Citizenship vs. Permanent Residence

I'm working my way through the paperwork to get a jump on applying for permanent residence status for my girl. Yes, it's very early, probably, but it is better too early than to wait and have her sit in an orphanage for any longer than necessary. I've decided to go for PR status, because it could be a couple weeks quicker, and the sooner she's home the better. Colleen from Imagine says it's good to consider the long term, and if I'm going to go for citizenship, then I may as well do it now. I hear that, but I choose to go this way anyway.

I decided to post her email to me, which reiterated the phone conversation we had about the differences. I thought maybe this could be helpful to others trying to decide. Here it is:

"Time-lines for the immigration process for either PRV or Citizenship is a case-by-case basis. We can provide you with the average time-lines that we have been experiencing. Adoption agencies have no influence over the Immigration visa office, we do our best to follow-up to stay informed.

"PRV: The first step is to submit a sponsorship application to sponsor a child from the foreign country you are adopting from. Once the application has been submitted to the CIC Mississauga office, it typically takes about 10 business days to receive correspondence from Immigration Canada, acknowledging receipt of your sponsorship application – at which time the Permanent Residence application forms can be prepared. The PR application is submitted in two stages: Once a family has given formal consent to a proposal, the child’s information is completed on the PR forms by the country representative and submitted to the Immigration Visa office in the foreign country. The visa office then opens a file for the child and begins processing the application. Typically the immigration medical is requested within 2 months from this time (some families have experienced a longer wait). After the court decision is completed and the supporting documents obtained (Birth certificate and foreign passport) are obtained (these are typically obtained any where from 3 weeks to 2 months following the court decision (again, this is out our control – this all depends on how busy the offices are that produce these documents – sometimes errors can be made on the document and it has to be reapplied for)) they are sent to the visa office to join your PR application, at which time the second stage begins. After the foreign visa office receives a copy of the court decision and supporting documents, it typically takes 3 to 8 weeks for the visa to be issued (again, some families have experience a longer wait for unknown reasons).

"CITIZENSHIP: The first step is to complete and submit the Part 1 application, which is to confirm that one of the adoptive parents is a Canadian citizen. Once the application has been submitted to the CIC Sydney office, it takes about 2 weeks to receive an acknowledgement letter, and then another 1 to 2 months to receive the Part 1 Decision letter. This is due to a high volume of applications being received by the Sydney office (the acknowledgement letter will state that it will take 2 weeks to receive the Part 1 decision letter, this has not been the case however). After the Part 1 Decision letter is issued, the Part 2 application can be prepared. The Part 2 application is not submitted to the visa office in the foreign country until the court decision is completed and the supporting documents (Birth certificate and foreign passport) are obtained. This is where the time-lines become similar to PRV. Once all documentation is obtained, it is submitted with the Part 2 application to the foreign visa office for processing. Timelines we have been seeing for the visa to be issued from this point has been 6 to 8+ weeks.

"* Note: It is not recommended to apply for both processes, as we have observed families experience a longer wait in these cases. Immigration Canada has stated that, in the case where multiple applications have been submitted, the Canadian citizenship will be assessed before the permanent residence application."

So there you go! Straight from the mouth of someone who knows what she's talking about. It doesn't sound like PR is quicker, and Colleen said sometimes it's not, it's about the same, but on average, it is a couple of weeks quicker. This is because one of the processes (I think Citizenship) is new (you couldn't apply for it straight away with adoption before I guess), so they're being real sticklers about it (and maybe just ironing out the wrinkles at this time).