How to move to my gf in Alberta?

[sgp1986]

Man, people have conflicting advice about this lol I've been told that its not illegal to live with her for 6 months, as long as I can show I'm not going to be working illegally or anything like that, I should be fine and to tell them every detail of my plan. Other people including the last reply say don't tell them that or they may deny it.

I just want to live with my gf permanently. If it will make it easier I'll marry her, whatever it takes to be with her. I'm hoping to keep my job and work remotely, which would be enough to support myself while I'm there. I get why they have their rules for everything but it just sucks that it seems almost impossible to make this happen

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Man, people have conflicting advice about this lol I've been told that its not illegal to live with her for 6 months, as long as I can show I'm not going to be working illegally or anything like that, I should be fine and to tell them every detail of my plan. Other people including the last reply say don't tell them that or they may deny it.

I just want to live with my gf permanently. If it will make it easier I'll marry her, whatever it takes to be with her. I'm hoping to keep my job and work remotely, which would be enough to support myself while I'm there. I get why they have their rules for everything but it just sucks that it seems almost impossible to make this happen

It's not illegal. However, living in Canada as a visitor indicates to CBSA that you aren't actually a genuine visitor and they don't like that.

 

[sgp1986]

So what is my best course of action? Is there a visa that lets me continue to work remotely for my US base company that will let me live there? Do I just say screw it and we get married and work on the spousal sponsorship instead of trying to go through common law?

 

[k.h.p.]

So what is my best course of action? Is there a visa that lets me continue to work remotely for my US base company that will let me live there? Do I just say screw it and we get married and work on the spousal sponsorship instead of trying to go through common law?

There isn't a visa that allows you to reside in Canada while working from the US, except for a permanent resident visa/status.

You can enter Canada, and five months into a six month stay, apply to extend your status, with the reason of achieving common law. Then after you've lived with her a year, you can apply for spousal PR which should take another year.

Or you could get married and just start applying for PR now.

Your question is more "How can I get into the country without having problems at CBSA?" Unfortunately, there isn't an answer to that. You've been flagged as a potentially non-genuine visitor.

 

[sgp1986]

Understood. I'm sorry if I keep asking over and over again, its just frustrating, yknow?

To make sure I understand and just kinda "think out loud" . It sounds to me, if we want to do common law, I have to hope to get into the country, and if I do get in without issue, its a risk to leave and come back. OR, we get married when she's here visiting me in a month, and apply for PR right away. I read that can take up to a year, is that typical? We had hopes of me moving there around sept of this year, would I be able to fly there and say I'm visiting my wife and we have PR application pending or do I have to wait for the approval first? Now I have a whole new area of things to research lol

 

[canuck78]

The best thing to to is once you enter Canada is to try and remain in Canada. The problems really occur when you are dealing with CBSA. I would try to minimize any encounters with CBSA. Are you wanting to live together for 1 year or are you considering marriage. As long as you can support yourself or your partner can most are approved when they apply to extend their visitor status right before the 6 month period. You should even right living together to become common law because it improves the chances of getting your visitor status extended. If you can avoid having to leave Canada you will minimize a lot of risk.

 

[k.h.p.]

If you want frustrating, my wife is Russian and wasn't allowed into Canada until she had a visa, which she was denied for the first time around. You're an American, and can generally enter Canada just by appearing at the POE.

To apply for common-law status, you have to live with her for a year. Uninterrupted. With lots of proof. Then you can apply for PR, which can take 6-12+ months. You can't leave Canada very long during that time, as you'd run the risk of losing either common-law status, or being refused re-entry to Canada, or having your PR application deemed abandoned as you need to be in Canada for an inland application to succeed. (You could also achieve common law status and then apply as an outland applicant).

If you get married in a month and start applying for PR (and be aware, it's a lot of paperwork, and you have to prove the relationship is genuine, and that it isn't entered into primarily for the purpose of immigration - a relationship can be genuine and a marriage can be entered into primarily for immigration ("I married her so I could live with her") and PR can be denied because of this), then you can certainly try to fly to Canada to "visit your wife" but you'll run into more intense CBSA screening at the border since (1) you're already flagged, and (2) someone with a spouse in Canada is more likely to overstay and would get more intense review.

Americans generally are not refused admission to Canada, even with a spouse in Canada, but you will get more intense questions. If you do not have significant ties to the United States (property, job that actually requires you to be in the US, family obligations, and so on) then you may actually be denied entry to Canada.

If you got married next month, and had all the proof/paperwork required for PR ready, and submitted it in February, there's a slim chance the application would be done before September. Maybe.

 

[k.h.p.]

You could also visit her and get married in Canada and then never leave.