Bringing Pregnant Girlfriend to Canada

[ryanpaul]

Hi All. I've read alot of posts in this forums, anything that has anything similar to my situation but I can't seem to find any solution based on different advice/experiences, and also conflicting posts with the cic sites...

I have been living in Panama, with a girlfriend from Colombia for the past year. I am a tourist here, and have retained my canadian residency. I own property both here and in Canada, and my work is in Canada.

My girlfriend is 3 months pregnant, and I'm trying to learn about what my options are to bring her to canada before/after our baby is born. I am ready to marry her, and I know from the sounds of it, I will need to, and the best route is to sponsor her as my spouse. The situation is a bit more complicated as well, as she has a 2 year old daughter. She does have sole custody though.

Here are my confusions/questions:
- If I marry her now quickly, does that help me, or do I then look like it's a quick marriage just for residency?
- The turn around time for spouses is around ~40 days, but does that require me being in Canada for that entire time? During the time of the application?
- If It was a spousal application, do I have to provide income/financial support info(I'm self employed).
- Do I stand a chance of sponsoring her/daughter for a temporary visa if we're married or not?

I'm on the complicated end of the spectrum for sure, and I can't seem to get any good answers from any of the consulates/websites/phone numbers, other then redirecting from one office to another to get an answering machine or a new number, pointing me back to where I started.

Any insight is appreciated.

 

[Leon]

Since you got her pregnant, it will not look like a quick marriage just for residency. Marry her and apply to sponsor her and her daughter for permanent residency. The sponsorship application itself (approve you as a sponsor) takes around 43 days but the processing of the sponsored persons PR application takes longer. Her file will be sent to the visa office responsible for Panama if she is legally living there, otherwise Columbia and depends on their workload when it's done. Bogota average is 7 months for spouse while Guatemala City (for Panama) is 9. Send in all the possible proof you have of your relationship, photos most important.

If your comment about having maintained your residency meant to say that you are PR, you can not sponsor from outside Canada as a PR. You can travel while the sponsorship is in progress as long as you have somebody at your Canadian address picking up your mail so you can be sure not to miss any correspondance with immigration. If you are a citizen, you could sponsor from outside Canada but you would need to prove that you are planning to reside in Canada after they get PR.

You do not have to show income to sponsor spouse only but to sponsor her daughter, you do, the charts for income can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900E10.asp

The forms and info for application can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp

 

[RobsLuv]

First you say you've retained your "Canadian residency" - what's most important to this discussion is whether or not you are a Canadian citizen. If you are a Canadian citizen, you can sponsor your partner while you are with her in Panama. If you are not a Canadian citizen, you have to be residing in Canada in order to be eligible to sponsor her.

Secondly, marrying her will make the application process a bit less complicated because you will not have to prove that you have a qualifying common-law partnership by submitting documentation that shows that you have lived together, in a conjugal relationship, for at least one continuous year. So, if you're willing/able to marry - do that first. It will not look like a "quick marriage just for residency" as long as you can demonstrate that the two of you have been a couple in a genuine relationship for quite some time and that this relationship was not entered into just to facilitate her entry to Canada.

You actually MUST apply to sponsor her daughter, too, when you apply to sponsor her. She is required to include her daughter on her application to immigrate, (even if she wasn't bringing the child to Canada), and she will have to show that she has sole custody or else get permission to immigrate from the child's biological father. And Leon is incorrect, there is no income requirement for spousal sponsorships - even with dependent children. You only fall under the minimum income requirement if your spouse's dependent child has a dependent child of their own. See Section 10.3 of the OP2 Processing Manual.

Sponsors of dependent children and of spouses, common-law partners or conjugal partners (unless they have dependent children who have dependent children of their own) do not have to meet financial requirements, but they do undertake to provide for the basic necessities of the sponsored applicants so that the applicants do not need social assistance.

Regardless, you should be able to show that you have a sufficient income to support them by including either an Option C printout for Canadian income, or tax returns filed in Panama. One of the things you will be required to do, as a sponsor living abroad, is provide evidence of your plans and intention to return to Canada, as well as demonstrating your ability to support them once you arrive. You say you're self-employed and your work is in Canada, so that should make things relatively easy in that regard.

The turn around time for a spousal application depends on the Embassy that will process the file. The whole package will go first to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, ON, where they assess your eligibility to sponsor. That takes about 44 days. If you are approved as a sponsor, the file will be sent to the overseas visa office for assessment of her eligibility to immigrate. I'm not entirely sure which visa office will be processing her file - you say you are in Panama, but that she is from Columbia. If she was, on her initial entry, legally admitted to Panama for a period of at least one year and she provides that documentation with her PR ap, her file could be sent to Guatemala City. Their processing timeline is 7-16 months. Otherwise (or if you both prefer) her case can or will be assessed in Bogota, because she is Columbian. Their processing timeline is 6-12 months. It's important to consider that, if an interview is required to authenticate the genuine nature of your relationship, it will be held at the Embassy processing the file . . . but spousal (as opposed to common-law) interviews are frequently waived as long as you provide sufficient evidence of your genuine relationship with your application.

 

[ryanpaul]

Thank-you both for your replies. I am a Canadian citizen, so that makes the application process possible from out of Canada. Does that same 43 days still apply for the Canadian side, if I'm doing the application from outside of the country?

I've read over those charts, but thanks for clearing up whether I have to provide support for her or just her daughter. I do meet the requirements there.

One of my main goals would be to have her in Canada during the last months of her pregnancy and to deliver the baby. It doesn't sound like this is possible through this route. And I've also read that it's not possible to apply for Temporary residency while another application is in being processsed. Would my best be to apply to sponsor her now as a temporary residency - travel/tourist visa for up to 6 months, and then after that come back down here, while doing the application for permanent residency?

 

[Leon]

You could absolutely try to bring her over on a visitor visa, even get married in Canada and apply inland. The question is just if immigration will give her a visitor visa. If they suspect she is planning to stay, they will not. You can try though.

Another question is health care. She will not qualify for health care as a visitor so you will be paying for the baby being born by yourself. I have heard $5000 and $8000. Maybe check with a hospital where you live. Also depends on if there are complications, then it could be a lot more.

I am not sure there is a way to bring her to Canada legally so she could be covered by health care soon enough. If you get married asap and apply right away through Bogota and hope that you get through fast, in most provinces, after she arrives, she would still have to wait 3 months to get coverage. Some provinces don't do that when you are moving from a different country or don't do that for pregnancy. You would have to check where you live.

 

[ryanpaul]

Thanks for the info. Your concerns are all the same as mine, and I'm trying to figure out what I can do to first give her the best opportunity for applying, as far as showing she has ties, and will come back ,etc. And then to see what options I have for both health care in Canada, as well as with travel insurance / out of country medical.

 

[RobsLuv]

The biggest hurdle you face is that your gf is from a country that requires a visitor visa to come to Canada. But, you cannot apply to sponsor her for a TRV - if the visa officer knows that she is in a relationship with you, that she is having your child, or that you intend to file a PR application on her behalf, the TRV will be denied. That is because her intention MUST be to visit Canada temporarily . . . her relationship with you, the pregnancy and the fact that she intends to apply to stay permanently all mean that she will be unable to convince the visa officer assessing her TRV application that she has temporary intent! In order to get a TRV she's going to have to convince the visa officer that she has another, credible reason for visiting Canada and that she has the means and intent to return to Panama at the end of her stay.

If she can manage to get the TRV on her own, and you all come to Canada, you would definitely be better off applying to sponsor her for permanent status via the inland process once you arrive. That would allow her to stay in Canada and have the baby here. But you'll have to be sure to include an application to extend her TRV WITH the inland PR application so that it protects her temporary status in Canada during processing. The extension application and the inland application have to be received at the Case Processing Center in Vegreville BEFORE her TRV expires. This allows her to stay in Canada under "implied status" until the first stage of assessment is completed on her inland application and she is granted a new temporary status document. (Most people apply for a work permit when they submit the extension ap with the inland ap.) Just be sure, if you follow this route, that you carefully present your case so that the PR will be approved. If you intend to apply as common-law partners, rather than marrying, you will have to be able to prove that you have lived together for at least one continuous year or you risk not being approved. The inland application has no right of appeal, so if it's refused, she would have to leave Canada. Also, the inland process can take between 12-18 months to finalize - and, like Leon said, whether or not she and her daughter are eligible for healthcare (and even school for the child) during that time depends on the Province.

If she can't get a TRV to visit Canada, your only option is to apply to sponsor her via the outland route. Once the outland ap is in process, there is no way that a visa officer will issue her a TRV because, by virtue of having filed an application requesting permanent status she will no longer be able to prove that she only intends to remain in Canada temporarily - so having the baby in Canada would probably not be possible due to restrictions on travel in her final tri-mester, etc. Also, one thing you may not have considered yet is that she is not going to be able to complete the medical exam until later in her pregnancy because of the x-ray requirement . . . so finalizing the ap will be delayed due to that. Bottom line, hers and the baby's health are your most important consideration, and the good nnews is that whether the baby is born in Canada or in Panama, s/he will still be a Canadian citizen.

 

[gunadeepak10]

Hi All. I've read alot of posts in this forums, anything that has anything similar to my situation but I can't seem to find any solution based on different advice/experiences, and also conflicting posts with the cic sites...

I have been living in Panama, with a girlfriend from Colombia for the past year. I am a tourist here, and have retained my canadian residency. I own property both here and in Canada, and my work is in Canada.

My girlfriend is 3 months pregnant, and I'm trying to learn about what my options are to bring her to canada before/after our baby is born. I am ready to marry her, and I know from the sounds of it, I will need to, and the best route is to sponsor her as my spouse. The situation is a bit more complicated as well, as she has a 2 year old daughter. She does have sole custody though.

Here are my confusions/questions:
- If I marry her now quickly, does that help me, or do I then look like it's a quick marriage just for residency?
- The turn around time for spouses is around ~40 days, but does that require me being in Canada for that entire time? During the time of the application?
- If It was a spousal application, do I have to provide income/financial support info(I'm self employed).
- Do I stand a chance of sponsoring her/daughter for a temporary visa if we're married or not?

I'm on the complicated end of the spectrum for sure, and I can't seem to get any good answers from any of the consulates/websites/phone numbers, other then redirecting from one office to another to get an answering machine or a new number, pointing me back to where I started.

Any insight is appreciated.

Brother, what happened after this. Did you married and got her a PR?

 

[Naturgrl]

Brother, what happened after this. Did you married and got her a PR?

Post is from 2008!