PR Application first then get married or Marriage before PR Application

[joeythecat]

my girlfriend is in Canada on a 2 year live in care giver program. I have a few questions about the timing of our marriage.

at the end of May 2017 she will be applying for her open permit and PR. First question, how long will it take to receive both if she just applied single.

Also, we are planning on getting married and want to know how this will effect her application and what steps we would have to take along the way. we are trying to figure out when to tie the knot as so that we can do less damage to her processing. Does she get her Open Permit then we get married and inform the cic of the change in status, our worry is that it will effect her application. She is worried that by changing her status to married, that it will cause delays or even denial of the PR.

I told her that we can get married now and I can sponsor her, but she thinks that it is better to wait for her open permit first.

I am a Canadian Citizen fyi. any help on this matter will be appreciated. thanks

 

[Leon]

Let her get her open permit first and then you can get married. If you sponsor her, it will most likely be faster than the LIC program but if she prefers the LIC program, let her do it. Being married to a Canadian should not affect her application.

 

[joeythecat]

Let her get her open permit first and then you can get married. If you sponsor her, it will most likely be faster than the LIC program but if she prefers the LIC program, let her do it. Being married to a Canadian should not affect her application.

Ok, thank you for the information. Do you know about how long it will take for her to get her open permit? she started the LIC program on May 1st 2015, when can she officially apply for the open permit? does she apply for both the open permit and PR at the same time? I realize that I am asking questions that have probably be answered thousands of times, but with a busy schedule and life I don't have much time to read through hundreds of threads. I really appreciate the help!

 

[Leon]

Ok, thank you for the information. Do you know about how long it will take for her to get her open permit? she started the LIC program on May 1st 2015, when can she officially apply for the open permit? does she apply for both the open permit and PR at the same time? I realize that I am asking questions that have probably be answered thousands of times, but with a busy schedule and life I don't have much time to read through hundreds of threads. I really appreciate the help!

According to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/caregiver/permanent_resident.asp she must have either 24 months of full time employment in the program or she must have at least 22 months and 3900 working hours so if she started on May 1st 2015, the earliest she can apply is March 1st 2017 and then only if she has accumulated 3900 hrs. already. Otherwise she can apply as soon as she accumulates 3900 hrs. after March 1st or at the very latest on May 1st 2017 as long as she has no employment gaps.

She should apply for an open work permit at the same time. The processing time for LIC PR is currently 51 months. The open work permits last time I heard were taking around 4 months.

If you sponsor her as a spouse, she could have her PR faster but she'd have condition 51 on her PR which means she must cohabit with you for at least 2 years after getting her PR. Now, most ppl do not think about the possibility of divorce when they are getting married but it does happen, might be one reason she wants to play it safe.

 

[joeythecat]

According to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/caregiver/permanent_resident.asp she must have either 24 months of full time employment in the program or she must have at least 22 months and 3900 working hours so if she started on May 1st 2015, the earliest she can apply is March 1st 2017 and then only if she has accumulated 3900 hrs. already. Otherwise she can apply as soon as she accumulates 3900 hrs. after March 1st or at the very latest on May 1st 2017 as long as she has no employment gaps.

She should apply for an open work permit at the same time. The processing time for LIC PR is currently 51 months. The open work permits last time I heard were taking around 4 months.

If you sponsor her as a spouse, she could have her PR faster but she'd have condition 51 on her PR which means she must cohabit with you for at least 2 years after getting her PR. Now, most ppl do not think about the possibility of divorce when they are getting married but it does happen, might be one reason she wants to play it safe.

great thanks. how long would it take to get her PR if I sponsor her?

 

[Leon]

great thanks. how long would it take to get her PR if I sponsor her?

Sponsoring a spouse inside Canada is currently around 26 months but she is also eligible for an open work permit with that application. For a spousal inland application she should stay in Canada throughout the processing time. If she leaves Canada, there is no guarantee that they will give her a visa to re-enter and being stuck outside Canada would void her PR application.

Applying outside Canada (even if she is in Canada) would likely be faster, depends on her home country but she would not be eligible for an open work permit.