Confused? Need Help!

[cschanhals]

Hi, my name is Chelsea and I am confused as to what I should do for my situation. I have been with my boy friend for 5 years and I am an American citizen and he is Canadian. We visit each other every 4-6 months for a few weeks. Recently I just completed my college and am looking towards to finally starting my future with him. I am 20 and he is 22, we've been together since I was 14 and he was 16. I don't want to rush into marriage just to live with him, it's not fair or even right. I want to spend some time with him before going to the next step.

I can't seem to get ANY answers over the phone, email, anything on information of being a dual citizen or holding a PR card. What I need to know is the following:

1) What criteria is there regarding the application for a PR card?
Where can I find this information?

2) Do I have to be in the United States when I sign up for a PR card?

3) Am I allowed to live in Canada while it's processing?

4) How long approximately will it take to process? (just an estimate? I have no criminal background or anything)

I would appreciate any help regarding my questions on PR info, or any additional information.
I hope I'm on the right track. I may have further questions down the line, right now I'm a little fuzzy to think of anything else that comes to mind.

Thanks,
Chelsea  =]

[mud504@yahoo]

First off let me refer you to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp. This site has alot of the answers your looking for and guides for each process if you havent checked it out already.

There are a few options of how to apply for Canada PR. There is a skilled worker class, buisness class, family class, refugee class and a couple others. The one that seems to apply to your situation most is sponsorship. You can apply to be a PR as a married, common-law, or conjugal couple. Since your not married and feel that you are not ready 2 be married that option is gone. To apply as common-law their are certain requirements you have 2 meet like living together for a year along with combining whatever affairs of your guys together (bank accounts, leases, etc). And conjugal is pretty much not an option because theres nothing really preventing you 2 from being a married couple. U can't just fill out a form and be issued a PR card theres a whole long paper work process involved. The CIC site has all the forms and guides for you to access. You are allowed to live in Canada during the process on a temporary visa. Temporary visas are usually valid for 6 months. Any longer then that and you would have to apply for an extention. The timeline depends on what your applying for and where your applying to.