PR by way of domestic partnership

[Clide3]

I’m from the US and my partner is Canadian. We’ve been together for five years now and would like to live in Canada. I’m currently looking to go to university and it would be great if I could obtain permanent residence so as to make it more affordable. We have already been discussing domestic partnership for some time now.

How should we go about this? Does DP give me PR? How long does this take? We are currently in New Zealand for a year. We think this affects the processing time.

Thank you

 

[scylla]

I’m from the US and my partner is Canadian. We’ve been together for five years now and would like to live in Canada. I’m currently looking to go to university and it would be great if I could obtain permanent residence so as to make it more affordable. We have already been discussing domestic partnership for some time now.

How should we go about this? Does DP give me PR? How long does this take? We are currently in New Zealand for a year. We think this affects the processing time.

Thank you

You must either be married or common law to be sponsored. Common law means that you have lived together continuously for at least one full year and have evidence to prove this.

The PR process will take approximately 1 year to complete.

 

[Clide3]

So we have to first apply for common law, then I can apply for PR?

Each of these taking about a year?

 

[Buletruck]

No. If you have been cohabitation continuously for 12 months you are already common law. You just need to provide the proof. If your partner is a Canadian citizen, he can start the application outside of Canada. But he will need to prove his intent to return once your application is complete.

 

[Clide3]

After obtaing a background check how long is it valid for? Before I need to have a new one ordered to submit with the application?