Want to move to Canada.

[LuigiSenpai]

Hello,

I request some help/advice in my situation. Currently i'm under DACA in the united states. My Girlfriend's grandparents want to sponsor me to be able to move to Canada and work/study/live there basically. What should i do? I don't know where to start to be honest... they are willing to house me and everything while i get my stuff together over there.

Thank you to anyone that can help me.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hello,

I request some help/advice in my situation. Currently i'm under DACA in the united states. My Girlfriend's grandparents want to sponsor me to be able to move to Canada and work/study/live there basically. What should i do? I don't know where to start to be honest... they are willing to house me and everything while i get my stuff together over there.

Thank you to anyone that can help me.

Her grandparents can't do anything for you.

Once you are married or common-law with your girlfriend, only she can then sponsor you for PR. You can't begin the sponsorship process until you have official marriage/common-law status.

Until then, you can try to apply for a visit or study visa if you want to come to Canada. But you probably will not be able to work here unless you can find an employer willing to go through LMIA process for you.

 

[LuigiSenpai]

Can i apply for a visa without going back to my home country? El Salvador has gotten pretty dangerous lately and i have no family there to stay with if i have to go. (my grandmother passed away 3 years ago and she was the only one left there.) I don't mind applying for a Visa. I just wan't to do this the right way.

 

[scylla]

Can i apply for a visa without going back to my home country? El Salvador has gotten pretty dangerous lately and i have no family there to stay with if i have to go. (my grandmother passed away 3 years ago and she was the only one left there.) I don't mind applying for a Visa. I just wan't to do this the right way.

If you are under DACA - I think the chances of a visitor visa being approved are pretty much nil (same goes for a study permit and work permit). You can certainly try but should be prepared for a refusal.

Immigration is likely your only realistic option if you want to come to Canada.

 

[LuigiSenpai]

Immigration... so what exactly do i have to do? I really don't wan't to do anything Illegal, My parents not following the law is what got me with this DACA status in the first place..

 

[Rob_TO]

Immigration... so what exactly do i have to do? I really don't wan't to do anything Illegal, My parents not following the law is what got me with this DACA status in the first place..

First step is to get married with your girlfriend, or have her live with you in the US for 12 consecutive months to become common-law.

 

[scylla]

Immigration... so what exactly do i have to do? I really don't wan't to do anything Illegal, My parents not following the law is what got me with this DACA status in the first place..

See what Rob_TO has written. Your only realistic option for immigration is through your girlfriend (but you have to be married or common law). Any other stream of immigration (e.g. skilled worker) is really not an option for you since any work experience you may have will have been gained illegally and won't be counted by CIC for immigration purposes. Unfortunately your options are very limited.

 

[LuigiSenpai]

oh man... Well. If that really is the only way, Guess that can't be helped.

 

[scylla]

oh man... Well. If that really is the only way, Guess that can't be helped.

If you look at your first posts to this forum back in April - you'll see you were given the same answer then.

I honestly wouldn't bother applying for a visitor visa given your immigration history. It will be a waste of money. Focus on your relationship with your girlfriend.

 

[LuigiSenpai]

I was Honestly hoping i had another way of going to her that didn't involve marriage. I've been with her for 6 years and i wanted to save that once we were established and lived together for at least a year. Common-law would require her to move here for 12 months and i don't want her to go through that either. She has her whole life in Canada and given my immigration history, i'd much rather be the one moving than her. But it can't be helped.

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[scylla]

There would be a number of additional options available if your immigration history and status were different. But unfortunately that's not the situation you find yourself in.

All of the temporary types of visas for Canada (visitor, student, worker) require you to prove you have strong ties to your home country and have no plans on remaining in Canada long term. It's impossible for you to prove the first (since you haven't been in your home country for a very long time presumably) and your immigration history will make CIC assume that you do in fact have plans to remain in Canada long term. This is why there's no point in applying. It's going to end in refusal.

All of the "economic immigration" streams require at least a year of work experience (plus other qualifications). Illegal work isn't accepted - so that route is out.

You won't succeed as a refugee since it's been far too long since you've been outside of your country and there is no way to prove that you specifically are being targeted or that you specifically are in danger if you return. And on top of that there's the Safe Third Country Agreement (this states that if you want to claim refugee status must do it in the US since that's the first safe country you reached). Assuming you arrived in the US as a child, it's way too late to claim refugee status here (and Canada will flat out refuse you). So refugee will fail too.

That leaves spousal sponsorship which requires you to either get married or become common law. You won't succeed applying as a conjugal couple since you face no immigration barriers to getting married or becoming common law.

 

[scylla]

A few more comments...

When you apply, make sure you are 100% truthful about your immigration history. Your immigration history (i.e. illegal status) will be forgiven in an immigration application provided you are honest. Not being honest is where you can run into very big issues (i.e. application refusal + 5 year ban from Canada for lying in your application).

You should also be aware that once you leave the US you will be automatically banned from re-entering for 10 years (penalty for illegal stay). Having Canadian PR or even citizenship unfortunately won't change or reduce this ban. You'll have to wait out this ban before attempting re-entry into the US.

Lastly, you will need a valid passport to kick off the immigration application process. If that's not something you have now, start looking into it.

 

[Rob_TO]

A few more comments...

When you apply, make sure you are 100% truthful about your immigration history. Your immigration history (i.e. illegal status) will be forgiven in an immigration application provided you are honest. Not being honest is where you can run into very big issues (i.e. application refusal + 5 year ban from Canada for lying in your application).

You should also be aware that once you leave the US you will be automatically banned from re-entering for 10 years (penalty for illegal stay). Having Canadian PR or even citizenship unfortunately won't change or reduce this ban. You'll have to wait out this ban before attempting re-entry into the US.

Lastly, you will need a valid passport to kick off the immigration application process. If that's not something you have now, start looking into it.

Also to add, if CIC doesn't consider you a legal resident of the US then they may choose to process the family class app in Mexico City (used for El Salvador citizens). If this happens, and if an interview is required, you would be required to travel to Mexico to attend the interview. There are no exceptions to this. If this happened you would need to stay in Mexico (or elsewhere) until getting PR approved, since as soon as you leave the US you will be unable to return.

So you would need to really hope no interview is required, or that CIC could process you as a US resident so any interview would be in the US.