Canadian about to marry a British Citizen

[daveyboy1978]

I'm assuming this post has been started/answered somewhere, however I apologize in advance as I couldn't find it. So here goes:

Situation
- My fiancé (over 30 yrs old) is British and currently lives in London
- I'm Canadian (over 30 yrs old) and live in Vancouver
- We have been going back and forth over the past year and a few months (have emails, pictures, flights, etc)
- We are planning on getting married and would like to live in Vancouver at my residence which I own

Question 1 - What is the best way for us to do this?
a> should I go to London to marry her and bring her back with me?
b> should I have her come to Vancouver and we get married here?
c> should we elope to Vegas?

Question 2 - After that, will she be able to:
a> stay with me permanently in Canada and work
b> stay with me permanently in Canada and not work until a certain period? If so, how long?
c> not be allowed to stay past the 6 months, and head back to London until she gets her Visa.

If b> or c>, what is the process we have to follow for her to be able to work, and approximately, how long does that process take? (note: she doesn't have a specific skill like a Engineer, Accountant, etc)

Thanks in advance for any and all advice...much appreciated.

 

[Becki567]

I'm assuming this post has been started/answered somewhere, however I apologize in advance as I couldn't find it. So here goes:

Situation
- My fiancé (over 30 yrs old) is British and currently lives in London
- I'm Canadian (over 30 yrs old) and live in Vancouver
- We have been going back and forth over the past year and a few months (have emails, pictures, flights, etc)
- We are planning on getting married and would like to live in Vancouver at my residence which I own

Question 1 - What is the best way for us to do this?
a> should I go to London to marry her and bring her back with me?
b> should I have her come to Vancouver and we get married here?
c> should we elope to Vegas?

Question 2 - After that, will she be able to:
a> stay with me permanently in Canada and work
b> stay with me permanently in Canada and not work until a certain period? If so, how long?
c> not be allowed to stay past the 6 months, and head back to London until she gets her Visa.

If b> or c>, what is the process we have to follow for her to be able to work, and approximately, how long does that process take? (note: she doesn't have a specific skill like a Engineer, Accountant, etc)

Thanks in advance for any and all advice...much appreciated.

First off welcome to the club. I have married my own Brit (they are lovely).

What is the best way for you to do this?

d- All of the above. We had originally planned to marry in London. My previous divorce was delayed and we were almost leaving London by the time it came through so we got married in Canada instead. I also love Las Vegas, so you could do it there as well.

What I have learned: Getting married in Canada (at least Alberta are the only rules I know) is WAY easier. We walked into the registry office and walked out 30 minutes later with a marriage license. To get married in Europe you require residency. The amount of time varies depending on country... England was 7 days, France was 40 days. Once your residency requirements are met you can then apply to get married. They call it "giving notice". This process can take up to 2 weeks. (Awesome eh!) but once it is complete you are good to go. If you have been married before like I have you require a certificate of non-impediment from the Canadian government. This basically tell the UK government that you are in fact free to marry. Takes about 2-4 weeks to get and seems to be a bit of a pain. Vegas is vegas... you can get married in 5 minutes ;-). So depends what you are looking for.

Question #2
a - No
b- Yes sorta. She can come over here (or is already here because you maybe got married here) and stay for up to 6 months without a tourist visa. Once those 6 months are close to expiring (about 30 days beforehand) you will go online and pay about $70 and apply for another tourist visa. This is usually done with no problems, especially from visa exempt countries. You will receive another visa in the mail for 6-12 months. (12 months if you get a nice processing officer). But she can not work. Do not do it. It is NOT worth it.

Final tip, Apply outland. Trust me! Wayyyyyy faster. They say up to 10 months but most are processing in about 6 months. Inland is 10-11 months for first step and another 10 months for second step. You DO NOT want to do inland when you are from a visa exempt country.

Hope that helps

 

[Becki567]

Finally, should you chose to apply to London OUTLAND... as I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend we have a special thread /conversation going on here"

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/thread-for-outland-london-uk-applications-t49436.0.html


You can also see a spreadsheet link in my signature for the London Visa office that will show you current processing times for those people applying outland right now. You will eventually begin to check this spreadsheet ALOT once your application is filed.

 

[daveyboy1978]

Thanks Becki, that helps a lot.

We are both divorced and have been officially for over a year (me - 14 months, she - 4 years). Do I still need to get the certificate of non-impediment? Does she need one?

Once we are married, even though she is unable to work, does she still receive medical benefits and healthcare, or do we need to purchase some sort of insurance?

The only reason I thought about Vegas, was that it would be a good story to tell and another reason to go there!

...and thanks for the Outland advice. Not really sure what it means, however I'll follow that process....

Cheers!

 

[Becki567]

Thanks Becki, that helps a lot.

We are both divorced and have been officially for over a year (me - 14 months, she - 4 years). Do I still need to get the certificate of non-impediment? Does she need one?

Once we are married, even though she is unable to work, does she still receive medical benefits and healthcare, or do we need to purchase some sort of insurance?

The only reason I thought about Vegas, was that it would be a good story to tell and another reason to go there!

...and thanks for the Outland advice. Not really sure what it means, however I'll follow that process....

Cheers!

If you get married in England you will need one. She will not, she will just need her divorce decree (or whatever they call it in England). If you get married in Canada you will both have to show divorce decree or divorce certificate but neither need a certificate of non-impediment. As for Vegas, I am not entirely sure. I never looked into getting married there, but it would be cool!

As for benefits. She could be added on any work benefits you have as for provincial benefits it depends on each province. I know in Alberta she would be covered and in Ontario she would NOT be covered. I am unsure about BC. Perhaps another member on this board could help you with that??

 

[daveyboy1978]

Thanks... you are saving me tons of time...much appreciated. I'm in Alberta a fair bit for work, so next time I'm there, I owe you beers!

Sorry, a couple other questions:

1. When she comes to Vancouver, is it okay for her to book a one-way flight? or should she book a return even if the chances of her using it within the 6 months is next to none?
2. If she isn't able to work, is she allowed to go to school or take courses?
3. Did you do everything on your own, or go through an Immigration Lawyer? Does it expedite the process in anyway?

Is there anything else I'm missing? Things I should know?

 

[daveyboy1978]

Also, is she able to do unpaid volunteer work?

 

[taffy7]

Actually Ontario requires more proof for divorce besides divorce and degree ,don't know about Vancouver . My husband is a brit and so am i but i got divorced here and him in the U.k. Apply outland even if she /he is here in Canada, much quicker.

 

[Becki567]

Thanks... you are saving me tons of time...much appreciated. I'm in Alberta a fair bit for work, so next time I'm there, I owe you beers!

Sorry, a couple other questions:

1. When she comes to Vancouver, is it okay for her to book a one-way flight? or should she book a return even if the chances of her using it within the 6 months is next to none?
2. If she isn't able to work, is she allowed to go to school or take courses?
3. Did you do everything on your own, or go through an Immigration Lawyer? Does it expedite the process in anyway?

Is there anything else I'm missing? Things I should know?

1. A one way flight is fine. 2. She can not go to school or take any course that is longer than 30 days?. I think that is about the time frame. I remember if you wanted to learn how to weave a basket that was okay but you couldn't take an accounting class. As for volunteer work I have heard that you can not do that on this board but can not confirm that on my own. 3. We did everything on our own. If your case is pretty straight forward, most people do it on their own. I would get a lawyer involved if there was any criminal issues on her end, or anything that could make her inadmissable. Other than that with the help of this forum and the online guides on the CIC website it is pretty straight forward. Time consuming but straight forward

 

[Becki567]

Actually Ontario requires more proof for divorce besides divorce and degree ,don't know about Vancouver . My husband is a brit and so am i but i got divorced here and him in the U.k. Apply outland even if she /he is here in Canada, much quicker.

Canada just likes to keep things interesting and NOT consistent from province to province.

 

[Becki567]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/study-who.asp


That says less than 6 months does not need a study visa

 

[Becki567]

And this http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/insurance/msp_register.html

Says she would be covered for healthcare once an application has been acknowledged as received by CIC and is active

 

[taffy7]

The medical here was half the price ,so check that out too. I f she does come over before her PR is granted she can not bring any more than two suitcases and can not say she is moving here .That is the one reason my husband is not here. We have a house in the U.K and we want to bring his belongings and our cat.

If she waits till she receives her P.R she can bring her belongings tax free.

 

[corbs]

With regards to volunteer work you have to be pretty careful from what I can tell. Anything that a Canadian could/should be paid for is out. So working at a soup kitchen is fine, unpaid internship is not. etc. Also definitely do outland.

 

[screech339]

Thanks Becki, that helps a lot.

We are both divorced and have been officially for over a year (me - 14 months, she - 4 years). Do I still need to get the certificate of non-impediment? Does she need one?

Once we are married, even though she is unable to work, does she still receive medical benefits and healthcare, or do we need to purchase some sort of insurance?

The only reason I thought about Vegas, was that it would be a good story to tell and another reason to go there!

...and thanks for the Outland advice. Not really sure what it means, however I'll follow that process....

Cheers!

Just to be clear regarding your future spouse being on your work benefits. Your wife will not be able to claim on your work benefits such as dental, prescription benefits until the wife is covered under provincial health care.

Employers don't take kindly to those getting their benefits when the spouse are not even on provincial health care. The employers contribute to provincial health care along with you. So they will not likely to offer any benefits to your wife until she gets on provincial health care.