₦airaland Forum

NoLevel:
Hi Bigmills. Pls how long did it take to get a response on your GCMS request from the time you applied for it?

TundeTheHunter:
Hello everyone,
I am a new member to the thread. I applied for common law sponsorship (outland) with my girlfriend in Canada. We applied through the outland route although we live in Canada in November 2025( received AOR in January 2026) , so my application is going to be processed in the Nigerian office. Please has anyone heard of any other similar application? What is the typical wait time for such applications in Nigeria right now

TundeTheHunter:
Hello everyone,
I am a new member to the thread. I applied for common law sponsorship (outland) with my girlfriend in Canada. We applied through the outland route although we live in Canada in November 2025( received AOR in January 2026) , so my application is going to be processed in the Nigerian office. Please has anyone heard of any other similar application? What is the typical wait time for such applications in Nigeria right now

TundeTheHunter:
Received BIL today!

bigmills:
Less than 1 Month.I used https://www.getgcms.com/en
They are very reliable

bigmills:
If you can do medical upfront, please do it as well.

NoLevel:
My spouse’s medical expired last year and we did another one upfront. It’s been almost 6 months and GCMS is showing medicals as “Passed-Expired”. Don’t know if it’s Q-life that hasn’t sent the updated results 6 months after.

NoLevel:
Thank you, Bigmills. Gotten mine as well. It seems my file has been transferred to Accra because that is what I’m seeing under Secondary Office. Primary Office has RROC.

Thanks a lot. We will smile soon by God’s grace.

TundeTheHunter:
I completed upfront medicals yesterday Thursday March 12th. This morning I received a request for a medical exam on my portal, but I guess it was triggered by my upfront medical. And my spouse received an email showing her eligibility to sponsor is passed

overeighteen:
Hi everyone I am just about to apply for my wifes spousal sponsorship.

I have got 2 questions :
1. Whatsup with upfront medicals, how is that done please ?
2. Anyone know how to pay with naira ?

Thank you.

overeighteen:
Hi everyone I am just about to apply for my wifes spousal sponsorship.

I have got 2 questions :
1. Whatsup with upfront medicals, how is that done please ?
2. Anyone know how to pay with naira ?

Thank you.

TundeTheHunter:
After submitting your application you can do upfront medicals or wait until it is requested.
Upfront medicals means taking your medical exam unprompted, before they ask for it as part of your application. Usually medicals are requested at the very end of the processing time, and is usually a sign you are about to get approved. But, you can go to a recognized IRCC physician and take medicals. The advantage of taking medicals upfront, is that it might reduce your processing time a little bit.
Link: https://secure.cic.gc.ca/PanelPhysicianMedecinDesigne/en/Home

mhizfranca:
Spousal Sponsorship Timeline (Outland – Nigeria)

Sponsor: PR
PA: Nigeria
Application Submitted: Dec 17, 2025
AOR: Feb 5, 2026
BIL: Feb 11, 2026
Biometrics Completed: Feb 17, 2026
Upfront Medical Done: Feb 18, 2026 (Tracker still shows Not Started)
Sponsor Approval (SA): Feb 19, 2026

Please, how long does it usually take IRCC to update upfront medicals on the tracker?

zainjok567:
hi

please, my wife landed as PR in mid feb 2026. i was included as non-accompanying in her application, she recently got a job as a casual employee. can i start my PR processing immediately? or wait till she gets a full-time employment

thank you

overeighteen:
Hi everyone I need some clarification regarding spousal sponsorship.

My wife applied for visitor visa 3 years ago and did biometrics.

She was rejected for the visitor visa then.

Now we are about to submit her pr application for her spousal sponsorship.

Do we need to still pay for biometrics since the biometrics she took for her visitor visa is not expired ?

Also I have already paid 1,205cad for the application, in case she needs a new biometric am I to pay the extra 85cad for biometric and attach them to the application ?

I am confused here... Thanks

Mackie1:
Hi. Is LG Civil wedding certificate accepted or do I need to visit the Federal Registry in Ikoyi or Ibadan for one for the purpose of Spousal Sponsorship..? thanks

bigmills:
Hi All,

We have received Pre-Arrival Service letter from Accra VO exactly 13 months since we submitted our family sponsorship application.

NoLevel:
Congratulations, Bigmills! Still thought about checking in with you this week. So happy for you.

Thejohns50:
Hi bigmills , how long did you wait after medicals before getting your pre Arrival?

bigmills:
So here is what we have been up to.
My partner's visitor visa came through — she is now here in Canada with me while we wait for the PR to be finalised. The visa is valid until 2035 which matches her 10-year passport. This is actually something IRCC allows for people already in the family sponsorship process, and the good news is the visitor visa processing for this type of application is usually pretty quick.
The second thing we sorted out — I reached out to the Accra office and told them that since she is already here in Canada, there was no point sending a PPR through the overseas office. I asked them to issue an eCOPR instead so she can get her PR status right here without having to travel back. They came back and said they are happy to do that, but the medical results need to have at least 90 days validity left before they can go ahead with it.
So we went and did a fresh medical and submitted everything yesterday.
Now we just wait for them to confirm the medical has been received and processed — and after that, the eCOPR should come through.