consideringstaying said:
Hello everyone!
My partner is a Canadian citizen who would like to sponsor me for a common-law partner visa. We currently both reside and work in Japan as English instructors. We have been in a relationship for over three years and have lived together for more than two years (the last year of which was in Japan). While, we do not share any bank accounts, we completely support each other financially (we split rent, bills, groceries, utilities, furniture, vacations, etc.)
Our main concern is regarding the financial support section of the common-law sponsorship.
Am I correct that my sponsor will need to provide documentation proving she makes/possesses enough money to support the both of us (I believe this is around 35k per year)?
There is also a chance that our job search will not begin until we enter Canada. Will it be a problem if neither my partner nor I have a job upon entering Canada?
Thanks immensely for your advice and best of luck!
As far as i know and as far as i understood, there are no condition of income regarding PR, but they request that the sponsor is not living on welfare or doesn't have social assistance. If that's the case, that person cannot sponsor his/her partner to for permanent residency.
You must know that you can't get a job without a working status in Canada, so you have to get a PR before properly looking for work.
So my advice is that, present your PR, you can fill in the form (i remember there was a small field in the "old" form) or add an explanatory letter explaining that both of you are currently working, and that you plan to move to Canada and live/work there once you have a valid working status. And if he have family and you want to stay there, you can get letter from his family saying they'll host you till you get a job and housing.
Don't resign from your current jobs before securing the following:
1. Your Canada Immigration Visa, check the expiry date of the visa
2. Your Landed status, as you have to go to canada just to "confirm" the PR BEFORE the expiry date, check http://www.canadavisa.com/landing-in-canada-as-a-permanent-resident-faq.html
3. A solid job offer if you want to carry on in your field or another
Number 3 definitely makes it easier to move to Canada with serenity.