What are my/our options?

[blacknirvana]

Hi all

So glad I found this forum, it helps to know how many people out there are in situations similar to mine.

Here is my situation. I have a Canadian girlfriend we have been together for 2 1/2 years know and have lived together for two. I am currently living in Alberta on a Canadian International Experience Visa that ends in early August 2011. I graduated with masters this January (from Denmark) and have desperately been trying to get a job here for the last six months, with no luck. Now it looks like a have to leave, I don't want to leave my girl and was therefore thinking about coming back on a visitors visa, but after the three months I have on that we don't know what to do?

A few questions.

1. What is the rules about getting back to Canada on a visitors visa? Will it be enough if i leave the country for a week and then come back?

2. Any suggestions on what steps we could take to get me to stay here so we can be together?

Info about me:
Male, 27, Danish citizen, Have a bachelors in Business Developments Engineering and a Masters in Management

Info about her:
Female, 26, Canadian and Australian citizen, Works as a Nurse in Alberta (LPN)

Hope some of you smart people out there can help us...

[steaky]

Why don't you post your message in the "visitors" section of this forum?

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/visitors-b8.0/

[job_seeker]

You girlfriend can sponsor you under Spousal/Common Law if you've lived together for at least one year.

Common-law partner

You are a common-law partner—either of the opposite sex or same sex—if:

    you have been living together in a conjugal relationship for at least one year in a continuous 12-month period that was not interrupted. (You are allowed short absences for business travel or family reasons, however.)

You will need proof that you and your common-law partner have combined your affairs and set up a household together. This can be in the form of:

    joint bank accounts or credit cards
    joint ownership of a home
    joint residential leases
    joint rental receipts
    joint utilities (electricity, gas, telephone)
    joint management of household expenses
    proof of joint purchases, especially for household items or
    mail addressed to either person or both people at the same address.

Hi all

So glad I found this forum, it helps to know how many people out there are in situations similar to mine.

Here is my situation. I have a Canadian girlfriend we have been together for 2 1/2 years know and have lived together for two. I am currently living in Alberta on a Canadian International Experience Visa that ends in early August 2011. I graduated with masters this January (from Denmark) and have desperately been trying to get a job here for the last six months, with no luck. Now it looks like a have to leave, I don't want to leave my girl and was therefore thinking about coming back on a visitors visa, but after the three months I have on that we don't know what to do?

A few questions.

1. What is the rules about getting back to Canada on a visitors visa? Will it be enough if i leave the country for a week and then come back?

2. Any suggestions on what steps we could take to get me to stay here so we can be together?

Info about me:
Male, 27, Danish citizen, Have a bachelors in Business Developments Engineering and a Masters in Management

Info about her:
Female, 26, Canadian and Australian citizen, Works as a Nurse in Alberta (LPN)

Hope some of you smart people out there can help us...

[blacknirvana]

Hi all, thanks for the reply's so far. We are looking into the sponsorship option and I have some questions about this process but will ask them in the correct forum.

I have an answer to first question and decided to post it should anyone be interested.

1. What is the rules about getting back to Canada on a visitors visa? Will it be enough if i leave the country for a week and then come back?

I talked to a nice lady at Immigration Canada and she informed me as long I leave the country before my current visa expires and come back after it has expired I will be granted a tourist visa. Hope this info might help others in the same situation as me.

[scylla]

I talked to a nice lady at Immigration Canada and she informed me as long I leave the country before my current visa expires and come back after it has expired I will be granted a tourist visa. Hope this info might help others in the same situation as me.

The above isn't entirely correct. You "should" be allowed into the country - however there's absolutely no guarantee. The decision on whether to allow entry is up to the individual immigration official you encounter when you come through immigration. People are occassionally turned away or only allowed a short visit. This shouldn't happen to you since you're Danish (and as long as you say that you're coming to "visit" rather than "live" in Canada). But again, there's no guarantee.

Unfortunately the staff at Immigration Canada do sometimes give out inaccurate and/or incomplete information.

[blacknirvana]

The above isn't entirely correct. You "should" be allowed into the country - however there's absolutely no guarantee. The decision on whether to allow entry is up to the individual immigration official you encounter when you come through immigration. People are occassionally turned away or only allowed a short visit. This shouldn't happen to you since you're Danish (and as long as you say that you're coming to "visit" rather than "live" in Canada). But again, there's no guarantee.

Unfortunately the staff at Immigration Canada do sometimes give out inaccurate and/or incomplete information.

You are of course correct, the final decision is made at the port of entry by a border control officer. But since I'm going back for a firends wedding and not to actually live here it should be no problem.

[Leon]

What you could also do is apply to change your status to visitor visa.  You can follow the instructions here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/extend-stay.asp

You need to have applied before your current visa expires.  If you do that, you will have implied status and can stay while they are processing your application.  Make sure you mention your intention to apply for sponsorship.  If you apply by mail, the processing will take longer than if you apply online so that is one thing to consider.  If you are worried that they will refuse your change of status to visitor, applying by mail will buy you more time of implied status that you can use to put your sponsorship package together.

[blacknirvana]

Hi Leon

Thanks you so much for that reply, I will look into that.

[blacknirvana]

I have now applied online and will update this post when I know the answer and how long the processing time is.