PLEASE HELP!!US citizen in canada for a year. I want to marry my fiance soon

[MSLA]

Hi, I've been in canada for 1 year. I originally came to stay just a cpl months and take my fiance back to the US. While here my fiance had to move in with her parents because her dad wasnt doing well. I went with her to her parents house. Her dad has parkinsons and dementia. It turned out we stayed and helped up til recently. May 3rd will be a year that i've been here. I didnt leave canada since i arrived. We were going to go to arizona to be married, but new immigration law there made us reconsider. Now we want to stay in canada and get married so she will be close to her fathers nursing home. Is there any possible way since i stayed longer than my allowed visit? We have been living to together for 15 months, this includes 3 months in the states. Any help would be greatly appreciated Thank You

 

[RobsLuv]

You can apply now as common-law partners, IF you can prove you've been co-habitating for at least one continuous year. Read through Sections 5.34-5.35 of the OP2 Processing Manual for information about how they assess common-law qualification. Otherwise, get married and apply as spouses.

You're out of status so, technically, you're in Canada illegally. That doesn't mean you won't be able to get a marriage licence but it does mean that, contrary to what you might interpret from information on the CIC website, applying for PR via the "inland" process is the worst thing you could do. First of all, there is no right of appeal for inland aps. Secondly, you'll be stuck in Canada for the duration of the process because if you leave and you're not re-admitted (likely because you've already overstayed) you lose the inland application and have to start all over again, and 3) you could wait for up to two years just to get to "first stage approval" where they issue you new temporary status - simply because of the fact that you're currently in Canada without valid status. For the inland process to go smoothly applicants have to have documented, valid temporary status in Canada and provide proof of that with their PR application. Yes, it is possible to apply and be approved for PR from within Canada even when you don't have valid status in Canada, but being in that situation means your application cannot benefit from straight-forward processing and it will be transferred to your local office for processing. Local offices are often backlogged with applications (especially in areas with a high influx of immigrants) and it can take up to two years for an officer to even start to review your file.

So - it is possible to apply for PR via the outland application process even while you're in Canada. It won't get you new temporary status - there's no way for you to do that now except to leave the country and try to re-enter . . . understanding that they can always refuse to allow you back in. But an outland PR application will continue to process without issue, regardless of where you're staying. If you left Canada and couldn't get back in, it would continue to process. If you stay in Canada illegally, it will still process. That's because it's processed through the embassy that represents your country of citizenship (Buffalo in your case), irregardless of where you're staying/living at the time. And it's a faster process than the inland one - Buffalo is currently finalizing spousal/common-law applications in 4-10 months. Add to that another 60 days or so for the sponsor's assessment through the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (which happens before the file is transferred to Buffalo), and another 6 weeks if you're in Quebec. If an interview is required (less likely for spousal applicants because you don't have the additional burden of proof of common-law status), you'll have to go to the States for it and you might not get back into Canada afterwards BUT it's still a faster process AND you maintain your right of appeal for a refusal.

Either way - whether you get married or you apply as common-law partners - do it ASAP. Check out the US2Canada website for more specific information about the requirements.

 

[MSLA]

Thank You, I have an appointment next week with an immigration lawyer. ;D

 

[iarblue]

Immmigation Lawyers are a waste of time unless your app gets into problems just apply yourself.I was even told by a lawyer that to only call him if there was problems beause contrary to what you think using a lawyer takes longer as they have a backlog of clients.You are only one of his many clients from abroud and trust me your file sits on his desk until he gets time to look at it save your money just read the app and apply were all here to help you do the ap when you have questions.
And guys and gals on here know more about this process than lots of immigration lawyers.Use your money for a wedding lol