+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445
Client Portal

Please help me to be with my long term German girlfriend

T

Tyson2014

Full Member
Aug 4, 2014
47
0
Hi everyone. I'm glad I found this forum. I'll get right into it. I met my girlfriend four and a half years ago on a trip. She was just finishing studying here for six months and I was travelling within Canada. She returned to Germany soon after to finish her degree. We had hit it off but decided a few months later that we could not continue the relationship due to financial reasons as we were both in school and travel was too expensive. I stayed here and completed my schooling. We kept in contact and decided to meet up again two years later. The sparks flew once again. We decided to do a long distance relationship which brings us to the present day. Next month is our two year anniversary and we have been flying back and forth the whole time. The longest stay was her living here with me for one month. She is really wants to come over but is worried about finding work here. She is a freelance journalist/ editor and she is now half way through another degree in education. She is fluent in German and English and can speak some French. What are the best options? She could either get the 1yr working experience Canada visa and go from there or I could try to do an outside sponsorship for her. Is there any other option I'm not aware of? Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
 
You must be married or common law (lived together 12 continuous months) to sponsor her.

So it sounds like IEC program may be her best bet now.
 
you are not eligible to sponsor her at this time. in order to sponsor her as a PR, you either need to be married or considered commonlaw by Canada. To be commonlaw, you must be able to prove 365 consecutive days of cohabitation, which you clearly do not have.

Since she is young, her best options are probably to enter as a visitor, on a study visa, or a working holiday visa. While here, you can rent an apartment together and start the clock on commonlaw status. She would need to remain in canada for an entire year, and this can either be possible by extending the stay as a visitor or having a valid work/study visa for that time.

If she enters as a visitor, she is NOT authorized to work, and if she is found working while in canada as a visitor, she can get into serious trouble, even be banned from the country for a specific amount of time. Do not start messing around with working illegally.

To know what programs she qualifies for, SHE will need to do some research on the CIC website. There is a survey she can take to learn what her options are.
 
Actually in the Working Holiday Visa (at least as it was the last I helped someone with it) you CAN work legally for the duration of the stay. Check to see if it exists between Canada & Germany. You have to queue up for it each year & the applicant must be under 35. It's the best way to get a foothold in the job market, has parlayed into full time work & PR status for 2 of the 3 French people I suggested to do it.
 
And unless something has changed in the last six months or so, Germans also have the option of extending their visa for another year (if they have a job) from within Canada. So best case scenario she could be here for a couple years which would give you a lot of time of time to explore your relationship, meet the common-law requirement and even start to apply for PR if that is what you wish to do after.
 
International Experience Canada is the best for you! This is how i came to Canada also :) Your gf can apply and its very easy, if there are spots left. Working holidays seems the easiest one and she can get open work permit for 12 months so exactly as much as u guys need to live together. During this time u should already start preparing common law application along with all supporting documents. Im sure you can make it, IEC is really easy to apply for. Later on, she can return to Germany or stay in Canada, depends on you. She can apply for another work permit if she will find employer willing to apply for her LMO. Also she can just stay on visitor visa until getting her PR from sponsorship application :)
 
Hi


meiko3886 said:
International Experience Canada is the best for you! This is how i came to Canada also :) Your gf can apply and its very easy, if there are spots left. Working holidays seems the easiest one and she can get open work permit for 12 months so exactly as much as u guys need to live together. During this time u should already start preparing common law application along with all supporting documents. Im sure you can make it, IEC is really easy to apply for. Later on, she can return to Germany or stay in Canada, depends on you. She can apply for another work permit if she will find employer willing to apply for her LMO. Also she can just stay on visitor visa until getting her PR from sponsorship application :)
Click to expand...

The IEC German quota is gone, only Young Professional is left for this year.
 
Alright so the IEC visa is the best bet. We know that you can apply for sponsorship and she would have to wait about 9 months until she would be granted PR status and an open work permit. From our research it seems like it will be tough because when she gets the visa she is saying "I will be in Canada for one year then return". Could she apply for a study permit while she is on the visa if it is hard to find a good job? We've heard that the study permits are easier to get than work permits. That seems like it may be a good option for us as well. Thanks for the replies.
 
Tyson2014 said:
We know that you can apply for sponsorship and she would have to wait about 9 months until she would be granted PR status and an open work permit.
Click to expand...

To repeat, you must be married or officially common-law (lived together 12 months) before you will qualify to sponsor her for PR.
 
The new Working Holiday applications will start between November and January. It changes a bit every year. I am German as well, came here on a Working Holiday visa, extended with Young Professional and applied for PR common-law at the same time. 6 weeks after my Young Professional ran out I became a PR.
 
Thanks Rob To I understand that it is 12 months but I meant the processing time for her once we apply is about 9 months. She can not work during this time unless she has a LMIA. We are trying to find a way for her to be able to work during this time or go to school. Little Apple how did you do your visas? I just looked at the IEC website and it says that you can participate more than once if you go under a different category but you have to apply from outside the country. Thanks for the help.
 
Tyson2014 said:
Thanks Rob To I understand that it is 12 months but I meant the processing time for her once we apply is about 9 months. She can not work during this time unless she has a LMIA. We are trying to find a way for her to be able to work during this time or go to school. Little Apple how did you do your visas? I just looked at the IEC website and it says that you can participate more than once if you go under a different category but you have to apply from outside the country. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

I applied online. You have to be quick. Working Holiday visa run out fast. She needs a police certificate, translated (certified) into English but it's only valid for 3 months after it has been issued. I would apply for it in the beginning of November then it would be valid until beginning of February. I think she will need a resume as well and all pages of her passport. Prepare all the documents, scan them as a pdf file (each not larger than 4 MB if I remember correctly). As soon as the applications are online follow the instructions step by step.

You can start with your research already to see what you can expect from the process. Once her Working Holiday visa is approved she will get the "letter of introduction" which will be exchanged for her work permit at the Canadian border. If you are on Facebook: There are many work and travel groups you can join. People there help with the application and the job search.

One year later she can apply for the Young Professional visa. It's similar to WH but she will need a written job offer for 12 months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.