I'm not sure if I have posted in the right section or not. Please don't judge but...my husband and I are both Canadian and have an American girlfriend. We've known her for almost 5 years and have communicated via webcam, phone calls emails ect. We have met in person and have found out that she is now pregnant with my hubby's baby. We all want to be a part of the baby's life. We have talked about her moving up here and been looking into getting PR for her and her 2 children. Knowing it's going to take a while we've been planning trips back and forth to visit each other. Now that there is a baby between us, she wants to have the baby here in Canada. What we want to know is 1) Is there anything we need to fill out for her to come up and have the baby in Canada? 2) Is the baby automatically a Canadian citizen? 3) Will her having a Canadians' baby help keep her in Canada or speed up the PR? 4) If she is here from now until the birth (beginning of January) will my hubby and her qualify as being conjugal partners even though him and I are married and living together? Yes she will be residing with us in our marriage. Please no hateful responses as this is a very trying time for the three of us and we only want to make this transition as smooth as possible. Thank you in advance for all your help.
In need of advice....
- Thread starter ConfussedCanadian
- Start date
canadianwoman
VIP Member
- Nov 6, 2009
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- Visa Office......
- Accra, Ghana
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- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 30-01-2008
- Interview........
- 05-05-2009
She can come as a visitor to Canada, and then give birth here. She won't be covered by health insurance, so would have to pay for her health care, and the birth, herself.ConfussedCanadian said:
If the baby is born in Canada, he/she will automatically be a Canadian citizen. If the child is born in the USA, the baby could still be a Canadian citizen, depending on the father's citizenship history.
No.
No. If your husband is still in a relationship with you, he cannot also claim he is in a conjugal or common-law relationship with her. If you and he separated, then yes, he could become her common-law partner after a year of living together. Conjugal would not work because there is nothing to prevent them from living together for a year or getting married. Just not wanting to is not a sufficient reason.
CIC will not allow someone to sponsor a partner or spouse when the sponsor is still in another genuine relationship. The only way for your husband to sponsor her would be for you and him to break up.
She could try to immigrate to Canada under her own power, as a Federal Skilled Worker, in one of the investor classes, etc. She could also try to get a job in Canada. The employer would have to search for a worker in Canada to fill the position; if he/she can't find anyone, then your friend could be hired. This is called getting a Labor Market Opinion (LMO).
Thank you canadianwoman...it's not that they don't want to be together, it's that all three of us want to be together. We are looking into the LMO but now that she is pregnant it doesn't really come into play right now. How long is she able to stay in Canada without a PR or work visa? Once she was here and had the baby would she be able to apply for a work visa here?
oreidapennsyltucky
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- May 23, 2012
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- May 1, 2012
By no means am I an expert on this subject, but I believe polyamory is legal in Saskatchewan.ConfussedCanadian said:
An American can stay in Canada for six months without a PR of work visa, but is not eligible for any social benefits.
She can stay for 6 months and apply for an extension. But when applying/coming up, she would be wise not to say that she is in a polygamist relationship obviously. She would have to prove that she will leave etc. I'm unsure with the work visa thing, I would assume so, but the employer would have to go through LMO for her to be their employer. Good luck! And congrats on the baby!ConfussedCanadian said:
She needs to check the entry stamp on her passport. If the border officer didn't write a date by her entry stamp and she didn't get a visitor's record, she can stay as a visitor for 6 month approval.ConfussedCanadian said:
While you can apply to extend her stay as a visitor (see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp), it is likely to be a challenging road: under IP-2 (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/ip/ip02-eng.pdf) "Bigamous or polygamous relationships" are one of multiple situations which "exclude a foreign national from the family classes" ("mutual commitment, exclusivity and interdependence are key elements of conjugal relationships, including marriage, common-law relationships and conjugal partnerships.") I would reach out to a lawyer to get counsel from an expert.
She could exit and re-enter Canada, which would reset the clock to zero and give her additional time in Canada, but she'd need to convince the border officer that her stay will be temporary.
As others have said, she could get a visa based on arranged employment (see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-employment.asp). Depending on her profession and the upcoming Ministerial instructions, she may be eligible for skilled worker employment (the cap has been used up for this year, but is set to reset on July 1). Instructions for the various skilled worker streams are at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who.asp. For other options (student, etc.) take a look at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp.
ETA - as she is a US citizen you could also explore NAFTA TN visas
canadianwoman
VIP Member
- Nov 6, 2009
- 291
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Accra, Ghana
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 30-01-2008
- Interview........
- 05-05-2009
Usually Americans can stay for 6 months, and then they can apply to extend their stay. Just living in Canada and having a baby here doesn't help her get a work visa - she will still need to find an employer willing to hire her and get her a LMO.ConfussedCanadian said:
She could maybe go to school in Canada; after graduating she may have enough 'points' to immigrate on her own. If you three really want to be together and raise the child together, I think you'll have to be OK with supporting her, at least for a few years.
When she gets here, she should do her best to 1. hide the fact she is in a polyamorous relationship, and 2. establish roots in the community. She could then (several years in the future) apply to stay on a Humanitarian and Compassionate basis, with the best interests of the Canadian child taken into account. They would also take into account the best interests of her current children, so they must be integrated into the community as much as possible as well.
Zouk Princesse
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- Aug 28, 2011
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- POS
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- 14-Nov-2011
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- 17-Jan-2012
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- VO requested med certificate extension from Ottawa 24-Jul-2012
- Med's Done....
- 16-Jul-2011
- Interview........
- Waived
- Passport Req..
- 24-Jul-2012
- VISA ISSUED...
- 17-Sep-2012
- LANDED..........
- 27-Sep-2012
Wow...in all the posts I've read on this forum, this is a first for me!
I agree with the advice given thus far, but I would strongly recommend you consult a professional on this, as there are intricacies in your case that likely would not fall under "normal procedure". Many imm consultants will meet with you for a free initial session to explore your options. I understand time is of the essence here, so I would suggest you seek this advice prior to taking any other steps, as one wrong step could result in major delays.
Best wishes to you and your family
I agree with the advice given thus far, but I would strongly recommend you consult a professional on this, as there are intricacies in your case that likely would not fall under "normal procedure". Many imm consultants will meet with you for a free initial session to explore your options. I understand time is of the essence here, so I would suggest you seek this advice prior to taking any other steps, as one wrong step could result in major delays.
Best wishes to you and your family
Thank you everyone for all the info you have passed on to us and not hating who we love. Yes getushome because of Bountiful the happy well adjusted poly relationships are getting shafted. The three of us have alot to read and plan for. Thank you to everyone for the well wishes. Just wish it was easier to be the family we want to be. We intend to intergrate her and the children into the community. We want them to feel like they belong here too. Will keep you posted on whats going on, we're sure we will have more questions over the next few days. Thank you everyone for all your advice and input...anymore that anyone has is greatly appreciated. We know this is an off the wall case and appreciate your patience in helping us become a family.
EDIT: We have no problem supporting her and the children as we would be helping support her anyways with the baby on the way. We all want to be a part of the baby's life and it just seems easier with all of us together.
EDIT: We have no problem supporting her and the children as we would be helping support her anyways with the baby on the way. We all want to be a part of the baby's life and it just seems easier with all of us together.
A few other points...
Keep in mind that she won't be covered by the health care system as a visitor and no travel insurance policy will cover maternity/delivery costs. So if the baby is born in Canada, expect to pay for everything out of pocket.
If she does end up coming as a visitor to Canada - she needs to look like she's really coming for a visit - not to live here. This means she should pack as a visitor would pack, ideally have a return ticket booked, have sufficient funds to finance her visit and be able to show strong ties to the US (i.e. job, property ownership, property rental, etc.).
Keep in mind that she won't be covered by the health care system as a visitor and no travel insurance policy will cover maternity/delivery costs. So if the baby is born in Canada, expect to pay for everything out of pocket.
If she does end up coming as a visitor to Canada - she needs to look like she's really coming for a visit - not to live here. This means she should pack as a visitor would pack, ideally have a return ticket booked, have sufficient funds to finance her visit and be able to show strong ties to the US (i.e. job, property ownership, property rental, etc.).
Her ONLY option under the current legislation to become a permanent resident of Canada is by using one of the Economic Classes. She can start a path to PR by way of a work permit but there will be lots of considerations as I understand she has two other children? All the recommendations regarding visitor status are fine but I'm assuming she will want her children to attend school and they cannot while here as visitors.ConfussedCanadian said: