GF coming from Korea in a month - What should she prepare beforehand?

[Chewbacca]

My girlfriend is coming to Calgary on a work visa in about a month. We have been dating for over 2 years, and we have talked about marriage. We want her to get immigration, but we are just starting to research it and need some help.

We have been talking about getting a marriage license when she arrives if it will help the process. I am a student right now, and while we can pay the bills, I don't have a job while I am in school.

From what I've read, outland seems like a good option for a faster completion.

What are some of the things she should prepare to bring while she is in Korea? I thought I read something about a criminal record check. Are there any other things she should complete before she comes to Canada? Do you have any other suggestions, or comments on what our thoughts are so far?

Thanks for your help.

 

[zardoz]

From the information you have provided, you will need to be married before applying to sponsor her as a member of the family class. You don't seem to qualify as common-law yet. Therefore, you have quite a lot to do before being ready to start obtaining police certificates or doing medicals as both of these expire reasonably quickly.

Do a lot more research before actually starting the document collection process. There is a pinned thread in this area of the forum that will help you.

 

[Rob_TO]

We have been talking about getting a marriage license when she arrives if it will help the process. I am a student right now, and while we can pay the bills, I don't have a job while I am in school.

You don't just need a marriage licence, you actually need to be married. Or you need to be living 12-months continuously together. Only after 1 of these happens, can you apply for her PR.

Read the outland country guide to see the documents required from Korea: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp
For nationals of Korea:
• Family Relation Certificate and one certified true translation into French or English of your Family Relation Certificate. This document should have been recently issued.
• Marriage Relation Certificate and one certified true translation into French or English
• Old (deleted) Family Census Register and one certified true translation into French or English
Also require a police certificate from Korea, which I think should be issued within 3 months of submitting your application.

 

[Chewbacca]

What's the difference between getting a marriage license and getting married? Can you get the license and then get married in a court? How does being completely married work?

 

[Rob_TO]

What's the difference between getting a marriage license and getting married? Can you get the license and then get married in a court? How does being completely married work?

Yes technically you can get married in a court. However that will be a big red flag to CIC. They will ask many questions such as why wasn't family and friends invited, and why you didn't do a real wedding party. What it sounds like in your case, is you just want to have a quickie wedding mainly for the purpose of being able to apply for your partners PR card. This is referred to as a "marriage of convenience", and your application for PR could be denied because of it.

If it wasn't for immigration purposes would you still be considering getting married like this, or would you wait and plan out a real wedding with friends/family?

 

[Chewbacca]

Well, our plan was to be married to help with the PR application, but to have a full on ceremony at a later date. We lived together for about three months at the end of her first stay in Canada, after dating for a year, and then she went back to Korea for a year. Now she is coming back to Canada on a year long visa. If we can't claim common law, and a marriage would be looked at as a marriage of convenience, are there any other options?

 

[Rob_TO]

Well, our plan was to be married to help with the PR application, but to have a full on ceremony at a later date. We lived together for about three months at the end of her first stay in Canada, after dating for a year, and then she went back to Korea for a year. Now she is coming back to Canada on a year long visa. If we can't claim common law, and a marriage would be looked at as a marriage of convenience, are there any other options?

Get married, but dont do it with just the 2 of you. Make sure to have a good number of family and friends there so it looks more like a real wedding, and even have a small dinner afterwards to celebrate. Pics of a wedding showing friends and family supporting your relationship is sometimes very important to a VO.

 

[Chewbacca]

I was just reading about sponsoring as a conjugal partner. Would that work? We lived together for a while before her visa expired, and then she had to return to Korea. Would we qualify? When she arrives, she will be putting her name on our lease, and we will probably open a bank account together for our rent.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I was just reading about sponsoring as a conjugal partner. Would that work? We lived together for a while before her visa expired, and then she had to return to Korea. Would we qualify? When she arrives, she will be putting her name on our lease, and we will probably open a bank account together for our rent.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

You wouldn't qualify as conjugal because there is nothing to stop you guys from getting married or for one of you to move to the other's country, live together for a year and qualify as common-law (the fact that she already has a work visa to come to Canada proves that).

Your best bet is to live together for awhile when she is on her work permit, get married later on (with the big wedding ) and then apply.

 

[Chewbacca]

I read that the decision is based on a points system. Do we get the same amount of points if we apply as common law, or if we get married? Furthermore, if we apply as common-law, will they take my salary into consideration, and not if we are spouses? I am a student for one more year, so I will not have an income at the time.

Also, if we apply outbound, can we apply for her to stay in the country while we wait, or will she have to return to Korea once her visa runs out?

 

[amikety]

I was just reading about sponsoring as a conjugal partner. Would that work? We lived together for a while before her visa expired, and then she had to return to Korea. Would we qualify? When she arrives, she will be putting her name on our lease, and we will probably open a bank account together for our rent.

Thanks for your help, by the way.

Unless you have a date set to get married, it's somewhat impossible to start the application because police clearances and medical tests expire and CIC likes the update the forms at will.

Once you pick a date to get married, then you can start planning. Order the police clearances to arrive about 1-2 month after the ceremony. You will need to look at each clearance to see how long they take to get. She should mail them to you or have someone in her family mail them to her if she's already in Canada. DO NOT CARRY THEM ON THE PLANE.

DO NOT BRING ANY FORMS ON THE PLANE.

Get married. Apply for marriage certificate as soon as you can. Timeline depends on your province. Do medical about the time you expect the police clearances to arrive. In the meantime, gather your proof of relationship. Fill out the forms right before sending in the application, but give it overnight and proofread. Read each other's forms to make sure the dates and information matches.

Look at the document checklist and get familiar with what items you'll need.

Your gf/wife may need some documents translate and notarized. You should check to see if it's a better deal in Korea or Canada. DO NOT BRING THESE ON THE PLANE EITHER. She can mail them to you if she does it in Korea. (I would use a courier for this.)

In short, don't bring anything on the plane that would indicate she's planning on staying. If the IO sees that, she may be denied entry. It happened to an American not too long ago.

 

[amikety]

I read that the decision is based on a points system. Do we get the same amount of points if we apply as common law, or if we get married? Furthermore, if we apply as common-law, will they take my salary into consideration, and not if we are spouses? I am a student for one more year, so I will not have an income at the time.

Also, if we apply outbound, can we apply for her to stay in the country while we wait, or will she have to return to Korea once her visa runs out?

There is no points system for Family Class. There is one for Federal Skilled Worker, which is something entirely different.

They will need to see you can support her and she won't need welfare. If you live at home, your parents can write letters of support, offering to let her live with them and help provide her food, etc. You don't have to have a job - just a plan.

Outland gives no status in Canada. She can ask to extend her stay while she waits or return to Korea if she needs to. Personally, I filed to extend my stay and included proof of the PR application. (I'm visa exempt, however. It's much easier for me to get into Canada.)

 

[Rob_TO]

You guys have been dating 2 years, which is a pretty good sized length of relationship before marriage. 2 years of dating then getting married I don't think would be suspicious to CIC. The only thing that would be deemed a red flag, is a wedding with no guests. So as i said, it could work to get married after she arrives and then apply, but just make absolutely sure your friends and family attend the wedding... and have some kind of ceremony or reception even if it's a small one so you can get lots of pictures.

If you aren't sure of dates yet and when exactly you will apply, you can designate a family member in Korea to get government documents on her behalf. This is what my fiancee did as we applied outland while we were living in Canada. She wrote a letter stating her sister had her authorization to pick up documents for her... and then she just mailed them to us in Canada.