Sponsoring my girlfriend, not so simple

[sof220]

Hello all,

I am a Canadian citizen currently in Spain studying, I am here until July. My girlfriend (who I met here back in October) is also studying here until July, I would like to sponsor her to immigrate to Canada as finding a good job in Spain is practically impossible for non nationals. My girlfriend is from Georgia and came to Italy on a tourist visa in june of last year, and decided to stay in Spain to study for a year, she currently does not have a valid visa for Spain or Italy, and going back to Georgia is not an option right now.

My questions are,
Can I sponsor her through the Spanish visa office so she can remain in Spain?
If not, can I sponsor her through the Canadian consulate in Georgia even though she is currently in Spain?
What are the chances of the application getting refused if all the details and evidense of the relationship have been provided?

Thanks.
Y.D.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello all,

I am a Canadian citizen currently in Spain studying, I am here until July. My girlfriend (who I met here back in October) is also studying here until July, I would like to sponsor her to immigrate to Canada as finding a good job in Spain is practically impossible for non nationals. My girlfriend is from Georgia and came to Italy on a tourist visa in june of last year, and decided to stay in Spain to study for a year, she currently does not have a valid visa for Spain or Italy, and going back to Georgia is not an option right now.

My questions are,
Can I sponsor her through the Spanish visa office so she can remain in Spain?
If not, can I sponsor her through the Canadian consulate in Georgia even though she is currently in Spain?
What are the chances of the application getting refused if all the details and evidense of the relationship have been provided?

Thanks.
Y.D.

You can't sponsor girlfriends. You can only sponsor your wife, or a common-law partner. Have you lived with her for 12 continuous months? Since you just met in October I assume not... so there is really nothing you can do.

 

[Ponga]

You can only sponsor her for Canadian PR, as a spouse, or a common-law partner. Since you are not married, nor have you lived together for 1 full year, I don't see how you can sponsor her.

 

[Zarilenth]

First of all, you cannot sponsor her unless you've been living together for 365 consecutive days with ample proof (ie. shared leases, mail to both of you to the same address, etc.)
Is she American (from Georgia)? If so, her application would be processed through the Ottawa office with all the other American applicants.
So unless you've been living together for a year, you cannot apply as common law. You could get married and apply as spouses, which would work if you have decent proof of your relationship.
Good luck!

 

[sof220]

We´ve been living together since October, we would have to wait until next October for me to sponsor her as a conjugal partner (since we cannot live together after July.) Marriage is an option but again it all depends on whether or not she can apply for a PR based on her bieng in Spain with an expired tourist visa.
She is from the Republic of Georgia, not the USA.

Thanks.

 

[scylla]

We´ve been living together since October, we would have to wait until next October for me to sponsor her as a conjugal partner (since we cannot live together after July.) Marriage is an option but again it all depends on whether or not she can apply for a PR based on her bieng in Spain with an expired tourist visa.
She is from the Republic of Georgia, not the USA.

Thanks.

Note that you won't qualify to apply for PR as conjugal partners since there are no real immigration barriers to becoming common law or getting married. So if you want to sponsor her, your choice is to either find a way to live together for a full year (doesn't all have to be in the same country) or to get married.

 

[rhcohen2014]

We´ve been living together since October, we would have to wait until next October for me to sponsor her as a conjugal partner (since we cannot live together after July.)
Thanks.

you can't qualify for a conjugal sponsorship, since there are no barriers to you getting married. having it "not be an option right now" says it all. you are free to marry, and choose not to right now. conjugal is for those who can't get married or be in the same country for immigration reasons.

since you moved in together on october 1, 2013, you do not legally become commonlaw until october 2, 2014. As said above, you must be living together, and be able to prove it, for 365 consecutive days with no breaks to qualify as commonlaw.

 

[Ponga]

No. As soon as you have 1 full year together, you can apply for common-law sponsorship. Even if you are unable to continue living together, you would be qualified for CL, because you have the required 1 year of Cohabiting. However, the reasons for not living together will be questioned and the longer the time apart before applying for PR will also be a factor.

IMHO, It would be nearly impossible to be approved under the conjugal partner option.

 

[Rob_TO]

We´ve been living together since October, we would have to wait until next October for me to sponsor her as a conjugal partner (since we cannot live together after July.) Marriage is an option but again it all depends on whether or not she can apply for a PR based on her bieng in Spain with an expired tourist visa.
She is from the Republic of Georgia, not the USA.

Thanks.

If you can get married, you won't qualify for conjugal. You need to get married.

She can apply while living in Spain, but her app will be processed based on her Georgia citizenship so will be done in Ankara, Turkey. Any potential interview would need to be held in Ankara or Georgia.

She could only request processing based on Spain residence, if she is legally admitted there for at least 1 year. So she would need a valid visa.

 

[sof220]

Thanks for the good information, it´s really hard getting an answer about this from all the firms I´ve called.

As it seems right now marriage is the way to go, neither of us are against it.

If we were to do the application through Ankara, Turkey, can we mail everything from Spain or would it have to be done from Georgia, reason why I´m asking is it may raise questions about why she is in Spain and not applying through the France office, or it doesn´t matter because the CIC office will decide where the application will go?

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks for the good information, it´s really hard getting an answer about this from all the firms I´ve called.

As it seems right now marriage is the way to go, neither of us are against it.

If we were to do the application through Ankara, Turkey, can we mail everything from Spain or would it have to be done from Georgia, reason why I´m asking is it may raise questions about why she is in Spain and not applying through the France office, or it doesn´t matter because the CIC office will decide where the application will go?

Applying in Ankara will not be an issue, as it's her office based on citizenship. The initial application is actually mailed to CPC-Mississauga which can be done from anywhere in the world, and they would forward it to Ankara. You will need to disclose to CIC she is currently living illegally in Spain, which will be a red flag in the application.

Keep in mind since you just met in October, if you rush to get married with a quick civic wedding with none or few family/friends present, this combined with her currently overstaying her visa in Spain and obviously not wanting to return to Georgia... makes it look like you are just getting married for immigration purposes (marriage or convenience). I would except that there's a good chance she would be called for an interview from Ankara office, which if she attended would mean she most likely couldn't return to Spain again.

 

[sof220]

Would the acceptance letter from the university be enough for an explanation the over stay on the visa? She has at least that to prove of her stay here.

The interview would be a problem, if she will be called in for one, she would have to fly back to Georgia.

 

[*Siren*]

Is there any reason why she can't apply for a student visa so she can legally stay in Spain with you? That should be step one.

If you get married and sponsor her into Canada as your spouse, you will have to provide proof that once she is granted PR you will be returning to Canada with her. This could be proof of a job offer, a lease on an apartment, proof that you have made an offer on a house, etc.

 

[Rob_TO]

Would the acceptance letter from the university be enough for an explanation the over stay on the visa? She has at least that to prove of her stay here.

The interview would be a problem, if she will be called in for one, she would have to fly back to Georgia.

It's up to a visa officer to determine how they use info of applicant staying illegally. Sounds like she is also studying illegally there? In Canada at least, you need a special visa to study any course longer than 6 months.

An interview may not be required, it's all based on if the visa officer has doubts about your application. I assume it could be done in Ankara, Turkey if it was required.

 

[mikeymyke]

I don't understand how she is able to be accepted to a school when she doesn't have legal status in Spain. I think you guys should try to correct her immigration status before applying because it might raise a few eyebrows with CIC if she continues to live abroad illegally and you're trying to sponsor her.