Questions regarding my partner immigrating with me to Canada

[bradie]

For context: I am currently in Canada on a working holiday visa. I'm aiming to do my 12 months of full time paid work to then eventually apply for permanent residence here or find permanent work that I can get a longer term work permit with. Coming out here to work has been a goal of mine for many years and finally this spring came to fruition. However, prior to leaving I got into a serious relationship back home. She knew I was leaving but wanted to pursue it anyway.
She's coming out to visit in September to see if she likes Canada also, and would consider moving here with me if it's possible. We are both UK citizens.

There's a 24 year age gap between us. We have both discussed how neither of us have any desire to be married again (both divorced) and are quite happy that way. We certainly don't want to get married just so it looks good as a spousal application either.

For her to immigrate here with me, how should we best approach it? Would it be better for myself to obtain PR status first? Should we apply together? She is concerned that because of the age gap between us and also her age in general (59) that they would simply deny her the option - does anyone have any experience with that or know how it works?

The relationship is a true and continuing thing so providing evidence of that would be no issues - we even have friends, family and a charity we both volunteered for to vouch for that.


Thank you for taking the time to read through this, any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[scylla]

For context: I am currently in Canada on a working holiday visa. I'm aiming to do my 12 months of full time paid work to then eventually apply for permanent residence here or find permanent work that I can get a longer term work permit with. Coming out here to work has been a goal of mine for many years and finally this spring came to fruition. However, prior to leaving I got into a serious relationship back home. She knew I was leaving but wanted to pursue it anyway.
She's coming out to visit in September to see if she likes Canada also, and would consider moving here with me if it's possible. We are both UK citizens.

There's a 24 year age gap between us. We have both discussed how neither of us have any desire to be married again (both divorced) and are quite happy that way. We certainly don't want to get married just so it looks good as a spousal application either.

For her to immigrate here with me, how should we best approach it? Would it be better for myself to obtain PR status first? Should we apply together? She is concerned that because of the age gap between us and also her age in general (59) that they would simply deny her the option - does anyone have any experience with that or know how it works?

The relationship is a true and continuing thing so providing evidence of that would be no issues - we even have friends, family and a charity we both volunteered for to vouch for that.


Thank you for taking the time to read through this, any input would be greatly appreciated.

It's your choice if you apply for PR first alone and then sponsor her later or if you include her in your application. To eithers sponsor her or include her in your application you must either be married or common law. Common law means you have lived together continuously (without breaks) for at least one full year.

 

[canuck78]

For context: I am currently in Canada on a working holiday visa. I'm aiming to do my 12 months of full time paid work to then eventually apply for permanent residence here or find permanent work that I can get a longer term work permit with. Coming out here to work has been a goal of mine for many years and finally this spring came to fruition. However, prior to leaving I got into a serious relationship back home. She knew I was leaving but wanted to pursue it anyway.
She's coming out to visit in September to see if she likes Canada also, and would consider moving here with me if it's possible. We are both UK citizens.

There's a 24 year age gap between us. We have both discussed how neither of us have any desire to be married again (both divorced) and are quite happy that way. We certainly don't want to get married just so it looks good as a spousal application either.

For her to immigrate here with me, how should we best approach it? Would it be better for myself to obtain PR status first? Should we apply together? She is concerned that because of the age gap between us and also her age in general (59) that they would simply deny her the option - does anyone have any experience with that or know how it works?

The relationship is a true and continuing thing so providing evidence of that would be no issues - we even have friends, family and a charity we both volunteered for to vouch for that.


Thank you for taking the time to read through this, any input would be greatly appreciated.

Realistically you need to be focusing on whether remaining in Canada is a possibility. Depending on your profile it may be more difficult than you think. How will you become common law if you don’t want to get married? This may mean a long period of separation since it can be difficult for even a spouse to join someone on a work permit these days. At 59 there is no way to qualify for PR for your partner on their own. You really need to do more research on pathways to get PR and what scores are needed these days, what type of fields are being prioritized and how long it can take to process WPs and PR applications. You often need to start planning a year in advance and speaking to employers about things like LMIAs. If you know French that would be very helpful if your goal is to remain in Canada.