Canadian citizen Sponsoring common law partner (British)

[Solitas]

Hi everyone,

Ok so my partner and I need some advice. She is a born Canadian citizen and we have been together in a relationship since December 12th 2010, living together for the duration in a common-law relationship.
We lived in a England for a year but due to a combination of work and family we decided to move back to British Columbia to live closer to her family.

I'm a British citizen but lack Canadian citizenship, so we had intended for her to sponsor me under the common-law section of the family class. However now we're not sure whether we need to apply inland or Outland as we are currently living together with her family on Vancouver island. We Can supply plenty of evidence for the relationship; pictures, statements from friends/family, chat logs over several years, letters proving same address.

We're also concerned about work for me because whilst she's currently employed with Home Depot and her family is keen to support us in any way they can, the sooner I can start applying for places the better. Several places have already said they'd be willing to hire me IF I already had a visa but none seem prepared to help me gain one unfortunately.

In terms of character history I was formerly a member of the Territorial Army before we came over here, was working full time and have no criminal record or black marks against my name, my references will attest to this. I'm eduacated to university level (3 year bachelor of arts in film) with 16 years of eduacation total. I'm not sure if any of this will even affect the outcome but thought it worth mentioning.

Obviously we've made a right pigs ear of it already as I've now been in the country since March 1st, completely my own fault as We came on the premise that a camp job would be available for me, but it fell through when we got here.

Any and all advice we can get would be helpful as it seems the more we information we all read, the less we can actually garner. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Nick

 

[CharlieD10]

1. Apply Outland. In the time it takes for your application to even get first stage approval Inland (11+ months), you could already have your PR from applying through London and get working because you are already a PR. Yes, you can apply Outland while living in Canada as a visitor.

2. If you haven't already done so, read Leon's first post in the thread at the top. It gives you a basic outline. The forms are here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

3. Start getting the documents you need from overseas, such as your UK police report, and for any other country you've spent 6 months in since the age of 18. See here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/security/police-cert/index.asp You don't need one for Canada, they will get that themselves.

4. While you wait for those, sort and organize your supporting documents. Most important is the proof (it must be conclusive) you have been cohabiting for at least 12 months consecutively. This forms the basis for your common-law designation.

 

[Solitas]

Thanks so much for the quick reply, just having someone break it down like that is immensely helpful. We've already started going through the paper work and compiling evidence we can use.
Nice to just be put on the right track so I can get going

 

[fhj1203]

gather all the documents you need,the more pictures,letters,names and phone numbers of friends to suppport your relationship and letters from friends too..or some documents addressed to both of you will be a good idea too..

I applied mine last Oct.2010 with lots of missing documents at that time,got my open work permit last Nov.2011 amd landed last May 9,2012..it took me longer because my daughter is in the Philippines and her documents took longer to process..and I applied inland with common law also but we got married in the middle of the applications...good luck to you..it will be faster if there's no missing documents...

 

[sa_ja]

if you are under 30, request your work holiday permit...if there s some still available.
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/united_kingdom-royaume_uni/experience_canada_experience/index.aspx?view=d

And apply outland...we are doing the PR common law sponsonship route inland ; i am canadian, my partner is British and it is crazy long, we has first stage approval after 15 months and are still now waiting for PR......luckily he had a WP so he was able to work....

take the outland route...much faster ...a tough 7 months to go through but better....and if you can get a Work holiday permit then you are fine...best of the 2 world...

good luck!

 

[Solitas]

Yikes expected a difference but not that much! Thanks very much, certainly avoids a painfully longer wait.
Ta for the heads up on the work holiday permit, somehow that's the first time I've stumbled across it!

 

[beccanallo]

SO question...how is it possible to apply and get approved outland when the person is inland??

 

[bally21]

SO question...how is it possible to apply and get approved outland when the person is inland??

You just send the application to CIC-Mississagua and then request it gets sent to your home country visa office..so if say you are british, your app is processed in London. Doesn't matter if you have a canadian address.