Hoping to apply for permanent residency

[adamhopkins]

Hi there, I'm fairly new to all of this so I'll explain my situation.

I moved to Ontario, Canada at the end of December 2016. I was approved a two year working visa (it only runs until May 2018 when my passport expires but I'm hoping to extend the visa to the full two years once I have renewed my passport). Currently I am living with my girlfriend in her parents house, We have a tenants agreement document and we pay rent every month.

From a working stand point, back home in the UK, I was a freelance web developer with work being sourced from a local design agency, so I was and still am self employed. This continued when I moved to Canada, with all my work still being UK sourced.

I'm wanting to apply for permanent residency but I'm completely new to this and was hoping someone can give me some advice of things I can be doing. I'm not 100% sure but I believe I have to be in Canada for a year before I can start applying. I have been told eleswhere that my girlfirend would be able to sponsor me, but I guess I'd just like to get an idea of what to expect as right now, it's little into the unknown.

How long can the process take?
Am I able to extend my working visa beyond the two years I have currently?
Would my girlfriend be able to sponsor me? If so, how can we do this?

Thanks

 

[scylla]

In order to extend your work permit, you would need to obtain a full time job offer from an employer in Canada and that employer would need to obtain an approved LMIA. This is a long and expensive process that most employers aren't willing to do. Having said that - some are successful.

Your girlfriend can sponsor you for PR once you are either married or common law. Common law means you have lived together continuously for a minimum of one full year.

You can also see if you meet the requirements to apply for PR through one of Canada's economic immigration streams like Express Entry. Detailed information here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/apply.asp

 

[adamhopkins]

Thanks for your reply. It's unlikely that my girlfriend and I would be married, if she was to sponsor me as a common law, what kind of documentation would be needed to prove we had been living together for a year? As I mentioned we have a tenants agreement with her parents where we live currently but I assume more would be requried

 

[scylla]

I would recommend you read through the threads in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum. You also need to dedicate time to researching the process through the CIC web site (unless you want to hire a lawyer to do this on your behalf): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp