Inland Sponsorship Situation

[Earth2Mars]

Hi

I am planning to apply for an inland spouse sponsorship outside Quebec.

The situation is: My girlfriend and I have been together since April 2025. We met in 2023 and been talking almost daily, but shared a mutual romantic relationship in 2025.
My girlfriend came on a study permit in 2022, and she renewed her permit and got approved last June 2025, but she hasn't been attending school, even before she applied for a renewal (I was surprised it got approved)

We are getting married this March, and moving in together this April, and to apply in April. Her study permit expires in June 2026. She has been working as well.
Our relationship is known by our families, We had to take the time to get married in order to bring in the two families to meet and be in approval as per our culutres.

My concern is she will be out of status (as per the permit) while waiting for the process, which might take 2 years. We will apply for the open work permit.
1- Is she under the public policy? Given she has a valid permit but not attending school. Do I need to specify we are applying under the policy?

2- In my previous relationship (3 years ago), I was living with my girlfriend for over a year, but we never applied for a sponsorship. but I specified in CRA one of those years that I was common law with her, and got a letter from a notary public but never used it anywhere. Do I need to specify this relationship in the application? Does it affect anything? (I dont rememebr exact dates)

3- Does it matter that we did not marry earlier or moved in together earlier? We are marrying from a genuine relationship we can prove (family meetings, texts, and pictures of us), Does it look wrong to them that we applied after we moved in together, or we married in a court marriage (our families are abroad)

 

[canuck78]

Hi

I am planning to apply for an inland spouse sponsorship outside Quebec.

The situation is: My girlfriend and I have been together since April 2025. We met in 2023 and been talking almost daily, but shared a mutual romantic relationship in 2025.
My girlfriend came on a study permit in 2022, and she renewed her permit and got approved last June 2025, but she hasn't been attending school, even before she applied for a renewal (I was surprised it got approved)

We are getting married this March, and moving in together this April, and to apply in April. Her study permit expires in June 2026. She has been working as well.
Our relationship is known by our families, We had to take the time to get married in order to bring in the two families to meet and be in approval as per our culutres.

My concern is she will be out of status (as per the permit) while waiting for the process, which might take 2 years. We will apply for the open work permit.
1- Is she under the public policy? Given she has a valid permit but not attending school. Do I need to specify we are applying under the policy?

2- In my previous relationship (3 years ago), I was living with my girlfriend for over a year, but we never applied for a sponsorship. but I specified in CRA one of those years that I was common law with her, and got a letter from a notary public but never used it anywhere. Do I need to specify this relationship in the application? Does it affect anything? (I dont rememebr exact dates)

3- Does it matter that we did not marry earlier or moved in together earlier? We are marrying from a genuine relationship we can prove (family meetings, texts, and pictures of us), Does it look wrong to them that we applied after we moved in together, or we married in a court marriage (our families are abroad)

She is currently out of status since she hasn’t met the terms of her study permit even before the renewal and should not be working. She should stop working asap. She was also already out of status since she was’t meeting the terms of her study permit when you met. She also likely misrepresented her status on her renewal application which in itself is problematic.

1. She will only qualify for SOWP after AIP. There is a good chance her study permit has already been cancelled. The fact that you only started dating after she was not compliant with her study permit is a warning sign for IRCC.

2. Yes you must declare that you were previous common law.

3 the fact that you entered a relationship when she no longer was entitled to remain in Canada is the biggest warning sign. You only started dating in mid 2025 that is quite fast when it comes to getting married or even moving in together. Will your family be attending your wedding? If meeting parents is important in your culture I assume parents attending your wedding is also important.

 

[Earth2Mars]

well, I wanted to marry her before status changes but I only got to have family approval after getting to know each other which takes time.

In April 2025, that's when I asked her to marry me and started dating. That was before she got an approval on her status renewal.

our families met over video call, but not in person, they can't travel. I met her sister where she resides with her husband whom was also sponsored and approved.

Her renewal was submitted with a enrollment letter that said part time but still got approved.

getting married eith family approval and shared emotional feelings along with our pictures and living together does mean genuine, doesn't it?
this is the circumstance unfortunately but would it make it really a red flag?

 

[canuck78]

well, I wanted to marry her before status changes but I only got to have family approval after getting to know each other which takes time.

In April 2025, that's when I asked her to marry me and started dating. That was before she got an approval on her status renewal.

our families met over video call, but not in person, they can't travel. I met her sister where she resides with her husband whom was also sponsored and approved.

Her renewal was submitted with a enrollment letter that said part time but still got approved.

getting married eith family approval and shared emotional feelings along with our pictures and living together does mean genuine, doesn't it?
this is the circumstance unfortunately but would it make it really a red flag?

For immigration purposes and when it comes to Canadian/western dating standards you only started your relationship and dating in April 2025 it doesn’t matter that you had to declare your intention to get married before you actually started dating. The fact that you had to declare your intention to marry her before starting to date would indicate that you come from a fairly conservative culture/family where it would be very unusual for parents not to attend a wedding but you also mention living together do you mean before getting married?

When it comes to your future wife’s status when did she stop attending school and had she been attending school full-time before then? Had she submitted her transcript when applying to extend her study permit? The fact that she stopped attending school before receiving her extension and never attended classes after receiving the extension means she did not comply with the terms of her study permit. It was her responsibility to follow the terms of her study permit and make adjustment like not working if she wasn’t attending school full-time. If she stopped attending school while her extension was in process she also should have updated her application to reflect any changes in her studies. IRCC and schools have started following up with each semester about who is attending school and permits are cancelled without notifying students. This was supposed to be the case all along but shockingly was not being enforced. It would have been her responsibility to meet the terms of her study permit and if she wasn’t meeting the terms of her permit she should have anticipated that the permit would have cancelled. Without status in Canada she would have been expected to return home. IRCC wasn’t very good at monitoring these things in the past and was very lenient when it came to consequences but that is no longer the case. Given her desire to remain in Canada it is not advisable to work illegally. IRCC also doesn’t have to inform you when it cancels your visa or permit so there is a very good chance she has been without status for quite some time.