South African sponsorship

[Emilee08]

Hi there, my boyfriend is in South Africa at the moment and I am in Canada.

He is presently applying for a visitors visa. We have been hiding the fact we are in a relationship as I heard a lot of visitors visa are being refused if they suspect the visitor will want to stay long term.

So then, once his visitor will be approved ( crossing my fingers ) we will send out our sponsorship application as we lived together a year in Cape town and have all the prooves together.

But my problem is the following, once the sponsorship is gone, and my boyfriends visitors visa expires, will they refuse his extension knowing he applyed for a sponsorship ??

PLease help as we are trying to make a plan here, 27 months for the sponsorship to be approved is a bloody long time !!

thanks

 

[Ms Malawi]

Hi Emilee

The wait time did drop to 23 months, so they are making progress. I would tell you that the the time frame is picking up. I have heard of a handful of cases through this forum that have been done in 3 months to a year. So if your application is complete and straight forward, the time frame is usually shorter.

I would recommed your boyfriend is honest with CIC if asked direct questions. Not that he needs to volunteer information like he is planning on staying, but he should not hide the truth.

The thing with visitors visa, is that there is implied status when you have applied for sponsorship. It does depend if you are applying inland or outland. If your boyfriend is staying here while sponsorship is processed you can apply inland and he will have to stay in Canada until the process is complete. I am not sure on the timeline but I think it is currently around 14 months. But on that one he can not leave the country, because his return is not guaranteed and your application could be declined or "thrown out". He also can not work or study and must prove he has a sufficient income to support himself. If you apply outland, I am not sure how it works in regards to implied status or staying here, but hopefully a senior can offer some insight.

Good Luck

 

[Sweden]

There is no implied status for outland applicants, and I would STRONGLY discourage you from hiding the relationship, as you are committing mis-representation, and that's a crime.
Also - once you apply, you will have to prove the length of the relationship etc - so CIC will know that you have been in a relationship before he applied for a visitor visa, and will see that you have committed mis-representation. How are you going to go about that? I understand that you don't want to be away from each other, but lying or hiding the truth might result in longer processing, suspicions etc.
Sweden

 

[Emilee08]

thanks for your help..

I am still confused though concerning the visitors visa, many people are saying that Canada will refuse his visitors application if he admits I am his girlfriend....

So apllying inland sounds like a good option as we did not plan on leaving the country for at least the next two years, but we are probably going to apply for a conjugal partnership, but I think we should get married as soon as he comes here in Canada to have all the chances on our side... what do you think ?

 

[Ms Malawi]

thanks for your help..

I am still confused though concerning the visitors visa, many people are saying that Canada will refuse his visitors application if he admits I am his girlfriend....

So apllying inland sounds like a good option as we did not plan on leaving the country for at least the next two years, but we are probably going to apply for a conjugal partnership, but I think we should get married as soon as he comes here in Canada to have all the chances on our side... what do you think ?

Thanks Sweden, that is something that I do not know about. But good to know!!!

Emilee I agree with Ms Parker on the other thread, if you can get married that is your best option. Its hard to say if his visa will be approved or not. There are lots of factors and it does have a lot to do with your IO. All you can do is apply, be honest and hope for the best.

 

[Emilee08]

Thanks everyone for your help

 

[Sweden]

thanks for your help..

I am still confused though concerning the visitors visa, many people are saying that Canada will refuse his visitors application if he admits I am his girlfriend....

So apllying inland sounds like a good option as we did not plan on leaving the country for at least the next two years, but we are probably going to apply for a conjugal partnership, but I think we should get married as soon as he comes here in Canada to have all the chances on our side... what do you think ?

It is true - CIC will refuse his application if he doesn't believe that he will go back to South Africa once the visitor visa is expired. Visitor visa are for one purpose - visiting, which means that the person has to go back to his own country when the visa expires. For the visa to be granted, the applicant has to show strong ties to his home country. Being in a relationship with a Canadian, the ties have to be stronger than that, otherwise CIC suspects that he will stay, overstay or apply for inland... and indeed, they are right as it is your plan. I'm not saying that I don't understand why you want to do it, but it's not the purpose of the visitor visa, so CIC wants to avoid having people coming into the country on a visitor visa and not leaving after that. Hence the conditions when applying for a visitor visa.

Now - you can try. But I would definitely not advise it, as it is mis-representation, and it will create problems later on. People that apply inland are sometimes on other type of visas, not only visitor, so the inland is more geared towards them.

If he applies without telling CIC that he is coming to see you and you are in a relationship, he might get his visa. But once you apply inland, CIC will see that he has been lying for the visitor visa. It's a crime.

You can try and get him a visitor visa, but be honest in your application, and include ties. If he gets it, fine, and you can apply inland then. If he doesn't, then apply outland. Prepare well your application. to apply, you have to be able to fit into one category either married, or commonlaw (living together for 12 months), or conjugal. Conjugal is the most difficult to prove, because you would have to prove that you can NOT get married, anywhere in the world. If you are not married, and he isn't, then you can get married, and apply as married - that's probably your best option (unless you have lived already 12 months together, and have the proofs of that, then you can apply as common law).

It sucks to be away, but if you're a citizen, you can choose to be outside of Canada for the whole process. or go for visits etc.

Good luck,
Sweden