Where do I go from here?

[justaboutthere]

My partner back in 2005 had a 2 year relationship which resulted in our now 4 year old child. At the time I (canadian Citizen) made trips to the USA to visit my partner who is a US citizen. After conceiving our son in the USA I returned to Canada, my partner owns a business in the state and found it was not feasible to move, our relationship ended and I raised our son with little contact from his father until about a year ago. After 4 years the father of my son has made several trips to and from the USA/Canada and is here in Canada most of the time. He has another child in the USA and visits her for vacations and special holidays. He plans to stay and raise his son with myself and eventually down the road marriage. I know PR is something that we need to look at eventually, especially now that we are coming up to the year mark.
I know that I could sponsor him under the spousal sponsorship and proving the relationship shouldn't be too hard after having a son. My concern is that I have to be able to show my earnings, I am on assistance and know that sponsorship of someone else while in my position is not realistic.

I was wondering if I could/should have a co signer? My son and I live with my parents, who would be willing and able to co sign. I am aware that I need to be working and that show my earnings but with my partner going back and forth and my son not in full time education, working full time isn't an option yet.
What are my options in this situation?

[scylla]

Unfortunatley you can't have a co-signer for spousal sponsorships. You have to qualify on your own.

What kind of assistance are you on? If you're on EI or disability - you can still sponsor even if you can't necessarily show income. If you're on welfare - then unfortunatley you don't qualify to sponsor him (i.e. being on welfare means that you're automatically refused as a sponsor).

Could he perhaps qualify to immigrate independently as a skilled worker?

[rjessome]

My partner back in 2005 had a 2 year relationship which resulted in our now 4 year old child. At the time I (canadian Citizen) made trips to the USA to visit my partner who is a US citizen. After conceiving our son in the USA I returned to Canada, my partner owns a business in the state and found it was not feasible to move, our relationship ended and I raised our son with little contact from his father until about a year ago. After 4 years the father of my son has made several trips to and from the USA/Canada and is here in Canada most of the time. He has another child in the USA and visits her for vacations and special holidays. He plans to stay and raise his son with myself and eventually down the road marriage. I know PR is something that we need to look at eventually, especially now that we are coming up to the year mark.
I know that I could sponsor him under the spousal sponsorship and proving the relationship shouldn't be too hard after having a son. My concern is that I have to be able to show my earnings, I am on assistance and know that sponsorship of someone else while in my position is not realistic.

I was wondering if I could/should have a co signer? My son and I live with my parents, who would be willing and able to co sign. I am aware that I need to be working and that show my earnings but with my partner going back and forth and my son not in full time education, working full time isn't an option yet.
What are my options in this situation?

If you are receiving social assistance (other than for a disability) you are not eligible to sponsor anyone.  You don't have to work fulltime to be eligible to sponsor but you cannot be in receipt of social assistance benefits at the time you apply or during the application processing.  Co-signers are not an option for spousal/common-law/conjugal sponsorships.

Also, since you are not married to your partner or living in a common-law relationship, the only category of sponsorship that is available to you would be conjugal partner, a very difficult category and one where you have to basically prove that there is a barrier to marriage or living common-law.

[justaboutthere]

thanks, My partner works doing graphic designs and computer related things such as web design, logos, flyers, business cards.

I would not qualify to sponsor

[scylla]

It doesn't sound like your husband would qualify for the federal skilled worker immigration program based on his occupation alone. Only the following occupations are accepted under this program (although this list might change around July 1st):

http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/immigrate/skilled/complete-applications.asp#tphp idtphp

However if he can get a job offer in Canada from a company here, he can apply as a federal skilled worker regardless of what his occupation is. So one option would be to secure a job offer and then apply through FSW.

He should also check out the provincial programs. Depending on where he plans to live, he might be able to immigrate through one of these programs (they have somewhat different requirements than the federal skilled worker program):

Quebec:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/quebec/index.asp

rest of the provinces:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/provincial/index.asp

[justaboutthere]

he did let me know that he has a bunch of cousins that live in Canada that would be willing to sponsor him. When I looked under sponsor requirements it was saying that the relative needed to be a parent, grandparent, sibling, or niece/nephew......does a cousin count for a sponsor?

Does it not matter somewhere that we have a child together?

[scylla]

No - unfortunately his cousins cannot sponsor him.

The fact that you have a child together will help to prove that your relationship is genuine if you ever decide (and are able) to sponsor him as a spouse or common law partner. The child will also be able to sponsor him once the child turns 18 (and assuming he/she meets residency and income requirements). However apart from that, having a child together doesn't help.