general immigration

[ytzmarlon]

Hello,

So I met my girlfriend while she was vacationing in toronto. Since then she has spent a total of 1 year (6months each) in toronto. I have gone to visit her in slovakia as well, 2 weeks. What is the best way to get approval for her to come to canada to see where our relationship can go? work, pr, etc...

she is 25, from slovakia with an engineering degree. speaks fluent english and also has family living in toronto.

i am also 25, canadian citizen making 50k a year, with a university degree.

What are my options here?!

any suggestions will help, my million thanks in advance!

 

[scylla]

For you to sponsor her for PR, you must be married or common law. Common law means you have lived together continuously (i.e. without a break) for at least one full year and can prove it. As for immigrating on her own, she'll have to read up on Canada's various immigration programs to determine if she qualifies to apply (or hire a lawyer to research this for her): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/apply.asp

One way to obtain a work permit would be to try to obtain a working holiday visa (IEC) which would allow her to live and work in Canada for a period of time without finding an employer first (open work permit). Downside is that there are very few available and they are snapped up within minutes of the program opening. The program is also closed to applications for this year and won't reopen until March or April of next year (likely).

Alternatively, she would need to find an employer in Canada who is willing to offer her a full time job offer and willing to go through the painful process of obtaining an approved LMIA. She could then apply for a closed work permit tied to that specific employer.

If she hasn't already, she should look into what is takes (certification recognition) to work as an engineer in Canada.

 

[ytzmarlon]

Ok, so i went to a lawyer on our behalf, the lawyer said PR or a work permit would be next to impossible. He did suggest we can apply againn for this english/work program offered by her school. He "ball parked" the chances at about 50%. Since it was rejected twice, do you think the 50% chance is accurate? is it common to be accepted after 2 rejections.

Also, another alternative is getting married and me sponsoring her. This process is said to take up to 16 months?! IF she were to be approved to come into the country with a study permit for english and we get married, can she wait here while they process her application?

We are both educated and hard workers, this process sure is hard...

Thanks a million!

 

[scylla]

I disagree with your lawyer. First of all, she has two rejections already (this will certainly work against her since it shows she is really trying to get to Canada). Secondly, CIC has started to routinely refuse students who try to use English language programs to come here on a student visa since most aren't really genuine students and are just using the English course as a means of getting into Canada (which is exactly what your girlfriend would be doing if she applied again). Between the two refusals and the fact that CIC has recently cracked down on language programs - I think your odds are much closer to zero.

As for sponsoring her - the 16 months is how long it took CIC to complete processing for 80% of applications. This means that most applications were processed in less than 16 months (some far faster). But it also means that around 20% took more than 16 months. So no - it's not a maximum.

Yes - if she was approved for a study permit she could come to Canada and you can sponsor her from here. But if you really want to go with a study permit - don't go for a language course. She's going to be refused. Go with a course that makes sense in light of her previous education and experience. So for her, this would either be a Masters in Engineering or a related Post Graduate Diploma (the Masters would be better and would increase her chances of approval). Note that you are too late for the January intake - so the earliest school intake she could go for would be May 2016.

 

[JMOBhatti]

Hello,

What is the best way to get approval for her to come to canada to see where our relationship can go? work, pr, etc...
she is 25, from slovakia with an engineering degree. speaks fluent english and also has family living in toronto.

If your main objective is to stay together in order to know each other better, why dont you move to Slovakia? If all goes well, being a Canadian Citizen, you can sponsor her by staying in Slovakia without pondering about 16 months waiting time either....Just a thought though.....

Accept my gratitude for 9,99,999 thanks.....as million is difficult to accommodate


THANKS

 

[ytzmarlon]

moving there was also an option for me. the problem is i only know a handful of slovak words. being canadian, working there would also represent its challenges. if you have any insight, please let me know!

we were also thinking somewhere else in europe.

as you can see, our thoughts are all over the place.