What method to use to settle in Canada with my boyfriend?

[winteravenue]

We're wondering what the quickest way for me to come live with my boyfriend in Canada is.
We want to get married, which will ease the process for me to achieve permanent residency.

I would like to know what's the best way to do this :
Get a tourist visa and say I'm just visiting him, get married and apply for permanent residency? Am I able to do this? How long will it take? Will I need to leave Canada in this process?
Or
Get married elsewhere, and apply for family sponsorship from outside? I heard this can take over half a year.. which is too long. I just want to be with him.

 

[MilesAway]

Assuming your boyfriend is either Canadian or a Canadian PR, he can sponsor you once you are either married or common-law.

There are two ways to apply. Inland or outland. These refer to where your application is processed, not where you are located. Inland requires you to be in Canada with your spouse, and the process is currently taking about 2 years. You are not recommended to leave Canada during this period, as if you are denied entry upon returning, your application would be deemed abandoned.
Outland is generally much faster, and you can be in Canada throughout the process, provided you have a visa or legal status. You cannot work or study during this time.

 

[rhcohen2014]

depending on where you are from and how old you are, you may qualify for a holiday work visa. any route to immigrating to canada is going to take time. 6 months is really not that big of deal in the grand scheme of things.

regardless of if you come to canada and marry him or get married outside of canada, you can apply outland. as miles suggested, it's faster and there is no law/rule that says you can't be IN canada as a visitor while your application processes. the only risk is if an interview is called, then you will need to return to your home country.

 

[winteravenue]

Wait so, what if I apply inland.. and as you said, it takes 2 years. How can I remain in Canada with a legal status, since I'll be coming here on tourist visa? Am I allowed to stay in Canada until my application gets processed? Do I need to extend my visa?

Can I apply for permanent residency while I'm here waiting for the sponsorship application?
He's a Canadian citizen.

 

[Rob_TO]

Read here for a good overview of inland vs outland: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html

Which one you choose really depends on what county you're from.

If visa-exempt, then generally OUTLAND is the better choice. Visa-exempt PR applicants can apply outland, yet stay in Canada during the entire process on visitor status, study visa, or any work visa/working holiday program. Some outland visa officers can complete PR apps in as little as 4-6 months.

If you require a TRV to visit Canada, then sometimes INLAND is a better option. If you can get to Canada with valid status, then as soon as you submit an inland application along with an app for Open Work Permit, you have "implied" status for the entire duration of your PR processing time so can stay in Canada during the entire time without needing to extend any status or visas. However the negative of this is that you should prepare to remain in Canada and not leave for those 2 years of processing, since if you are ever denied re-entry the app is cancelled.

 

[winteravenue]

Yeah, I don't look forward to staying 1 year away from my boyfriend for outland processing, neither to spending over 1,000$ to go back to my home country for a possible interview.
So I guess, I'll get a tourist visa, tell them I'm just visiting him, marry him and apply for inland + open work permit (since 22 dec 2014 I am now allowed to work there right?).
So that means just 1 trip, and never leave Canada.

If that's the case I'll have to buy a 1-way ticket. I just hope I won't be denied entry because of that.

Thank you for clarifying things, your answers and the forum thread linked really helped.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Yeah, I don't look forward to staying 1 year away from my boyfriend for outland processing, neither to spending over 1,000$ to go back to my home country for a possible interview.
So I guess, I'll get a tourist visa, tell them I'm just visiting him, marry him and apply for inland + open work permit (since 22 dec 2014 I am now allowed to work there right?).
So that means just 1 trip, and never leave Canada.

If that's the case I'll have to buy a 1-way ticket. I just hope I won't be denied entry because of that.

Thank you for clarifying things, your answers and the forum thread linked really helped.

outland processing for us citizens does not take a year. the majority of applicants are approved in 6 months (or less). i wouldn't recommend inland processing, it will be a big mistake for a us citizen. the "4month" OWP is not a reason to apply inland. you can't legally work until the owp is actually issued, you receive it and you find a job. you can't just work because you sent in an application. if you do, you will be working illegally. at this point, you don't even qualify to submit an application. you would need to at least be married or commonlaw first. so no, your plan RIGHT NOW does NOT entitle you to work in canada when you get there. you will first have to get married, submit an application, and either be approved for pr as outland or an open worrk permit as an inland.

yes, if you show up at the border with a one way ticket, no proof of ties to the us (a job or housing) with the intention of staying forever, you have a HIGH risk of being denied entry. since you are not married or commonlaw, can't send in a spousal PR application, and don't have a job offer from a canadian company, you have an even HIGHER risk of being banned from canada for a certain period of time. then you won't be able to be in canada or be approved for PR until that ban is lifted. be very careful when crossing the border if that is your plan. it's tragically flawed. or perhaps you will encounter an immigration officer who doesn't care.

oh, and you are not entitled to a tourist visa because you are VISA EXEMPT which means you can just show up at the border with your passport. good luck! keep us updated on how your plan works out!

 

[winteravenue]

outland processing for us citizens does not take a year.

Oh no sir, I'm from Europe, not the US. And it WOULD take a year of outland processing time. I can't be without him that long. Because of the distance, it costs too much money to make extra trips, which is another reason why I didn't want to apply outland.

My plan was to get a tourist visa (I'm not eligible for other types), marry him inside Canada and THEN apply inland for spousal sponsorship. And only after all of that, apply for an open work permit. Does that sound right?

Alright then. I'll get a 2-way plane ticket since it's the same price anyway.

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

what part of Europe are you from? Have you looked into the IEC visa's?

Look into it if you haven't

Also not all outland processing times are faster. For example the processing times for applications that go to the London England office are around 33 months.

There are down sides to each type of application.

Also, my bf is just about to send his application for PR in and there isn't any place where they ask where he would like his application to be processed. I am curious about how to let CIC know where you want your application processed? For him doing it inland would be faster since he is from England however the down side is that he is very home sick and would like to go home for a visit but that would be very hard to do while his application is being processed.

 

[winteravenue]

I am a citizen of Moldova and a PR of Romania. I looked into IEC now but those countries aren't on the list. They're not going to accept me with no official job experience. That's why tourist visa & spousal sponsorship is the only way for me to go.

 

[Rob_TO]

Oh no sir, I'm from Europe, not the US. And it WOULD take a year of outland processing time. I can't be without him that long. Because of the distance, it costs too much money to make extra trips, which is another reason why I didn't want to apply outland.

My plan was to get a tourist visa (I'm not eligible for other types), marry him inside Canada and THEN apply inland for spousal sponsorship. And only after all of that, apply for an open work permit. Does that sound right?

Even if you do an OUTLAND application, you can remain in Canada with a valid TRV in place (or study or work permit if you can get one), during the entire processing time. Since you do require a TRV to stay in Canada, you would need to request extensions each time the TRV was set to expire, in order to remain in Canada. In many cases for someone with an outland PR app already in progress, CIC is more lenient on granting TRV extensions to wait out the process in CAnada. However there's no guarantee of this, and if any TRV extension was denied you would need to return to Moldova/Romania.

An outland app would be processed in Bucharest visa office for you. Processing time on website is 15 months, but those are NOT average times and are usually high compared to people's actual times. It's best to go to the family class section of forum and see if a Bucharest group exists, to see people's actual experiences from that visa office.

If you get a TRV, come to Canada and get married, you can definitely apply INLAND also. In this case you would include an app for OWP along with your PR app. Under "implied" status you are allowed to stay in Canada legally during the entire process without having to extend your TRV. There is a new pilot program for processing inland OWP apps quicker (after AOR instead of AIP), but for new applicant's nobody knows for sure how long this will take. I would budget from 4 - 8 months.

Note with an inland app, you must be prepared to remain in Canada for around 2 years, and not leave even once, for any reason whatsoever. Since you require a TRV to re-enter Canada, there would be a very high chance you would be unable to return, causing your inland PR app to be considered abandoned and cancelled by CIC and having to start again from scratch.

 

[Rob_TO]

Also not all outland processing times are faster. For example the processing times for applications that go to the London England office are around 33 months.

Where the heck are you getting that stat for a family class app through London? Posted time on CIC site is 11 months, and in reality most people are done in 6-8 months, some even quicker.

Unless you're talking about some other class he is applying himself under, and not sponsoring you as spouse/common-law partner at this time?

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

Where the heck are you getting that stat for a family class app through London? Posted time on CIC site is 11 months, and in reality most people are done in 6-8 months, some even quicker.

Unless you're talking about some other class he is applying himself under, and not sponsoring you as spouse/common-law partner at this time?

I am not sponsoring him. He has a PNP nomination that he got based on gaining work experience and a permanent job offer while here on a EIC visa.

We decided it would be less stress on our relationship if he got PR without me sponsoring him. There is some new rule that if I had sponsored him it would mean that we must stay together for at least 2 years after his PR or it can be revoked. That kind of requirement could create doubt or control in a relationship where the sponsor may wonder if the other is staying because they have to out of fear of having to leave Canada. The one being sponsored may feel like they need to hold back in disagreement out of fear of a break up that could result in them loosing their PR. By me not sponsoring him we don't have that stress in our relationship. It may take a little longer but at least his PR has nothing to do with our relationship.