Permanent Residence Canada through common-law good option?

[ERPL]

Hi everyone,

I have been living in Montreal (Quebec) for 1 year now. I am from Spain and I started working in a fashion design company with a Working Holiday Visa in June 2013. My visa is going to expire in June this year, and my company wants me to keep working for them. I already applied for Young Professionals Visa and it got denied. I know the WHV is not extendable, so I guess my only option is to get an LMO. My HR said that it would be very hard for her to get one because my position is Assistant Designer, and she thinks that she would get a lot of resumes if she posts the job offer in the job bank. My questions are:

1. Is it really that hard to get the LMO approved? what if she gets resumes but she says to Immigration that the candidates were not good enough? Does the fact that I have been working with them for a year give me some extra qualification that will justify my LMO approval? For example I have 1 whole year of experience in the company and training courses in intercompany systems.

2. Also, I have been living with my Canadian boyfriend for a year now. Would it be easier to apply to Permanent Residence through common-law sponsorship? I wouldnt be able to work when my WHV expires or would I be in Implied Status? Should I pply in-land or out-land?

3. And, If I apply for the PR in Quebec, and then I want to move outside of Quebec, would I be able to do so?

4. Should I apply for the Certificat de Selection de Quebec? I need 1 whole year of working experience and with the WHV I would have 11 months and 3 weeks. What could I do to get a whole year? ask for an Extension and wait until is denied so at least I have 1 more month of experience?

5. Would I have any other options apart from this ones?

Sorry it is a lot of questions, but I am pretty confused with all this. I would really appreciate some answers. Thank you very much.

 

[agarand8]

I don't know anything about Quebec or lmo but if you applied common law Outland and your get your papers together quickly, the processing time through France is only 8 months. You might have to go home for a little while but seems pretty fast, as long as your boyfriend is willing to take on that type of commitment.

 

[ERPL]

Thank you for your answer. Do you know if I can be in Implied Status with my Working Holiday Visa after it expires while I am waiting for the PR?

 

[zardoz]

Thank you for your answer. Do you know if I can be in Implied Status with my Working Holiday Visa after it expires while I am waiting for the PR?

CIC has said that there is no "implied status" for WHV/IEC. Some people disagree and take the risk. All I would say is "Caveat Emptor"...

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t163087.0.html and http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/iec-and-implied-status-and-whatll-happen-next-t190128.0.html;msg2976437#msg2976437

 

[CdnandTrini]

Hi everyone,

I have been living in Montreal (Quebec) for 1 year now. I am from Spain and I started working in a fashion design company with a Working Holiday Visa in June 2013. My visa is going to expire in June this year, and my company wants me to keep working for them. I already applied for Young Professionals Visa and it got denied. I know the WHV is not extendable, so I guess my only option is to get an LMO. My HR said that it would be very hard for her to get one because my position is Assistant Designer, and she thinks that she would get a lot of resumes if she posts the job offer in the job bank. My questions are:

1. Is it really that hard to get the LMO approved? what if she gets resumes but she says to Immigration that the candidates were not good enough? Does the fact that I have been working with them for a year give me some extra qualification that will justify my LMO approval? For example I have 1 whole year of experience in the company and training courses in intercompany systems.

2. Also, I have been living with my Canadian boyfriend for a year now. Would it be easier to apply to Permanent Residence through common-law sponsorship? I wouldnt be able to work when my WHV expires or would I be in Implied Status? Should I pply in-land or out-land?

Sorry it is a lot of questions, but I am pretty confused with all this. I would really appreciate some answers. Thank you very much.

1. Yes LMO's are very difficult to get approved. Most employers do not want the aggravation and unless your job is highly specialized and very difficult to fill your HR person is correct.

2. Some Visa offices do not "like" common law applications and they may have a cultural bias towards refusing them more often than a married couple. I suggest you do some more research on the visa office that would process your application to get a better feel for this. Although CIC presents this as one option, in some countries CL applicants seem to have to provide a higher "burden of proof" that their relationship is legitimate. Blessings.

 

[Venitile]

We put in a common law sponsorship application after having lived together for one year. There is no real difference to being married or not apart from the fact that you have to show a lot of proof that your relationship is genuine.
Get your name on lease, joint bank account, hydro bill, ect. Provide letters from family members and friends that have witnessed your relationship. They need to be stamped by a commissioner of oath. Get common law contract signed by a notary public. Send in photos. Bills of trips you went on together, list of presents you gave each other, send copies of cards, letters, emails, text messages you sent to each other.
Applying from inside Canada takes a lot longer than an outside application. We are still waiting to get our PR and applied in Sept. 2011. We can not leave the country during this waiting period or else our application falls through but we did receive our eligibility letter in 2013 which enables us to get local health insurance.
Ring the CIC and ask them if you can apply for a work visa at the same time as you put in your PR application. They suggested that I do that so that I can at least work during the waiting period. It might apply for you too.
Good luck!

 

[ERPL]

1. Yes LMO's are very difficult to get approved. Most employers do not want the aggravation and unless your job is highly specialized and very difficult to fill your HR person is correct.

2. Some Visa offices do not "like" common law applications and they may have a cultural bias towards refusing them more often than a married couple. I suggest you do some more research on the visa office that would process your application to get a better feel for this. Although CIC presents this as one option, in some countries CL applicants seem to have to provide a higher "burden of proof" that their relationship is legitimate. Blessings.

Thank you for your answer!

How do I find out what is the visa office that would process my application? I am from Spain and I will be applying in Montreal.

By the way, after I get my PR, would I be able to move out of Quebec, to Toronto for example? Is there any problem with moving to other provinces one you have the PR? Also, could we move in the middle of the process? Thanks!

 

[ERPL]

We put in a common law sponsorship application after having lived together for one year. There is no real difference to being married or not apart from the fact that you have to show a lot of proof that your relationship is genuine.
Get your name on lease, joint bank account, hydro bill, ect. Provide letters from family members and friends that have witnessed your relationship. They need to be stamped by a commissioner of oath. Get common law contract signed by a notary public. Send in photos. Bills of trips you went on together, list of presents you gave each other, send copies of cards, letters, emails, text messages you sent to each other.
Applying from inside Canada takes a lot longer than an outside application. We are still waiting to get our PR and applied in Sept. 2011. We can not leave the country during this waiting period or else our application falls through but we did receive our eligibility letter in 2013 which enables us to get local health insurance.
Ring the CIC and ask them if you can apply for a work visa at the same time as you put in your PR application. They suggested that I do that so that I can at least work during the waiting period. It might apply for you too.
Good luck!

Perfect! Thank you very much. Yes I was thinking about applying out land, since my WHV is not extendable anyways. Can I ask why did you apply in-land?

 

[sammystorm19]

Thank you for your answer!

How do I find out what is the visa office that would process my application? I am from Spain and I will be applying in Montreal.

By the way, after I get my PR, would I be able to move out of Quebec, to Toronto for example? Is there any problem with moving to other provinces one you have the PR? Also, could we move in the middle of the process? Thanks!

You can move anywhere within Canada with your PR Status.

 

[ERPL]

You can move anywhere within Canada with your PR Status.

Thank you sammystorm19, I was asking because I heard that if I apply to PR in Quebec, I have to prove that my intention is to reside in Quebec. So if I move to Toronto after i have my PR they might see it as a fraudulent declaration. Do you guys know anything about this?

 

[CdnandTrini]

Thank you for your answer!

How do I find out what is the visa office that would process my application? I am from Spain and I will be applying in Montreal.

By the way, after I get my PR, would I be able to move out of Quebec, to Toronto for example? Is there any problem with moving to other provinces one you have the PR? Also, could we move in the middle of the process? Thanks!

ERPL, you are most welcome . For a spouse/common law application the Visa Office (VO) that would be processing your file is located in Paris, France. Luckily for you this office has one of the fastest outland processing times (at 8 months currently). You are the "applicant" and your boyfriend/hubby is the "sponsor". The VO is determined by the applicant's (your) country of citizenship and the Paris VO looks after many other countries including Spain. You can read/research more at this link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/missions/paris.asp

For a work permit application, you would apply via the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Madrid Spain. That info. is also available at the link above. These are 2 different applications if you go the outland route. I am not 100% sure but if you apply inland, you may be able to submit the sponsor and work permit together - hopefully you or another member can confirm or correct this.

I do not know the Quebec requirements (I am in Ontario) but you are right to ensure that you are not going to be perceived as misrepresenting your intent if you do submit a PR application. I do think you are able to move anywhere as a PR after landing though. Again you can research in more detail some of these issues and you will likely still get more answers from other members to your questions.

As for your question about moving during the process, this is just my personal opinion now - I would think that overall it would be easier to make some of these life decisions before you submit an application to immigration. It is a stressful (and expensive) process to begin with and you both may want to feel more settled in your jobs and life together before you undertake this. If you apply inland (usually takes longer) and stay in Canada during this time and cannot work or support yourself financially - your boyfriend as the sponsor will need to support both of you on one income until you can work. Unless one of you is independently wealthy that can be stressful on a relationship.

Lastly no application is guaranteed approval and as many people on this forum can tell you your life is more or less "put on hold" during this process, often with very little information communicated to applicants on their file status. Many things to consider and plan for and it will serve you (and your boyfriend) well if you put in the time up front and are in agreement about how/when to proceed. Blessings.

 

[ERPL]

ERPL, you are most welcome . For a spouse/common law application the Visa Office (VO) that would be processing your file is located in Paris, France. Luckily for you this office has one of the fastest outland processing times (at 8 months currently). You are the "applicant" and your boyfriend/hubby is the "sponsor". The VO is determined by the applicant's (your) country of citizenship and the Paris VO looks after many other countries including Spain. You can read/research more at this link below:

For a work permit application, you would apply via the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Madrid Spain. That info. is also available at the link above. These are 2 different applications if you go the outland route. I am not 100% sure but if you apply inland, you may be able to submit the sponsor and work permit together - hopefully you or another member can confirm or correct this.

I do not know the Quebec requirements (I am in Ontario) but you are right to ensure that you are not going to be perceived as misrepresenting your intent if you do submit a PR application. I do think you are able to move anywhere as a PR after landing though. Again you can research in more detail some of these issues and you will likely still get more answers from other members to your questions.

As for your question about moving during the process, this is just my personal opinion now - I would think that overall it would be easier to make some of these life decisions before you submit an application to immigration. It is a stressful (and expensive) process to begin with and you both may want to feel more settled in your jobs and life together before you undertake this. If you apply inland (usually takes longer) and stay in Canada during this time and cannot work or support yourself financially - your boyfriend as the sponsor will need to support both of you on one income until you can work. Unless one of you is independently wealthy that can be stressful on a relationship.

Lastly no application is guaranteed approval and as many people on this forum can tell you your life is more or less "put on hold" during this process, often with very little information communicated to applicants on their file status. Many things to consider and plan for and it will serve you (and your boyfriend) well if you put in the time up front and are in agreement about how/when to proceed. Blessings.

CdnandTrini, Thank you very much for your complete answers. I will take a look at all those links. I really appreciate it.

I will try to ask in other places about moving out of Quebec when I get the PR. I have heard that I could get in trouble for moving.

Again, thanks a lot to everyone and I will come more often to try to help people with their questions.

 

[Venitile]

ERPL: Perfect! Thank you very much. Yes I was thinking about applying out land, since my WHV is not extendable anyways. Can I ask why did you apply in-land?

Reply: Our case was a little complicated. We had to put in a refugee claim at the same time as starting our application for permanent residency. I was pregnant and needed immediate health insurance coverage. I could not have travelled to any outland immigration interview because the passports were seized. So it had to be inland.

 

[CdnandTrini]

CdnandTrini, Thank you very much for your complete answers. I will take a look at all those links. I really appreciate it.

I will try to ask in other places about moving out of Quebec when I get the PR. I have heard that I could get in trouble for moving.

Again, thanks a lot to everyone and I will come more often to try to help people with their questions.

You're most welcome ERPL. ;D One more suggestion, it is usually faster/easier to get answers to your questions from members on this forum by using Google rather than the search function on the forum itself. Google brings you to an "easier to navigate" selection of the most relevant information on the forum in a more efficient way. Blessings.