Need some brainstorming help re: US/Canada Marriage

[TookieC]

Hey everyone!

Here's the situation: my boyfriend, a Canadian citizen, and I, an American, met while traveling abroad last fall. We fell in love, traveled around Europe together, and have agreed that we'd like to get married. I am currently in Canada visiting him, and my visitor status expires at the beginning of August.

Neither of us are fond of living apart - as you all well know, long-distance royally sucks - and in a perfect world, we'd like to find a way for me to dovetail my visitation period into permanent residency, or at least to reduce the amount of time I'd need to remain in the States.

Any creative thoughts or avenues we might try?

If we get married yet this summer, would we apply for permanent residency on my behalf using the form for PR from within Canada, or from outside Canada? At the time of application, I would be residing within Canada and would be submitting the application from there, but my "official" home is still in the States.

And presuming I do need to return to the States, is there a standard length of time that I would need to remain before being permitted to return to Canada?

 

[MadeInCanada]

I am unsure if your travelling together would be official in the eyes of CIC. But it might count as cohabitation, and if you have lived together for a minimum of 12 months then you would qualify for common-law. do you have any bills in both your names? Share a rental agreement of at least have both names listed on it? Staying with friends or family would still count, as they can write a letter on your behalf declaring you are living together in a marriage like relationship.

I am not 100% about the time spent travelling, but I am sure someone will poke in and correct me if I am wrong.

Because you are visa exempt you can technically come and go as you like, no border crossing is guaranteed though.

If you read the first thread (the first page or two of it) it explains the difference between inland and outland applications. You can still be together and apply outland, which from all I know, it is the better way to go. If you are not worried about working.

Inland you can apply for a work permit(takes about 6 months to get that).But a draw back is your would not be able to leave(in case of family emergency) if you leave Canada your application is deemed abandoned.

Others will reply as well with more information then I have

Take care
MadeInCanada

 

[honjooshi]

Hello,

Your situation sounds kind of similar to mine. My Canadian girlfriend and I had been together for almost three years, but had never lived together; we'd both been in Japan, but in separate cities. When we came back, I visited her in Toronto for four months, then I went back to the States for three weeks. That got me a new 6-months, I then went back to Canada, we got married, I filed my PR spousal application Outland, and filed a visa extension, which is good until the end of this year, which will hopefully be long enough for my PR application to be finished, as I applied last November.
Someone must know the exact visa rules; I don't. I've heard you have to be out two weeks; I've also heard you can basically leave, turn around, and come back. Might be harder to justify at the border, though.
As for inland or Outland, that's totally your call. I did Outland because I didn't want to be stuck in Canada and unable to visit my family or potentially work in the States for 1.5-2 years. If you do inland you can get a work permit after spousal sponsorship approval, though, and not being able to work here has been frustrating. Plus, if you have a very short relationship, it might raise flags, and with Inland applications you cannot appeal if you are denied. That's probably rare if you're an American, but a possibility. You'll have to decide; no one can tell you which is absolutely better.
Good luck!

 

[Rob_TO]

Hey everyone!

Here's the situation: my boyfriend, a Canadian citizen, and I, an American, met while traveling abroad last fall. We fell in love, traveled around Europe together, and have agreed that we'd like to get married. I am currently in Canada visiting him, and my visitor status expires at the beginning of August.

Neither of us are fond of living apart - as you all well know, long-distance royally sucks - and in a perfect world, we'd like to find a way for me to dovetail my visitation period into permanent residency, or at least to reduce the amount of time I'd need to remain in the States.

Any creative thoughts or avenues we might try?

If we get married yet this summer, would we apply for permanent residency on my behalf using the form for PR from within Canada, or from outside Canada? At the time of application, I would be residing within Canada and would be submitting the application from there, but my "official" home is still in the States.

And presuming I do need to return to the States, is there a standard length of time that I would need to remain before being permitted to return to Canada?

Keep in mind that if you just met last fall, are getting married this summer and then applying right away for PR... that could be less than 1 year you've first met to sending your application, which will be seen as a red flag by CIC. Any quick relationship like this requires lots of extra proofs to convince the VO the marriage is genuine and not one of convenience. If you get married, make sure you have lots of friends and family attend the wedding with lots of pictures, as that will be a big step to convincing CIC it's genuine. By the time you get married and put the application together hopefully it will be around a full year anyways, so you could be ok.

Most US applicant's apply outland, even if they're currently residing in Canada as a visitor. Every 6 months, they can usually renew the visitor visa no problem. Also you are free to travel in and out of Canada as needed while an outland app is in process.

If you apply inland, you are supposed to stay in Canada the entire time because if you leave and for some reason you are denied entry back to Canada, your entire application is terminated.

 

[sariss]

Outland is generally faster.
If you guys are OK with only one person being able to work, you can definitely try coming over as a visitor, getting married, applying, and then renewing your visitor visa until you are accepted. That's basically what my husband and I did.

 

[Naboo325]

My husband and I are in a similar situation. I am an American citizen and he is Canadian. My 6 months as a visitor expires June 19, 2013. We are working with an attorney though, and we will be filing for an extension in May to be safe.

The out land vs inland is one of those situations which is all about your circumstances. We went out land, the selling point was the appeals process. I was willing to deal with the longer processing times and not being able to leave the country, but the idea of not being able to appeal if something went wrong sounded awful!

As far length of relationship, yes they do frown upon quick relationship and marriage time. When we first consulted with our lawyer he felt it hadn't been a long relationship, but I knew things were going to take time. We met in Feb.2012 and visited back and forth for 8 months. In Oct.2012 I came to stay with him in Canada. I payed off my bills and saved a ton of cash to help him with the living expenses. I returned home in December for about 2 weeks and came back. We married in Feb.2013 and my family came up for the wedding and we had a real wedding, not a courthouse thing. We are almost ready to file, probably end of May/early June.

Honestly the risks are high if you go in blind and don't do your research. Even if you don't sign on with a lawyer to handle your package, it can't hurt to pay for a consultation and come ready with all your questions so you can be prepared.

 

[gortandmugs]

My husband and I are in a similar situation. I am an American citizen and he is Canadian. My 6 months as a visitor expires June 19, 2013. We are working with an attorney though, and we will be filing for an extension in May to be safe.

The out land vs inland is one of those situations which is all about your circumstances. We went out land, the selling point was the appeals process. I was willing to deal with the longer processing times and not being able to leave the country, but the idea of not being able to appeal if something went wrong sounded awful!

As far length of relationship, yes they do frown upon quick relationship and marriage time. When we first consulted with our lawyer he felt it hadn't been a long relationship, but I knew things were going to take time. We met in Feb.2012 and visited back and forth for 8 months. In Oct.2012 I came to stay with him in Canada. I payed off my bills and saved a ton of cash to help him with the living expenses. I returned home in December for about 2 weeks and came back. We married in Feb.2013 and my family came up for the wedding and we had a real wedding, not a courthouse thing. We are almost ready to file, probably end of May/early June. you guys are crazy just go home and enter Canada again.... you can walk into Canada!!!!

Honestly the risks are high if you go in blind and don't do your research. Even if you don't sign on with a lawyer to handle your package, it can't hurt to pay for a consultation and come ready with all your questions so you can be prepared.

 

[TookieC]

Ah - good points. Thank you all!

Honjooshi and Rob_TO: You guys mention different times (3 weeks vs. 6 months) for being out-of-country to renew a visitor visa. Does anyone know if Canada has a hard-and-fast "You must be out of the country for X days before coming back for a long visit" policy, or is it purely circumstantial?

For instance, after being here for a two-week visit, then States for a month, and back in Canada for four months, would I get an insta-RedFlag if I attempted to come back as a visitor for six months if I'd only been in the States for another month?

 

[blueangel371115]

Ah - good points. Thank you all!

Honjooshi and Rob_TO: You guys mention different times (3 weeks vs. 6 months) for being out-of-country to renew a visitor visa. Does anyone know if Canada has a hard-and-fast "You must be out of the country for X days before coming back for a long visit" policy, or is it purely circumstantial?

For instance, after being here for a two-week visit, then States for a month, and back in Canada for four months, would I get an insta-RedFlag if I attempted to come back as a visitor for six months if I'd only been in the States for another month?

As far as I'm aware, technically you could go home and come back later that day for another six months ( flagpoling) . Your 6 months resets as soon as you leave. However, they may look a tad cross wise. Maybe the others with more experience could clarify on that respect.
My canadian fiance and I (a Can-Am relationship as well ) are together almost constantly. I stay for 3wks-1 month then I go Home for a wk or so to take care of business. They don't seem to mind. We have a well established relationship and have been doing this for 19 months. I have a seasonal job I do but I don't own any properties.
Some times I cross with him, some times with my parents. They tend to ask more questions when I'm with him. But not so much now. These are my experiences mind you and every relationship and every IO is different. Maybe I have been lucky. My advice is to always be straightforward and confident and you should be ok. Show ties to the US and means to take care of yourself in Canada and you shouldn't have a problem. And make sure that you are clear that you are just visiting. Anyone can add their own info or correct me. Best of luck.

 

[Rob_TO]

Ah - good points. Thank you all!

Honjooshi and Rob_TO: You guys mention different times (3 weeks vs. 6 months) for being out-of-country to renew a visitor visa. Does anyone know if Canada has a hard-and-fast "You must be out of the country for X days before coming back for a long visit" policy, or is it purely circumstantial?

Hi, i just mentioned 6 months since that is the "standard" length visa they usually issue for people visiting Canada. Close to when the 6 months are up, you would need to exit/re-enter the country, or apply for a visa extension.

As to exactly how the exit/re-entry thing works, best to get advice here from Americans that have gone through the process.