Need help to sponsor my American family in Canada

[LCN]

Hi there, I am hoping someone can lead me in the right direction..
I am a Canadian and American citizen (I have dual) living in the USA right now. I live with my common law partner and almost 4 year old son who are both American citizens. Because of the new law that started in April 2009, my son does not qualify for Canadian citizenship.
I want to move back to Canada and need information on how to bring my son and partner (who is the child's father) with me. I've heard of the sponsorship program and wanting to know if this is my only option?

Also, my partner does work out of an American based company but the company does work all over the world including Canada. I wonder if he would be able to keep this job and live in Canada even though his paycheck is from America?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
LCN

 

[scylla]

Family sponsorship is the only option for your son and the easiest option for your common law partner.

 

[LCN]

Thank you. I figured so. Do you know if I could go through the sponsorship procedure while we are still living in the USA? I'm assuming I would have to show proof that I have a job in Canada to go and a place to live?

 

[scylla]

Yes - you can sponsor them while still living in the US. However you will have to include proof with your application that you plan to return to Canada to live there once their PR visas have been approved.

 

[opmama]

Because of the new law that started in April 2009, my son does not qualify for Canadian citizenship.

We got confused reading the new 2009 rules, and didn't interpret them correctly at first, so I'm going to ask, just to make sure you're not making the same mistake we did. Were *you* born outside of Canada? If you are Canadian, born in Canada, then your son is Canadian (even though several places on the CIC website make that confusing).

 

[LCN]

I was bora in the USA but moved to Canada when I was 4 years old.

 

[opmama]

I was bora in the USA but moved to Canada when I was 4 years old.

Ah, then yeah, I think you guys get caught up in the new rules. Not the people they were designed to snag - sorry, that stinks.

If your husband works for a big international company, he might want to inquire about work visas for Canada. I worked for a big company when I moved to the US, and they had me a work visa sorted out very quickly (a J-1, I think). TN status is also very straightforward if he works in the right field and has a job offer for working out of one of their Canadian locations. There might be other options as well, and big companies often have internal legal help to make it happen. Then you guys could all move back to Canada with him legally able to work, and apply (probably still apply outland, and it would likely be approved before his work visa expired).