Need help with PR app & study permit - Korean spouse

[M.steele]

Hi everyone!

My fiancée and I have recently been talking about getting married as there have been a few situations that have come up and I'm not sure about her status in Canada.

A little background I'm a Canadian citizen and I proposed to me girlfriend of 1 year back in June. We are planing on having the ceremony in Korea where she is from in September of next year. She was originally here on a study permit in which she studied English. She already has a university degree from Korea and worked there as a manager of a mortgage company.

Last year she attended Nova Scotia community college as she was going to attend that so she could work here. We had no intention of marrying at this time as we just started dating. This year after I proposed to her she decided to not attend school this year due to the cost to her there would be better things to spend her money on when she already has a university degree. We had no idea that this is not something you're allowed to do as the school processed this for her. Although ignorance is no excuse I know. We were planning on getting married here anyway shortly as we would need to have everything before the ceremony in Korea.

I'm not sure what we should do now. Should we get married and apply for the PR? Or would something like just an open work permit be better? Also we have a trip booked to Korea this winter to scope out some venues in Korea and get together with family. But I read that she may not be allowed back in the country with an open work permit/PR application. Her study permit is good until August 2017 but like I said she's not attending school this semester so I'm really not sure what to do and I think it will be cancelled.

I was also looking at inland vs outland PR applications although I'm not too sure what we could apply for where she is here and not supposed to stay after this month technically. Although I presume nothing bad would happen I'd hate for something to happen and make the situation even worse. So if she was to apply for an outland PR can we apply where she is living in Canada? Or should we get married and go to Korea and apply from there?

Sorry for rambling I really appreciate any help!

 

[scylla]

How long has she been out of school?

 

[M.steele]

Technically she hasn't been out of school yet. She completed her first year last year and then just told them a couple weeks ago that she won't be going next semester. So come September 7th when the new year starts will be the start of time that she hasn't gone to school yet.

 

[lovelywhite7]

Have you considered getting married at the City Hall?

You can always have your actual ceremony later and just get married "legally" to process your PR application for your fiance. If you guys have been living together for more than a month, you can take the common-law stream.

As for her status in Canada, what is the reason she is not going back to school in Nova Scotia? Is it to stay near you? If so, she could probably go to school where you are?

I highly doubt she will be refused entry when she returns from her trip to Korea.

 

[Rob_TO]

If you guys have been living together for more than a month, you can take the common-law stream.

If they have been living together 12 continuous months (and have proofs of the cohabitation) they are common-law and can apply as such.

Else they will need to wait until after getting married to sponsor her for PR. As long as they have a good relationship/dating history, a small civic wedding at city hall is certainly a feasible option to get things going.

If they intend to travel to Korea next year (or do any other travel), an OUTLAND app is recommended. She would need to apply to change her status of stay from student to visitor since her student status here will soon be gone and she doesn't want to remain here illegally.

 

[M.steele]

Thanks everyone, that's what I thought. I've set up the wedding for Sept 2 at our city hall here. So then we can get the ball rolling on this.

She felt that going to school here was a waste of her time and really just wants to get started working. She feels that the bunch of money it would cost her could be better spent. She already has a university degree from Korea and worked there as a manager. Her degree was in international commerce and then here she was just doing Business, she may go back next year if she is unable too find a good job.

For the outland PR would we have to leave Canada for her to apply for it or can she apply from here? I also read that the work permit is granted faster with the outland PR?

Thanks again for all your help with this!

 

[canadianwoman]

She can apply outland while she is out of Canada, or while she is here. With an outland application, she does not get a work permit. With an inland application, she can also apply for an open work permit, but outland is generally much faster than inland. She might have her PR (which allows her to work) only a couple of months later than she would get her work permit applying inland. Since she wants to leave Canada to travel, she should apply outland anyway. She can come back in as a visitor while waiting.