My partner who is American is going to be applying for permanent residency in Canada. We are currently living outside of Canada. If he applies for residency now, can he enter Canada before it is approved as a visitor?
My partner who is American is going to be applying for permanent residency in Canada. We are currently living outside of Canada. If he applies for residency now, can he enter Canada before it is approved as a visitor?
Under what permanent residency category is your partner applying? Citizens of the US can enter Canada without a visit visa. If he has an application for permanent residency, he may be "looked at closely" when he comes for a visit but there had been cases where people with pending permanent residency applications were allowed to enter as visitors. He needs to convince the officer at any POE that his entry is temporary in nature. Presence of job in the US can be one proof he can show that he'll go back once his allowed visit is over.
It has been done before. If you are getting married when he is in Canada you should have enough proof that it is not a marriage of convenience. You can get married here and do an outland sponsorship for him. Being married to a Canadian citizen does not give him additional rights to stay so when you apply for the sponsorship, make sure that he maintain his legal status while waiting for his PR. All the best.
