I'm pregnant and want to move back to Canada - husband's not Canadian! Help!

[eva_everything]

I'm desperately trying to figure this out and the CIC website and my local consulate are of no help. 

I'm pregnant and due in early January.  I've been living outside of Canada for 12 years.  My husband has a British and Irish passport,  and no Canadian status.  In my current state I've become overwhelmed with the desire to "go home" to have the baby, to be near my family and settle.  Obviously I want my hubby to be with me. 

We are currently residing in Hong Kong, although our permanent home has been London, UK, up until recently. In order to get back to Canada in time for the due date, I have to leave Hong Kong at the end of November, a few weeks before him, because of the flight restrictions for pregnancy.  He will leave as soon as his assignment is complete at Christmas.

The trouble seems to be that if we apply to sponsor him the process will likely take longer than my due date - in Hong Kong they are saying at least 5 months, and I am due in 4!  On the other hand, if he turns up in Canada we've been told that there can be no suspicion that he is going to stay.  I want him to stay!  I would plan sponsor him as soon as we arrive, and he certainly won't have a return ticket to Hong Kong as his work there is completed anyway.  There is no way that I want to risk not having my husband with me for the birth of our first child.  We have enough savings that he would not have to work for at least 12 months, so we are not worried about the time it would take to process sponsorship from within Canada.  We are worried that they will turn him away and I'll be left alone to have the baby.  Obviously, the issue is that I won't be able to fly by that point and so if they send him away, that's it - he'll have to go back to London I'll be in Toronto and I can't imagine how sad it would be.

I am a bit resentful that my government will not at least guarantee me that he will be allowed in for the birth of our child... If they end up saying we can't stay, then fine, we'll go back to London, or Hong Kong, or wherever and frankly, I'll renounce my citizenship over it ... but I would like to have my first child close to my parents and family, and husband!  I can't believe how difficult Canada makes this compared to everywhere else we have lived!

Any help, tips, suggestions are greatly appreciated... as you can imagine, this is very distressing for us!

[eva_everything]

Thanks Raven,

We did ask about sponsorship when we were married, but they told us I couldn't sponsor him since we had no plans to move back to Canada at that time. They told us you can only sponsor your spouse if you are in Canada, or if you can prove that you are planning to move back to Canada.  (That was the Canadian Consulate in London). 

Now that we are planning to move back we don't have enough time for the sponsorship, (for him to arrive in Canada in time for the birth).  We have also been told that he will not be allowed to enter Canada, even on his UK Passport, if they suspect he plans to stay. Considering that he is entering Canada for the birth of his child and to be with his wife, he is a prime suspect in terms of his intention to stay.  He will not be allowed in the country in this case.  (This is all courtesy of the Canadian Consultate in Hong Kong). 

I suppose the only hope is for him to lie when he arrives and say he is on short trip and not mention me or the pregnancy?? But that does seem ridiculous.  Plus, if he gets caught, and then turned away, not only will his miss the birth but maybe they will never let him enter again. 

I am just shocked at how inhumane this all is.  We have lived in the UK, across Europe and in Asia... I've never encountered anything like this.  There is the implication that this is our fault because we should have planned better!  Well, that seems so strict - I fell pregnant and wanted to move back.  Maybe I should have postponed the pregnancy to suit their family sponsorship turnaround timeline? (I'm 35 so not eager to do that)... Maybe I should have married a Canadian?  I want to write them and say, 'life happens - please don't punish us!'

- Seriously stressed in Hong Kong

[thaiguy]

There is the implication that this is our fault because we should have planned better!  Well, that seems so strict - I fell pregnant and wanted to move back.  Maybe I should have postponed the pregnancy to suit their family sponsorship turnaround timeline? (I'm 35 so not eager to do that)... Maybe I should have married a Canadian?  I want to write them and say, 'life happens - please don't punish us!'

I've always loved that idiom .. that someone "fell pregnant," like they tripped over a loose branch and (whammo!) became pregnant.

No offense, Eva, but if becoming pregnant were a guaranteed way to get your husband into Canada quickly, there would be a black market for Canadian brides.

I hope you find the answers you desire.  Best of luck.

[eva_everything]

No offense, Eva, but if becoming pregnant were a guaranteed way to get your husband into Canada quickly, there would be a black market for Canadian brides.

I don't get that - are you joking that "foreigners" would impregnate Canadian women as a way to "sneak" into the country?  .... okay....

.... or are you saying that couples would get pregnant to speed up the process?  In which case, so what?  One day Canada is going to need those babies to pay for its pensions anyway. 

And what is up with Canada that it is practically considered a crime to want to get your partner into the country quickly?????  Isn't it just basic human nature to want to be with your spouse? And why shouldn't Canada enable this? It seems inhumane not to.  When we have moved across Europe and Asia we were always able to go together without hassles. And Europe is not so great when it comes to immigration in general....

And if you have been married for years and are pregnant what is the problem - there can hardly be suspicion about the validity of your marriage.  I noticed that another poster here has a similar issue - with 3 children and he can't come into the country with her for up to a year or something!  I think that is sick!

Perhaps it is because I have been living elsewhere for years, but honestly... what is going on in Canada?  This experience is making me doubt whether it is worth coming back if this is the way the country has become.  It is sending a message that Canadians must marry Canadians, or that it doesn't want foreigners in the country, or something else pretty vicious.  (Or maybe it's just the hormones).

[thaiguy]

or are you saying that couples would get pregnant to speed up the process?  In which case, so what? 

The reason the rules don't allow a quick immigration process are 1) because CIC needs to investigate, do background checks, and check the veracity of applicants' statements, and 2) because Canada is such a great place to live that hundreds of thousands of people apply to immigrate every year.  It's unfortunate that CIC can't just peer into people's brains, know their qualifications and intentions, and let them in.  But they don't have that ability.  So by performing due diligence on every applicant, they're trying to keep Canada a prosperous and safe place to live for the future.

Eva, you certainly seem to have a marriage that has stood the test of time, and it's a shame that you have to go through this.  But you're sharing the immigration queue with people who intentionally misrepresent themselves to get a chance at immigrating to a great country.  Understand the cause of the problem, and hopefully you won't blame the messenger.