Pulling my hair out!! Canadian wanting to be with American

[yankanuck]

Hi Fellow Immigration Seekers!

I am going a little nuts. My situation is fairly unique as are most situations I have been going through on these threads. Bear with me while I explain!

So, I met my American boyfriend last summer in Canada while working at a restaurant in northern Ontario. Him and his family have spent their summers up there for his entire life. We fell madly in love and I ended up living at his cottage for a couple months at the end of summer and beginning of fall. Then we travelled together for a while. I then went to South America and spent two months away from him. When I got back he came to live with my parents and I for a couple months in Canada while we figured out a plan. I then received a job offer with a May start date so he went back to Florida and I went and lived with him and his family for a couple months. He has decided to go to teachers college, but unfortunately missed the deadlines for Canadian schools and it is MUCH cheaper for him to go in state.

Now, we are trying to figure out our plan for the future. We plan to get married but originally weren't planning until next summer. But then we realized that it takes up to 12 months for me to sponsor him once we are married. We don't want to be apart for another year, especially after getting married when we should be starting our lives together!


Is our only option to get married now and then work on the immigration process while he is in teachers college? What happens if it goes faster than expected, how long do we have before he has to move here?

This is brutal!!! Why does it have to be like this between americans and canadians!! I just want to be with the person I love.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! THANK YOU!

 

[matthewc]

Unless you live together for a year (and so qualify as common-law) your only option is to get married, then sponsor him under the spousal class.

Since he's American, and you're a Canadian citizen you can both travel back and forth to Canada/USA fairly easily, you have it pretty easy by comparison to many. Some people's spouses can't even visit them in Canada until the sponsorship is finalised. CIC does put people through brutal experiences, but a simple US-Canada sponsorship without any complications / appeals involved isn't one of them.

Once they make a decision on the application, the visa they issue will be valid until 1 year after the date of the immigration medical, or until the expiry date of the passport, whichever is sooner. Typically applications like yours can be finalised in 6 months or less, so the visa would be valid for at least 4-5 months. That's the time he will have to land in Canada and become a PR... although there's nothing preventing him from returning to the USA immediately after becoming a PR if he needs to wrap up things there before moving permanently.

 

[yankanuck]

Thank you for your response matthewc!

I am extremely sympathetic to all the situations that are way worse than ours. Its too bad that it has to be like this for people that are in love.

We have decided to get married this summer and start the visa process. Very excited!!

Thanks again!