As
@scylla commented, a partner with a passport from a visa-exempt country "
doesn't need a TRV to visit Canada since she holds a German passport. She can visit on the eTA. However this will only allow her to visit Canada, not move here or live here."
To be allowed entry into Canada as a visitor one must, of course, intend to depart Canada within the time allowed.
As long as the Foreign National traveler intends to depart Canada timely, it is OK if they also have an intent to seek status to stay in Canada long term or even permanently. (Been there, done this.) That is, Canadian immigration authorities recognize "dual intent," meaning a traveler who intends to visit while at the same time intending to pursue long term residence. And this is OK.
That is, as
@armoured observed,
dual intent actually works in a Foreign National's favour, not against it. It allows a FN to enter Canada as a visitor even while, for example, they have an application for Permanent Residence in Canada pending, or even if they intend to make an inland sponsored PR application while in Canada. Such travelers run into difficulty if and when border officials suspect they do not have dual intent, apprehending the traveler does not intend to depart Canada timely (if and when visitor status ends without being granted other status to remain).
The other . . . well, it is what it is . . . the other poster here is way off on a lot and it appears this is often deliberate, intentional provocation, purposeful disruption (lately, occasionally, weaving in some accurate observations, which appears to be a Trojan Horse disguise to facilitate spreading confusion, masking the deliberately misleading diversions). The observations about remaining silent, for example, appear to be deliberate provocation, intended to disrupt and confuse. That said, the erroneous observations about dual intent might simply be a failure to understand how things work in Canada, although it appears this is more likely rooted in refractory ignorance, while otherwise noting that perhaps it is just more disruptive trolling.
In contrast,
@armoured gets this right:
It is the practical side of the equation that poses the more daunting difficulties for a couple in your situation. Since it will be nearly two years more before you are in compliance with the Residency Obligation, sponsoring your partner is not a wise approach for at least a long while. Even though your partner might potentially qualify for status that would facilitate remaining in Canada long term, odds are it will be temporary visits at best for some time. It is a scenario that can be a tough go for some couples.
The
no-risk approach to sponsoring a partner requires waiting until you are in compliance with the RO before initiating the sponsored partner PR application. There has been some fairly reliable, consistent anecdotal reporting that being a little short of RO compliance
typically does not trigger a RO compliance examination, and thus does not cause a problem getting sponsor approval,
typically. Similar to what has been described about your odds of getting waived through the PoE during your next arrival (assuming it is quite soon).
BUT making any application which depends on the validity of your PR status (such as being eligible to sponsor a family class PR applicant) can trigger a RO compliance examination and determination. Many PRs short of compliance just need to remain in Canada a little longer to get into compliance, and the anecdotal reporting generally indicates IRCC is not strict in its approach to such cases (with exceptions, the more or less obvious UNLESS situations, such as a PR who is clearly in breach, and also does not appear to be settled in Canada, applying to sponsor a partner).
HOWEVER, for you, even though you are only a little short of being in compliance, from now until the fifth year anniversary of your landing you do not gain any additional credit towards compliance. So, despite being short by a little, you will remain short for a long while. If you come soon, are waived into Canada, and you stay, a year from now, a calculation of your RO compliance will be exactly the same as it was the day you return to Canada.
This brings up a somewhat complicated nuance in how the PR RO works.
This dovetails into the other cautionary observation posted by
@armoured about traveling abroad again after you get here. And brings up an aspect of the situation that was not fully addressed:
the sooner you get here, the smaller the breach as of when you arrive, the better the odds there will be no problem.
As noted before, anytime a PR is in breach of the RO, there is a RISK of a RO examination upon arrival at the PoE. That entails the further RISK of being Reported and a decision terminating PR status. (To be clear, that does NOT mean there is a RISK of being immediately deported or denied entry into Canada. Even if a Removal Order is issued at the PoE that does not take effect for at least 30 days, so the PR will be allowed to continue into Canada; and if the PR files an appeal, that decision to terminate status remains unenforceable as long as the appeal is pending.)
The latter is not intended to revisit let alone revise previous observations about the PROBABILITIES of your arrival here going well (assuming it happens fairly soon). As well noted (assuming no other lurking issues not revealed), in your situation the odds lean heavily in your favour. I do not even mean to diminish those at all.
But every day more in breach increases the risks and it is very, very difficult to forecast the tipping point. Hard to predict when the odds go south. It is not just the numbers (credit for days in Canada, number of days outside Canada), but the numbers loom large.
For purposes of making an application to sponsor a partner's PR application, the hard side of this is that between now and the fifth year anniversary of your landing, your RO calculation never gets better. It can get worse, for days you remain abroad before coming you lose credit, and if you were to take chances and travel abroad again in the meantime, likewise that would decrease the days credit you have.
Your H&C factors improve as long as you stay in Canada. Days actually in Canada weigh more than credit for future days left on the calendar until the fifth year anniversary. And as you get closer to the threshold for being in compliance, the risk involved in making the sponsorship application lessens. But the only NO-Risk approach is to wait until in compliance, and for you that will be nearly two years from now IF you come soon and stay.
