Germany to Canada

[DMowat]

I just found your site and so far it has been a big help.

I am a Canadian citizen and live in B.C. My Gilrfriend and I have become engaged and her work and travel visa is expireing in april.
She is returning to Germany for Christmas and we are telling her parents. If we get married can she stay in Canada? What do I need to do to keep her in the country? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Is there somthing I can do to help while I am Germany.

Can she stay in Canada with me while the process continues or does she have to go home?

I Have never been Married and have no idea how this works.
David

 

[Leon]

If you get married, she can stay in Canada while you sponsor her for permanent residency. In April when her visa expires, she can request to change her status to visitor while she waits for her application to get processed.

You have 3 choices of how to apply to sponsor her.

1) You can apply through a route commonly known as inland. This is when you send your application to Vegreville and after being processed there, it will go to your local CIC office. If all goes well, she would have first stage approval and could get an open work permit after around 6 months and PR in 12-18 months. There are however two downsides. One is that it's not advised to leave Canada while this application is in process because if she can't get back in, she forfeits the application and the other is that if it doesn't go well, say immigration has some doubts about the relationship being legitimate etc. and they want an interview, you end up in bureaucracy limbo, get no first stage approval, no work permit and you may be waiting for this interview for 1-3 years.

2) You can apply outland. This is when you send your application to Mississauga and after being processed there (35 days), it gets send to Germany where it takes on average 8 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp#europe The only downside is that if an interview is required, she'd have to go to Germany.

3) You can apply outland with a twist. Because she had a one year visa in Canada (work and travel visa) and it's still valid when you will apply, she would qualify to have her application processed in the US. The average processing time there is 6 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp#west and if there is an interview, she would have to travel to the US which is probably easier than travelling to Germany.

You will find your instructions and forms here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

When selecing your forms here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp#step1 and when you use the link for "my spouse lives with me in Canada", you are automatically taken to the inland forms. If you want to apply outland, use the other link.

 

[jarajovi]

Hello Leon,

it's been a long time since your post, I just found it.
I am in exactly the same situation as David and his girlfriend were above - I am German, my boyfriend Canadian and I'm in Canada on a working holiday visa for one ywar, which will expire in November.

We were asking around about the possibility to apply via the US, though we were told that it's not possible, as I am German and I have to apply via Germany.

Are you sure about the fact, that I can apply in the US if I am currently here? Do you know where to find information on that?
It would help us a lot, because the average processing times are so much shorter and I would love to have my PR before my visa expires.

Thanks a lot, I hope you'll read this after all that time

Janika

 

[just_do_it]

If you get married, she can stay in Canada while you sponsor her for permanent residency. In April when her visa expires, she can request to change her status to visitor while she waits for her application to get processed.

You have 3 choices of how to apply to sponsor her.

1) You can apply through a route commonly known as inland. This is when you send your application to Vegreville and after being processed there, it will go to your local CIC office. If all goes well, she would have first stage approval and could get an open work permit after around 6 months and PR in 12-18 months. There are however two downsides. One is that it's not advised to leave Canada while this application is in process because if she can't get back in, she forfeits the application and the other is that if it doesn't go well, say immigration has some doubts about the relationship being legitimate etc. and they want an interview, you end up in bureaucracy limbo, get no first stage approval, no work permit and you may be waiting for this interview for 1-3 years.

2) You can apply outland. This is when you send your application to Mississauga and after being processed there (35 days), it gets send to Germany where it takes on average 8 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp#europe The only downside is that if an interview is required, she'd have to go to Germany.

3) You can apply outland with a twist. Because she had a one year visa in Canada (work and travel visa) and it's still valid when you will apply, she would qualify to have her application processed in the US. The average processing time there is 6 months, see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/international/05-fc-spouses.asp#west and if there is an interview, she would have to travel to the US which is probably easier than travelling to Germany.

You will find your instructions and forms here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

When selecing your forms here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse-apply-how.asp#step1 and when you use the link for "my spouse lives with me in Canada", you are automatically taken to the inland forms. If you want to apply outland, use the other link.

For #3, correct me if i'm wrong but i think the requirement is that you have to have a valid status in Canada for atleast a year AT the time of applying to be able to process through US. that means your work/ study permit is valid for atleast another year from the date you apply. Otherwise, the work/visitor permit would expire while your application is in progress and you would have no status in Canada. I know you get implied status when your application is in process in canada, can't say the same applies to applications outside Canada.

 

[Leon]

Hello Leon,

it's been a long time since your post, I just found it.
I am in exactly the same situation as David and his girlfriend were above - I am German, my boyfriend Canadian and I'm in Canada on a working holiday visa for one ywar, which will expire in November.

We were asking around about the possibility to apply via the US, though we were told that it's not possible, as I am German and I have to apply via Germany.

Are you sure about the fact, that I can apply in the US if I am currently here? Do you know where to find information on that?
It would help us a lot, because the average processing times are so much shorter and I would love to have my PR before my visa expires.

Thanks a lot, I hope you'll read this after all that time

Janika

Hi, note that the message was written in 2009 and some things have changed since then. If you are legally residing in Canada with at least a one year visa, you are supposed to be able to do an outland application as a legal resident of Canada which used to be processed in the US (Buffalo) but are now processed in Ottawa as far as I know. Another thing, Berlin which used to be slow is no longer processing but if you applied as a resident of Germany, your application would go to Vienna which was always faster than Berlin. If you look at the processing times at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/fc-spouses.asp , you see that Vienna is faster than Ottawa.

If you look at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp you will also see that the processing time for inland is shorter now. Still 6 months for first stage approval but only another 8 to get PR.

However, you also have to fulfill the requirement of having lived together as a couple for at least 12 months if you want to apply as common law partners.

I suppose you now have the open work permit working holiday. You know that when that ends, you can apply for the other type, the young professionals. Then you would have to have an employer already and you could only work for that employer but it might still be easier than getting an LMO in order to get a regular work permit.

 

[Leon]

For #3, correct me if i'm wrong but i think the requirement is that you have to have a valid status in Canada for atleast a year AT the time of applying

As soon as you have been allowed to enter with a one year visa or longer, you are considered to have "a valid status for at least a year" (which is your visa). It is not a requirement that you must have stayed for a year when you apply.

 

[Sternchen]

Hi Janika,

I came here with a one year open work permit (work/travel) from Germany as well, and my BF sponsored me through the inland application. I applied for the PR before my work permit expired (we had lived together for over a year), and also included an application for the work permit in the same package. Due to the WP not having expired, I had "implied status", meaning I was in a status quo until my case was decided on, and I could keep working my job with my company while waiting for the PR. Once the sponsorship was approved, I also received confirmation that my work permit is extended until the final decision is made on the PR.
It did not take too long for the whole process, I applied in August 2009 and received PR in April 2010. The only drawback really is that you shouldnt leave the country in case they dont allow you back in.

Good luck!

 

[Leon]

I had "implied status", meaning I was in a status quo until my case was decided on, and I could keep working my job with my company while waiting for the PR.

Yes, you can get implied status if you apply inland + open work permit while you are still on a work permit but this another reason why you should not leave Canada because if you leave before you get your open permit, your implied status is gone and you would return as a visitor.

 

[just_do_it]

As soon as you have been allowed to enter with a one year visa or longer, you are considered to have "a valid status for at least a year" (which is your visa). It is not a requirement that you must have stayed for a year when you apply.

thats what i said too... you do not need to have lived here for a year but you need a permit to be here for a year FROM the date of application.

for e.g. if someone has a 2 year permit, as long as they have atleast a year left on the permit from the date of application, they can apply via US.

 

[Leon]

thats what i said too... you do not need to have lived here for a year but you need a permit to be here for a year FROM the date of application.

for e.g. if someone has a 2 year permit, as long as they have atleast a year left on the permit from the date of application, they can apply via US.

Actually no. They just have to have been allowed to enter at some point with a 1 year visa. Back when Buffalo was doing the applications, they would allow people to apply through the US even if their status had since expired as long as they had a one year visa at some point.

However, as I said, Buffalo is no longer processing the applications and Ottawa is slower than Vienna so they gain nothing from applying through Ottawa.

 

[just_do_it]

Actually no. They just have to have been allowed to enter at some point with a 1 year visa. Back when Buffalo was doing the applications, they would allow people to apply through the US even if their status had since expired as long as they had a one year visa at some point.

However, as I said, Buffalo is no longer processing the applications and Ottawa is slower than Vienna so they gain nothing from applying through Ottawa.

That does not make sense... Since buffalo transfered the file to a US office closer to your address in Canada. I went through buffalo and my file was transfered to Seattle since i lived in BC. There is always the possibility of being asked for an interview in which case you would have to go to seattle or whatever office your file is at. so if they allowed people to apply like you say they did, a person's visa could have expired while their application was in process. so you go to the US for your interview and can't enter canada again.

anyways, its irrelevant since the OP asked this back in 2009 and buffalo is not in the picture anymore.

 

[Leon]

That does not make sense... Since buffalo transfered the file to a US office closer to your address in Canada. I went through buffalo and my file was transfered to Seattle since i lived in BC. There is always the possibility of being asked for an interview in which case you would have to go to seattle or whatever office your file is at. so if they allowed people to apply like you say they did, a person's visa could have expired while their application was in process. so you go to the US for your interview and can't enter canada again.

anyways, its irrelevant since the OP asked this back in 2009 and buffalo is not in the picture anymore.

It doesn't make sense for people who are illegally in Canada but for people who are illegally in the US, I am sure it's great to be able to do an interview in the US instead of having to leave the US to go to their home country, unable to return.