Well, I live in the US and my fiance lives in Canada. We've been together over two years and I wanted to know if I could marry him on my next visit. I know it'd take a while before I could actually live in canada but I wanted to know if i could still marry him.
Can you marry?
- Thread starter amberpunwasi101
- Start date
Yes, marriage in Canada is legal. Has been for some time!
No you do not need any special sort of visa such as a fiance visa or anything like that
No you do not need any special sort of visa such as a fiance visa or anything like that
LOL @ canadausa#11 
I am American and my wife is Canadian. I moved here on a temporary work permit and we married about 7 months later. Then about 4 months after that I applied to CIC for permanent residence under the family class, and it now has been 4 years to the date since I submitted my application and it is still in process, though this is longer than average for similar cases (mine was complicated due to non-accompanying children, which may or may not apply in your case).
You do have a decision to make here, as I assume your goal is to live together in Canada. If you are already here like I was, you will likely apply inland... be prepared for the process to take 2-3 years, but you will also likely have no problems with renewing your temporary status as needed until it is completed.
If, however, the two of you plan to live in the US until you get permanent residence (assuming she can do so legally), then you can apply outland, which seems to have a faster processing time.
I am American and my wife is Canadian. I moved here on a temporary work permit and we married about 7 months later. Then about 4 months after that I applied to CIC for permanent residence under the family class, and it now has been 4 years to the date since I submitted my application and it is still in process, though this is longer than average for similar cases (mine was complicated due to non-accompanying children, which may or may not apply in your case).
You do have a decision to make here, as I assume your goal is to live together in Canada. If you are already here like I was, you will likely apply inland... be prepared for the process to take 2-3 years, but you will also likely have no problems with renewing your temporary status as needed until it is completed.
If, however, the two of you plan to live in the US until you get permanent residence (assuming she can do so legally), then you can apply outland, which seems to have a faster processing time.
He/she should apply outland either way. Presuming the OP is an American citizen (so the application for sure should go to Ottawa), processing speeds through Ottawa seem to be speeding up, 4-6 months is pretty realistic. No point applying inland to get a work permit in 4 months but have to wait 1 year + for the actual PR when with an extra 1-4 months you can have the whole thing done outland.
The other consideration that sometimes gets overlooked: there's no appeal process for inland applications. If the application is denied, that's the end of it. But there is an appeal process for outland applications. This is probably not a major consideration since most PR applications are approved, but it's worth mentioning.canadausa#11 said: