Candian Citizen Marrying a US Citizen in Canada on a Student Visa

[chadmac]

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on my particular situation.

I am a Canadian citizen and started living with an American citizen while attending school in the US. We lived together briefly in the US before she graduated. She was then accepted into a Ph.D. program in Canada and moved to BC for school on a student visa. I then graduated and moved in with her in Canada four months later and we have been living together since (10-11 months). So, in summary, the overall time-line is:

- Dating and living separately (US): 11 months
- Living together (US): 6.5 months
- Living apart (Her: Canada, Me: US): 4 months
- Living together (Canada): 10.5 months

So, we will officially be common-law sometime during January and we will be getting engaged over the holiday break (assuming she accepts the forthcoming proposal ). We plan to remain in Canada after her schooling is done (3-5 years from now).

What options do I have for sponsoring her for permanent residency? I would assume that it would be possible for her to be sponsored as a common-law partner. However, I worry that there may be limitations due to her currently residing in Canada with a student visa.

We would like to be able to start and hopefully finish the application process before she completes school, since it would make the job process post-graduation much smoother. Also, if she could get permanent resident status while still in school, it would make her life easier when it comes to finding research funding.

Any advice people may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[matthewc]

If she has a study permit at the moment, applying for PR as common-law (or as spouses once you're married) should be straight forward. You use this application kit.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

It should be processed well before her studies end. If she needs to renew her study permit in the mean time, just do that exactly as she has before.

 

[chadmac]

Thanks for the reply.

Now that we are officially common-law and officially engaged (yay!), I am looking over the pile of forms to fill out.... Looks a little daunting.

Based on some of the posts I have read on the forum, I am thinking that we should apply outland, since the application time seems to be shorter. I figure that we should have no problems doing this under the following assumptions:

1 - She can maintain her student visa throughout the PR processing time
2 - She can still work on campus using her student visa
3 - She can still use her off-campus work permit to do clinical work required for school
4 - She can travel abroad for school-related conferences (both to the US and internationally)
5 - She can travel abroad for family vacations (in particular our forthcoming wedding in Hawaii in August)
6 - She can travel abroad for weekend excursions to Seattle
7 - Our change from common-law to married won't affect the processing time
8 - I, as the sponsor, can travel abroad during the application process
9 - No problems will arise from her receiving research grant funding for school-related work
10 - We will be able to have any potential interviews performed in either Vancouver (ideal) or Seattle (manageable)

Are any of these assumptions incorrect? Even if they are correct, does anyone have any comments on potential issues regarding any of the above? Any comments or advice would be great.

Thanks,
Chad