Moving to Canada, Baby on the Way!!

[Shon_Joel]

Hello,
I have been searching for an answer and have yet to find a solution for my situation. I would really appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction. My girlfriend and I live and work in Thailand, I am a Canadian Citizen while my girlfriend is Swedish. She is pregnant and we both agree giving birth in Canada is the best for us. Question is, what is the best procedure to bring her into Canada. We were planning to get married in Thailand and come over or is it better to get married in Canada. Whether its waiting in Thailand or in Canada, we would just like to be together.
Kind Regards,
Shon

 

[Leon]

The only way to permanently bring her with you to Canada would be to sponsor her for PR. However, this is a process that takes months and you can not start it until you are either married or have lived together in a common law partnership for at least 12 months.

However, your problem is that if she is already pregnant and the processing takes months, it is unlikely for her to get her PR status before giving birth. You could enter Canada with her as a visitor because she is visa exempt. However, this would mean that she has no health care and childbirth can get expensive.

 

[Shon_Joel]

Thank you so much for your reply.
As far as I know, if we get married in Canada I can sponsor her and she doesn't have to leave the country, correct? What about my girlfriend entering on a visitor visa, can she get married on a visitor? Also, when we arrive at Canadian Immigration, we will be telling them our plans to get married. Will that cause any problems at the border?
P.S- We are in a common law relationship.

 

[Leon]

Thank you so much for your reply.
As far as I know, if we get married in Canada I can sponsor her and she doesn't have to leave the country, correct? What about my girlfriend entering on a visitor visa, can she get married on a visitor? Also, when we arrive at Canadian Immigration, we will be telling them our plans to get married. Will that cause any problems at the border?
P.S- We are in a common law relationship.

Yes, you can get married in Canada and start sponsorship of her as soon as you have the marriage certificate or if you have already been in a common law relationship for 12 months or longer that you can prove, you can start sponsorship even before getting married.

If you apply inland, she doesn't have to leave the country. However, it currently takes 11 months to get first stage approval through inland, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp so depending on the province, she may not get health care until then or even later when you take the waiting time into account. Some provinces may however cover a spouse in the process of being sponsored. For example Alberta

 

[Swede]

Congrats!

Regarding health care coverage, when I first came to Canada I was (and still am :) legally residing at my mother's address in Sweden as far as Swedish authorities were concerned and that allowed me to buy extra health insurance through her home insurance company to the tune of about $50/month. Have her call home and see if that's possible!

A child born in Canada is a Canadian citizen by default, so its health care costs will be covered. The child will also be Swedish through its mother.

 

[Hopeful One]

The baby's health care costs will be covered, but the labor/delivery and hospital stay regarding your GF are not covered.

I applied for health care 3 months after I arrived in Saskatchewan sent in my health card application and rec'd my card about a month later. I was still in-process for my PR status. I don't know if that is a normal procedure for in-process PR's to get a health card after 3 months in Saskatchewan or I just got lucky.

 

[eileenf]

Midwife services for prenatal care and homebirth are not billed through OHIP in Ontario but funded directly through the Ministry of Health (I believe). They are free for anyone giving birth in the province.