American Citizen Marries Quebeciose

[concorde411]

Hello Again Everyone,

I first want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my questions and for taking the effort to answer them. Thanks a million!

I am a US citizen looking to marry my sponsor (who was born, raised, educated and worked her entire life in Quebec)
So here is my new question:
1. My sponsor is legally seperated from her husband but she is still legally married so we have abandoned the idea of being sponsored via 'conjugcal partner' class
Question: When my sponsor and I get married (in Quebec) is it true that I am allowed to stay with her in Quebec while my papers are being processed? Meaning can I stay in Quebec and not have to return? I can apply inland?

2. What are the Quebec laws regarding remarriage? Meaning, say my sponsor got divorced on June 20 (just an example) could I then in theory be allowed to marry her on June 21? I don't remember where but I do recall hearing something along the lines that we have to wait at least a month after her divorce before we got married.

3. Any idea how long it takes for a final judgement to be made in the province of Quebec? Meaning how long does it take (on average) for a divorce to be finalized in Quebec?

4. If I am allowed to stay in Quebec while my papers are being processed, am I allowed to sign up for some type of work permkt. Keep in mind that I have saved enough money to last me a year (if need be) without work.

5. Through marriage, are the odds better that the government will finally allow us to be together?

Thank you all in advance for your kind attention and help. I really need to know what the next step is so that we don't lose anymore precious time together. Thank you!

Cheers.

 

[matthewc]

1. You'll need to wait until the divorce comes through and get married, or live together for a full year and apply as common-law. Conjugal class most likely won't work in your situation, as there's nothing preventing you from living together for a year or marrying after the divorce comes through.

Visiting Canada is a separate process from applying for Permanent Residence. This site details some of the specifics for US applicants. Even if you want to visit Canada during processing, that doesn't mean you should apply through the inland process. You can apply through the overseas process even if you're in Canada - and it's usually faster, and gives you appeal rights if refused.

2 / 3. No idea, sorry.

4. Through the inland PR route, you can get an open work permit about 6-7 months in the the process if all goes well, however most outside Canada applications are finished entirely faster than that (at which point you can work). If you go the outside Canada route (which is what I'd recommend) then you'd need to qualify for a work permit just like any other foreign national wanting to work temporarily in Canada, PR application or not. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/work.asp You'd need to find an employer to offer you a job, with a labour market opinion (to show that they've not been able to find a Canadian / PR to do the job).

5. If you're married, have a genuine, continuing relationship, and provide plenty of proof, your PR application should be approved.

 

[concorde411]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions!!! I'm so very grateful for your help.
I just have one last question: It pretains to question number 1. When we do get married in Quebec, am I legally allowed to live there (not work of course, unless I am granted permission) but can I live there with her and not have to return to the USA while my papers are being processed? I heard somewhere that I am allowed to stay in Canada without having to return while my spousal sponsorship papers are being processed. Do you think that's true? Can I really stay with her and then (God willing) if I'm granted, I can live with her in Quebec forever?

Thank you again for your time and all your help!!!!
Cheers!

 

[PMM]

Hi

quote author=concorde411 link=topic=39281.msg265279#msg265279 date=1271349457]
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions!!! I'm so very grateful for your help.
I just have one last question: It pretains to question number 1. When we do get married in Quebec, am I legally allowed to live there (not work of course, unless I am granted permission) but can I live there with her and not have to return to the USA while my papers are being processed? I heard somewhere that I am allowed to stay in Canada without having to return while my spousal sponsorship papers are being processed. Do you think that's true? Can I really stay with her and then (God willing) if I'm granted, I can live with her in Quebec forever?

Thank you again for your time and all your help!!!!
Cheers!
[/quote]

1. The divorce doesn't become final until 30 days after the degree nisi.
2. Only if you get a visitor extension that allows you to remain in Canada.

 

[BeShoo]

When we do get married in Quebec, am I legally allowed to live there (not work of course, unless I am granted permission) but can I live there with her and not have to return to the USA while my papers are being processed?

Technically, no, you can't live in Quebec just because you are married to a Quebecoise or just because you have applied for PR. What you can do is visit. Normally a visitor is allowed to stay no more than 6 months, but you can ask for an extension a month before that expires, and they will usually grant it while a PR is in process, as long as all other conditions are okay.

In order to qualify as a visitor, you need to specify a purpose for your visit, and you need to convince them that you are are willing and able to return to the U.S. when your visit ends. If you keep being granted extensions until the PR is approved, your visit might end when you get permanent residency, but is any extension is denied or if you are denied PR, you will have to return to the U.S. In order to let you in on a visit, you need to show that you have a place to go back to in the U.S. (because you will still live in the U.S. during your long visit to Canada), and you need to show ties to the U.S. (preferably responsibilities and obligations: a job, property, family that needs to be taken care of).

Also, since you are only coming temporarily for now, you can't bring your furniture or other such permanent belongings. You should limit yourself to the sorts of things that you would take anywhere for a 4-6 month trip. Of course you need to have a way to support yourself (or be supported by your wife) during your visit, because you likely won't be able to work for some time, and they want to feel that you won't work illegally.

 

[ralu1150]

I am sort of in a similar situation myself: I am a canadian citizen and I want to sponsor my bf who I've been living with for a year as a common-law partner. It seems difficult to decide between the inland/outland applications. From what I understand:

Inland:
- you get no appeal (you have to reapply is your application is refused)
- you have to stay in canada with your sponsor for the duration of the process
- you might be able to get an open work permit after 5 - 6 months
- they might send your application to an outside CIC office

Outland:
- you can appeal
- you might not be able to return to canada if you leave during the process
- your interview will be outside of canada (you'd have to travel and ...see previous point)
- you have to apply for a work permit separately if you wish to have one in the meantime

What I don't understand is that many people say the inland process is longer although processing times in Buffalo are between 8 to 10 months (for 80%) and in Vegreville (inland) they are 6 months.

is there something I'm missing here or is the best option to apply inland?

 

[BeShoo]

For Vegreville: "Processing times are for “First Stage Approval” (see note 4)"

"(4) Not all cases receive “first stage of approval” at CPC Vegreville. Some files may be transferred to a local CIC office. This may add further delays to the overall processing time."

And then after the first stage approval it can go on for many months or even years before it's finalized (I've seen cases of 3 years duration mentioned here). Half the cases in Buffalo are completely final after 6 months, and only 20% of them take more that 10 months in total, as you already mentioned. I've seen a couple of people on this forum mentioning getting final approval through Buffalo in only 3 months.

Not all application require an interview, so the interview location is irrelevant for some.