the application is finalized. If she doesn't get an OWP, she can also see if her employer will extend her work permit for another year

Inland applications also have no right to appeal. They can take years to process before PR is granted and there is no first stage approval and OWP guarantee. But outland may require flying to Singapore for an interview or leaving the country once her work permit expires.

Her choice and each option has pros and cons. The Singapore timeline isn't very long, but the risk of an interview and lengthy timeline and needing to go back to Thailand to wait while it finishes processing are things to consider. She can stay with her spouse while an outland is processed, but there's no OWP option to apply for, and again there's the interview risk

I would just explain both options and have them make their own decision. You can help them by making sure they understand the process and the pros and cons of each.

Your conscience should remain clear so long as they make their own choice instead of having you make one for them. Be the information giver and not the decision maker.

lawyers for straight forward cases are typically a waste of money