Fast sponsorship, help please!

[Raul_Rincon]

Hello! I went to Canada for first time in June 2013 under the program IEC, I worked in Nanaimo BC for 6 months and then I had to come back home (Mexico) to finish university. A little bit over than one month before I left, I met my girlfriend who is a Canadian citizen; we lived together for one month in Canada and we kept a relationship for one year just by phone calls, facebook, emails, what?s app and so, this year (November 2014) she came to Mexico for two weeks to meet my family and to have holidays with me, we had a such a great time and now we want to live together in Vancouver BC, what are our options? I have worked in Mexico, Spain and Unites States; I just finished university and my bachelor degree in Gastronomy and Culinary arts is in process. We would love to be together as soon as possible, my girlfriend is willing to marry me any time if needed and in fact I was wondering if it?s possible to go to Canada in January 2015 as tourist, get married there, and stay there work and do all this process from there, anyway, I would love to know what to do, I hope somebody here can help me.

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Raul,
You have three main options.
First, as you said, you can apply for a visitor visa and, provided it is approved, come to Canada and marry your girlfriend. She will then have to sponsor you through the "inland" sponsorship approach. You can submit a work permit application at the same time and, provided you are approved, you will be granted an "open" work permit - allowing you to work for almost anyone - after she is approved to sponsor you (after about two months). This process takes around 22 months.
Second, she can sponsor you while you remain in Mexico. This is called a "conjugal" application and you will need to submit lots of evidence, however it sounds like you have a fair amount. Once the application is submitted, you could visit her temporarily on visitor visas during the processing. This process takes around 19 months provided you submit an application that will be approved.
Finally, you and your girlfriend can look for a job in Canada for you and, if you find one, you can apply for a work permit and come here. Then, you have multiple options: you can marry your girlfriend and she can sponsor you "inland"; she can sponsor you "inland" based on your conjugal relationship; or you can live together for one year and then apply as common-law partners.
I hope this answers your question.

 

[Raul_Rincon]

thank you so so much for this information, it is actually so helpful, I just have one last question, in the first option you mentioned, can we do all this process within Canada? like, Can I come as tourist, then marry her, then apply for a work permit while she applies for the sponsor thing and all this with out leave the country? is it possible?

Thank you so much in advance, I really appreciate your help, god bless you!

 

[Riley Haas]

Yes, it all happens in Canada. But the key is that you will need to get approved as a visitor. If you are not, then she will have to sponsor you "overseas" (i.e. with you still in Mexico).

 

[Raul_Rincon]

Hi! its me again, the information you have given to me has been super useful as the matter of fact I was wondering if I am allowed to keep asking questions here in the same blog since I have a couple of new questions. As you already know, the reason I am going back to Canada for is indeed to be together with my girlfriend, so had a job offer in Nanaimo BC but the problem is that we have to live in Vancouver BC since my girlfriend is gonna start studying university there next summer, so I was wondering, how long would it take to get an open work permit?

Once again, thank you so much in advance.

 

[Riley Haas]

Normally, it takes until your sponsor is approved (provided you are also approved for the open work permit), which is about two months, provided the application is complete at the time of submission.

 

[Eric_Mc]

Hi there. I just read this post and it is almost exactly the issue I am having with my fiance, the main difference is I live in the U.S. and do not have the education that Raul does.
I don't want to hijack the thread but I'm curious as to a couple things specific to the very similar situation I'm in as Raul and rather than start a whole new thread for it thought maybe I could ask here.....
We are planning on getting married in March, yes we are in the process of getting a marriage license letter and should have it in time, and I want to be there for around the end of June but we don't know if I need a visitor visa to "move" to Canada for the 6 months I'm allowed and then we can apply for the sponsorship/open work permit/permanent resident..?
I mean if I show up at the border and say I'm staying for 6 months but have a van full of personal belongings it looks to me like I'm not planning on leaving... would I tell the guard my plans are I'm coming for the 6 months to visit my wife but will be applying for spousal sponsorship and a work permit..
Any advice would be helpful. Thank you for providing what was already the best answer for some of the questions we have asked ourselves for the last couple months.
Eric

 

[Riley Haas]

If you are an American citizen (not a permanent resident) then you don't need a visa to travel to Canada. At the border (or the airport) they will ask you why you are coming to Canada. They will then let you enter for a certain number of months (usually 6) provided they find nothing amiss.
So here's where it gets tricky you need to demonstrate that you will return to the US. So

my plans are I'm coming for the 6 months to visit my wife but will be applying for spousal sponsorship and a work permit

is exactly what you should tell them.
Sorry, I wrote my answer before I read your entire question!

You are in a different situation than Raul (provided you are a US citizen) as you can travel to Canada without a visa (and you can drive here!).

Hope this helps. (And sorry if my answer is convoluted. Just ask if you want me to clarify anything.)

 

[Eric_Mc]

Thank You Riley!!!! That was just the information that we were hoping to receive.
To clarify, I currently live in the U.S., I am a U.S. citizen, and we are planning getting married in Ontario this March. The outland application takes anywhere from 26 to 38 months to process on my end but only 2 months for her to be approved/denied as a sponsor where as inland takes around 28 months but at least we will be together that way and really just needed to figure out how I could go into Canada to apply without the risk of getting kicked out after the 6 months is up.
Again, Thank You very much! You were most helpful with this problem.
Eric.

 

[Riley Haas]

Hi Eric,
You're driving, right? You will need to show them that you intend to leave Canada if the application is rejected. This is called "dual intent."

Glad I have been able to help.

 

[Eric_Mc]

Hi Riley,
Yes I will be driving across the border when I do finally head up that way. How could I prove to them that I intend to leave Canada if the application is rejected..?

Thank You,
Eric.

 

[Riley Haas]

First, I should apologize for any confusion caused by earlier versions of my other responses.
Your is a very good question that I'm not sure anyone knows a perfect answer to. The problem is that you have to walk a fine line: CBSA is not allowed to admit people visitors who intend to stay but, at the same time, they are allowed to admit people who will become permanent residents. That's my understanding of "Dual Intent" - you have the intention to apply for permanent residence but you also have the intention not to overstay your visitor visa.
One thing that is positive is that you're American, which puts you in a unique situation where you may be given a lot more leeway than the average visitor.
All I can think of is have as much proof of your relationship on you as possible, to show you can indeed successfully apply for permanent residence. But I guess you also need to show something that indicates you are able to leave (perhaps that would be funds in your bank account...)
I am not sure what else so say, sorry about that.

 

[Eric_Mc]

Hello Riley.
I am glad to say that I am finally in Canada!! I'll try to explain my experience best as I can in writing on crossing the boarder. I pulled up to the guard shack and had to answer the usual questions about why I was coming to Canada, how long I planned on staying ect, ect. When I answered I was coming to visit my wife for 6 months and while visiting I would be applying for residency I was asked if I had talked to an immigration officer, not yet was my reply.

So I'm told to go park and go inside to talk to the guy at the end of the counter. He asks the same questions and then some more. He asked how I intended to support myself, I reply "with my wife sponsoring me she will be signing a financial responsibility letter to support me until I can get a job along with 4,000$ cash on me and my wife has 5,000$ in an account for me in Canada and I still have about 4,000$ in a bank account in Connecticut". He asked how I planned on getting a job, did I have one already, I said I would be applying for an open work permit at the same time as residency and he kind of looked at me like he had no clue what I was talking about. He said that I wasn't able to do that and I said that according to the CIC website there was a year long pilot program started in December of 2014 to allow currant and new spousal applicants to apply for an open work permit thus allowing them to get a job at pretty much anywhere from McDonalds to WalMart to a warehouse that was extended until December of 2016.

He wanted to know what and where I worked along with a work number, he wanted my wife's name, place of work, home address, and phone number.

In between rounds of questions I'm told to sit and wait, usually for about 15 minutes at a clip. He asks to go through my vehicle, I say go for it here's the keys. I have to show him how to open the back door due to a broken piece of molding that catches the door.

Eventually, after about an hour total wait, I'm called over and told that it seems like I have done a lot of research and I know how to go about applying for residency. He also tells me that he is giving me a Visitor Visa good for 3 months due to the fact he had seen many other people in the same circumstance come into the country only to never apply for residency and there fore live without paying taxes or having jobs. As long as we get the application in before the 3 months is up then I will be good to stay in Canada. Once the paper work is in process I am allowed to stay in Canada until we hear from CIC about my residency. If we don't get the paper work filed before the three months is up then I will have to apply for an extension on my Visitor Visa.

I'm sure there are some things that I have forgotten to say about it all as the whole experience was a bit nerve racking thinking that they could say "sorry, no you're not allowed" for any reason they like. Gladly they didn't and the immigration guard actually helped and suggested I call the number on the back of the visitor visa if I have any questions about the application process because hiring a immigration lawyer is usually pretty expensive.

Thank You for all your help on the little things that that made a huge difference.
You rock Riley!!!!!!

PS. Raul, I hope you make it to be with your girlfriend! Thank you for allowing me to hi-jack your thread and talk to Riley.

 

[Riley Haas]

Thanks for letting me know, Eric.
I'm glad it went well. Good luck getting that sponsorship application done!