helping girlfriend get canadian permenant residensy

[xxfunguyxx]

hi guys,

I am a Canadian citizen who is living in US with permanent resident. I have been in us for 5 years and must stay here, because I want a US citizenship. However my girlfriend, who is in Canada, needs a permanent resident for her career. I want to sponsor her by marrying her...however, I cant leave america for more than 6 month if i want to become a citizen...what can i do? I wouldnt mind delaying my us citizenship for a while...but I think if you leave the US for more than 6 month, you lose your US permentant residency as well.

 

[mitamata]

I don't know what it's like in the US, but I know what it's like in Canada.

In order to sponsor a spouse as a permanent resident, a citizen has to either be:
a) living in Canada or
b) show that they intend to live in Canada after the spouse is granted PR.
(Side note: option b is not available to PRs, they have to be living in Canada to sponsor.)

From what I understand, you have no intention of moving to Canada in the near future, so this would mean you can't sponsor her now. The visa office will want evidence that you intend to move - things like letters/emails to family/friends talking about it, showing you're getting ready to move by quitting your job, ending your lease, selling your house in the US...
You might be able to slip through by saying you'll be moving and then not do it, but you could get in trouble if you're found out.

 

[tgchi13]

hi guys,

I am a Canadian citizen who is living in US with permanent resident. I have been in us for 5 years and must stay here, because I want a US citizenship. However my girlfriend, who is in Canada, needs a permanent resident for her career. I want to sponsor her by marrying her...however, I cant leave america for more than 6 month if i want to become a citizen...what can i do? I wouldnt mind delaying my us citizenship for a while...but I think if you leave the US for more than 6 month, you lose your US permentant residency as well.

Why would either of you would sponsor the other when you are both planning - and wanting - to live in the opposite border country for the foreseeable future. If either of you *needs* to do this for career reasons then you should be able to make use of the skilled worker option.

I can't even imagine on what basis you would sponsor your girlfriend, since there currently no common-law or conjugal relationship indicated and - based solely on the limited information you have provided - the relationship and marriage could likely be determined to be for immigration purposes only and therefore fraudulent. Whether or not you wed, you will have to prove that your relationship is real, lasting and intended to be permanent.

 

[rachel6992]

I'm a permanent resident too.. I spoke with my immigration attorney when I renewed my green card and she said that you can be out of the country for up to a year. If you intend to be gone longer, you have to file for a reentry permit. I think there's some kind of rule for getting your citizenship in regards to how long you're outside the country. You have to be a permanent resident for 5 years (I think) but if you're out of the US for a year, then you'll have to wait 6 years. Does that make sense? I could be wrong, but that's my understanding based on everything I've read.

But tgchi13 is right, you can't just sponsor her because she's your girlfriend. You guys have to have lived together for at least a year and then prove that you're intending to live in Canada once the whole thing is said and done.

Good luck!

 

[ariell]

Why would either of you would sponsor the other when you are both planning - and wanting - to live in the opposite border country for the foreseeable future. If either of you *needs* to do this for career reasons then you should be able to make use of the skilled worker option.

I can't even imagine on what basis you would sponsor your girlfriend, since there currently no common-law or conjugal relationship indicated and - based solely on the limited information you have provided - the relationship and marriage could likely be determined to be for immigration purposes only and therefore fraudulent. Whether or not you wed, you will have to prove that your relationship is real, lasting and intended to be permanent.

Yes, yes and yes! This is absolutely correct. Applying to sponsor your GF would be a waste of $$ until your circumstances change. Applying to sponsor your girlfriend because "she needs it for her career" is absolutely the wrong reason and you are VERY likely to be refused.

 

[xxfunguyxx]

I think I didnt make too much clear about my situation...

I intend to go live in Canada...I am only in the US now, because I need to stay here enable to get my citizenship. After getting the US citizenship, I have no intentions to stay in US. Hence, both my gf and I will eventually marry and live in Canada anyways. So, after I get my US citizenship I plan to marry her and stay in Canada with her. However, my gf needs her PR right now. I am okay with the fact of delaying my US citizenship...but I am not okay letting it go. So with that in mind, I need to know how I can help her get a PR without me losing my chances of getting a citizenship in US.

The primiary issue here is that I have to stay in the US for time being...But I think I didnt make it clear that I will immediately move back to Canada and marry my gf after I get my US citizenship in the first place.

 

[mitamata]

As said before, in order to be able to sponsor, you have to show you intend to move to Canada when your spouse gets her PR. Not years later, but at the same time she gets her PR/lands to become a PR. How long until you get the US citizenship? If it's still years away, then now is too early to sponsor. You have to wait until you are ready to move.

 

[Leon]

How long until you get your US citizenship? If you qualify as a common-law couple, you could sponsor her stating intentions of living in Canada when she gets her PR, maybe mostly her intentions such as job offer, acceptance to college etc. and when she gets her PR, you move to Canada but you stay there for less than 6 months and then go back to the US.

I have never heard of anybody getting in trouble over something like this. Some sponsor their spouses without any intention of going back to Canada, not even for their spouse and your girlfriend will be living in Canada once she gets her PR but you will be back and forth a bit for a while. If anybody would ever get back to you and want to know why you didn't fully move back as she got her PR, you can easily say that you had obligations to adhere to in the US which would be 100% true.