Common-law partner : is residency sponsorship the only way? or open work permit?

[jorxster]

Hey guys,

I'm a citizen and recently moved back to Canada after living with my partner for a couple of years abroad.

I'm researching how to get my partner into Canada (she's French), and from what I can see, the only way is to sponsor her? In the country I lived in before, it was possible also to do a "partnership work visa" which was a bit easier and granted a 1 year open work visa.
Anything like that in Canada? or must I sponsor her towards residency?

thanks!
-Jordan

 

[BeShoo]

If she stays within Canada the whole duration of the process ("inland application"), she can apply for an open work permit along with the permanent resident (PR) application which you sponsor. The OWP will be issued once the first stage is approved, which currently takes 9 months, no more, no less. After that the application proceeds to the second stage.

For an "outland" application, there is a sponsorship approval process which takes about one month, followed by the applicant approval process which in this case would be done in Paris. Paris takes less than 8 months in 80% of cases, so the average time is probably around 5-6 months. Once that's done, she can work in Canada. That is probably the fastest route.

You may be familiar with the term "green card" which is the nickname for a United States permanent resident card. So, we are talking about the Canadian equivalent of that.

It's possible to apply for other work permits to come to Canada, but most of them take much longer, because the department prioritizes "family reunification."

 

[jorxster]

Thanks so much for the reply, BeShoo,

I think it would be easiest for her to stay in Canada for the duration. We plan to fly her over in 3 months time- now would she be able to get a visitor visa without a exit ticket? e.g. one way into Canada?

Doesn't she need to have a valid visa to stay in Canada while we wait on the sponsorship process? I'm just not sure if getting her in on a visitor visa gives enough time to get the sponsorship process started?

thanks again!
-Jordan

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks so much for the reply, BeShoo,

I think it would be easiest for her to stay in Canada for the duration. We plan to fly her over in 3 months time- now would she be able to get a visitor visa without a exit ticket? e.g. one way into Canada?

Doesn't she need to have a valid visa to stay in Canada while we wait on the sponsorship process? I'm just not sure if getting her in on a visitor visa gives enough time to get the sponsorship process started?

It's not advised to travel on a 1-way ticket. Sometimes the immigration officers ask, and sometimes they don't. But if they suspect she is not really a "visitor" and intends to live permanently in Canada, and only has a 1-way ticket, they could possibly deny entry. Most people come prepared with a round trip dated for less than 6-months later. You can often get refundable tickets and just cancel the return portion later.

If she is from France, its much better to apply outland through the Paris visa office. She would probably have full PR status, in around the same times she would wait for just stage 1 approval of inland. She could remain in Canada as a visitor during the processing, and could come/go from Canada as she pleases (as opposed to inland application where she would basically be stuck inside Canada for up to 1.5 years).

 

[BeShoo]

I think it would be easiest for her to stay in Canada for the duration. We plan to fly her over in 3 months time- now would she be able to get a visitor visa without a exit ticket? e.g. one way into Canada?

Doesn't she need to have a valid visa to stay in Canada while we wait on the sponsorship process? I'm just not sure if getting her in on a visitor visa gives enough time to get the sponsorship process started?

Citizens of France visiting Canada are visa-exempt, so there is no such thing as a "visitor visa" for a French citizen visiting Canada. If a visitor from France comes to visit Canada and there is nothing out of the ordinary, they will normally just get a passport stamp which entitles them to a 6-month stay, no matter how short they say their visit is. However, they will probably ask where she is staying and they may be suspicious that she will overstay when they discover that she has a partner in Canada.

Like any visitor, she must satisfy the regular criteria:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/apply-who.asp

I would particularly draw your attention to:

• convince an immigration officer that you have ties—such as a job, home, financial assets or family—that will take you back to your home country,
• convince an immigration officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your visit

A return ticket is almost a must, because otherwise it looks like she will never go back. You can probably get a ticket on which the date can later be modified.

I would recommend a shorter stay than 6 months. You can always apply for an extension ($100 to apply) for up to a year. Usually, if you have already applied for PR, this will be granted.

One more thing: Since she is only coming to visit (for now) she shouldn't be bringing all her life possessions with her. This is more of a concern for Americans who have sometimes tried to "visit" with all their furniture, but even things like albums of childhood photos could arouse doubts in mind of the officer. She must not lie about anything. They really hate people who are trying to hide something, so always be honest, but you can always book a short trip and later decide to stay longer.

 

[jorxster]

ok!

My next question is- then as I'm a bit unsure of-

She'll be flying over in 3 months.

a) should we start the sponsorship process now or when she gets here? (Probably best to wait till she gets here?)

b) Can she apply for a visitors visa in advance- should she? Or should she apply to extend it after she arrives here as well?

Thanks so much for your help

 

[commonlawsponsor]

Depending on how old she is, she might be eligible for a working holiday visa, although all the spots might already be allocated for this year for France.


I would probably apply outland and start it now since it doesn't take that long for Paris.

 

[BeShoo]

a) should we start the sponsorship process now or when she gets here? (Probably best to wait till she gets here?)

b) Can she apply for a visitors visa in advance- should she? Or should she apply to extend it after she arrives here as well?

For (b) As I said on April 7, there is no visa for a French citizen, so there is no way to apply in advance. Permission to visit is decided when she arrives in the Canadian airport. Once her visit is close to its limit (they recommend one month before) you can apply to extend it. She is allowed to stay until she gets an answer on whether they will allow the extension. Current processing times for this are 58 days for a mailed application or 14 days for an electronic one.

For question (a), you need to start the sponsorship process as soon as possible. If you start it now, it is fairly likely that it will be finished before the 6 months are up. Get those forms filled in (it can take a long time to do!) and get the police background check and medicals done. The police record check has to be no more that 3 months old when they first get your PR application and the medicals have to be less than 1 year old when you are finally approved, although they have the option to extend them for up to an additional year if they are close.