UK Common-Law Sponsorship

[JAdam]

Hello, I need some advice regarding PR sponsorship for my given circumstances:

I am a UK citizen holding a UK passport, and my girlfriend is a Canadian citizen. We recently lived together in the UK for a period of just over 6 months, but following news of her mother's passing away, she had to return home to Canada; I came too to act as emotional support. We arrived here on the 27th of June and as such my visitor status allows me to stay until the 27th of November. We are not married or engaged, but as of the 22nd of November we will have been living together in a genuine and financially interdependent relationship for a period of one year - long enough for us to be considered common law for the purposes of family-class sponsorship.

That leaves only five days to get everything ready and send our inland application for PR to the CIC.

If we have all the documents ready to send to the CIC on the 22nd, would it be reasonable to assume that I would be under implied status upon their receipt of the application? The last thing I would want would be to be asked to leave Canada at this time despite submission of the application.

Would it be advisable to request an extension of my visitor status prior to submitting the PR application? Or would it be better to take a weekend trip the the USA to 'reset' the visitor status?

 

[kangamoose]

How are you applying? Inland or outland?

Outland definitely has no implied status.

I would advise against making a trip to the states and just send off for the extension. There is always the chance that CBSA will deny you entry or shorten the period of time you can stay. The latter happened to me so in the end I had to apply for the extension anyway...

 

[JAdam]

Inland, for sure. As i'm currently in Canada and would rather not leave given the circumstances I assumed it would be the best way forward.

 

[taffy7]

just extend your visitors visa and stay in Canada and apply outland .

 

[Ponga]

just extend your visitors visa and stay in Canada and apply outland .

Agreed!

An Inland application would make you want to chew your foot off...after waiting for ~ 2 years and then you may STILL not be finished!

The ONLY thing that an Inland application would give you, would be an Open Work Permit after ~ 3-4 months of applying, but you could possibly complete the entire PR process in ~7-9 months by submitting an Outland application (which you can do even if you are in Canada). You wouldn't qualify for the OWP with an Outland application, but for most UK applicants (in Canada), it's a no-brainer.

 

[JAdam]

Agreed!

An Inland application would make you want to chew your foot off...after waiting for ~ 2 years and then you may STILL not be finished!

The ONLY thing that an Inland application would give you, would be an Open Work Permit after ~ 3-4 months of applying, but you could possibly complete the entire PR process in ~7-9 months by submitting an Outland application (which you can do even if you are in Canada). You wouldn't qualify for the OWP with an Outland application, but for most UK applicants (in Canada), it's a no-brainer.

I see, so would an outland application allow me to stay once submitted? Kangamoose's response earlier gave me the impression that you have to wait for an outland application to finish processing before it takes effect. Am I perhaps getting the wrong idea here?

EDIT: Wow, my apologies. I somehow completely disregarded visitor status extension advice.

I do have a few questions regarding the nature of outland applications as I know less about the process than inland applications: Firstly, I have heard that it is possible that you can be called to the office in the country in which you are applying for's office for an interview - is that true?
Secondly, how does one go about applying for an outland application whilst inside of Canada? Do you have to pretend you are in your home country or is it not a concern to them exactly where you made the application?
And finally, can you make multiple applications to extend the visitor status? If the outland application takes 7-9 months and I was only able to get 6 months added initially, would I be able to get an additional 6 months once I reach the end of the extension date?

 

[Rob_TO]

Firstly, I have heard that it is possible that you can be called to the office in the country in which you are applying for's office for an interview - is that true?

Yes it's possible, however the chance for actually requiring an interview is incredibly low for a UK application, probably in the 1-5% range. It's only if they suspect your relationship may not be real.

Secondly, how does one go about applying for an outland application whilst inside of Canada? Do you have to pretend you are in your home country or is it not a concern to them exactly where you made the application?

CIC couldn't care less where the applicant is actually living. "Outland" really just means the visa office is outside of Canada, doesn't matter about the applicant. Can just use all Canadian addresses in the application if you want.

And finally, can you make multiple applications to extend the visitor status? If the outland application takes 7-9 months and I was only able to get 6 months added initially, would I be able to get an additional 6 months once I reach the end of the extension date?

Yes you can apply for extensions as many times as you want, and for visa-exempt applicants they are usually super easy to get. Many people get a full 12 months status if they ask for it.

Just note any trip outside Canada cancels all existing status, and you would basically be entering again as a new visitor with new status, on the trip back. Usually with a PR app in progress though CBSA is very easy on people who are waiting out the process in Canada.

 

[canadianwoman]

I agree with the above posters. It would be better to stay in Canada as a visitor, extending your status as needed, and apply outland.

If you apply inland, it takes a long time, and you are advised to not leave Canada for any reason. It is true that for someone from the UK, being readmitted would be highly likely, but if for some reason you were not let back in, the inland application would be over.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We arrived here on the 27th of June and as such my visitor status allows me to stay until the 27th of November.

Agreed with all of the others. Apply outland and extend your visitor status in Canada.

Also, visitors are generally given 6 months on entry, so unless you were given a visitor record when you entered limiting your stay to 5 months, you actually have until Dec 27th.