Is marriage the only way? Is this just crazy??

[jstnmlr]

Random thought. Even if he is older, why not use this time where you're locked into schooling and see if he can get into you university and apply for student loans/grants because of the money. If he never went to school, it's not too late to start and then he can get out of his crummy delivery job and I'm sure there is tons of opportunity to DJ at a university. I'm 30 and going back to school very soon so it really is never too late.

[ddobro2]

Tuition for international students is about three times higher than for Canadian students (PRs or citizens) and I'm not sure what grants her boyfriend would qualify for as it doesn't seem like he has a strong academic record. Then there's the issue of the opportunity cost of giving up a lot of the income he'd have with his job/s by studying.

Random thought. Even if he is older, why not use this time where you're locked into schooling and see if he can get into you university and apply for student loans/grants because of the money. If he never went to school, it's not too late to start and then he can get out of his crummy delivery job and I'm sure there is tons of opportunity to DJ at a university. I'm 30 and going back to school very soon so it really is never too late.

[rjessome]

Have you looked at the temporary foreign worker option?  You don't mention what he does for a living.  Maybe (big maybe) there is a shortage of workers with his experience and skills and there may be employers looking to hire temporary foreign workers in your area.  It's a shot in the dark but still a chance.

[Paperball]

I've had a similar problem with my girlfriend - though we've spent about 7 months together over the past year or so, we were gonna get married, then didn't, and after more serious thinking, will plan to marry for real soon.  Obviously, the easy thing is to get married so he can be sponsored, but do take some time to think about it before hand and don't rush into it.  It's not crazy, lots of people do it and will keep continuing to do it.

But if you're dead set on marrying him, then marry him, like someone else said I'm sure your father wouldn't want to "lose" you either by continuing to oppose your relationship.

Besides your father, do you have any other doubts or concerns?

[ddobro2]

OP did mention what her boyfriend does for a living:

I know he doesn't qualify for FSW because he's a DJ/delivery driver for a chain restaurant. Neither of those jobs are on the approved skilled workers list :-P

Have you looked at the temporary foreign worker option?  You don't mention what he does for a living.  Maybe (big maybe) there is a shortage of workers with his experience and skills and there may be employers looking to hire temporary foreign workers in your area.  It's a shot in the dark but still a chance.

[rjessome]

OP did mention what her boyfriend does for a living:

Oops.  Guess I didn't read it all.  If he has previous fast food industry experience he may be able to find an employer with a positive LMO depending on the region.

[kandc]

Thanks to everyone's answers, I do appreciate all your input.

 @ ddobro2; we would still be seriously considering marriage even if he was here. Perhaps not within the next two months, but for the last three months or so we've been talking about marrying in the summer. This would just be a little sooner. I know my father won't disown me or anything... I just hate the idea of disappointing or worrying him.


 @ jstnmlr; I talked to a CIC call centre agent who told me he needs to have tuition paid for (and it's MUCH higher for foreign students) and bank statements proving he can support himself while studying. She said he'd need around $20,000 for one year and there is NO way he can come up with that money.

 @  Paperball; Just worried about my dad. It's a big issue for me though, unfortunately I'm very close to my family.

 @ rjessome; I live in Ottawa, there is no shortage of fast food workers, cooks or chefs here unfortunately.

[AmericaninQuebec]

 @  rjessome; I live in Ottawa, there is no shortage of fast food workers, cooks or chefs here unfortunately.

Okay, I just keep ending up back on my initial point, especially since you're still a student and your family has such strong misgivings about all of this. I'm just throwing this out there: Syracuse, NY is 3 hrs from Ottawa. It's a decent sized city, cost of living is low, and I bet he could find a delivery job/dj work relatively quickly there. There are closer towns to the border than that, but Syracuse is the biggest one in the region. I drove through it just a few weeks ago and my husband even remarked that I should look at jobs there (and we'd be 6 hrs apart if I moved there for work while I finished waiting for my PR), because it looked like a decent city.