Common Law sponsorship

[Dan-Blacq]

Hey everyone;
Hoping to get some advice from someone on the best way to go about this. My fiancee is a Swedish citizen who has already used her 12 month working visa while visiting me in Canada. Since that time we've been travelling but now getting ready to make the permanent move to Canada.
I would like to sponsor her as my common law (?) partner but I need to know how long this application would take as I cannot support us both finacially without her being able to work as well.
The bottom line to my question is this, is applying as a common law partner sponsorship the best way to go about this and can anyone tell me how long this application generally takes?
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[RobsLuv]

She can't make a permanent move to Canada until she has been approved for permanent status. She might be able to get into the country as a visitor to wait out processing, as she is visa-exempt, but she won't be able to work and she'll need to be sure she keeps her temporary status valid by applying to extend it each time it's due to expire.

I wouldn't advise that you apply via the inland application process, even if she's in Canada with you. It takes much longer to process than outland - and there are other drawbacks as well like forfeiture of the right to appeal a refusal and her being required to remain in Canada for the duration of processing . . . which, even for a straight-forward application, can take 12-18 months.

If you apply via the outland process, Swedish nationals are processed through London - London is currently finalizing spousal/common-law applications in 2-8 months, plus another month first at the Mississauga Case Processing Centre for assessment of the sponsor before the application goes overseas. It is possible to apply via the outland process even if she's in Canada with you but you'll need to be aware that the common-law qualification requires that you prove not only that yours is a genuine relationship but also that you have co-habitated for at least one continuous year. If you don't submit enough evidence of both with the application, she might have to attend an interview and it will be held in London. Whether she can come back to Canada afterwards is entirely up to the IO who assesses her at the Canadian port of entry.

The other option, if 3-9 months would be too much of a strain financially, would be for her to remain in Sweden until her application is finalized and then she's able to come to Canada, land, and immediately look for work.