I want to marry my US girlfriend, she’s in USA, what’s the fastest way?

[Kevin L]

I had a 6 month work trip to the USA and met the girl I want to marry. She came here for 8 or so months, so we have been living together on and off for almost a year and a half.

She’s currently back in USA, and if she leaves to come visit again she will lose her apartment and job and realistically won’t be able to return.

What we want to do is get married and apply for her to become a PR so she can stay.

1) should we get married and apply before she comes here?
2) should we get her here on a visitor visa, get married and then apply?

We are worried if she comes here on visitor visa and we get married what happens if the application fails, we can’t afford her to be in a situation where immigration forces her to go back and live in USA as she will have nowhere to go.

 

[scylla]

I had a 6 month work trip to the USA and met the girl I want to marry. She came here for 8 or so months, so we have been living together on and off for almost a year and a half.

She’s currently back in USA, and if she leaves to come visit again she will lose her apartment and job and realistically won’t be able to return.

What we want to do is get married and apply for her to become a PR so she can stay.

1) should we get married and apply before she comes here?
2) should we get her here on a visitor visa, get married and then apply?

We are worried if she comes here on visitor visa and we get married what happens if the application fails, we can’t afford her to be in a situation where immigration forces her to go back and live in USA as she will have nowhere to go.

You can get married either in Canada or in the US. That part doesn't matter.

Keep in mind that for now, she is only allowed to enter Canada as a visitor - she cannot live here or move here. When she arrives at the border, it will be up to the CBSA officer how long she is allowed into Canada. She should make sure she does not arrive at the border with everything she owns as that will increase the chances of issues at the border and a possible refusal. She should come only with what a visitor would normally bring and leave the rest with friends or in storage in the U.S.

Once she is here (and you are married), you can apply to sponsor her through the inland process and include an open work permit in the application. This will allow her to remain in Canada without leaving until PR is approved.

 

[Hurlabrick]

Also, bear in mind that IF you go the Inland route, an OWP takes about 4 months to come through, during which time she cannot work in Canada. Spousal sponsorship for an American spouse should take around 6 months to come through.

 

[smallcoffee]

Also, bear in mind that IF you go the Inland route, an OWP takes about 4 months to come through, during which time she cannot work in Canada. Spousal sponsorship for an American spouse should take around 6 months to come through.

Is it 6 months for visa exempt countries or just USA?

 

[kcward7]

Is it 6 months for visa exempt countries or just USA?

It's not 6 months guaranteed. Outland US apps are generally processed very quickly within that 6 months but the target is still 12. This is why most US applicants choose outland over inland. Again, the target is still 12 months regardless of being visa exempt or not so there's not a hard rule it'll be done within 6 months. Just wanted to clarify that.

 

[Hurlabrick]

Is it 6 months for visa exempt countries or just USA?

As kcward says. Very little to do with 'visa-exempt' or not, much more to do with the visa office they send you on to after Sydney. So for US citizens, I believe that is Ottawa (which is normally pretty fast).

For example, for British PA's (visa-exempt) they are normally sent on to London VO, which is notoriously busy and processes lots of different countries PA's and normally take the full 12 months, BUT recently, they have started sending some applicants on to Mississauga, which historically has been much faster (2 - 3 months after sponsor approval vs 6-8 months for London).

Just the way it is.

But yes, 6 months (from receipt in Sydney to decision made / CoPR) for US is 'typical' and by no means guaranteed.

 

[Kevin L]

Also, bear in mind that IF you go the Inland route, an OWP takes about 4 months to come through, during which time she cannot work in Canada. Spousal sponsorship for an American spouse should take around 6 months to come through.

Wow! Thanks! Inland spousal sponsorship for an American is only 6 months? That’s great! Work permit is not a rush. 4-6 months is no time at all.

 

[kcward7]

Wow! Thanks! Inland spousal sponsorship for an American is only 6 months? That’s great! Work permit is not a rush. 4-6 months is no time at all.

No. Inland is almost always 11-12 months. The OWP takes 4 months. Both inland and outland have target processing times of 12 months.

 

[Kevin L]

You can get married either in Canada or in the US. That part doesn't matter.


Keep in mind that for now, she is only allowed to enter Canada as a visitor - she cannot live here or move here. When she arrives at the border, it will be up to the CBSA officer how long she is allowed into Canada. She should make sure she does not arrive at the border with everything she owns as that will increase the chances of issues at the border and a possible refusal. She should come only with what a visitor would normally bring and leave the rest with friends or in storage in the U.S.


Once she is here (and you are married), you can apply to sponsor her through the inland process and include an open work permit in the application. This will allow her to remain in Canada without leaving until PR is approved.

Yes I saw that once I submit the application she will be implied status which means so long as the application is in process we can apply for an extension on her visitor visa.


I’m still worried if the application gets rejected I read her visa status will go back to visitor and if past 6 months she might have to leave.


It seems like the safest way would be if she waits for the application to be approved before she makes the last trip... it’s just most complicated as she would have to come here for a week, we get married then she goes back and we apply Outland. It would be great if we didn’t have to do it that way to save the extra $ on the flight, but, in the big picture it’s not that bad compared to the alternatives of taking a risk or not being together.

 

[Oldmacwright]

Yes I saw that once I submit the application she will be implied status which means so long as the application is in process we can apply for an extension on her visitor visa.

I’m still worried if the application gets rejected I read her visa status will go back to visitor and if past 6 months she might have to leave.

It seems like the safest way would be if she waits for the application to be approved before she even visits here... it’s just most complicated as she would have to come here for a week, we get married then she goes back and we apply Outland.

If you apply inland with OWP you don’t need to worry about visitor status as the OWP gives her a valid status.

You can also apply Outland whilst she is staying in Canada as a visitor, and honestly if you need to extend visitor status during that time it’s highly unlikely to be refused, many people stay here 1-3 years on visitor status.

The quickest for her to stay and beable to work is inland with the OWP.

Quickest way to full blown PR is likely Outland, though I have been reading some inlanders also getting approved in around 6 months recently, things have definitely moved on from a few years ago when the target was 26-29 months for inland apps!

You might think your situation is complicated but it sounds a very straight forward case, I imagine US meeting Canadian and getting married or common law then apply for PR is the most common scenario in the spousal class, the main thing is compiling the solid PR application, which many people here can help you with any questions.

 

[Kevin L]

If you apply inland with OWP you don’t need to worry about visitor status as the OWP gives her a valid status.

You can also apply Outland whilst she is staying in Canada as a visitor, and honestly if you need to extend visitor status during that time it’s highly unlikely to be refused, many people stay here 1-3 years on visitor status.

The quickest for her to stay and beable to work is inland with the OWP.

Quickest way to full blown PR is likely Outland, though I have been reading some inlanders also getting approved in around 6 months recently, things have definitely moved on from a few years ago when the target was 26-29 months for inland apps!

You might think your situation is complicated but it sounds a very straight forward case, I imagine US meeting Canadian and getting married or common law then apply for PR is the most common scenario in the spousal class, the main thing is compiling the solid PR application, which many people here can help you with any questions.

Thank you. The only thing I’m worried about is either making a mistake on my application or maybe finding out only after submitting the application that I’m not eligible to sponsor her. I don’t know what would happen if the application got refused I would imagine she would have to return back.

 

[kcward7]

Thank you. The only thing I’m worried about is either making a mistake on my application or maybe finding out only after submitting the application that I’m not eligible to sponsor her. I don’t know what would happen if the application got refused I would imagine she would have to return back.

If you meet eligibility to sponsor you don't need to worry about being rejected. Very clearly laid out here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/eligibility.html

 

[Oldmacwright]

Thank you. The only thing I’m worried about is either making a mistake on my application or maybe finding out only after submitting the application that I’m not eligible to sponsor her. I don’t know what would happen if the application got refused I would imagine she would have to return back.

There are only a few bars to being a sponsor which you can read at the link kcward gives above, so you’re good if you don’t fall into any of those categories.

Just read through the many helpful application guides and double and triple check when filling out the forms, thankfully the process now is way easier and less complicated to work through than it was a few years ago.

 

[Kevin L]

There are only a few bars to being a sponsor which you can read at the link kcward gives above, so you’re good if you don’t fall into any of those categories.

Just read through the many helpful application guides and double and triple check when filling out the forms, thankfully the process now is way easier and less complicated to work through than it was a few years ago.

Thank you

 

[Kevin L]

If you meet eligibility to sponsor you don't need to worry about being rejected. Very clearly laid out here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/eligibility.html

Thank you!