Common Law Inland - Open Work Permit Question??

[jtabb7]

Hi all,

Firstly, thanks in advance for your help with my question.

Basically, I am a permanent resident (UK Citizen) planning to make the move to Vancouver in the next couple of months and we are planning for my girlfriend who is a US citizen to move over ASAP through the common law route as we have been living in the UK for 12 months so would qualify for that option. She has recently moved back to the USA as it will allow her to save faster than we have been able to living in the UK together, however we want to keep being apart to a minimum.

I have read the forums and researched online and everything appears to be pointing towards completing an inland application so that we can minimize the time spent apart but still make the move to Canada soon. The issue however is that until the OWP comes through she won't be able to work from my understanding which will leave a gap of around 4 months without income.

I was just wondering if there is any way for her to gain employment until she gains an OWP? I've seen that the IEC exists and as she is under 30 could go down that route and then transfer over to an OWP whilst waiting for her inland application to process, or is that not possible?

So therefore - is it best to go down the inland route and just save up beforehand to cover the loss of earnings in the 4 month waiting period for her OWP, apply for IEC and then transfer over to OWP or do I just go to Vancouver and then sponsor her outland if it's going to be a smoother process (however, we want to avoid time apart)? Or is there another route for us that we have overlooked?

Again, many thanks for your help!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi all,

Firstly, thanks in advance for your help with my question.

Basically, I am a permanent resident (UK Citizen) planning to make the move to Vancouver in the next couple of months and we are planning for my girlfriend who is a US citizen to move over ASAP through the common law route as we have been living in the UK for 12 months so would qualify for that option. She has recently moved back to the USA as it will allow her to save faster than we have been able to living in the UK together, however we want to keep being apart to a minimum.

I have read the forums and researched online and everything appears to be pointing towards completing an inland application so that we can minimize the time spent apart but still make the move to Canada soon. The issue however is that until the OWP comes through she won't be able to work from my understanding which will leave a gap of around 4 months without income.

I was just wondering if there is any way for her to gain employment until she gains an OWP? I've seen that the IEC exists and as she is under 30 could go down that route and then transfer over to an OWP whilst waiting for her inland application to process, or is that not possible?

So therefore - is it best to go down the inland route and just save up beforehand to cover the loss of earnings in the 4 month waiting period for her OWP, apply for IEC and then transfer over to OWP or do I just go to Vancouver and then sponsor her outland if it's going to be a smoother process (however, we want to avoid time apart)? Or is there another route for us that we have overlooked?

Again, many thanks for your help!

Hi

When did you become a PR and when did you become common-law? Do you meet the PR Residency Obligation?

 

[jtabb7]

Hi

When did you become a PR and when did you become common-law? Do you meet the PR Residency Obligation?

Hi, thanks for your reply. I became a PR in October 2017 through the express entry route so should meet the PR residency obligation. We completed a year living together last month. Hope this helps.

 

[mrs_december]

Easiest: save up for 4 months expenses. This way she can have proof of funds to support herself if she's asked when she crosses the border. Apply for inland as soon as she arrives, get the OWP so that she can work while the application finishes processing.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I became a PR in October 2017 through the express entry route so should meet the PR residency obligation. We completed a year living together last month. Hope this helps.

That's good. Do you have definitive proofs of your one year of cohabitation?

IEC for an American is a bit different than other countries, as they have to go through a recognized organization instead of just applying to IRCC directly. If she meets the requirements, she can apply.

If she doesn't qualify, then she can come as a visitor, apply inland and wait the 4 months for the OWP.

Or you can sponsor her outland, she can continue working in the US and then enter Canada as a visitor during the process. She would not be able to work until she became a PR but outland for Americans generally averages 6-8 months, so if she came partway through the process, she would likely be unable to work for around the same amount of time as applying inland.

 

[jtabb7]

That's good. Do you have definitive proofs of your one year of cohabitation?

IEC for an American is a bit different than other countries, as they have to go through a recognized organization instead of just applying to IRCC directly. If she meets the requirements, she can apply.

If she doesn't qualify, then she can come as a visitor, apply inland and wait the 4 months for the OWP.

Or you can sponsor her outland, she can continue working in the US and then enter Canada as a visitor during the process. She would not be able to work until she became a PR but outland for Americans generally averages 6-8 months, so if she came partway through the process, she would likely be unable to work for around the same amount of time as applying inland.

Thank you for the detailed reply, that's really useful! Yes we made sure to get all the proofs in terms of combined bills, statements etc so should be good on that end.

So i'm thinking it's a case of either we go and I apply inland and we'll have to dig into savings to cover the 4 month wait for the OWP or i'll just go and apply outland while she works in the US and then once we reach a point of it getting closer or the application is completed then she can move over to Vancouver too. I think the IEC option might add another layer of complexity to the process and we just want it to be as smooth and straight forward as possible.