Common-law partner visa advice/help

[mtempest]

Hi all, I'm hoping some of you guys in the know might be able to give me some advice regarding my eligibility etc. I will freely admitt now that I've just registered and haven't read every single page of every thread, so if this has already been asked then I'd encourage you to save your time and direct me to the correct thread. And probably call be a simpleton. The Canadian Embassy office here in London does not accept phone call or office enquiries, so will only accept online enquiries which they have 28 working days to reply to - which to me is ludicrous.

I currently live and work (local govt, social housing) in the UK (British national) with my parnter who is a Canadian national, she has been in the UK since August 2012 on a 2 year youth mobility visa, having also studied at university in the UK from 2008-2011, and then returned to Canada to complete another degree in 2011-2012. Her youth mobility visa expires on 20/08/2014.

We have been in a relationship since November 2012 and we have cohabited since 23/08/2013, so we will have lived together for 12 months 3 days after her youth mobility visa expires. If she leaves the UK to go to another country and returns after the expiry of her youth mobility visa can she be granted a 90 day tourist visa to complete the 12 months of our cohabitation? Is there an extenuating circumstance for the last 3 days to still be considered as us cohabiting?

Then in terms of the inland vs outland situation, when we submitt an application firstly for my partner to by a spousal sponsor, and then once my assessment is made for a spousal visa would I be eligible to live and potentially (temporarily) work in Canada? According to a news page from CIC in March 14 (I have tried to post the link but apparently I'm not allowed to post links?!) I would be eligible to get a tempoary work visa for 6 months at a time. Is this correct? So then we would be applying as in Inland application as both residing in Canada. One small issue with this is we have a trip planned with my partners parents to South Africa in November 2014, if for argument sake we were living in Canada at the time and applying as Inland applicants, is there a liklihood I would be refused re-entry to the country?

Apologies for the long post and probably some painfully obvious questions but considering the embassy here are clearly intent on being as little help a possible I'm a bit unsure of where we stand.

Cheers, Mike.

 

[scylla]

When you apply for PR, you will need to submit both the sponsor and applicant portion of the application together / at the same time. If you want to apply via the inland route (which yes - gives you access to a work permit around the six month mark) - then you both need to be in Canada.

If you have any plans or needs to travel outside of Canada while the application is being processed, then you should definitely apply outland (not inland). The inland process assumes you remain in Canada for the duration. If you leave and for some reason are unable to re-enter, this cancels your application. There is always some chance (no matter how small) that you could be refused entry into Canada. You can certainly take the chance, apply inland, leave the country and then hope for the best on reentry. That's obviously a personal decision.

Keep in mind that you are not allowed to "live" in Canada until you have PR. Until then, you are classified as a visitor.

 

[Leon]

You mean if she leaves 3 days short and doesn't come back as a visitor would you still qualify? I'm afraid not. You can however go with her to Canada as a visitor and qualify while you are here even if you later return to the UK.

Your other option would be getting married. Then you don't need to have lived together for 12 months.

If you go with her as a visitor, you could apply inland and you would be able to apply for an open work permit after your first stage approval which takes about 8 months. Since you are visa exempt to Canada, it's unlikely that they would stop you from entering after a short trip overseas, especially if you are with your partner. You are however obligated to reside in Canada for the duration when you apply inland. If money gets tight and you go back to the UK to work, you risk losing your application.

If you apply outland, London is pretty fast so you will probably have PR in less time than you would have first stage approval with inland. Applying outland, you can be anywhere so you can still accompany your partner to Canada even if you apply outland.