where/how to begin the immigration process

[egelorie]

hi, i am confused as to how/where i start the immigration process and hoping for as much help and advice as possible.

i have a man who is the canadian citizen, residing in Alberta. He wants to sponsor me and my son under the 'family class' category. But, i cant see that i come under the common law or marriage section and its hard proving the conjugal so i hear. i have only spent 5 weeks with him in one visit recently,as we have been having an online relationship for a year now.I am a British citizen. Can i apply under the common law if poss? If me and my son were to stay in Canada with him for the 6 months mean i have to come back to the uk or could i apply to extend that time whilst in Canada? would it be best to get married? my head is in a spin :'( What is the best way for me to go about doing this,

 

[jmni1]

I would suggest getting married if this is what you both would like to do. For what I know you must be actually livinf to gether for 1 year to claim as common law, so I would assume that only communicating on the internet would not count. The easiest way would be to get married which you could do in Canada or it England (I assume that is where you are living). Also it is best normally to apply outland it tends to be faster and it gives you the right of appeal. If are British then your Visa office would be London. If they wanted to call you for an interview it would be done in London as well. The average time for visa processing for london is between 2 & 8 Month in addition to that time you should allow at least a month for processing in Missassagua. so total would be 3 to 9 months. Hope this helps

 

[K1203]

Hi Egelorie

Wow your situation is exactly the same as mine was when I first came to Canada in 2007, also having met my partner (now husband) on line.

I went for advice from an immigration lawyer, she did not suggest we should get married, however she subtly suggested that whilst she was not implying we should get married for immigration purposes, if we were planning on getting married anyway, which we were, we might as well do this before submitting a residence application.

Unless you are absolutely sure it is what you want I would not rush into getting married having only spent a few weeks together in real time. I spent quite some months with my husband before we actually married, and it really isn't necessary as you once you have spent some more time together you will be able to bring together plenty of evidence of relationship. It was a year before we submitted the application and I just applied for a visitor extension at first.

Gather together as much proof of your relationship as possible - have you got records of email/online chat etc. We used all of this in support of our application, also take as many photos as possible, keep receipts for meals out and your plane tickets etc. This is what we did and I wasn't called for interview. Usually interviews are only required if they have insufficient evidence of the relationship I believe.

I haven't yet received my PR card (we applied inland spousal sponsorship which is basically the same as common law) my application went in in February 2008, however I gained Approval in Principle in October 2008 which meant I could then work and get my OHIP which is similar to NHS health coverage - once you have AIP you can apply for an open work permit. As you are from the UK though I would seriously recommend you apply for PR via the UK (outland spousal sponsorship) because it is a much quicker process with far less restrictions.

Do lots of research on the internet, a good place to start is CICs website - http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp

Whereabouts in Canada will you be and whereabouts in the UK are you from?

Best of luck with it all

Karen

 

[egelorie]

Hi,
Thank you both for replying so fast, i feel like im beginning to get somewhere at last...

Getting married is a last resort thing, i just want to be there again as soon as possible so i was wondering if i was to do as you both suggested and apply for PR outland (in London as i am in the UK) as i believe this gives me the right to appeal if it came to that. But what catergory of the family class sponsorship do i come under at this stage?? that is the problem.

and,also taking into account i want to go back there asap for as long as poss...
???

i am also in process of gathering all info ie...skype logs texts,photos.
(i will be going to Alberta from the south of UK)
P.S im thinking if i go out there for the 6 months and at the end of that either return to uk or apply for extension before applying for PR would that be wise ?...

 

[K1203]

At this stage I don't think you would have enough evidence to prove a relationship. You could not really put down as common law at the moment because you need to provide evidence like joint bank statements etc. and the same appears to be the case for conjugal - you might find this useful http://www.borderconnections.com/internet-relationship.html.

In your situation at the moment I think to go out there for six months is a really good idea before you submit the application - that way you will have a much stronger ground. on the application. You can easily apply for an extension at the end of six months or simply return to the UK and come back again.

 

[egelorie]

Thanks,
i think that may be the best way too, as i dont want to spend all that money (how ever much it is) in fees for PR if i know i dont yet come under any of the catergories...so say i go there with my son for 6 months...at the end of that time can i apply for an extention whilst in Canada or do i HAVE to come back to the uk before going out there again?

 

[K1203]

No you don't have to leave, after the first six months you can apply for a visitor extension.

 

[egelorie]

ahh even better and i can do that how many times?

 

[BeShoo]

You can apply for extensions as many times as you need to, but they won't necessarily approve any of those extensions unless you have a good reason for the extension. It's probable that the more times you ask for an extension, the less likely that you will get one.

For a common law relationship, you must be living together in a committed relationship for at least one year, continuously. I wouldn't try saying that you were in a committed relationship starting on the first day you met. No-one is likely to believe such a story. For a conjugal partnership, you need to be in a marriage-like relationship for at least one year but something (usually a legal barrier) has prevented you from living together for one continuous year. In either of these types of relationships, you have to show that the relationship is marriage-like ("conjugal"). I posted the criteria of a conjugal relationship here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/spousal-sponsorship-t46995.0.html;msg357741#msg357741. Check that post and the two immediately after it on that page.

Evidence could include photographs, receipts for various things, plane tickets, boarding passes, telephone bills, cards, letters, etc. If you don't have this sort of evidence, start saving it now.

If you were to visit Canada and were denied an extension, that might be enough evidence to claim that a legal barrier prevented you from living together for a year. Some people have used "exploring our relationship" or similar reasons as reason to extend a visit, but such a reason may or may not succeed.

If you are coming for an extended visit, you need to prove that someone (yourself or your partner) will support you for that time, and that you will return when the time is up. Ties like a home in the U.K., a job there, family obligations, etc., are needed to be approved for a long stay. If you don't have those, you could be denied entry into Canada or only given permission for a very short stay.

 

[BeShoo]

Keep in mind that you don't have to fulfill every single one of the criteria in those lists. The finding of a genuine conjugal relationship is based on a weighing of probabilities. Some of the points may not apply at all in your particular situation.

 

[canadianwoman]

i think that may be the best way too, as i dont want to spend all that money (how ever much it is) in fees for PR if i know i dont yet come under any of the catergories...so say i go there with my son for 6 months...at the end of that time can i apply for an extention whilst in Canada or do i HAVE to come back to the uk before going out there again?

You don't fit any of the categories yet. You can apply right away when you get married, but you are not married yet, so would have to apply as a common-law or conjugal partner. For both of these you have to have been in a 'marriage-like' relationship for one year when you apply. For common law, you have to have been living together for one year or more when you apply; for conjugal, you have to have been in a very close relationship for a year, but were prevented from living together because of some kind of barrier - examples would be neither partner being able to get a long-term visa to the other's country, or a same-sex couple where homosexuality is illegal.

You can extend your stay after 6 months; you don't have to go back to the UK to get it.

 

[egelorie]

thank you