Preparing for Sponsorship

[Donevor]

Hello, new poster here looking for some advice. My boyfriend and I have been dating for 8 years now and would like to begin our life together. We'd like to have me move to Canada and get permanent residency to work and finish university once we've saved up more. However, we have not lived together for a full uninterrupted year as required for the common law marriage. We are all about saving and paying everything in full and so we'd like to avoid rushing into a marriage just for a sponsorship.

We've recently talked about moving in together and combining our affairs to meet the 1 year requirement. We've established future living quarters and finances for the move and immigration fees. We were thinking of having me come on a visitor's visa for 6 months and applying for an extension. Would this work if we explained our situation? I read that it's important to not look like your moving there because they can refuse you, so would I have to leave everything essentially? He's already agreed to support me in for the year, in addition to my savings for this event.

 

[KBH]

If you have been dating for 8 years, that doesn't really seem like it would be "rushing" into marriage (at least not from IRCC's view).

What country is your passport? Are you visa exempt? This will have an impact on how easy it is for you to come to Canada and stay with your boyfriend for a year. There is no guarantee that it will work (or that you will be granted an extension) so it is somewhat a risky plan. Do you have the ability to apply for something like IEC/working holiday visa?

 

[Donevor]

If you have been dating for 8 years, that doesn't really seem like it would be "rushing" into marriage (at least not from IRCC's view).

What country is your passport? Are you visa exempt? This will have an impact on how easy it is for you to come to Canada and stay with your boyfriend for a year. There is no guarantee that it will work (or that you will be granted an extension) so it is somewhat a risky plan. Do you have the ability to apply for something like IEC/working holiday visa?

Oh, by rushing in I mean we want to save the money to pay for it in full versus taking out credit or having our family pay for it.

My passport is from the United States, which I believe is Visa exempt. I haven't finished my degree yet because I'm saving up for my last semester; so my only experience is from my current job as a server. My education is in health promotion. We have a family friend that has his own construction type business and would like to hire me, but we are not sure if that's possible as he's not advertising a position for Canadian citizens to apply for. It would more or less be a favor for us, but I don't believe they would consider it because he's not publicly advertising the position. It would be in construction job management and web design for his company.

 

[KBH]

Oh, by rushing in I mean we want to save the money to pay for it in full versus taking out credit or having our family pay for it.

My passport is from the United States, which I believe is Visa exempt. I haven't finished my degree yet because I'm saving up for my last semester; so my only experience is from my current job as a server. My education is in health promotion. We have a family friend that has his own construction type business and would like to hire me, but we are not sure if that's possible as he's not advertising a position for Canadian citizens to apply for. It would more or less be a favor for us, but I don't believe they would consider it because he's not publicly advertising the position. It would be in construction job management and web design for his company.

If you hold a US passport, that is good news. It's easier for Americans to come and stay than pretty much anybody else. Many Americans enter Canada and stay with their partners for long periods of time without issue. (I'm one of them - been in Canada since November 2016 as a visitor).

No visitor visas are issued for Americans - when you cross the border, you are automatically granted a stay of six months, unless they tell you otherwise. As you mentioned, you would then need to extend your stay online to meet the full 12 months.

If you are intending to spend this time establishing the common-law requirements with your boyfriend, I would not recommend leaving Canada during that year, because each time you left, you would risk not being let back in and potentially messing up your plan.

Unfortunately, the job you're mentioning would mean that you would be working illegally. Even if your friend did not advertise the job to Canadians, this is irrelevant. You can't do paid work for any Canadian clients, business, or employer. You would not be able to work at all while you were in Canada unless it was remotely, for a US employer/US clients, going into a US bank account.

Once you meet the requirements for common-law, you could apply inland, which would allow you to apply for an open work permit. That is granted about 4 months in, so you should anticipate not being able to work in Canada for about 16 months.

 

[Donevor]

If you hold a US passport, that is good news. It's easier for Americans to come and stay than pretty much anybody else. Many Americans enter Canada and stay with their partners for long periods of time without issue. (I'm one of them - been in Canada since November 2016 as a visitor).

No visitor visas are issued for Americans - when you cross the border, you are automatically granted a stay of six months, unless they tell you otherwise. As you mentioned, you would then need to extend your stay online to meet the full 12 months.

If you are intending to spend this time establishing the common-law requirements with your boyfriend, I would not recommend leaving Canada during that year, because each time you left, you would risk not being let back in and potentially messing up your plan.

Unfortunately, the job you're mentioning would mean that you would be working illegally. Even if your friend did not advertise the job to Canadians, this is irrelevant. You can't do paid work for any Canadian clients, business, or employer. You would not be able to work at all while you were in Canada unless it was remotely, for a US employer/US clients, going into a US bank account.

Once you meet the requirements for common-law, you could apply inland, which would allow you to apply for an open work permit. That is granted about 4 months in, so you should anticipate not being able to work in Canada for about 16 months.

That's great to hear! Thank you for all the information.

Yea, that's what we figured with the work situation and so we didn't say yes to it because we don't want to jeopardize anything with our sponsorship application; realistically or not.

We have planned for him to support me for the duration of my stay, so we are not to worried about me working. Would I be able to bring any of my items with me? I was thinking of selling most of my things and repurchasing things once I move down.

Also, I was wondering if I can still see doctors in Canada if we pay the cost of care. I have a monthly prescription that I require.

 

[Oldmacwright]

Oh, by rushing in I mean we want to save the money to pay for it in full versus taking out credit or having our family pay for it.

My passport is from the United States, which I believe is Visa exempt. I haven't finished my degree yet because I'm saving up for my last semester; so my only experience is from my current job as a server. My education is in health promotion. We have a family friend that has his own construction type business and would like to hire me, but we are not sure if that's possible as he's not advertising a position for Canadian citizens to apply for. It would more or less be a favor for us, but I don't believe they would consider it because he's not publicly advertising the position. It would be in construction job management and web design for his company.

If you come over as visitor for 12+ months, that's around 14 months before you can work (assuming you apply inland with OWP and get the app in right away after the 12 months living together), that's a fair chunk of money you would be losing out on right there! And it can be boring stuck in a country not able to do much at all (ask my wife)

Where as if you were to marry asap and apply outland and say carry on your current situation (I assume) of living apart but still working and visiting each other on occasions, you would be landing as a PR in under 12 months (likely under 8 months?) and can take up any job you wish then.

And as someone said there is also a slim chance you would not be granted an extension to stay beyond 6 months (though seems unlikely).

 

[Ceimi]

You also need to apply for a student visa if you wish to study at all in Canada. My suggestion: finish your one semester left at your current universoty, because when you try to transfer classes not all will make the jump to a Canadian school and you may end up paying international tuition for a lot more than one semester. Save up while you finish school, and then get married. You can always go to the courthouse and get legally married then follow up with a ceremony later on down the road.

If you really really dont want to get married, then your plan seems alright enough considering you're a U.S. citizen. You *shouldn't* have any trouble crossing the border, but I'd suggest you buy a return ticket for roughly 5.5months so that you can tell the immigration/customs agent when you arrive that you have a return ticket and not lie. This helps show you will not overstay and remain in Canada illegally. Purchase a refundable ticket and put it on a credit card so that if your border crossing is approved, you can go ahead and cancel it once you cross. You would do best not to bring any extra possessions than what a normal person would bring to "visit" somewhere. Absolutely no furniture, try to bring a modest amount of clothes, and any "trinkets" you have should remain in the U.S. until your PR app is approved and you "land" in Canada with the rest of your goods!

 

[Ceimi]

That's great to hear! Thank you for all the information.

Yea, that's what we figured with the work situation and so we didn't say yes to it because we don't want to jeopardize anything with our sponsorship application; realistically or not.

We have planned for him to support me for the duration of my stay, so we are not to worried about me working. Would I be able to bring any of my items with me? I was thinking of selling most of my things and repurchasing things once I move down.

Also, I was wondering if I can still see doctors in Canada if we pay the cost of care. I have a monthly prescription that I require.

You can definitely visit a doctor but you'll need to pay for the visit, any lab tests, and prescriptions all out of pocket, which can end up being very costly. Pick up travel/visitor insurance when you first arrive to cover yourself incase of any emergencies that require a hospital visit. This will not cover any pre-existing conditions though, so keep that in mind.

 

[KBH]

That's great to hear! Thank you for all the information.

Yea, that's what we figured with the work situation and so we didn't say yes to it because we don't want to jeopardize anything with our sponsorship application; realistically or not.

We have planned for him to support me for the duration of my stay, so we are not to worried about me working. Would I be able to bring any of my items with me? I was thinking of selling most of my things and repurchasing things once I move down.

Also, I was wondering if I can still see doctors in Canada if we pay the cost of care. I have a monthly prescription that I require.

You can bring enough items for a visit (think, a couple of suitcases or a trunk-full) but anything more than that might raise suspicion. Selling items is a great idea. Bringing proof of how he will support you when you cross the border (pay stubs, bank statements etc) would be wise.

If you are planning on staying in Canada long term (6+ months) travel insurance is inexpensive, but very important to have in case of any medical emergencies. For regular care you can go to a walk-in clinic and get prescriptions very affordably without insurance (at least that's been my experience in Ontario).

All that being said, @Oldmacwright has a very good point. If you don't want to get married yet because you want to save money, but in order to avoid having to get married, you are going to sacrifice 16 months of income, the math may not quite add up there. If it were me, I would seriously consider a court wedding ASAP so that you could apply outland. As an American, you'd most likely be approved in 6-8 months. You could be working that entire time and have a "real" wedding ceremony/reception after all the immigration hullaballoo was over with.

 

[Donevor]

Thank you for all your information everyone, I will have to discuss all this new information with my boyfriend, but a lot of confusion has been cleared up!

 

[Oldmacwright]

Thank you for all your information everyone, I will have to discuss all this new information with my boyfriend, but a lot of confusion has been cleared up!

Good luck, what ever route you decide to take it is about as straight forward a case as they will see with 8 years into the relationship. Another route would be to get married then come over as a visitor and apply inland pretty much right away, with an OWP, you would likely be working within 4 months, that would be the quickest way to be together and minimal downtime from not having income.