Question About Sponsorship

[Duncan]

Hello all,

I just registered on the forums after searching for some information regarding immigration and sponsorship. Firstly, I'm a Canadian Citizen and I'm in a relationship with my girlfriend of 2 years. I intend to marry her within a year but I'm not sure of the process involved in order to sponsor her. She lives in St. Vincent and from what I found out so far, she can come to Canada to visit without a visa. Now the question that I have is that if I marry her in Canada, would that break any laws? And once I do marry her, does she have to go back to St. Vincent and wait till I submit the application for sponsorship? I know about the "marriage of convenience" law and I know we're not doing this out of convenience. And I'm sure that if Immigration asks, I can produce proof that she and I have been together while she's in Canada and emailing each other while she's back at home. Anyways, I just need to make sense of all this so I can have peace of mind. Any help would be very appreciative.

Thanks in advance.
 

[shamsia]

Hope I can help you out since I have been longer on this immigration thing than you

Firstly, you can easily apply for her sponsorship after the marriage. In fact, since you have been in a relationship for 2 years you can apply as common law right away, but cases such as those are harder to prove when you can be way better off if you both are married and then submit your application.

Secondly, since she is from a visa exempt country she can live with you after marriage and you can apply for sponsorship inland. However, the inland process is longer and you have no right of appeal, while the outland process takes lesser time (depending on her country's visa office). The onus is on you guys to decide if it should be inland or outland depending on your situation.

Yes, you can marry her in Canada and she may or may not have to travel to her country depending on your decision to apply inland or outland.

For the spousal sponsorship applications you need to prove that your relationship is genuine by producing evidences of trips taken together, email log, phone bills, gifts exchanged, the works, you get the picture. I would suggest that you keep a record of all the above mentioned evidences from now so that it is easier for you guys to prove that your relationship is genuine and that you have a speedy visa processing.

You might want to check the Citizenship and Immigration website http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp which includes all the information you might need to sponsor a spouse. If you have any other questions, this is a wonderful forum and Im sure everyone would be more than willing to help.

You might also want to read this thread from a senior member on this forum. It is very useful...http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

Cheers

[canadianwoman]

Now the question that I have is that if I marry her in Canada, would that break any laws?

No, you two can get married here. If you have lived with her for a year, you could also sponsor her now as a common-law spouse.

And once I do marry her, does she have to go back to St. Vincent and wait till I submit the application for sponsorship?

No. If you sponsor her inland, she must stay in Canada during the whole process. If you sponsor her outland, she can stay in Canada 'visiting' you for 6 months, and then apply to extend her stay, but if there is an interview she will have to go home for it.

And I'm sure that if Immigration asks, I can produce proof that she and I have been together while she's in Canada and emailing each other while she's back at home.

When you send in the application, you must include proof such as this that your relationship is genuine. You are not getting married for a year, so you have lots of time to collect evidence and prepare an outstanding application.

[Duncan]

Thank you so much for your help and information! You don't know how difficult it was for me to try and understand the process and you both clarified it so simply. Of course it'll be up to both of us to decide to apply inland or outland, but I believe that we'll be ok as long as we get the proper information and evidence submitted. Thanks again!

[shamsia]

You are welcome! All the best!

[Duncan]

Another thing too, if we do decide to do it inland, she wouldn't be able to legally work till the process is completed?

[scylla]

Another thing too, if we do decide to do it inland, she wouldn't be able to legally work till the process is completed?

If you apply inland and include an open work permit application, she will be able to legally work once the first stage of processing (AIP - approval in principal) has been completed. Assuming there are no complications, AIP currently takes 9-10 months to complete.

[Heidyincnd]

Hi,

I am also prepared to apply in land next week. What I am wonder if I could apply for study permit as I would like to take a short course to improve my profession. I've hardly ever seen anybody mentioned about this (study permit). Hope you guys can give me some instructions, very much appreciated your help

Thanks a lot for your prompt answer