Newbie

[paytons]

Hi. I'm totally new here and have a few questions. Apologies in advance if there is a recent thread answering these questions.

My boyfriend and I met online six months ago. He is currently unemployed in his country (USA).

He came to canada may 1st and we decided after the first week to reschedule his flight and have him stay two months.

We would like to marry and apply for pr for him.

1. Is it better for him to stay in country after this is done or go home and wait out the application process.

I am worried that if he leaves the country they might not let him back in when he next comes to visit (the plan would be for him to go home for a week and then come back).

2. He has two children 17 & 20 that will be included in the application. Is 22 the age for application date or 22 the max age for a dependent at the time of approval?

3. Anything else I should know that's at top of mind?

I've read through the CIC pages and will hire a lawyer here to help with the process but my ideal is to have an idea re timeline as well as to minimize the time he has to be away (I'd miss him too much for him to be gone months in a row and can't vacation to fly there and stay with him)

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

Payton

 

[Ponga]

Hi. I'm totally new here and have a few questions. Apologies in advance if there is a recent thread answering these questions.

My boyfriend and I met online six months ago. He is currently unemployed in his country (USA).

He came to canada may 1st and we decided after the first week to reschedule his flight and have him stay two months.

We would like to marry and apply for pr for him.

1. Is it better for him to stay in country after this is done or go home and wait out the application process.

I am worried that if he leaves the country they might not let him back in when he next comes to visit (the plan would be for him to go home for a week and then come back).

2. He has two children 17 & 20 that will be included in the application. Is 22 the age for application date or 22 the max age for a dependent at the time of approval?

3. Anything else I should know that's at top of mind?

I've read through the CIC pages and will hire a lawyer here to help with the process but my ideal is to have an idea re timeline as well as to minimize the time he has to be away (I'd miss him too much for him to be gone months in a row and can't vacation to fly there and stay with him)

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

Payton

Getting married now and then applying for Spousal Sponsorship is certainly an option, but be prepared to possibly have your relationship scrutinized a bit more than most couples. If you just met, for the first time, earlier this month and are already contemplating marriage, this could raise a red flag...albeit perhaps a little tiny one, but a flag nonetheless.

1. He is better off to apply with an Outland application as it is substantially faster than an Inland application. He can continue to be in Canada (even with an Outland application) but he must maintain his visitor status, which is not that difficult.

Why would you be worried that he would be denied re-entry if he were to leave Canada? Unless he's found to be inadmissible, chances are good that he could return, but for how long...is unknown. Typically, Americans (or anyone from a visa-exempt country) are allowed 6 months, unless told otherwise at the time of entry.

2. Application (received) date, not approval date. This is also known as your `locked-in date', per se.

3. Yes. Research this site ad nauseam and take in as much as you can!


Lastly...Are you sure that you need a lawyer? If you take your time and do your homework, it's not that bad to do it all yourself...with the help of the community here, of course.

Good luck!

 

[rhcohen2014]

since you are not married yet, being denied entry is possible if he travels to canada too frequently and can't prove any ties to the US (lease/mortgage or paystubs/work contract). Once you are married, they will be more lenient on you since you will be able to show them your intentions to apply for PR. This is from my own experience, as i was refused entry when i was dating my husband, and received an exclusion order. Obviously, every situation is different, and it depends on the border agents he encounters, so this may not happen to him. Again, he really needs to be prepared to prove his ties to the US as it will alleviate any concerns about whether he plans to overstay or attempt to work while there as a visitor. Belongings and family are NOT strong enough ties.

He can be in canada when you send in the outland application, which is siginficantly faster... definitely APPLY OUTLAND! If he travels back and forth and can't prove ties to the US, they can limit the amount of time he is allowed to stay there until they see he's married to you and has started the application. You can apply for an extension of his visit and request 6 mo or 1 year so he can stay for the duration of the process. Many people do this and are successful. IT just means he can't work or study while there. If he can get a remote job for a US employer, that is the optimal situation. CBSA love to see that someone is not going to try to steal work from a canadian, and working remotely gives that assurance.

 

[MaxLet]

Hi. I'm totally new here and have a few questions. Apologies in advance if there is a recent thread answering these questions.

My boyfriend and I met online six months ago. He is currently unemployed in his country (USA).

He came to canada may 1st and we decided after the first week to reschedule his flight and have him stay two months.

We would like to marry and apply for pr for him.

1. Is it better for him to stay in country after this is done or go home and wait out the application process.

I am worried that if he leaves the country they might not let him back in when he next comes to visit (the plan would be for him to go home for a week and then come back).

2. He has two children 17 & 20 that will be included in the application. Is 22 the age for application date or 22 the max age for a dependent at the time of approval?

3. Anything else I should know that's at top of mind?

I've read through the CIC pages and will hire a lawyer here to help with the process but my ideal is to have an idea re timeline as well as to minimize the time he has to be away (I'd miss him too much for him to be gone months in a row and can't vacation to fly there and stay with him)

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

Payton

Hi!
Just a few advices:
1. Do not hire a lawyer. You dont have a difficult case (criminality, arranged marriage, etc). Like Ponga said, if you read all carefully and you are not afraid to ask questions here, it can be easily done. Lawyers charge a lot. Unless you are ready to spend your money....
2. I will suggest you applied outland. Ottawa (who deals with usa sponsorship, is one of the fastest. Inland process is really long!)
3. Why dont you wait a bit before applying? your relationship is really young (only 6 months). How many times have you seen each other, how long have you stayed together? Is there a chance he can come to canada and stay a few months to proof cohabitation? You do not qualify as common-law so your only option is to get married, altough, you have to be ready for CIC to redflag you instantly...means that you will most probably have interviews to determine if your relation is real. Also, be ready to have a lot lot lot of proof.

think about it and let us know if we can be of more help..

good luck, God bless

 

[paytons]

Thanks Ponga. I hadn't known it would be ideal to wait after marriage to start the application process.

We've spent 22+ hours a day together for the past seven months (only the last month in person however) and are keen to get our new lives together started.

As he's jobless, I guess customs gave him a hard time last time he entered the country. I would hope they'd let him in again, but if he says "I'm married and coming to see my wife for six months, there's an application in progress" I'd worry they'd tell him no can do.

Thanks for your other suggestions. I will likely hit up a lawyer (at least for a consult) to make sure all of my i's are dotted and t's crossed.


RhCohen - would it be simpler for us to marry and him return home in a few months as planned and then fly back a few weeks after? We will defs send the outland application.

I'm okay with the interviews that may come along...but for now, he's staying 3 months and will go home for a week or two with plans to return after that. There's no HUGE rush, but he wants to go back to school which requires PR here as international student fees are $$$$ so we'd figured the sooner, the better as we know this is what's meant to be

Thanks again for all the advice, I'll defs reconsider the lawer end of things and if anyone has anything else to add, I'm all ears

 

[paytons]

Two more likely dumb questions ....

From what I can see, processing time in canada is 10/8 months and in the US (New York) it's 47days/30 months. Am I missing something regarding processing times?

And ... he didn't get a time limit when he came into the country but I'm going to gather they noted his departure date in a system perhaps? Is there something I need to send in to let CIC know he's staying longer?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Two more likely dumb questions ....

From what I can see, processing time in canada is 10/8 months and in the US (New York) it's 47days/30 months. Am I missing something regarding processing times?

And ... he didn't get a time limit when he came into the country but I'm going to gather they noted his departure date in a system perhaps? Is there something I need to send in to let CIC know he's staying longer?

US PR apps are processed in Ottawa, which averages about 8-10 months for straightforward apps.

If the border officer didn't stamp his passport with an exit date, then he can stay for 6 months. You don't need to send anything in.

As others have said above, it would be better to wait a bit before marrying and applying. 5 months online and one month in person is rushing it a bit, even for a Canadian-American relationship.

 

[paytons]

Thanks Canuk (I just had him to check his passport and he's just got an entry date-lol)!

I think the plan now is to have him stay for awhile, then return home to take care of things and come back in 6 month stints until his PR is approved, the wedding will happen when it happens!

 

[rhcohen2014]

RhCohen - would it be simpler for us to marry and him return home in a few months as planned and then fly back a few weeks after? We will defs send the outland application.

I really can't tell you for sure, as every situation is different, and it truly depends on the border agent you encounter. some will see the plan, like it and let you in, others will be more difficult. From my experience, they prefer when people who are visiting frequently stay in their home country longer period of times. Again, there are people who have success only making quick trips back home. Think of it from the border agent's position. Why would someone from the US be "visiting" their wife so much and spending little time at home. It screams "no significant ties".

Like i said, from my experience they are a lot friendlier with me now that we are married and i have an application in for pr. Having him say, "i'm visiting my fiance, we plan to get married xxx and have started the paperwork to apply for my pr after we get married" will actually help him. They want to see he is following the rules, and not trying to make his own. I can't be the one to tell you what's going to work best in your situation. It depends what information they already have entered into their system about your fiance, if any, and of course the agent he gets. If he gets pulled into secondary, they will note his responses in their system and question him to confirm the answers whenever he crosses. He may be lucky and have no issue at all when crossing. It's hard to know for sure until you get there unfortunately.