British citizen with immigration & common-law sponsorship questions

[zissou]

Hello

I realise these are quite common questions on this board but there are few things that are really confusing me and i would appreciate any advice anyone may have.

My story is that last year I was on the 12 month BUNAC work visa and while out there I fell in love with my girlfriend and also the country. It wasn't a hard decision for me to want to emigrate. We are currently planning on going down the common-law route. Right now i'm back in the UK working for a few months to save up some additional money to cover me for the year and she will also be working full time, so financially we will be safe.

The first question I have is about landing at immigration. I presume that if I told them my plans they would most likely throw me on the next plane home. I could easily say i'm here visiting family (I have an aunt and cousins in Canada) and friends but when they come to assess my case further down the line will they realise that I initially lied to get my foot in the door.

This leads me onto a question about my 6 month visitor extension. Once again if I write down what my real plans are I imagine it will get denied. But if I just say i'm travelling round visiting friends and family, is that justifiable for extension?

If all goes to plan and after 12 months we will then start the sponsorship process. I'm under the impression that they can take up to 4-6months to file the initial forms. Should i try to extend my visa AGAIN for this period of time?


The more and more I look into it the more it seems that getting married would be by far the easiest option... though I do have a few personal issues with that and I get the feeling they wouldnt be convinced as we have no proof of how long we have been together (just under 1 year) and will presume it's a marriage of convenience, if there was no lying involved common-law would a much happier option for the both of us.

Once again i realise these are probably quite common questions but I really appreciate any help you can offer me.

Thank you

[Leon]

Say you are going to visit your girlfriend.  They will be more suspicious if they think you are hiding something.  It's not against the law to visit your girlfriend.  When you apply for a visit visa extension, say you are exploring the relationship.  However, I think it's easier to get married.

[zissou]

Okay, thanks for the advice. If we were to get married would you suggest we did it in Canada or the UK?

[RickNicky]

Greetings ,my wife is a uk citizen,i am canadian ,we met online and she came a few times to canada to visit ,on her last visit we decided to get married ,that was a little over three years ago she has not left
we have renewed her visitor visa 4 times
we are still not done the permanent resident process,we are close but not done .
I would suggest you do the process where ever you are more financially viable as it may drag out
and unless you are comming for a work visa related status you will not be employed.
as for the question of what the best route is no question married draws teh least speculation

[mitamata]

Being married doesn't draw any less speculation than being common-law. You still have to prove the relationship is genuine.
The difference is that when establishing your relationship to the sponsor, it's much easier to do so when you're married. A marriage certificate is all it takes. For common-law applications, more evidence is required to show that you have in fact lived together long enough. And most times that evidence also serves to prove that the relationship is genuine.

To CIC, it doesn't really make a difference where you get married, as long as you have the marriage certificate. If you have no preference, then find out where it would be easier to do.

[zissou]

Thank you again. I don't think it will be hard to prove our common-law relationship.

RickNicky: What did you write on the form to extend your visa? Did you explain your plans? If need be, would your wife be able to leave Canada and get back in again ok while this process was going on?