American Boyfriend / Canadian Girlfriend

[HopefulForSnow]

Hello, My name is Cam and I'm here today to ask for some clarification on some things I've been finding confusing as is pertaining to what I and my partner need to do for us to live together while allowing me to legally work in BC.

The situation is as follows
1: We've been dating for 3+ years long distance and had a handful of trips (which I have the digital receipts of)
2: We are both financially independent and able to support ourselves in our respective situations so we haven't provided any significant financial support to each other.

That's the gist of it, really. We spend a lot of time at her house during the trips and we only really went out to see movies or go to any of the many food festivals Vancouver hosts and we did not keep those receipts. I have chat logs that go back to near the first time we met.

Doing my research here, and on the immigrations page and sub pages, has really just led me to further confustion as to what we need to do.

Americans seems almost excluded from any kind of open work visa, and unfortunately my job I have currently isn't counted as skilled labor so I can't get in that way using my experience there.
I'm going to school in the spring of 2019 to get some programming certificates to increase my portablity.

We just want to do this right. And it seems like there isn't a way for someone like me to do so unless I go expat in her apartment and live with her as a house partner for 2 years to get common-law and then apply for a work visa. Traditional marriage is a last resort for her as she doesn't believe in it.

Any and all help is so greatly appreciated and I thank you all for taking the time to read and especially to respond. I apologize if I made this thread in the wrong forum, as well.

 

[kcward7]

Hello, My name is Cam and I'm here today to ask for some clarification on some things I've been finding confusing as is pertaining to what I and my partner need to do for us to live together while allowing me to legally work in BC.

The situation is as follows
1: We've been dating for 3+ years long distance and had a handful of trips (which I have the digital receipts of)
2: We are both financially independent and able to support ourselves in our respective situations so we haven't provided any significant financial support to each other.

That's the gist of it, really. We spend a lot of time at her house during the trips and we only really went out to see movies or go to any of the many food festivals Vancouver hosts and we did not keep those receipts. I have chat logs that go back to near the first time we met.

Doing my research here, and on the immigrations page and sub pages, has really just led me to further confustion as to what we need to do.

Americans seems almost excluded from any kind of open work visa, and unfortunately my job I have currently isn't counted as skilled labor so I can't get in that way using my experience there.
I'm going to school in the spring of 2019 to get some programming certificates to increase my portablity.

We just want to do this right. And it seems like there isn't a way for someone like me to do so unless I go expat in her apartment and live with her as a house partner for 2 years to get common-law and then apply for a work visa. Traditional marriage is a last resort for her as she doesn't believe in it.

Any and all help is so greatly appreciated and I thank you all for taking the time to read and especially to respond. I apologize if I made this thread in the wrong forum, as well.

You need to either qualify for common law by living together continuously for 1 year with no significant breaks in a marriage like relationship or marry to qualify for spousal sponsorship.

The inland spousal stream allows you to apply for an open work permit but you must qualify for spousal first.

Otherwise you need to find a way to immigrate independently through an economic stream.

 

[YVR123]

We just want to do this right. And it seems like there isn't a way for someone like me to do so unless I go expat in her apartment and live with her as a house partner for 2 years to get common-law and then apply for a work visa. Traditional marriage is a last resort for her as she doesn't believe in it.

This is not exactly correct. You need to live with her in the same apartment for a continue 12 months in a spousal relationship (husband-wife-like). So other than shared address, you need to proof that you have shared finances..etc.

Also, this will allow you to apply to become a permanent resident of Canada. (NOT just a work visa)
If you apply while living in Canada with her (inland), then you are qualified to apply an open work permit at the same time. This allow applicants to work while waiting for the final approval for their PR. (applicant is not expected to leave Canada) The work permit in general arrives in 4 months after the application.

While "living in" to establish the common law relationship in Canada, you will be in visitor status. So you cannot work (until you get the OWP) nor take any courses in Canada that's more than 6 months.

So you won't be able to work in Canada for roughly 16 months (12 + 4).

 

[HopefulForSnow]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much. That really clarifies a lot of things and I really appreciate your insight. What did the other person mean by an " Economic Stream"? Is that the way given by getting a job offer in Canada and then applying for a visa?