Partner in Canada - Next steps after permit not extended

[bobber123]

My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 6 years. He went to school here got a degree and is working for the last two years but not in a highly skilled area. His request to extend his work visa was rejected as his company doesn't do LMO's....I don't know why...apparently they take all of 15 minutes to complete according to my HR person...

Is our only next step to get married and move in and go the sponsorship route? We have emails and pictures from our time together?

I am still flabbergasted. He spent a fortune in a college here and has worked and put down roots!

I know he will have to leave work and move in with me now...but is this the only way?

 

[scylla]

Have you lived together for at least a year? If so, then you can sponsor him now. If not, then you will either have to get married or live together first for at least one full year before you can sponsor him. You should move over to the family sponsorship section of this forum. Start by reading the first post in the following thread:

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

Many companies don't do LMOs unfortunately. He should try to find a different employer who is.

 

[bobber123]

Thank you for your reply....it's nice to get some help in such a complex situation!

This is the bad part. We've been dating for 4-5 years, live in the same city and were waiting until I could buy a larger condo before getting married and moving in. SO...sadly his visa is running out in three months and his application to stay was rejected. It's terrible since he has laid down roots.

We were hoping (we have proof of our ongoing relationship via emails and phone logs) to get married soon and allow him to stay while going through the process.

Does this mean we are out of luck and he has to leave?

Thanks again...I fear that we may have no other avenue to explore. It was sadly his last minute alert that his visa was expiring and then the failed attempt to renew it that has eaten up our time to act.

One final issue...I cannot find the minimum one year rule on the cic site. For married it says this: (??)

Who can I sponsor using this application?

You can use this application package to sponsor a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner and dependent children who live outside Canada and meet the requirements defined for members of the family class.
If you are married

You can sponsor the person as your spouse if your marriage is a legally valid civil marriage. If your spouse is of the:

opposite sex and your marriage took place outside Canada, the marriage must be valid both under the laws of the jurisdiction where it took place and under Canadian law;
same sex, the marriage will be recognized for immigration purposes, where the marriage:
was legally performed in Canada, or
if performed outside of Canada, the marriage must be legally recognized according to both the law of the place where the marriage occurred and under Canadian law.

 

[Leon]

If you get married, you don't need to have lived together for a year. If you want to apply as common law (not get married) you need to have lived together for a year for immigration to see you as common law.

Right now, if his permit is already expired, he has a 90 day grace period to either restore his status or leave. He could apply to restore his status to visitor based on his impending marriage and sponsorship or if he is visa exempt, he could leave and come back to visit and most likely be allowed in with a fresh 6 months visa. If he is not visa exempt and leaves, the odds of him getting a visit visa to visit a girlfriend/spouse are not very good because they always seem to think that partners will overstay.

Anyway, if he stays and you apply to sponsor him inland and apply for an open work permit at the same time, he would have it in about 6 months. During the waiting time, he could take a short course. Visitors are allowed to take courses shorter than 6 months that don't give college credits. Or he could volunteer. Alternatively, he could go home, you sponsor him outland and you will be separated for several months while you wait for the sponsorship to go through but he would be able to work and save up some money.

 

[bobber123]

Thanks again for the information. That's good to hear. We intended to marry last year but put it off.

One last question on your prior comment. So, one can submit a work permit at the same time we send the sponsorship document? I assume there is somewhere in the work permit that we check off or write something to "link" that we have a sponsorship in the works?

Thank you again.

 

[Leon]

Thanks again for the information. That's good to hear. We intended to marry last year but put it off.

One last question on your prior comment. So, one can submit a work permit at the same time we send the sponsorship document? I assume there is somewhere in the work permit that we check off or write something to "link" that we have a sponsorship in the works?

Thank you again.

If you apply for sponsorship inland, you can send in the work permit application with the same package. You can use a change of status form and you should write on it that you are requesting an open work permit upon first stage approval. That way, it will be tied together with your application and as soon as he gets the first stage approval, he will get the work permit.

I am sure you also now wish you had known that if you had done this before his work permit expired, he would have had implied status and could have continued working.

 

[bobber123]

His work permit still has two months on it...end of June!

Does this mean we can send in sponsorship items and he changes to implied work permit and can keep working?

We tried to get extension on work permit...but the LMO bit! Will this come up again when we send work permit extension...or is it more likely he can work now and not be held back by LMO...if I am sponsoring him?

 

[Leon]

If you manage to get married and get your application together and sent in before his work permit expires, then yes, he has implied status and can continue working. He should however not leave Canada during the time he is on implied status. Leaving invalidates the implied.

Implied status is actually not a work permit in itself but the fact that he applied for a work permit before the old one expired means that his status is upheld through that until he hears back.

Start looking at the forms now. There is a lot of paperwork involved and 2 months is not a long time to get everything done and plan a wedding at the same time.

 

[bobber123]

Thank you so much for the information. We're just doing city hall with some close friends...so it's not a lot to plan!

This forum has been great at solving this quickly. The CIC site is just some sort of Byzantine nightmare. It's not their fault...just the system - it is so layered from dozens of years of different governments and initiatives.

 

[bobber123]

Finally one last question I hope!

His SIN (Social Insurance Number) expires on the same day his work permit does.

If we file the sponsorship before his permit expires along with the Open Work Permit application (stating it is in regards to the sponsorship) does his SIN remain active for work purposes?

Thanks as always!

 

[Leon]

He has implied status so it should.

 

[bobber123]

And this just came up.

With the need to provide emails/photos etc., I'm assuming submitting the sponsorship electronically is beyond their system?

Would suggest doing this the paper route..this way we can organize all the photos, emails etc?

Can we send in a FOB? The stick memory cards?

 

[Leon]

No digital media allowed, just paper. Some people have solved by by printing pictures 3-4 to a page and writing a little text with each one. Some have taken a screen shot of their email inbox / outbox to show the number of emails as well as printing out some of them. I said it's a lot of paperwork

 

[bobber123]

Oh okay that's fine.

So we might as well do the application itself on the computer and print off?...rather than with other applications on their site...which you can submit digitally and directly to them?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Oh okay that's fine.

So we might as well do the application itself on the computer and print off?...rather than with other applications on their site...which you can submit digitally and directly to them?

Yes, that's the best way; fill out each form on the computer, print them off and sign them if needed. A few people fill them in by hand but I think that is a bit more difficult. As well, there are a few forms that need to be validated; you fill them out online and click the Validate button. This gives you a series of barcodes to print out along with the form to help CIC identify your app.

Get all the forms printed off, and along with all of your documents and proof, mail it in.