Can I apply from outside of Canada, while maintaining a student permit?

[Falkala]

I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my desire to immigrate to Canada.

I am currently a student, on a 4yr student permit / student work permit with 2 years remaining, living with my fiance. We are beginning to look at him sponsoring me as a possible plan for immigration.

Our intention is to get married and then have him sponsor me as a spouse, but I was curious if it is possible for me to apply from outside Canada, but then return to continue my studies on my existing student permit?

Am I better off applying from within Canada, or waiting to apply under the Canadian Experience Class? I'm a bit worried a Canadian Experience Class application might be turned down since I am currently in a schooling program that is non-essential. (Visual arts.)

 

[ashunandal]

I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my desire to immigrate to Canada.

I am currently a student, on a 4yr student permit / student work permit with 2 years remaining, living with my fiance. We are beginning to look at him sponsoring me as a possible plan for immigration.

Our intention is to get married and then have him sponsor me as a spouse, but I was curious if it is possible for me to apply from outside Canada, but then return to continue my studies on my existing student permit?

Am I better off applying from within Canada, or waiting to apply under the Canadian Experience Class? I'm a bit worried a Canadian Experience Class application might be turned down since I am currently in a schooling program that is non-essential. (Visual arts.)

yes you can apply outland and stay inside canada for whole processing. length of processing time depends on your country of origin and if they have long processing time (more than a year) then you can go for inland application also. to start your process, you need to get married first and collect lot of docs to support your relationship.
best of luck

 

[Leon]

You don't have to be physically outside Canada in order to apply for sponsorship using the outside option. In most cases, you get your PR faster although that depends on the processing country. With inland, you must stay in Canada for the duration of the processing. If you want to leave, you have to make sure that you have a valid multiple entry TRV so you are able to return. If you do not, you may be unable to return and your application would get cancelled.

 

[Falkala]

The not being able to leave is a very scary thing for me- I live very close to the border and visit my family right on the other side fairly often and would miss them dearly! (Coming from US, so my processing time for outland is about 12 months.)

I am currently trying to get the portfolio of relationship proof together. It's a little daunting! We have a lot of pictures of trips, but we aren't in many of them (as we were taking them!). We are doing a lot more documenting now.

Will it hurt our application if we have a quick, miniature wedding just for the marriage license to begin the application sooner?

 

[Leon]

The not being able to leave is a very scary thing for me- I live very close to the border and visit my family right on the other side fairly often and would miss them dearly! (Coming from US, so my processing time for outland is about 12 months.)

I am currently trying to get the portfolio of relationship proof together. It's a little daunting! We have a lot of pictures of trips, but we aren't in many of them (as we were taking them!). We are doing a lot more documenting now.

Will it hurt our application if we have a quick, miniature wedding just for the marriage license to begin the application sooner?

If you are from the US, you are visa exempt so you'd have less reason to worry and with a student visa, it is very unlikely that they would deny a visa exempt person entry unless you showed up drunk and tried to beat them up or something

It could hurt your application to have a fast wedding for immigration purposes because they have fairly recently added to their rules that they can deny people if they marry just for immigration purposes, even when the relationship is genuine. Have you lived together for 12 months and can prove it? Then you can apply as common law but don't mention intending to get married or they will wait until you do. Otherwise, just have a normal wedding with your families and then apply. The processing time is likely a bit shorter than on the CIC website because they list the numbers for 80% of cases so if your case is average, it would fall on the 50% line.

 

[Falkala]

We have been living together for 2 years. What sort of proof would satisfy that? My school has records of my address change and current address, and I have envelopes that have me on the mailin address. (He could easily prove he lives here, with work and tax and government paperwork.)

 

[CharlieD10]

Read OP2 here for a description of common-law relationships and what supporting information they are looking for (start at section 5.34): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

You will need proof of your cohabitation as the foundation of your relationship, is it possible to have the landlord sign an affidavit confirming your residence with your partner, if you are not listed on the lease?

 

[Falkala]

We are renting from family, and so there is no lease paperwork. I imagine that might be troublesome. (I will ask my in laws to draft one up but that might seem like a conflict of bias)

Thanks for the link. I'll start looking though that now.

 

[CharlieD10]

We are renting from family, and so there is no lease paperwork. I imagine that might be troublesome. (I will ask my in laws to draft one up but that might seem like a conflict of bias)

Thanks for the link. I'll start looking though that now.

Not necessarily troublesome. As long as there is confirmation from a source who would know that this is your living arrangement and they are willing to say so officially (hence why I recommend an affidavit).