Canadian Citizen wants to get married to PGWP girlfriend

[KDC]

I am a Canadian Citizen and my girlfriend is on her post-graduate work permit that expires mid September,
she was able to find jobs but non of her employers were ready to go through the LMO process as they found that to be a hassle
I have been with her over 2 years now and I do not want her to have to leave, so I want to marry her as soon as possible will that help? I do love her, my family knows her since I've known her and they are all supportive of us. Can someone just guide me as to what is the best way to go about this situation please

Thanks

 

[WoodyKatie]

I am a Canadian Citizen and my girlfriend is on her post-graduate work permit that expires mid September,
she was able to find jobs but non of her employers were ready to go through the LMO process as they found that to be a hassle
I have been with her over 2 years now and I do not want her to have to leave, so I want to marry her as soon as possible will that help? I do love her, my family knows her since I've known her and they are all supportive of us. Can someone just guide me as to what is the best way to go about this situation please

Thanks

Getting married and applying for her permanent residency seems to be the best way though she may need to be back in her own country while waiting for the processing if her work permit expires. But if she is from a visa exempt country, then I think things will be fine.(she can stay if Im right). So if she's not, maybe there's some other way to extend her permit. I dont know bout the inland processing, maybe you should posts in their thread. They can give you ideas which exceeds your desires.

 

[Sweden]

If you've been living together for 12 months, and can prove it, then you can already apply as Common-law. If that's not the case, then you would have to get married first, and then apply.

You can apply either inland or outland, it depends on where your gf is from.

If she is from a non-visa-exempt country, it might be easier to apply inland. Be aware that it means that she can not leave the country ( even for family emergencies, vacations etc.) for the duration of the application ( currently 14 months at least). If you file BEFORE her current work permit expires, and include an Open work permit application in your PR application, then she will have implied status, which means that she is legally allowed to stay in Canada ( but can not leave). I don't know if PGWP are extendable... if they are, then her work permit will be extended ( as long as you include an OWP in the application), and after stage 1 (6 to 8 months) she will also receive an OWP.

If she is from a visa-exempt country, then it depends... she might want to look at applying outland. It's generally faster than inland, she could travel in and out of the country (note that re-entry to canada is never guaranteed, but at least it's a possibility), but she won't have implied status. One month before her current WP expires, she should apply to have a 'change of status" to visitor - and include the information that she is getting ready to apply for PR.

In general - look at the forms to get familiar with what is required in terms of paperwork, read the first post "spousal sponsorship" by Leon (only the first page) to have an overview of the process and what are the steps, as well as the difference between inland and outland, and decide from there.

Sweden

 

[guri3577]

Sweden has given all the details needed. Unfortunately, PGWP can't be extended.

 

[KDC]

Thank you so much for all the replies

My girlfriend is from a non-visa exempt country, and we didn't live together for 12 months in a row, but being together for over 2 Years we did live in the same student house during college so under the same landlord, and last summer she did live with me at my moms house for over 3 months, we have friends, family, landlords everyone that knows we have been together for over 2 years now and her not being able to get an employer to give her a LMO took us by surprise so I really do not want her to leave, her Post graduate open work permit gets done Sept 19th. We want to get married but I am not sure how long does it take to go through the entire civil marriage process, getting a marriage certificate or whatever thats needed to apply for her PR. She has only 50 days left till her permit expires so any help is really appreciated

 

[over_jj]

Hi KDC,

I posted this on INLAND APPLICATION 2013 tread, but wanted to share my story in the thread.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was in very similar situation like you have now.
I graduated post-secondary and have a 3 years open work permit. Me and my husband (Canadian Citizenship) were together for 5 years and got married last summer (2012).
We applied Inland spouse sponsoring December 2012 and still waiting on AIP.
It took us quite a long time to prepare Inland application after the wedding.
My post-graduate work permit expires Nov 2013, but I didn't know I was able to apply another open work permit along with the Inland application.
So I'm working on sending Open Work Permit application shortly noting that I've already applied Inland spouse sponsorship.

I was able to apply PR through Canada Experience Class, but I didn't (which I regret now). Friend of mine applied PR through this class June 2012 and she received her PR last week. It took her 13 months to get the PR. I should've applied through this.

My question is if your girl friend is able to apply PR through Canada Experience Class? If she can, she will be eligible to apply extension of her work permit.
I know finding a sponsor who can support your gf with LMO is very tough these days.

If you think marrying her is the best way, you can apply Inland sponsorship and apply a open work permit with it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[over_jj]

Like Sweden said, I think your gf may have to extend her stay as a visitor. It will give you enough time to prepare wedding and PR application.

My weeding was June 2012 and we sent the PR application late November 2012.
But technically I started to prepare application in August 2012. I was too busy with sorting lots of things post wedding.... (new house, family stuff....etc)
In the meantime, I got the medial check up done, prep for Police record, some paper works from husband's employer... stuff like that.

 

[KDC]

Hi KDC,

I posted this on INLAND APPLICATION 2013 tread, but wanted to share my story in the thread.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was in very similar situation like you have now.
I graduated post-secondary and have a 3 years open work permit. Me and my husband (Canadian Citizenship) were together for 5 years and got married last summer (2012).
We applied Inland spouse sponsoring December 2012 and still waiting on AIP.
It took us quite a long time to prepare Inland application after the wedding.
My post-graduate work permit expires Nov 2013, but I didn't know I was able to apply another open work permit along with the Inland application.
So I'm working on sending Open Work Permit application shortly noting that I've already applied Inland spouse sponsorship.

I was able to apply PR through Canada Experience Class, but I didn't (which I regret now). Friend of mine applied PR through this class June 2012 and she received her PR last week. It took her 13 months to get the PR. I should've applied through this.

My question is if your girl friend is able to apply PR through Canada Experience Class? If she can, she will be eligible to apply extension of her work permit.
I know finding a sponsor who can support your gf with LMO is very tough these days.

If you think marrying her is the best way, you can apply Inland sponsorship and apply a open work permit with it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for your reply over_jj

I don't think she has the necessary hours to apply for CEC, she only received a 1 year PGWP because her program at college was only 10months. She had 2 different jobs with that open work permit but was only able to make 500 to about 800 hours so far and I think she was told she needed about 1400 hours to be eligible for CEC, I am not too sure.

 

[Sweden]

Then your best bet is probably to apply inland, that will allow her to stay.

So : since you don't qualify as CL, your only solution is to get married. Start looking at that. Prepare the rest of the application, get police records etc - that takes a while. It seems that you have a lot of proofs of genuine relationship, so it's a matter of putting things together.

If you can send the application before her WP expires, then at least apply for a change of status. It takes about 2 months to get an answer, so it gives you another 2 months - as long as she has applied for the change of status, she has implied status until she receives an answer from CIC. Hopefully it will give you enough time to put together the application, and send it before her status expires again.
GOod luck,
Sweden

 

[over_jj]

Then your best bet is probably to apply inland, that will allow her to stay.

So : since you don't qualify as CL, your only solution is to get married. Start looking at that. Prepare the rest of the application, get police records etc - that takes a while. It seems that you have a lot of proofs of genuine relationship, so it's a matter of putting things together.

If you can send the application before her WP expires, then at least apply for a change of status. It takes about 2 months to get an answer, so it gives you another 2 months - as long as she has applied for the change of status, she has implied status until she receives an answer from CIC. Hopefully it will give you enough time to put together the application, and send it before her status expires again.
GOod luck,
Sweden

I think this it the best option you can go for.
Keep us updated how things go. Good LUCK !

 

[Line.a]

If you've been living together for 12 months, and can prove it, then you can already apply as Common-law. If that's not the case, then you would have to get married first, and then apply.

You can apply either inland or outland, it depends on where your gf is from.

If she is from a non-visa-exempt country, it might be easier to apply inland. Be aware that it means that she can not leave the country ( even for family emergencies, vacations etc.) for the duration of the application ( currently 14 months at least). If you file BEFORE her current work permit expires, and include an Open work permit application in your PR application, then she will have implied status, which means that she is legally allowed to stay in Canada ( but can not leave). I don't know if PGWP are extendable... if they are, then her work permit will be extended ( as long as you include an OWP in the application), and after stage 1 (6 to 8 months) she will also receive an OWP.

If she is from a visa-exempt country, then it depends... she might want to look at applying outland. It's generally faster than inland, she could travel in and out of the country (note that re-entry to canada is never guaranteed, but at least it's a possibility), but she won't have implied status. One month before her current WP expires, she should apply to have a 'change of status" to visitor - and include the information that she is getting ready to apply for PR.

In general - look at the forms to get familiar with what is required in terms of paperwork, read the first post "spousal sponsorship" by Leon (only the first page) to have an overview of the process and what are the steps, as well as the difference between inland and outland, and decide from there.

Sweden

Hey Sverige! Hvordan går det?

I applied for an extension since my IEC visa ran out 2 or 3 days later so we felt that was the safest bet. The extension is only valid until the 9th of August this year. We did include an OWP with our inland application. We received an email about them receiving the extension so I assumed I was on implied status then. iEC ran out a day after. Since we did included an OWP I won't need to extend my stay when it runs out in just over a week, right?

Hav en god aften

 

[Sweden]

Hey Sverige! Hvordan går det?

I applied for an extension since my IEC visa ran out 2 or 3 days later so we felt that was the safest bet. The extension is only valid until the 9th of August this year. We did include an OWP with our inland application. We received an email about them receiving the extension so I assumed I was on implied status then. iEC ran out a day after. Since we did included an OWP I won't need to extend my stay when it runs out in just over a week, right?

Hav en god aften

takk for sist - det går bare fint!

That's what I understand from the rules. You had implied status because you applied for a change of status before your IEC ran out. Then you have an inland application with an OWP included, so you have implied status from that, and there is no need to extend your stay.

Lykke til!
Sverige

 

[Line.a]

takk for sist - det går bare fint!

That's what I understand from the rules. You had implied status because you applied for a change of status before your IEC ran out. Then you have an inland application with an OWP included, so you have implied status from that, and there is no need to extend your stay.

Lykke til!
Sverige

Mange tak skal du have!

That's good news right there! Thank you