Guidance on how PR for girlfriend - Vietnam

[thebrain]

Hello Everyone,
I've been reading the forums and similar topics, but since everyone's case is unique, I was hoping to get some guidance on how get PR for my girlfriend.

I'm a Canadian citizen, but have been living and working in Vietnam for the last 3 years. I've been in a relationship with my girlfriend for the past 3 years (She applied for and received a tourist visa that is valid until 2020. I took her back to Canada in Dec 2015). She is currently living and working in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).

I'd like to bring her back to Canada next year, but she can't work on a tourist visa. What are my options for bringing her to Canada and being able to work? We are not common-law or conjugal.

Any advice?

Possible options:

A) We are planning to get married at some point. Date could be dependent on what option is better/easier for her to get PR. Can we get married here in VN and apply for PR (I would sponsor her) right away? Or is it better to wait a few months and then apply?

B) She comes to Canada using her TRV and applies for a work permit. Can this be done? Would she have to leave the country if she's still waiting for a work permit after 6 months? If this happens, how can she apply for PR?

Thanks in advance for you help!

 

[scylla]

If you get married, you can sponsor her for PR while both of you are outside of Canada. Once her PR status has been approved, she will be able to come to live and work in Canada.

You can also get married and both come to Canada together and apply for PR from inside of Canada (using the inland route) and include an open work permit with the application. If you do this, she will receive an open work permit approximately four months after the application is submitted.

Otherwise, she would first need to secure a full time job offer in Canada and her employer will then need to obtain an approved LMIA. Unfortunately it tends to be quite difficult to find employers willing to go through the LMIA process since it's long and expensive. Having said that, some are successful.

 

[thebrain]

Thanks for your reply!!

 

[thebrain]

Just wanted to provide an update and also get a little more advice/guidance on what to do.

My girlfriend and I and now engaged. I am currently in Canada, while she is still in Kuala Lumpur, but she will be visiting in Aug, then returning back to KL. We are planning to get married in Vietnam in early March and then both of us coming to Canada later that month.

So I have a few other questions.

1) What would be the best way to start the paperwork for sponsoring her?

We are thinking of getting legally married in Canada when she visits. Are there any advantages to this? We wanted to avoid doing paperwork in Vietnam since it can be a mess, and neither of us are actually in Vietnam at the moment.

2) In our situation, we should apply outland, right? Once we are married here and she returns to KL, she can start the paper work, correct? She can still come here in March on her tourist visa and wait until it's approved.

Thanks!