Someone please help

[ericharveyrees]

My girlfriend was here on vacation and living with me. she got pregnant and is now about to have our baby in wales. she is 19 and a non canadian citizen, I am 18 and living at home and going to college. when we have the baby she will be my common law partner, we do have the intent to marry. SO, being a student i clearly do not meet the 22 000 dollar per year minimum, I was wondering if my mother who works full time could be the co sponsor, and also just generally what should I do in this situation? Btw im a canadian citizen born and raised. I wish to sponsor her but do not have the assets, my whole family and hers are willing to help but first I have to jump through hoops. Thanks for your help

 

[scylla]

There is no minimum income requirement to sponsor a spouse or common law partner. You can go ahead and sponsor your girlfriend once you are either married or common law.

Your mother cannot co-sign.

 

[ericharveyrees]

what does common law entail? we have a son together and we intend to marry, we did live together for a few months at my moms house before she eventually had to go back

 

[Rob_TO]

what does common law entail? we have a son together and we intend to marry, we did live together for a few months at my moms house before she eventually had to go back

You must live together in the same home for 12 consecutive months, with no breaks.

You can only apply to sponsor her if you do this, or if you get married.

 

[ericharveyrees]

how am i supposed to live with her for 12 months if shes only allowed here for 6 months at a time?

 

[Avadava]

A baby born outside of Canada, becomes automatically a Canadian citizen if one of the parents is Canadian citizen at the time of birth. This means that you do not have to sponsor your baby to come to Canada, you just need to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship (you can do this at any embassy or in Canada - but the Canadian parent must be present). In order for the baby to travel to Canada, you can apply for a passport once you have the Certificate of Citizenship.

That being said, the only one that requires to be sponsored is you girlfriend. To qualify for common law, you must have lived together for at least 12 months prior to the application (you will need proof of this). Or, you could get married first and then apply under the spouse category, where there is no requirement of living together.

In both situations you must prove your relationship is genuine, but I don't see any issues since you will have a child together.

Just like scylla said, you do not need minimum income to sponsor your spouse or common law. You can not sponsor only if you are on welfare, in default of a previous undertaking or have been convicted of crimes of violence against family members.

 

[Alurra71]

how am i supposed to live with her for 12 months if shes only allowed here for 6 months at a time?

She can come for 6 months here, extend her visitor status, if able, or you could go there or you could do 6 months here and then 6 months there. It does not matter WHERE you cohabitate for the 12 months, only that you do cohabitate. The only other option is marriage which will negate the necessity of living together for 12 months prior to application submittle.

 

[ericharveyrees]

thank you so much everyone, i cant go live over there, I have to complete college here and how often are visitors statuses extended?

 

[Avadava]

how am i supposed to live with her for 12 months if shes only allowed here for 6 months at a time?

A lot of people have this problem, that's why they get married instead. Obviously, you cannot go live with her in Wales because you are in school.

The best solution would be that she comes to Canada after the baby is born, you get married and apply inland. Once your application is filled, she can extend her 6 month visa based on that application. She could also apply for an Open Work Permit at the same time with the Spouse application, and she will be able to work while she is waiting for the PR.

EDIT: I'm so slow at writing, that 3 replies get posted before I'm done. Sorry if I'm repeating what other people already said.

 

[Avadava]

thank you so much everyone, i cant go live over there, I have to complete college here and how often are visitors statuses extended?

That depends on the visa officer. There are always chances it will get refused, but having a PR application on the roll, improves the chances her visa will be extended. I've read some people had it extended three times even.

 

[Rob_TO]

The best solution would be that she comes to Canada after the baby is born, you get married and apply inland. Once your application is filled, she can extend her 6 month visa based on that application. She could also apply for an Open Work Permit at the same time with the Spouse application, and she will be able to work while she is waiting for the PR.

Applying inland she would need to wait 11 months before getting just stage 1 approval and the open work permit.

Applying outland through the London visa office, her entire PR could probably be completed in less than that time.

For visa-exempt applicant, applying outland is almost always the preferred method.

 

[ericharveyrees]

so if me and my girlfriend have lived together already for some time and have our baby and plan on living together when she gets back here, are we considered common law, keep in mind the phrase "relationship of some permanance"

 

[Alurra71]

so if me and my girlfriend have lived together already for some time and have our baby and plan on living together when she gets back here, are we considered common law, keep in mind the phrase "relationship of some permanance"

no, your previous 'living together' means absolutely nothing to gain common law. you have essentially 'lost' that time. Also, having a baby means nothing as far as common law. By CIC standards, in order to be considered common law and to apply as common law spouses the couple MUST cohabitate for a continuous 12 months with little or NO time spent apart. A weeks vacation would be fine, but the months she has spent back 'home' will not qualify you. There is no easy way for you to try and circumvent this. Either you will live with her for a continuous 12 month time span and then apply for common law sponsorship after the 12 months are up OR you will legally marry her and sponsor her under spousal immediately. Those are the only 2 options available to you.

 

[canadianwoman]

so if me and my girlfriend have lived together already for some time and have our baby and plan on living together when she gets back here, are we considered common law, keep in mind the phrase "relationship of some permanance"

Normal usage of the term common law might mean that, but each government department has its own official definition. For CIC, you and your girlfriend must have lived together for 12 months in a row (with no long breaks) to be common law. You have to prove those 12 months, and you have to prove your relationship is genuine. The baby will help with proving the genuineness part, but will not help proving the common law 12 months part.