common law sponsorship inland

[Raul_Rincon]

I am from mexico, I went to Canada in 2013 under the International experience Canada program, I met my girlfriend a little over a month before I left, I have been dating her for over a year, we were together a little over a month in Canada, then I went back to mexico to finish university however we kept our relationship through facebook, skype, what's app and stuff, she has come to mexico to visit me twice and we want to apply for common law partner sponsorship program inland (which according to me is the one within Canada) can we apply yet if I came to canada as tourist even though we haven't "lived together" for a year but by the time they actually look at our application it will have been a year or almost a year living together?

 

[Riley Haas]

You cannot apply as "common law" because you haven't lived together for a year. What you are trying to do is apply as a "conjugal" couple - i.e one in a relationship but not married and not common-law. If you can get approved for a tourist visa, you can indeed be sponsored inland, but only if you are let in to Canada.
It might be easier for her to sponsor you "overseas" (especially if you are having trouble getting a tourist visa) but either way you will have to demonstrate your relationship by submitting copies of all your facebook, skype and what's app conversations.

 

[Raul_Rincon]

First of all, thank you so much for replying me and thank you so much for that info, it's actually so helpful, I just have another couple of questions, which one you recommend better? I don't know about "overseas" but I was told that to apply for "conjugal" we have to show that we have had an impediment to be together and that's why we don't apply as common law such a religion thing or something out of our hands, I hope that's a huge lie, also, is it true that now I can apply for a work permit since the moment I apply for PR by being sponsored an the processing time is about 4 months? and the most important question, I'm sure I can get the tourist visa by "lying", if I don't mention my girlfriend and I say that I am coming over to visit my friends who can actually write me an invitation letter since I have a lot of friends in Canada, and the fact that I have been in the US, Spain, France, Italy makes me think I have a good record abut again I was told that if I do that and then once I am in Canada I start this process I am gonna be refused and accused of giving "fake information" because at the moment I applied for the tourist visa I should have mentioned my girlfriend.
if you can answer this questions for me, I would have no way to thank you because my girlfriend and I are so ready to start our process so we can be together in Canada.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Raul,
In this case the impediment could be that you live in Mexico and do not have status in Canada and your girlfriend lives in Canada and does not have status in Mexico. You absolutely cannot apply as common law without 1 year minimum together, as your application will be rejected.
You can apply for an "open" work permit if you do inland sponsorship. Open work permits for sponsored partners are usually approved after the sponsor is approved (2 months to 10 weeks) however there is a new CIC directive authorizing approvals for these work permits even before the sponsor is approved, so we are thinking the processing time would be under 2 months. But only if it's inland.
You should absolutely tell the truth about why you are visiting Canada. If you are caught lying it could absolutely jeopardize your sponsorship chances. One way to do this would be to have your girlfriend meet you in Mexico and then you both travel to Canada together. Provided you have the documentation, you can begin the process at the port of entry.

Hope this helps.

 

[Raul_Rincon]

Ok this is indeed super helpful, one question left, say that I am approved to get in Canada as tourist, I was told that we can't apply for any sponsorship because we don't meet the requirements, they say I don't have a chance as conjugal since there is absolutely nothing preventing us from getting married or from her from going to Mexico to live with me for a year to become common-law.there is no way of skipping the line. we must live together 1 year.... or get married.... Only two choices. we are absolutely willing to live together IN CANADA since she cannot come to mexico because she is gonna start university pretty soon, so, in my case, what are we eligible to apply for?
I also have a employer who I worked for in Canada in 2013, she is willing to hire me again, what if I come as tourist and we do the hiring process from inside Canada, hopefully get called from express entry as trade people or trade worker (I don't know what you call it) since I am a chef and cooks and chefs are eligible, is that possible?

thank you so very much in advance for replying

 

[Riley Haas]

I'm a little confused as to who would be telling you these things. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) handles immigration applications (temporary and permanent residence). Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) handles entries into Canada. So it is extraordinarily unlikely that a CBSA officer would tell you their opinion and, frankly, they shouldn't be telling you their opinion. It's not up to them.
So basically, if you get your tourist visa, you need to marry and then she can sponsor you "inland" and you can apply for that work visa. If you are refused a tourist visa, or refused entry to Canada after you get the visa, then you can apply "conjugal". (You will not be able to live together for a year in Canada legally unless you are able to extend your visitor visa or change your status.) Sorry if I wasn't clear earlier.

However, if your old employer is willing to hire you again, she should write you a formal job offer and apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment. Once she has this, you can apply for a work permit. Once you have that work permit, you can come to Canada and you and your girlfriend can decide to either marry or live together for a year, and then do "inland".

You do not want to apply for a tourist visa to come here and work. That's the same problem as the one you mentioned earlier of lying about your reason for visiting Canada. If discovered, you would once again have trouble getting your sponsorship application approved.

Make sense?

 

[Raul_Rincon]

A lot of sense, thank you so very much.

 

[Riley Haas]

I hope I was helpful. Sorry about the forum being hard to use the last week. We were having some space issues that we have sorted out.