Hi everyone!!!
I would like to describe a specific situation that I am currently in and I am hoping that you could give me a few pointers as to how I should start handling my application.
I am currently on a post-graduation work permit and it is my 9th month of employment at a Canadian institution. Few more months until I can apply for my PR!!
Besides my plan for applying for a PR, I would also like to bring my girlfriend to come and stay with me so we can be together. To explain the situation better, after my graduation from a Canadian university, I spent almost a year and a half in my home country working and living with my girlfriend before moving back to Canada.
A month ago, we applied for a regular tourist visa so she can come here to Canada to visit me for a short period of time (we applied for a 3 month period) and hoping to extend it further. Her application got rejected due to the following reasons listed in the rejection document:
"You have not satisfied me that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident. In reaching this decision, I considered several factors, including:
- Your travel history
- Your family ties in Canada and in your country of residence
- Length of proposed stay in Canada
- Limited employment prospects in your country of residence
- Your current employment situation
- Your personal assets and financial status
I am not satisfied that you have sufficient funds, including income or assets, to carry out your stated purpose in going to Canada or to maintain yourself while in Canada and to effect your departure."
After the rejection, we thought that we needed professional help and I went to see an Immigration Consultant in the city where I currently live.
We had a good conversation about our situation and the consultant told me that I would be able to bring her on the basis of a common-law relationship.
The consultant asked me a series of questions about the total time we lived and spent together in my home country and told me that our relationship
could be qualified as a common-law relationship. In addition, since I am in Canada right now and she is in my home country, we are in a conjugal relationship
and we would neet to prove that as well. I would not re-post all of the requirements for the common-law application, but we have a very good
evidence to prove it. My consultant addressed a potential issue that could arise right now because of the fact that when we applied for a tourist visa,
I addressed her as 'my girlfriend' instead of a common-law partner. In addition, my consultant also criticized me for not providing enough information about how close I was with her,
how long we have been together, etc.(if only I went to the consultant first before applying on our own...life would be much
easier
So my question to you now, dear folks, is how should I proceed? Should I mention that I was not aware of the common-law relationship? (because it is true that in our home country such a thing does not exist). Also, would it be better to apply online or on paper? I have read somewhere on this forum (on several occasions) that applying on paper takes longer, but the application assessment is much better since the agent looks at it more carefully than an online application. Also, what type of visa should we apply, a tourist visa, an open-work permit, a permanent residence? Should I wait a bit longer to apply for my PR card and then apply for my GF? So many questions
I would be very grateful if you could provide me a few pointers on how to proceed with this. If you need some more specific information and if I ommitted some valuable information
in this post to clarify our situation, please do not hesitate to ask!
Again, thank you in advance everyone!
God Bless!
I would like to describe a specific situation that I am currently in and I am hoping that you could give me a few pointers as to how I should start handling my application.
I am currently on a post-graduation work permit and it is my 9th month of employment at a Canadian institution. Few more months until I can apply for my PR!!
Besides my plan for applying for a PR, I would also like to bring my girlfriend to come and stay with me so we can be together. To explain the situation better, after my graduation from a Canadian university, I spent almost a year and a half in my home country working and living with my girlfriend before moving back to Canada.A month ago, we applied for a regular tourist visa so she can come here to Canada to visit me for a short period of time (we applied for a 3 month period) and hoping to extend it further. Her application got rejected due to the following reasons listed in the rejection document:
"You have not satisfied me that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident. In reaching this decision, I considered several factors, including:
- Your travel history
- Your family ties in Canada and in your country of residence
- Length of proposed stay in Canada
- Limited employment prospects in your country of residence
- Your current employment situation
- Your personal assets and financial status
I am not satisfied that you have sufficient funds, including income or assets, to carry out your stated purpose in going to Canada or to maintain yourself while in Canada and to effect your departure."
After the rejection, we thought that we needed professional help and I went to see an Immigration Consultant in the city where I currently live.
We had a good conversation about our situation and the consultant told me that I would be able to bring her on the basis of a common-law relationship.
The consultant asked me a series of questions about the total time we lived and spent together in my home country and told me that our relationship
could be qualified as a common-law relationship. In addition, since I am in Canada right now and she is in my home country, we are in a conjugal relationship
and we would neet to prove that as well. I would not re-post all of the requirements for the common-law application, but we have a very good
evidence to prove it. My consultant addressed a potential issue that could arise right now because of the fact that when we applied for a tourist visa,
I addressed her as 'my girlfriend' instead of a common-law partner. In addition, my consultant also criticized me for not providing enough information about how close I was with her,
how long we have been together, etc.(if only I went to the consultant first before applying on our own...life would be much
easier
So my question to you now, dear folks, is how should I proceed? Should I mention that I was not aware of the common-law relationship? (because it is true that in our home country such a thing does not exist). Also, would it be better to apply online or on paper? I have read somewhere on this forum (on several occasions) that applying on paper takes longer, but the application assessment is much better since the agent looks at it more carefully than an online application. Also, what type of visa should we apply, a tourist visa, an open-work permit, a permanent residence? Should I wait a bit longer to apply for my PR card and then apply for my GF? So many questions
I would be very grateful if you could provide me a few pointers on how to proceed with this. If you need some more specific information and if I ommitted some valuable information
in this post to clarify our situation, please do not hesitate to ask!
Again, thank you in advance everyone!
God Bless!
