Traveling to Quebec/extended stay question.

[grrl77]

Hi there. My boyfriend lives in Quebec, I am from the US. We're in the 'girlfriend-boyfriend' stage of our relationship and not quite ready to talk about marriage. I'm curious to know if there's a way one could stay in Canada for a length of time that could lead to permanent residency? Here's where my question comes into play:

I don't have a degree, and I'm a bit concerned I wouldn't qualify for the work visa, even though I've got valid experience in a field to equate to a degree. I've taken the online point test and miss by just a few points.

I don't have family that could sponsor me, and as I said, my boyfriend and I aren't at a point to where we're ready to get married, but the distance is kind of sucking.

I guess I'm not sure what the options are at this point. I know people from the U.S. can stay in Canada for up to six months, and I know I wouldn't be allowed to work. I guess the only fear I have, is immigration officers questioning who I would be staying with, if we're dating, and them fearing I'd just wind up staying in Canada. Obviously if I stayed an entire six months, the fact that I would likely have no employment to come home to might be a problem, to them. Or do you just outright lie?

How can one develop a 'conjugal relationship' with someone if they're not allowed to stay in the country longer than the timeframe of a conjugal relationship? Would you stay six months, leave, then turn around and come back to make that a year, or? Just wondered how people do that, if that's even an option.

Just wasn't sure what people have done in my situation - any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Jenn

 

[RobsLuv]

Your options are limited - basically, there is no way that you can stay in Canada long enough to have it lead to permanent residency. It isn't a matter of "time" - it's a matter of being eligible. As a spouse or common-law partner, you're eligible to be sponsored, but without benefit of marriage you would have to establish a common-law relationship by living together for one consecutive year in a "marriage-like" relationship . . . something that you can't accomplish legally because US citizens are only allowed to remain in Canada for six months of each year. Some people come to Canada, stay for 6 months, leave and turn back around and manage to get in (if you get caught, though, you can be excluded from Canada for up to two years, or even banned if you really pi$$ off the IO . . . so, no, you don't ever "outright lie"). And even if you manage to get away with it, you've gotta admit you did it when you file your PR application - that your common-law partner qualification was obtained by staying illegally in Canada in order to establish a common-law relationship so that you could qualify to apply for Permanent status. That's a pretty sure way to get your application refused.

Not only that but the PR process is not quick - you'd be in Canada for at least a year, without the ability to work or go to school, before you could even apply for PR status. After that, you'd have to wait out the processing of the PR application and that can take anywhere from 6 - 18 more months.

CIC states very clearly in their processing manuals that they are not interested in providing a way for couples to "try out" their relationship - that's why Canada no longer has a fiancee visa. As far as they're concerned, until you have already established a common-law relationship - or until you're ready to marry - immigrating through sponsorship is not an option. You can always try to apply to immigrate via the Skilled Worker category - but that takes a few years. Probably your best option, if you qualify, is to try to get a working holiday visa to come to Canada for a year. That would give you time together to determine whether you want to marry.

 

[Leon]

You can look into if you can get a work permit as a low skilled. They would give you a permit for up to 2 years and then you would have to leave for 4 months but by that time, you might have worked out if you want to get married or what.

 

[grrl77]

Leon -

Thanks for the heads up. Is that a separate category for a work visa? Do you often need a college degree to qualify for a regular one? I'm a professional position and have had professional experience in the mortgage/financial field prior to my current job. Just seems like I miss the point qualification by maybe four points. =P It's not much!

Also - would you need a job to go to in order to qualify for a work visa?

 

[Leon]

Yes, you would have to get a job offer before getting a work visa. You can come as a visitor and look for a job. If you find one, in your field or otherwise, you would have to leave the country for your work permit to be issued.

If you can get a skilled job, it would be way easier to extend that work permit or apply for PR without getting married first.

To know if a job is skilled, you need the 4 digit NOC code of the profession. If the 2nd digit is 0,1 or 2, it's skilled. You can punch in job titles at http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC-CNP/app/index.aspx and see what options you get for NOC codes.

 

[RobsLuv]

Remember that in order for you to be sponsored by an employer for a work permit, the employer must get HSRDC approval before he can offer it to you. This involves the employer proving that there are no Canadian citizen/PR applicants qualified to do the job - something that's not easy to do unless you work in a highly specialized field.

 

[Leon]

Occupations under pressure in Quebec (faster work permit) are on this list: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/oup/qcouplist.shtml

More info here: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/occunderpres.shtml