Immigrating from Sweden

[Ragnar]

Greetings!

First of all i would like to express my appreciation for this forum as a great source for information and support when it comes to the maze that is immigration.

I have spent a few days going through these forums to make sure i dont ask questions which have already been answered. I am also seeing some differing answers to some of the questions i have so i would just like some things clarified.

Enough introduction, here is my situation: I met my girlfriend(who is a Canadian citizen) in February of last year(2012) and it was love at first sight. I then went back to Sweden for a month and we skyped and emailed daily. In April i returned for 3 months (Sweden is a visa exempt country, yay) after which i went back home for another month and a working holiday visa which in short means i can stay and work in Canada for a year. This will however run out in September so i am now exploring my options to stay in Canada and be with my girlfriend.

I have read in a lot of places that you can apply as an outland immigrant while you are still in Canada. Does it matter from which visa office i do this? My idea was to do it from one of the offices in the US as i can get there easily should they need me to be there in person or am i forced to do it through the closest visa office to sweden(UK, Germany?)
I would like to take the outland immigrant route to be able to freely visit my family and friends back in Sweden.

Is there different forms when you apply as an out of country immigrant from the inland immigrant?

Does anyone have experience with immigrating to Alberta as a common-law/Adult Interpersonal Relationship? I just want to be sure that AIP has the same status as common-law in regards to immigration.

Is there any way for an employer to confirm what an upstanding member of society i am?

Do i have any hope of staying with my employer over the transition period between when my working visa expires and i get my new one? Tips please

Should i send in my girlfriends application to be my sponsor together with my applications or wouldi have to do that first and then wait?

I am currently using the guides on the government website but if anyone knows of any other outstanding guides i would be very hapy to hear about them.

Thank you for your time!

Sincerely

//Ragnar

 

[amikety]

1) You have to be legally admitted to the USA for at least one year to apply through Ottawa. Now, being visa exempt for the US, you probably could do it. Your "home VO" is London. It's up to you if you want to try using Ottawa. Interviews for Ottawa are held in NYC and LA. (Yes, Ottawa is in Canada, but it's still the USA's VO.) Most visa exempt travelers don't get interviews if they put forth a complete and well thought out application. (Meaning sufficient proof of relationship in this sense.) However, London has been faster than Ottawa in the past, so using London might actually be more beneficial to you.

2) Yes, the forms are different. Inland implies you live together. Outland doesn't imply, but it's easy to state. This should help. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900ETOC.asp#3900E2

3) Your employers won't be contacted. You can ask for a reference letter if you want. I don't know how much weight that will hold because CIC uses police certificates and immigration/visa records to determine your admissibility.

4) You'll need to ask your employer to get a LMO so you can apply for a work permit. It will be easier to get, because the requirements to get a LMO for an existing employee.

5) Here is another: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3999Etoc.asp

The two guides are very similar. I'm not sure why they need two!

There's a user here named Sweden who will probably be very helpful to you You can guess where she is from. ;D

 

[Sweden]

Thanks for the introduction Sir Amikety!

I agree with everything - being from Sweden, it's best to use London as a VO, as it's faster than Ottawa, and being from a visa-exempt, you can stay in Canada, work, and wait for your PR to come through.

I'm not sure what the "Adult interpersonal relationship" is. What I know is: you need to live together with your gf for 12 months to qualify for common-law. Since you went back to Sweden for a month, you can only start counting from after you return, with a work holidays visa. Count 12 months, and send your application after that. In the meantime - read the outland instructions guideline, get familiar with what you need, start preparing your application by gathering proofs, get familiar with the forms etc. Don't fill out everything right now, because the forms might change, and the Police Certificates need to be less than 3 months old. No point to get them now.

You can be in Canada and apply outland. But - you won't get a work permit with your application. So as Amikety said - you will have to ask your employer for an LMO. Some countries allow to apply for a second Work holiday visa, check for Swedes.

You have to send the complete application together. Print the outland guideline, read it, and again! it's a bit overwhelming at first, but it gets better... all the forms + full medicals + payment have to be sent together, and a complete application is the best thing you can do to get a fast processing.

Lycka til!
Sweden