Looking for basic advise

[sbrown21]

I am an American citizen and I have become seriously involved with a Canadian citizen. We have made the serious decision that we would like to be together on a permanent basis and so one of us needs to immigrate. Given the nature of his job (military), I seem like the best candidate for moving. I've started looking into the process, but am finding parts of it confusing. I would qualify for skilled worker based on my education and experience, but it sounds like going the sponsorship route is much simpler. With sponsorship, there are a couple things I need further understanding with.

The CIC site says, "sponsored spouses or partners must now live together in a legitimate relationship with their sponsor for two years from the day they receive permanent residence status in Canada", but I find virtually no information about permanent residence status. I found information about getting the PR card, but nothing about how you obtain this status.

The second concern is work. What type of work permit would I get? How does that work?

 

[darwinwap]

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

 

[Farfelu]

Permanent Resident (PR) status is obtained either by direct immigration paths such as those granted under the skilled immigrant or Provincial nominee, or, as you already may know, indirectly as the sponsored person of a Canadian citizen or Canadian PR holder. In your case, becoming sponsored by your Canadian spouse or common-law partner is likely the fastest and simpler route.

The legislation you refer to refers to a new requirement for new immigrants under the Family Class which requires couples who have been married for two years or less AND have no children to live (their word is "co-habit") with their spouse/partner for a period of two years after becoming Permanent Resident, which is the status you obtain after a successful application in the Family Class.

More info can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3999Etoc.asp

 

[QuebecOkie]

If you are not married to your partner, you two have to live together for a full year before you're eligible to apply for permanent residency through family class (him sponsoring you). Work will be an issue. Even if you marry and apply inland (from Canada) and include an application for an OWP (open work permit), you're looking at around six months before you would be able to work, during which it is recommended that you do not leave Canada at all. If you apply outland (from the US), you will not be able to work until you have PR status.

 

[sbrown21]

Ok, so in response to what Farfalu just said, let me see if I understand this.

1. We get married.
2. Apply for sponsorship
3. After application is accepted, get Permanent residence status and live together for 2 years
4. After 2 years gain citizenship

Is that correct?

 

[Reflectoman]

Ok, so in response to what Farfalu just said, let me see if I understand this.

1. We get married.
2. Apply for sponsorship
3. After application is accepted, get Permanent residence status and live together for 2 years
4. After 2 years gain citizenship

Is that correct?

Yes, the alternative is also possible,

1. After one year of co-habitation, you can apply as common-law
2. Apply for sponsorship
3. After application is accepted, get Condition Permanent residence status and live together for 2 years
4. After 2 years obtain full PR
5. After 3 years apply for citizenship

 

[sakamath]

Ok, so in response to what Farfalu just said, let me see if I understand this.

1. We get married.
2. Apply for sponsorship
3. After application is accepted, get Permanent residence status and live together for 2 years
4. After 2 years gain citizenship

Is that correct?

Not exactly, but mostly you are correct:
1. We get married. (record convincing proof of your relationship before marriage - pictures, emails, letters, phone records)
2. Apply for sponsorship (this is the first of the 2-stage process) Your spouse would be approved as a sponsor - it is easier for you to visit your spouse in Canada after this stage. Prior to that, it would be difficult for you to prove that you would not overstay your visit.
3. After application is accepted, get Permanent residence status and live together for 2 years
The "live together for 2 years" condition was recently introduced to avoid "marriages of convenience" - people marrying Canadians simply to get PR status (and then abandoning their Canadian spouse). After you live together for 2 years your PR status cannot be revoked.
4. After 2 years gain citizenship You can gain Citizenship if you have lived in Canada as a PR for the last 3 out of 5 years. So its only after 3 years (not counting visits outside Canada), that you can apply for Citizenship - it would take another year or so to actually gain Citizenship.

Hope that helps.

 

[Farfelu]

Ok, so in response to what Farfalu just said, let me see if I understand this.

1. We get married.
2. Apply for sponsorship
3. After application is accepted, get Permanent residence status and live together for 2 years
4. After 2 years gain citizenship

Is that correct?

Sakamath has explained it clearly. Also, Reflectoman provided a good alternative in simple words. If you like reading and don't mind the dense language of official guides, you can read the Operational Manual: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

Good luck.

 

[QuebecOkie]

4. After 2 years gain citizenship You can gain Citizenship if you have lived in Canada as a PR for the last 3 out of 5 years. So its only after 3 years (not counting visits outside Canada), that you can apply for Citizenship - it would take another year or so to actually gain Citizenship.

Hope that helps.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/become-eligibility.asp

You must have Permanent Resident Status and must have lived in Canada for 3 out of the past 4 years to apply for citizenship. Time spent living in Canada before you gained Permanent Resident status *may* be counted. (For instance, I will have spent over a year in Canada by the time I gain Permanent Residency, and I'm hopeful that time will be counted and allow me to apply for citizenship about two years after I gain PR status.)

Also, since the OP's partner is military, this may interest her: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/5445ETOC.asp#appendixA To maintain Permanent Resident status once you have it, you must reside within Canada at least 2 years out of every 5. I was curious what would happen if my husband was stationed outside of Canada again (same thing, he's Canadian military, I'm a US citizen, and I met him because he was stationed in Oklahoma for four years). If you accompany your husband outside of Canada, that time is still counted as time that you were residing in Canada. That eased my mind a lot, as I worried that I'd jump through ALLLLLLLL of these hoops, only to have to follow the hubby back to the US and end up losing my permanent residency. Not the case.

 

[sakamath]

You are correct about 3 out of last 4 years (I wrongly stated 5 years).

Keep in mind that living with your Canadian citizen spouse counts towards maintaining your PR status. Having a valid PR status does not necessarily mean one is eligible for Citizenship after 3 years. The residency rule may still have to be met. But I guess for military spouses, there could be an exemption.

 

[QuebecOkie]

I don't know quite what you mean by:

Having a valid PR status does not necessarily mean one is eligible for citizenship after 3 years. The residency rule may still have to be met.

The residency rule definitely must be met before you can apply for citizenship. And, yes, once you have valid PR status and have lived in Canada for three years, that does make you eligible to apply for citizenship (assuming the other requirements related to age, language, lack of criminal history, and knowledge of Canada are met). The only part that is unclear is whether time spent in Canada (as a visitor, student, skilled worker, etc.) will be counted toward that three years of required residency, or whether you can only count the time in Canada after PR status is granted. The way I read it, it sounds like it might be one of those case-by-case basis sort of things.

As for military spouses, I don't believe there are any exemptions or additional support for military members and their spouses (if there is, we haven't found it, and neither have the four or five other couples we know like us). What matters is that, if a Permanent Resident follows their Canadian citizen spouse (whether he/she is military or not) to a location outside of Canada, that time is still counted as time that the PR was living in Canada. That's not an exemption for military spouses. ANY PR that follows his/her spouse outside of the country for work or vacation can count that time as still residing in Canada. Which I was very happy to learn! Two guys from my husband's current base just got posted to the US, and Alaska and Colorado are possibilities for us down the line. If my husband, a Canadian citizen, is posted to a location in the US (or any other country), I can move with him and still count the time in that country as time I resided in Canada, since I followed my citizen spouse. Does that make sense?

 

[sakamath]

I don't know quite what you mean by:

An hypothetical example. I became a PR on Jan 1st 2001. Left Canada on Dec 31st 2003 (after 3 years). If I come back to Canada after 2 years, My PR status is still valid. But I am not yet eligible to apply for Citizenship as out of the last 4 years, I have not been in Canada for 3 years.

As for military spouses, I don't believe there are any exemptions or additional support for military members and their spouses (if there is, we haven't found it, and neither have the four or five other couples we know like us). What matters is that, if a Permanent Resident follows their Canadian citizen spouse (whether he/she is military or not) to a location outside of Canada, that time is still counted as time that the PR was living in Canada. That's not an exemption for military spouses. ANY PR that follows his/her spouse outside of the country for work or vacation can count that time as still residing in Canada. Which I was very happy to learn! Two guys from my husband's current base just got posted to the US, and Alaska and Colorado are possibilities for us down the line. If my husband, a Canadian citizen, is posted to a location in the US (or any other country), I can move with him and still count the time in that country as time I resided in Canada, since I followed my citizen spouse. Does that make sense?

Technically, these stays outside Canada should be counted as your residency in Canada. Though I could not find it on the official website, Here's what I dug out from Leon's post on another thread:

On the other hand, residency requirements to be able to apply for citizenship:

You must have 1095 days in Canada as a PR in the past 4 years before applying.

Time in Canada before gaining PR may be counted at the rate of 1/2 day for each day stayed before PR, still only within the past 4 year period.

Time outside Canada can only be counted if accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse who is Canadian military or is working abroad for the federal or a provincial govt.

I will see if I can get some official document on this one.

 

[sakamath]

I will see if I can get some official document on this one.

Got it! and here it is:

www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?q=370&t=5

Can I count any time I’ve spent outside of Canada toward the residence requirement?

Only in certain circumstances. You can count time spent outside Canada toward the residence requirement for a grant of citizenship if you spent the time with a spouse who is a Canadian citizen working at that time with the:

federal public administration of Canada;
public service of a province; or
Canadian armed forces.

If this helps you and your colleagues, it would make my day!

 

[Outlandish]

This is so helpful!

So if My husband and I are married for 2 years by the time he gets to Canada, are we able to leave Canada to visit his mum in Europe, right away? The only negative aspect will be that the days he isn't in Canada will delay his citizenship process, correct?

 

[sakamath]

This is so helpful!

So if My husband and I are married for 2 years by the time he gets to Canada, are we able to leave Canada to visit his mum in Europe, right away? The only negative aspect will be that the days he isn't in Canada will delay his citizenship process, correct?

Let me clear some confusions.

1. Conditional PR. Until recently, when a spousal PR application was approved, the spouse used to get full-fledged PR. It could be revoked only in extreme circumstances. This resulted in many "marriages of convenience" where people married Canadians just to get PR status and then soon after they arrived, they abandoned their Canadian spouse. Hence, CIC introduced "Conditional PR" for spousal PR application. Under this process, a conditional PR is issued to the foreign spouse. Only after the spouse completes 2 years of married life (or has a child) would the PR be deemed as full-fledged. If in the meantime, the foreign spouse breaks the marriage, the PR becomes void.

In your case, since you are already married for 2 years, the conditional PR would not be applicable to you. (Even if it was less than 2 years, if you had a child, that too would grant full PR for your spouse).

2. Residency requirement for maintaining a PR status. Once a person gets PR, they have to maintain their PR status. This is done by staying in Canada (or be able to stay in Canada) for at least 2 out of the last 5 years. The PR can leave Canada at any point in time. But at the time of returning back to Canada, (s)he should be able to prove that they have met this residency requirement or would be able to meet the residency requirement. (For example, a new PR comes to Canada and leaves immediately. When this PR returns after one year, (s)he still has another 4 years to complete the 2 years of residency requirement). If the PR leaves Canada to stay with a Canadian, then this stay is counted towards the PR residency requirement.

There is one more thing to note: To be able to return to Canada, the PR must carry a "PR Card". Without this a PR cannot enter Canada via air/sea.

3. Residency requirement to be eligible for Citizenship. To be eligible to apply for Canadian Citizenship, a person must stay in Canada for 3 out of the last 4 years. The only exception here is if the person stays outside Canada because the person's spouse is a Canadian and works for Govt/Military. (Canadians working in pvt sector abroad is not included here-unlike in PR residency requirement)

To sum up your specific question, irrespective of the length of your marriage, your spouse can leave Canada to visit his mum in Europe right away. However, he should ensure that he has his PR card with him when he returns.