US citizen wants to go to Canada with Canadian spouse, immigration process??

[Cornelia]

Hello,

This is my situation. I am in a serious relationship for 3 years with my significant other. He is Canadian, actually he is dual (he is USA citizen as well). I am USA citizen. He has been living in US for 20 years. We are both physicians and we are currently working here (USA). He would like to return to Canada and he wants me to go with him and get married. We would like to work as physicians in Canada if we go there. Please, I will appreciate any help with information concerning the immigration process and what we should do. And also we would like to know if the immigration process would be the same for married couples or those who are living together in a serious long-term relationship.

Thanks!

 

[rhcohen2014]

my suggestion is to go to the family sponsorship forum on this site, and search the threads there. a lot of your questions can be answered by doing some research.

the process is not easy or is it fast, even when married. currently, spouses applying for PR status in canada are landing in 8-10 months, some are taking 12 months, and a few are taking 6 months. Outland applicants (Which is the only way a US citizen should apply) can enter canada as a visitor ONLY and stay there during the duration of the process by applying for extensions. Visitors can not work while in canada.

Now, since you are medical professionals, you may actually qualify to apply for a work permit. The best place to start is the CIC website and take the survey to see what you qualify for. The process is also pretty lenghty i believe. Getting a work permit will not give you permanent status, rather it's temporary, so it's not a solution to being together long term. It is a way to have legal status and be able to work in canada.

Since you are married to a canadian, i would suspect the best way to PR status is applying under spousal sponsorship. It's important to remain realistic in the fact that you may have to spend time a part from your spouse.

 

[Cornelia]

Thank you very much for this information. I really appreciate it! Have a nice day.