Ways to bring american girlfriend into Canada?

[e30m3]

Hello, I've been researching on ways to get my American girlfriend into Canada but everything is a bit confusing to me so I've come here for some guidance.

We've been dating for almost two years while she has been working in the USA and I've been going to College in Canada. I'm a Canadian citizen born in Canada. She's an American citizen born in the USA. She's not too far away so we see each other weekly for usually 1-3 days at a time. She is a nurse.

She would like to move to Canada and start working while I complete my degree. Once I'm done we are planning to get married.

What is a good avenue to allow her to live and work in Canada? She would also like to still be able to travel to Canada while the paperwork is being processed. Not to live here but just visit me as she'll be keeping her American job until the paperwork is cleared and she has the go ahead to move here.

 

[scylla]

The easiest way for her to obtain permanent residency status is for you to sponsor her once you are either married or common law (common law means you have lived together for a minimum of one year continuously and can prove it). If she wants to move to Canada and be able to work here sooner, she would need to find an employer in Canada willing to offer her a full time job and that employer would have to obtain an approved LMIA (unless her job falls under NAFTA). Then she would qualify for a work permit.

She could also look into immigrating to Canada independently as a skilled worker. However it's not necessarily easy to qualify and/or be selected. If she wants to look into this option, she should start reading here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/apply.asp