American Flight Attendant Moving to TO for Canadian Boyfriend

[Clothilde]

Hello all,

I am an American flight attendant in the United States, and I would like to move in with my boyfriend, in Toronto. He is Canadian and works for a Canadian company.

Does anyone know whether I need a Visa to move to Toronto? Because as a flight attendant, I would be leaving Canada once a week for my flights in the US. Would it be illegal for me to not declare that I live in Toronto?

Also, is there a "concubinage" type of Visa I would be eligible to apply for? And if so, would it be fiscally wise to do so- considering I am already paying taxes in the US?

Thank you for any response regarding this matter!!

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately there's no "concubinage" visa. In order for your boyfriend to sponsor you for permanent residency in Canada, you would either have to be married or common law (have lived together for a minimum of one full year).

And yes - you would need some kind of visa or alternatively permanent residency to move to Canada. You can move to Canada under a study visa, but you would have to be in school full time. A work visa is another option, but you would have to be working in Canada - and your flight attendant job definitely won't qualify.

As of now, you are allowed to visit Canada but certainly not live here. What you are planning on doing is definitely "living" in Canada. My feeling is that you would probably be able to get away with it for a while (impossible to say how long) - but then sooner or later Canadian immigration would likely start questioning why you are using Canada as a home base since you are not authorized to live in Canada. If this happens, there's always some chance they might restrict your ability to enter Canada.

There's really no easy solution to your situation. The short answer is that there's no legal way for you to live in Canada now.

 

[Clothilde]

Unfortunately there's no "concubinage" visa. In order for your boyfriend to sponsor you for permanent residency in Canada, you would either have to be married or common law (have lived together for a minimum of one full year).

And yes - you would need some kind of visa or alternatively permanent residency to move to Canada. You can move to Canada under a study visa, but you would have to be in school full time. A work visa is another option, but you would have to be working in Canada - and your flight attendant job definitely won't qualify.

As of now, you are allowed to visit Canada but certainly not live here. What you are planning on doing is definitely "living" in Canada. My feeling is that you would probably be able to get away with it for a while (impossible to say how long) - but then sooner or later Canadian immigration would likely start questioning why you are using Canada as a home base since you are not authorized to live in Canada. If this happens, there's always some chance they might restrict your ability to enter Canada.

There's really no easy solution to your situation. The short answer is that there's no legal way for you to live in Canada now.

Wouldn't getting married to my boyfriend be a legal way for me to move to Canada (while still keeping my job in the US)?

Thank you for your reply!

 

[scylla]

Wouldn't getting married to my boyfriend be a legal way for me to move to Canada (while still keeping my job in the US)?

Thank you for your reply!

No - getting married does not allow you to legally move to Canada. Getting married will allow your boyfriend to sponsor you for permanent residency (PR). Once you are approved as a permanent resident of Canada, only then will you be allowed to live in Canada.

If you are planning on getting married, then do that as soon as you can so that you can submit the sponsorship application as soon as you can. Since you're American, the processing time for your application should be less than a year (hopefully quite a bit less than a year).

 

[Clothilde]

No - getting married does not allow you to legally move to Canada. Getting married will allow your boyfriend to sponsor you for permanent residency (PR). Once you are approved as a permanent resident of Canada, only then will you be allowed to live in Canada.

If you are planning on getting married, then do that as soon as you can so that you can submit the sponsorship application as soon as you can. Since you're American, the processing time for your application should be less than a year (hopefully quite a bit less than a year).

Thank you-

And getting back to the work issue: can I be sponsored by my Canadian husband to become a Permanent Resident of Canada if I work in the United States?

And upon becoming a Permanent Resident, will I be able to apply for Canadian citizenship? Do I have to let go of my other passports?


Thanks again.

 

[Leon]

Thank you-

And getting back to the work issue: can I be sponsored by my Canadian husband to become a Permanent Resident of Canada if I work in the United States?

And upon becoming a Permanent Resident, will I be able to apply for Canadian citizenship? Do I have to let go of my other passports?


Thanks again.

Yes, you can be sponsored by a Canadian husband for PR if you work in the US.

Upon becoming a permanent resident, you need to fulfill the requirement of spending 1095 days (3 years) in Canada over no more than a period of 4 years in order to be able to apply for Canadian citizenship. If your flight attendant job keeps you out of Canada so much that you are unable to meet the 1095 days obligation, you would not qualify. If you are able to show strong ties with Canada and if you are working for a Canadian employer at that time, you could still try to apply and see if they give it to you. Canada will not require you to give up other citizenships that you may have.

If you do not apply for citizenship, your PR card will need to be renewed periodically and in order to renew it, you must show that you have spent at least 730 days in Canada in your first 5 years as a PR and any rolling 5 year period after that. If your job keeps you away from Canada so much that you are unable to spend 730 days / 5 years, you should really consider changing jobs. Maybe you can get a job with a Canadian airline on domestic routes instead.

 

[Clothilde]

Got it- Thank you for all this information!

-Clothilde