Best Approach

[chiefeile]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully I can get some good advice here as I'm tired of googling stuff lol.
So I am in a relationship with a girl from Mexico. We've been together for almost a year and have been doing the long distance thing. Which is tough as many of you very well know. But we are certain that we want to be together.

So our options are limited as to how to get her here and there are so many questions to ask it's all a bit overwhelming. She is planning to come to study here. Initially, it was a 2 year course but it's so expensive I told her to apply for a one year course and I can apply to sponsor her as common law after a year of living together. That's the easy one but not so easy financially. Tuition is $16'000 and she needs proof of funds to support herself here also.
I'm worried she won't be able to afford all that and I don't have that much money to pay for all that either. I have a great job and can support the 2 of us quite easily while she is here but I simply can't afford to pay for her tuition.

So that has me concerned and thinking of plan B. She comes here on a tourist visa and tries to extend while here. I have doubts about this process though. She can't work, study, or do anything but be a tourist for what must be a year till I can apply to sponsor her. How can we prove we are common law if she can't be on a lease, bills etc? I want to do this properly and make sure we can be together but I don't know what path to take. She is also bringing her dog which I advise against on a tourist visa, a study visa perhaps is ok but not the former.

Any advice on the best route to choose would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Hurlabrick]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully I can get some good advice here as I'm tired of googling stuff lol.
So I am in a relationship with a girl from Mexico. We've been together for almost a year and have been doing the long distance thing. Which is tough as many of you very well know. But we are certain that we want to be together.

So our options are limited as to how to get her here and there are so many questions to ask it's all a bit overwhelming. She is planning to come to study here. Initially, it was a 2 year course but it's so expensive I told her to apply for a one year course and I can apply to sponsor her as common law after a year of living together. That's the easy one but not so easy financially. Tuition is $16'000 and she needs proof of funds to support herself here also.
I'm worried she won't be able to afford all that and I don't have that much money to pay for all that either. I have a great job and can support the 2 of us quite easily while she is here but I simply can't afford to pay for her tuition.

So that has me concerned and thinking of plan B. She comes here on a tourist visa and tries to extend while here. I have doubts about this process though. She can't work, study, or do anything but be a tourist for what must be a year till I can apply to sponsor her. How can we prove we are common law if she can't be on a lease, bills etc? I want to do this properly and make sure we can be together but I don't know what path to take. She is also bringing her dog which I advise against on a tourist visa, a study visa perhaps is ok but not the former.

Any advice on the best route to choose would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Get married?

 

[np08]

As @Hurlabrick said, getting married is the simplest option as it removes the one year of cohabitation requirement.

 

[saddlepatch]

Getting married would technically be the easiest way, however, not if you're doing it just to get her over the boarder. If you're not ready then take your time. I know it's the last thing you want to hear, but it's worth it in the end.

Can she apply for a loan in Mexico to help with her schooling? Take out equity on a home currently or car? Sell anything like a car, etc to help her be approved to support herself while in school in Canada? Is there anyway you could go to Mexico instead for a bit to live down there with her? Lots of options to consider

 

[Mar1219]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully I can get some good advice here as I'm tired of googling stuff lol.
So I am in a relationship with a girl from Mexico. We've been together for almost a year and have been doing the long distance thing. Which is tough as many of you very well know. But we are certain that we want to be together.

So our options are limited as to how to get her here and there are so many questions to ask it's all a bit overwhelming. She is planning to come to study here. Initially, it was a 2 year course but it's so expensive I told her to apply for a one year course and I can apply to sponsor her as common law after a year of living together. That's the easy one but not so easy financially. Tuition is $16'000 and she needs proof of funds to support herself here also.
I'm worried she won't be able to afford all that and I don't have that much money to pay for all that either. I have a great job and can support the 2 of us quite easily while she is here but I simply can't afford to pay for her tuition.

So that has me concerned and thinking of plan B. She comes here on a tourist visa and tries to extend while here. I have doubts about this process though. She can't work, study, or do anything but be a tourist for what must be a year till I can apply to sponsor her. How can we prove we are common law if she can't be on a lease, bills etc? I want to do this properly and make sure we can be together but I don't know what path to take. She is also bringing her dog which I advise against on a tourist visa, a study visa perhaps is ok but not the former.

Any advice on the best route to choose would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

Hi! I also just recently applied to sponsor my husband from Mexico. I can confidently tell you I felt the same way you are feeling. After doing tons of research we found out getting married was basically the only logical option here, and we decided to do it. In our case, whether I sponsored him thru spousal, common law or conjugal, he was coming to Canada for good and we decided to get married to make the process easier for us as we also would not qualify as common law. The most simple and easiest thing for you to do is probably exactly what we did. Have her come here with an eTa (she does not need a tourist visa, mexico is visa exempt). Purchase a round trip because they’ll most likely ask to see the ticket. As soon as she enters Canada the 6 month timer begins, I would suggest gathering your applications forms/documents right away (my spouse came here December 6 and it took us until March 6 to send the docs).

If you decide you want to get married, you can have a small civil ceremony and obtain your marriage certificate. Luckily, as she will know, you need to have a civil ceremony in Mexico before a religious one on a separate date. For that reason and the reason that Mexico is visa exempt, you probably won’t face much scrutiny on your app. Get supporting letters from family and friends

Apply via inland along with an OWP app which takes 4-5 months however lately it seems like 2019 apps are receiving OWP in no more than 2 months. She can work to save up money to go to school once she becomes a PR. The cost of an international tuition is absolutely insane and note that if you sponsored her you are legally financially responsible for her for 3 years. The best option (what my spouse is doing) is to delay school for a year and apply when she becomes PR. Much easier this way and she will also qualify for OSAP (Ontario) or whatever financial aid for education your province has.

As far as her dog, I don’t know much info about it but if she purchases (for example) a 2 week return ticket to Mexico, I don’t think there would be a problem bringing her dog. But she needs to look into that because I am sure she would need a copy of all of the dog’s health statistics and vaccination records, etc.

Overall, if you see yourself with this girl forever and you want this process to be as easy as possible for you, do what I did, get married and apply inland. There’s way less proofs required for spousal as opposed to common law.

 

[chiefeile]

Get married?

I did that with my ex. She’s Canadian I’m not. I have one year left on my 5 year bar. I want the relationship to grow befor I bend the knee lol.

 

[chiefeile]

Hi! I also just recently applied to sponsor my husband from Mexico. I can confidently tell you I felt the same way you are feeling. After doing tons of research we found out getting married was basically the only logical option here, and we decided to do it. In our case, whether I sponsored him thru spousal, common law or conjugal, he was coming to Canada for good and we decided to get married to make the process easier for us as we also would not qualify as common law. The most simple and easiest thing for you to do is probably exactly what we did. Have her come here with an eTa (she does not need a tourist visa, mexico is visa exempt). Purchase a round trip because they’ll most likely ask to see the ticket. As soon as she enters Canada the 6 month timer begins, I would suggest gathering your applications forms/documents right away (my spouse came here December 6 and it took us until March 6 to send the docs).

If you decide you want to get married, you can have a small civil ceremony and obtain your marriage certificate. Luckily, as she will know, you need to have a civil ceremony in Mexico before a religious one on a separate date. For that reason and the reason that Mexico is visa exempt, you probably won’t face much scrutiny on your app. Get supporting letters from family and friends

Apply via inland along with an OWP app which takes 4-5 months however lately it seems like 2019 apps are receiving OWP in no more than 2 months. She can work to save up money to go to school once she becomes a PR. The cost of an international tuition is absolutely insane and note that if you sponsored her you are legally financially responsible for her for 3 years. The best option (what my spouse is doing) is to delay school for a year and apply when she becomes PR. Much easier this way and she will also qualify for OSAP (Ontario) or whatever financial aid for education your province has.

As far as her dog, I don’t know much info about it but if she purchases (for example) a 2 week return ticket to Mexico, I don’t think there would be a problem bringing her dog. But she needs to look into that because I am sure she would need a copy of all of the dog’s health statistics and vaccination records, etc.

Overall, if you see yourself with this girl forever and you want this process to be as easy as possible for you, do what I did, get married and apply inland. There’s way less proofs required for spousal as opposed to common law.

Thank you so much for your response. I am not a citizen of Canada just yet. I have one year left on my 5 year bar as I too was sponsored by my ex wife. It was a marriage were advised to go through with. I did truly live her but I wanted to marry her in my terms not because the consensus was to do it or risk leaving. Anyway long story short we obviously didn’t last.

I truly love the woman I am with now but marriage is something I take very seriously. I want the relationship to grow with as little stress as possible. I don’t want to risk the same thing happening again. That said I was with my ex for 3 years before we married in city hall. I’ve been with my new partner 8 months.

 

[chiefeile]

Getting married would technically be the easiest way, however, not if you're doing it just to get her over the boarder. If you're not ready then take your time. I know it's the last thing you want to hear, but it's worth it in the end.

Can she apply for a loan in Mexico to help with her schooling? Take out equity on a home currently or car? Sell anything like a car, etc to help her be approved to support herself while in school in Canada? Is there anyway you could go to Mexico instead for a bit to live down there with her? Lots of options to consider

Thank you! Yeah I did the spousal thing before as my ex sponsored me to stay I. Canada. It was legit. We were together for 6 years, married after 3. I just feel that it needs to grow organically and not just to get her here. If we put in the work and push through in the right way it will be more worth it and strengthen our bond.

 

[marissal1219]

Thank you so much for your response. I am not a citizen of Canada just yet. I have one year left on my 5 year bar as I too was sponsored by my ex wife. It was a marriage were advised to go through with. I did truly live her but I wanted to marry her in my terms not because the consensus was to do it or risk leaving. Anyway long story short we obviously didn’t last.

I truly love the woman I am with now but marriage is something I take very seriously. I want the relationship to grow with as little stress as possible. I don’t want to risk the same thing happening again. That said I was with my ex for 3 years before we married in city hall. I’ve been with my new partner 8 months.

May I ask what are the specific reasons you want to go through with sponsorship so quickly? Because, even if you were to sponsor her through common law, you are still responsible for her for the 3 year time period. I understand it's very difficult, my husband and I were long distance for 2.5 years and we have been together for almost 3 years now in May . Over those 2.5 years we visited each other twice a year but made them worth while (month or 2 months at a time for each). We did the best we could being long distance and eventually decided that we were ready to live together and get married because as you know, the wages in Mexico are disgustingly low and it was causing issues with visiting each other and taking time off of work. We definitely had an "Aha!" moment when we brought up sponsorship, so I knew it was right for us. But of course, you don't want to marry someone if you are not 100% sure. Have you considered waiting a while before starting the sponsorship process? Perhaps continuing with visits (if you are doing that now) and waiting until you are ready to get married to do this? Realistically doing a spousal sponsorship is the easiest route, and if you wait a bit longer (ie. a year) it would help you establish a stronger application as well. The longer the relationship, the more visits, family connections, etc, the easier it is for you!

 

[chiefeile]

May I ask what are the specific reasons you want to go through with sponsorship so quickly? Because, even if you were to sponsor her through common law, you are still responsible for her for the 3 year time period. I understand it's very difficult, my husband and I were long distance for 2.5 years and we have been together for almost 3 years now in May . Over those 2.5 years we visited each other twice a year but made them worth while (month or 2 months at a time for each). We did the best we could being long distance and eventually decided that we were ready to live together and get married because as you know, the wages in Mexico are disgustingly low and it was causing issues with visiting each other and taking time off of work. We definitely had an "Aha!" moment when we brought up sponsorship, so I knew it was right for us. But of course, you don't want to marry someone if you are not 100% sure. Have you considered waiting a while before starting the sponsorship process? Perhaps continuing with visits (if you are doing that now) and waiting until you are ready to get married to do this? Realistically doing a spousal sponsorship is the easiest route, and if you wait a bit longer (ie. a year) it would help you establish a stronger application as well. The longer the relationship, the more visits, family connections, etc, the easier it is for you!

It’s not that I want you go through it so quickly. I’m just looking at options. We met here in Toronto. She came here in September 2018to see the city as she wants to study here. I was not part of her plan until we connected and kept it going. She came back once in November and I went there (Cancún) in December. Then we were in the USA for two weeks in feb and I spent a month in Cancun afterwards.

I truly love this woman and I will happily marry her in due course but I want that to be for the right reasons. Not to just get her here easier. If she studies here at least we can live together for a year and then we can do common law but if she can’t afford that then it’s her coming for 6 months and ya living together and then hopefully getting a TRP extension so we can do the year. Either that or marriage. I have been through some tough times with my last marriage but it doesn’t scare me to marry again. I just have strong belief as to how and when it should be done.

 

[Mar1219]

It’s not that I want you go through it so quickly. I’m just looking at options. We met here in Toronto. She came here in September 2018to see the city as she wants to study here. I was not part of her plan until we connected and kept it going. She came back once in November and I went there (Cancún) in December. Then we were in the USA for two weeks in feb and I spent a month in Cancun afterwards.

I truly love this woman and I will happily marry her in due course but I want that to be for the right reasons. Not to just get her here easier. If she studies here at least we can live together for a year and then we can do common law but if she can’t afford that then it’s her coming for 6 months and ya living together and then hopefully getting a TRP extension so we can do the year. Either that or marriage. I have been through some tough times with my last marriage but it doesn’t scare me to marry again. I just have strong belief as to how and when it should be done.

Since you mentioned you have 1 year left to meet the 5 year mark anyways, perhaps the best thing for you is to have her come here on visitor status and extend after 6 months, that way by the time you are allowed to sponsor you will have lived together for a year. She will just have to basically do nothing for year which can be very hard on an individual’s mental health so definitely a discussion you need to have . Make a list of every different way you can go about this and list pros and cons of each. We’re all here to help and I can try to answer any questions about a Mexican application as I can if need be!