Marriage with an international student in Canada

[Peterkonstantin]

Hello all, my current fiancé is an international student who's study permit will exp at 2015. We have been living together close to an year and after our New Years vacation we have discovered that she became pregnant. We are both in our early 20s but luckily we have enough amassed enough financial asset to afford our own condo and cars so a new baby is truly a blessing for us. However, as you all may understand, we are planning to get married prior to the expected birth of our child. We share a couple of dilemmas here:firstly, should she apply her PR before marriage or vice versa? She is also expecting to fly back to her home country to visit family in April, would marriage or PR application prevent her from doing so? And lastly, is there any proof that we might need in order to obtain our marriage certificate. ( in order to prove that our marriage is legitimate ).

Thank you all for your time, we really appreciate any advice. Have a wonderful day!

 

[Rob_TO]

Once you reach 12 continuous months of living together, you can apply as common-law. No reason to wait until marriage.

Other than a marriage certificate or proof of common-law, you should also show you have joint finances. i.e. joint rental/lease/mortgage, joint bank account, supplementary credit card in spouses name, life insurance on each other, adding spouse to employer benefits, etc etc

And of course her being pregnant is also good proof. Of course since she is pregnant she will not be able to complete x-ray portion of medical exam until after she gives births, do your application will go "on hold" until her medical is completed. So you could be waiting a while for her PR status.

It fine to travel in and out of Canada with an outland app in process, as long as she maintains legal status here (via study, visit or working permit)

 

[steerpike]

Hello all, my current fiancé is an international student who's study permit will exp at 2015. We have been living together close to an year and after our New Years vacation we have discovered that she became pregnant. We are both in our early 20s but luckily we have enough amassed enough financial asset to afford our own condo and cars so a new baby is truly a blessing for us. However, as you all may understand, we are planning to get married prior to the expected birth of our child.

So you will get married in less than 9 months from now? Does she have healthcare coverage that covers pregnancy and birth? check into that to make sure as it is not always included in every policy.

We share a couple of dilemmas here:firstly, should she apply her PR before marriage or vice versa?

It doesnt matter because you qualify as commonlaw. Marriage is probably better, but either way is valid.

She is also expecting to fly back to her home country to visit family in April, would marriage or PR application prevent her from doing so?

Yes. Inland application would prevent her from leaving the country. Current posted wait times are around 19 months.

And lastly, is there any proof that we might need in order to obtain our marriage certificate. ( in order to prove that our marriage is legitimate ).

Are you getting married in Canada? If so i dont think there is anything special you need to do to get the marriage certifcate itself . However CIC looks at many many MANY things and the marriage certificate is just one of those. So things you should keep are receipts from the wedding, lots of photos of the wedding, engagment, honeymoon and any trips you go on together either before or after the marriage. Some people also send in transcripts of online chats or letters, especially for commonlaw applicants. Also CIC will red flag you if both parents dont attend the wedding, so if both sets of parents can attend that is preferable.