Sponsoring from Inside Canada

[RTodorova]

Hey everyone,

I am currently a Fashion Student in Toronto, ON.
My husband and I got married here in July - he is from Canada and I hold a Bulgarian Passport.
Given that I am still on a Student's Visa until December, what are the requirements/paperwork needed for us to fill out (specific links to those, if possible) in order for us to start the sponsorship and permanent residency process.
Anyone with a similar experience?
We would like to deal with this while I am still here and avoid having to leave the country, as I am excelling in the Fashion Industry and have job offers that would not like to miss.
Thank you and look forward to your feedback!

 

[Maid_Marian]

Hi!
As you're married, you can start the sponsorship process right away. I'm currently being sponsored as a common-law partner, so we had to wait until we'd lived together for a year. In fact, our immigration advisor recommended we get married so that we could apply sooner, but it wasn't the right decision for us!

You will apply under the Family Class. Here's the page you need, it leads to all the relevant documents: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

I don't think it matters that you're on a student visa at the moment, I was on a temporary workers visa and there was no problem with us applying. If you apply inland, the overall process is quite long (12-18 months til you get PR), but you do get a work permit after the first stage of the application is approved (about 6-8 months). So there WILL be a gap, which is something you need to be prepared for. I'm not super-knowledgeable about inland applications, as we're applying outland, so you may be best posting on the specific Inland 2011 thread which is on here. They will know much more.

You could opt to process Outland, which may be quicker (you'd need to check processing times for your specific country - these are on the CIC website). One thing to note about processing Inland is that it's strongly recommended that you stay in Canada for the duration of the process - if you leave, they may refuse you re-entry.

Good luck!