[Long Distance Relationship] U.S. to Canada

[spatulaprodigy]

Hi, my Fiance is from the United States (Citizen (born)) and I'm from Canada (Citizen (born)).

We've been dating long distance for 4 years now and have known each other for 6.

We're currently working on her staying here permanently. For now she's going to stay 4 months, she had left not even a week ago and in 3 weeks she'll be back.

We have a few questions:

1.) Have any of you done long distance like this and how did you go about acquiring dual citizenship or even permanent residence.
2.) She wants to study here and work one or the other. What would be easier and how would we go about it?
I personally have looked up numerous times on how to get a permanent residence here and it's SO CONFUSING.
3.) For the few months she's here, does she need to prove to Immigration that I'm capable of supporting her?
4.) I've read the longest she can stay is 6 months within a 12 month period.. Can she apply within Canada or does she need to go back to the states to do so?
5.) When she arrives were going to legally marry, would this in any way speed up the process?

Any advice you have would greatly appreciated!

 

[scylla]

Hi, my Fiance is from the United States (Citizen (born)) and I'm from Canada (Citizen (born)).

We've been dating long distance for 4 years now and have known each other for 6.

We're currently working on her staying here permanently. For now she's going to stay 4 months, she had left not even a week ago and in 3 weeks she'll be back.

We have a few questions:

1.) Have any of you done long distance like this and how did you go about acquiring dual citizenship or even permanent residence.
2.) She wants to study here and work one or the other. What would be easier and how would we go about it?
I personally have looked up numerous times on how to get a permanent residence here and it's SO CONFUSING.
3.) For the few months she's here, does she need to prove to Immigration that I'm capable of supporting her?
4.) I've read the longest she can stay is 6 months within a 12 month period.. Can she apply within Canada or does she need to go back to the states to do so?
5.) When she arrives were going to legally marry, would this in any way speed up the process?

Any advice you have would greatly appreciated!

1) You can't sponsor her for PR at this time. You have to be married or common law to sponsor her for PR. Common law means you have lived together continuously for at least one full year.
2) If she wants to come to Canada before she is a PR, study permit is the most realistic. She'll need to show she has enough money in her bank account to pay for first year tuition + $10K in living expense to be approved.
3) I don't understand this question. She is not allowed to move her at this time. All she is allowed to do is visit temporarily.
4) If she enters as a visitor, how long she is allowed to stay will be determined by the CBSA officer at the border. If she wants to stay longer, best option is to apply for an extension from within Canada.
5) See answer to question 1.

You need to dedicate time to reading through the discussions in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum.

 

[Joeydocs]

Hey buddy,

I was in the same boat. I’m a US citizen my girlfriend is Canadian. I was in your shoes last year and I was just full of anxiety trying to figure everything out because I most certainly wanted to be with this girl. So what we did was I moved from New Jersey April 1 2017 to Toronto and stayed for 6 months then applied for a visitor extension. While my visitor extension was being reviewed I applied for admission at Sheridan college, paid the tuition and all I had to do was get a study permit. Since she’s a US citizen she can apply for her permit at any point of entry given that she has the right documents.(That’s what I did.) and I got my study permit attended school and now I have 2 weeks left of school and as a student after college you get to apply for a post graduation work permit to work in the field in which you went to school for. The permits usually are for 1-3 years depending on how many years you attend, by that time she goes to school finishes you guys will be common law because you have been living together for one year. Btw since international tuitions are pretty high she can try using salliemae (private loan company in the US) to pay her tuition. NOTE: they will only cover the tuition not living expenses