South African moving from South Korea with Canadian girlfriend.

[Helgaard]

Hi Everyone!

New to this forum and really need some help and advice from anyone/everyone.

A year ago I met my now girlfriend in South Korea.(She's Canadian and I'm from South Africa) We are both ESL teachers. Last year she was living in another town and in August last year she moved to be in the same town as me. (The schools pay for our housing so we didn't stay together as the apartments are closer to our schools) I have been working abroad now for the past 3.5 years now. For 2 years I was in the United Arab Emirates also working as a teacher and for the past year and half I have been working here in South Korea. We are planning on going to Canada together and settling down there, permanently. We are thinking about doing the Visitor Visa for me first and then extending it afterwards. We found out that I would have to send my South African Passport to the Philippines because it seems the embassy in Seoul do not handle Visitor Visas. (The whole process I believe will take month, excluding getting the paperwork together) I've gone home to South Africa a few times to visit my family through the years etc. but haven't been living/working in South Africa for the past few years but I have a valid and up to date SA passport.

That's our situation and I have a few questions:
When entering Canada on a Visitor Visa it is required that I need a return ticket. Where should I book the return ticket to? The most logical place would be South Africa but we are unsure.

Can we do the sponsoring option because you need to be married for that, right? Also we have only been together as a couple for a little bit over a year now. (We are not married.) We are both kind of young still (she is 26 and I am 27) and she still has to pay off some student debt (hopefully she will be able to find a job there: We will be bringing over some of our saved up funds too when we go there, and we have to stay with her parents until we can find our feet and get a place of our own) I understand I won't be able to work while I am there for a certain period of time before I can start working which might be really frustrating for me. I have looked at one of the cic sites.

It says I might get a criminal check done in South Africa. I did one prior to working in UAE and I had to get Criminal Check in UAE before coming to work in Korea. Should I then get one for all three countries? South Africa, UAE and Korea? Or just for Korea?

Also is it correct that foreigners (Like South Africans) living in South Korea have to send their passport all the way to the Philippines? (I kind of feel naked without it)

Any advice or suggestions or help would be really appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Yes - you'll need a return ticket. It's unlikely the airline will let you board an airplane to Canada without one and it's also much more likely you'll run into issues entering Canada.

She will be able to sponsor you for PR once you are either married or common law. Common law means that you have physically lived together for at least one full year and can prove it.

You will not be allowed to work in Canada as a visitor. If you wish to turn your visitor permit into a work permit, you will need to find an employer who is willing to giver you a job offer, that employer will need to obtain an approved LMO and as part of this process prove they couldn't hire a Canadian for the role - and then you will have to apply for a work permit. It tends to be quite difficult to find employers willing to go through the LMO process. You should expect it will be especially difficult in the education field where there are many qualified Canadians and insufficient open roles.

Once your girlfriend sponsors you for permanent residency, the method you select will determine how quickly you will be able to work. If you apply outland, you won't be albe to work until the process has been completed. If you apply inland, you will qualify for an open work permit at approximately the six month mark.

 

[Rob_TO]

For questions specific to applying for a visitor visa, you can try asking your question here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/visitors-b8.0/

For having a return ticket, the return can be to any destination as long as it is outside of Canada.

Also keep in mind that in getting a visitor visa, it will have an expiry date of most likely 6 months or less. Just before that time is up, you will need to apply to extend that visa. If the request for extension is denied, then you need to be prepared to leave Canada at that time.

In order to stay in Canada, you should think about getting married during your initial stay there, after which you can apply for PR status inland and stay in Canada during the entire process.

You also need to be prepared to not be able to work for a long, long time, since chance of getting work through LMO is very small. Basically after you get married and submit your PR app inland, it would be approx 8 months after that before you can get an open work permit.