Not sure where to start- Canadian/Russian relationship

[Lindros88]

Hello all,
I am new here but have been reading over many threads and of course google searching as much as possible before finally deciding to create an account.

Me- 31 year old Canadian man. Met a 25 year old Russian girl while traveling abroad. Spent 35 days straight together and our relationship progressed (just over 3 months knowing each other now) to the point that we want to live together.

Her- Recent University grad (not a job on the list of ones needed in Canada), No strong ties to Russia such as a house, children, etc. She does not even pay rent since she lives in an apartment that is owned by a relative.

The first option I am thinking to try is for a Student Visa for her. From what I have researched, this would require s/her to show almost 10k CAD for one year of tuition, another 10k for living expenses, and then around 2-3k more for travel back and forth to Russia.
Okay so we will save our money together for this.

The problem I am seeing is that she has no strong ties to Russia, so it is likely she will be denied a Student Visa.
Even something simple as having her come to visit me is not looking like she has much of a chance to even come to Canada on a TRV.

Currently, I am seeking out ways of obtaining a Russian work permit. Again as a house painter, I am not too sure what my chances are on finding a job over there since I do not speak Russian. But we would like to spend a year together so I could sponsor her as a common-law partner.
I am also reading to get this permit I would need a letter of invitation from an employer in Russia. Yet another barricade in our way.


I also plan to go and visit her for a few weeks to meet her parents at the end of the Summer.

Other than this, I have read about Conjugal relationship sponsorship. Again, this does not seem likely. From what I have read, there would be the option of marriage since it is possible for me to fly over there to marry her if we are both denied permits to each others countries for study and work.

But why would we be so foolish to go and get married so quickly because of Visa problems?
How smart is that to marry someone without living with them first. Or even having a long-term relationship?
Yes we are in love and this is genuine, but I don't want to be backed into a corner by immigration forcing us to have some absurd wedding just to be together.
Then what, more money to pay for a big wedding so it appears genuine? If we had a quick marriage at a court then it looks like a marriage of convenience, which is exactly what it would be at that point.

Other than this, she has a Grandmother that was Lithuanian. So trying to get her a dual citizenship by finding the documents in Lithuanian archives is another long, drawn out, highly unlikely process paying more lawyers that we have as an option. Even then, I am not even sure if she could come with this passport since it would still show her place of birth.

As you can see, I am lost and a little bit frustrated with this whole thing. I know I wrote out a lot but there are a lot of experts on here so I thought I should'nt omit too much.

Also any direction on who to talk to even if I have to pay for their advice. I saw one number that is 99$ for 30 minutes. Not sure if that is a good idea or just a waste of money


Thanks a lot

 

[scylla]

Conjugal is not an option. This is for people who face real immigration barrier in getting married or living together for a year to become common law. You face no such barriers. If you apply as conjugal - you'll be refused. Your options are to get married or to live together for a year first to become common law. Yes - court marriages are accepted. It doesn't have to be a large / expensive marriage. However keep in mind that sponsorship is a large undertaking and you haven't known her for that long. You will be financially responsible for for three years after she becomes a permanent resident. This means if at any point in those three year she goes on social assistance / welfare, you will have to pay this money back to the government (even if you are no longer together). This can amount to well over $10K per year.

For a study permit, you'll need more in the rage of $25K+ (tuition is typically more than $10K). To be approved, the studies she plans to take in Canada will have to make sense in light of her previous education and experience.

She could try applying for a TRV for a short trip (2 weeks). If the TRV is approved and she's able to come here, you could go the common law route. If she hasn't visited other countries before, I would recommend she visit Europe a few times and/or the UK to build up a travel history. Perhaps the two of you could vacation there.

Having Lithuanian citizenship won't really change anything.

 

[scylla]

Just to further clarify what conjugal is for - this is not for people who aren't comfortable enough yet with their relationship to get married. It's for people who already have a marriage-like relationship - but for whom it is literally impossible to get married (and also impossible to live together for a year to become common law).

 

[Lindros88]

Scylla,
Thank you for the information.
I am aware of what the sponsorship entails since my brother did this with his Italian girlfriend who now has PR.

The course we are looking at is an English language program that does not require an IELTS test and is on the list of approved schools. The tuition is less than 5k per semester. The school is near my city and I have already met with the admissions office.

Just to clarify, are you saying to invite her here on a 2 week TRV and then have here stay one year with me? would she not have problems staying past her 2 week plan?
I really dont see her getting approved for a TRV anyway because of her lack of ties to Russia. She could get a letter from her boss and all of that, but she does not own property or pay rent.
Although she does have a passport full of stamps and also visas needed to go to the EU.

Also again with the conjugal, would both of us being denied visas not fit with what is listed on the cic website?

• could not live with the sponsor as a couple because of reasons beyond their control (e.g. immigration barrier, religious reasons or sexual orientation).
  
  Youre more than likely correct, I just thought I had a glimmer of hope there for a second since it does not seem likely that either of our countries will let us live together for up to a year.

 

[scylla]

Don't go for an English course for the study permit. Very very high rates of rejection. Unfortunately CIC isn't stupid and this has been tried by many others before. CIC typically doesn't consider applicants to be genuine students and believes they are just trying to use the English course as a means of getting to Canada to stay long term. For the study permit route to work, she needs to take a program that makes sense in light of her previous education and any work experience. So she needs to be taking either a Master's or a Post Graduate program at a college. Forget the language course.

For conjugal, you have to demonstrate that you can't live together AND can't get married. You can easily get married.

It will likely be difficult for her to get a TRV - but I would suggest she try and say she's planning a two week trip. If she's able to get a TRV and arrive in Canada, most visitors are allowed in for a default six months which she can then extend so that you can become common law. Note that she won't be allowed to work in Canada as a visitor or benefit from our health care system. So there's that to consider.

 

[Lindros88]

I really appreciate your input here. Anyone I have talked to on the phone wants a large amount of money for these answers.
As for the English course, it is not a ploy to get her into the country. This is something she really needs to improve on to make a better life in Canada. She does speak English, but definitely not good enough for a well paying job. I really dont even think she would pass the IELTS The program, does have students so there must be some that get through.

I will look more into applying for a TRV for her. It seems obvious that they would deny her knowing she is coming to see her Canadian boyfriend.
I would also hate to get denied an extension after 6 months and be right back in the same situation.

This is all just ridiculously hard and it looks like down the road im going to have to marry her and try to spnosor her that way. Even then, we have to wait up to a year to be together after we are married and apply for an outland spousal sponsorship.

Sometimes after reading all of this info and researching long hours, finding out more and more I switch from laughing to crying a little. I just had no idea all of this would be so complicated.

However, the juice is worth the squeeze. I will carry on and not give up.

 

[baxa1981]

I really appreciate your input here. Anyone I have talked to on the phone wants a large amount of money for these answers.
As for the English course, it is not a ploy to get her into the country. This is something she really needs to improve on to make a better life in Canada. She does speak English, but definitely not good enough for a well paying job. I really dont even think she would pass the IELTS The program, does have students so there must be some that get through.

I will look more into applying for a TRV for her. It seems obvious that they would deny her knowing she is coming to see her Canadian boyfriend.
I would also hate to get denied an extension after 6 months and be right back in the same situation.

This is all just ridiculously hard and it looks like down the road im going to have to marry her and try to spnosor her that way. Even then, we have to wait up to a year to be together after we are married and apply for an outland spousal sponsorship.

Sometimes after reading all of this info and researching long hours, finding out more and more I switch from laughing to crying a little. I just had no idea all of this would be so complicated.

However, the juice is worth the squeeze. I will carry on and not give up.

So what happened in the end?