Laurier said:
Leon ... thank you so much again
just to clarify in my mind something about this ... my new partner is afraid of this professional couple. They said they will call the police if she leaves them. That brings up the question of who is in the wrong here? Is it my new partner for working illegally? or is it the professional couple for having my partner work for them without a work permit? She is genuinely afraid of being deported if this couple call the police. I think the best solution is for me to sponsor her and/or support her on her visitor's visa or a new visa if needed. If a new visitor's visa is needed , how much time does it take to get that approved? and without risking the professional couple trying to deport my new partner in the process?
In any event I'm gonna see an immigration lawyer ASAP , I feel my new partner has been threatened into doing what she's doing. She is so meek and shy and she does not know her rights.
What are they going to say to the police if they call? That they have had a babysitter working for them illegally for 4 years, paying her peanuts and having her on call 24/7 and her crime is running away from the situation? I think they would be in more trouble than she would. Yes, she would probably be in trouble if they can prove that she worked illegally but so would they for hiring her.
She could tell them if she leaves that if they are going to call the police and lie about something to cause her trouble, she can lie too. She can also tell them that she plans to sue them for unpaid wages, minimum wage for 4 years, however many hours she has worked. I don't suppose they have been paying her that much. I have no idea if she would actually win a case like that because she was working illegally but it might work to intimidate them. Of course they do not want to lose their cheap babysitter but if they realize that they will lose her anyway and that reporting her will harm themselves just as much, they might think twice.
If she were to get deported, you might have a problem because you would have a hard time living with her for 12 months to establish a common law relationship. That means you would either have to marry which means you have to wait for her divorce and figure out her marital status before you can do that or you could try for a conjugal application which means you must have had a marriage-like relationship for at least a year and be kept apart by immigration barriers and inability to get married.
She could also do this differently. Next time she leaves, she can call them and tell them she is not coming back. She can say that her family in the Philippines needs her to stay, elderly parent, aunt or uncle, sick brother or sister. They will think she is back there and they will have no way of reporting her or getting her deported because she is not in Canada. Also no reason to because it will not bring anything. They have no hold on her.
If she still has a valid multiple entry visit visa, she can then come back with it without them knowing it. If she doesn't have a multiple entry visa, then she can apply for a visit visa herself, even without sponsorship. After all, she's been coming and going for 4 years and as far as immigration knows, she has not overstayed so I am sure they trust her to give her a visa. Sponsorship from a boyfriend is not as good because they may think she will overstay then. Instead, you can put some money in her account so she can show funds of her own if needed.
Then she comes back and moves in with you and stays out of this couples way. They will not know that she is back and can therefore not report her for anything.
