Very Confusing situation, Need feedback for my filipina fiancee

[qwertyko26]

I am an American citizen, with a canadian citizenship card (father was canadian)

ive only ever visited canada. ive actually been living in the Philippines for the past 6 years.

I now wish to move to Canada to live and work with my partner, she is a filipina, now down to the issue


i have about $60,000 canadian in an account.
I cannot decide which would be the SAFEST way to bring my future wife with me.
A. get married in the Philippines
B. file as a common law partner

and would my current situation effect me as a sponsor? never living in canada
and only having $60,000 with no work experience IN canada?

i just need information on how i could possibly go about doing this.
i want to spend the least amount of time apart, but i just want to make SURE that she doesnt get rejected.

also in what ways would she be able to get a temporary visa to come visit me while I am in canada and
the visa is being processed? what should i avoid to not get rejected,
what is the average amount of time?


To those who reply, thank you so much for taking time from your day to help resolve my issue,
I don't want to mess things up and spend years away from my fiancee.



Jason Winter

 

[canadianwoman]

I cannot decide which would be the SAFEST way to bring my future wife with me.
A. get married in the Philippines
B. file as a common law partner

To sponsor her as your common-law partner, you must have lived with her for one year or more. You need proof of this one year of cohabitation: both names on a lease or mortgage, both names on utility bills, mail addressed to both of you at the same address, affidavits from the landlord, neighbours, roommates, relatives and friends stating that you live together, joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, each other named as beneficiaries on insurance, etc. Some of this may be hard or impossible to get where you are. If you feel you don't have enough evidence that you have lived together for a year, getting married means you do not have to prove this cohabitation. However, married or common-law, you still do have to prove that your relationship is genuine.

and would my current situation effect me as a sponsor? never living in canada
and only having $60,000 with no work experience IN canada?

Your savings are enough to show you can support yourselves at first. In any case you do not need any minimum income or savings to sponsor a spouse or partner, you just have to show you can support yourselves once you get to Canada.
Since you are a Canadian citizen, you can live abroad while sponsoring your spouse or partner, but you have to prove you will go back to Canada to live once she gets the PR card. This is where your situation will make your application more complicated. Since you have never lived in Canada, the visa officer will need much more proof from you that you will go to live in Canada, than he/she would require from the average sponsor. Still, you just need to write a plan about how you are going to establish yourself in Canada: where you are going to live and the arrangements made for your accommodations, how you will find a job, etc.

also in what ways would she be able to get a temporary visa to come visit me while I am in canada and
the visa is being processed?

Once the PR application has been submitted it is almost impossible to get a temporary visa. She will have to prove she will leave Canada at the end of her temporary visa, so she has to show ties to the Philippines: such as a job and a letter from her boss giving her a vacation and saying she is expected back, money in the bank, a return ticket, a lease or mortgage, enrollment in school (best if the fees have been paid in advance), a child left behind, etc. Even with all this, people are usually rejected.
She will have a better chance if she applies for a temporary visa before the PR application is submitted.

what is the average amount of time?

PR applications from the Philippines usually take less than a year. Because your relationship has lasted so long, the likelihood is that she will be accepted.

 

[qwertyko26]

Wow thank you so much for the very useful information, in any situation would it be better to get married before applying all of this?

Thank you Canadianwoman!

 

[canadianwoman]

If you do not have much evidence that you have lived together for a year, then getting married will be better. If you do have a lot of evidence of cohabitation, then either married or common-law should be OK.

 

[qwertyko26]

what would be considered proof besides assets? seeing as we are both still young, we do have tons of pictures, our own little journal, emails, facebook, phone logs and so on, would that suffice?

 

[qwertyko26]

ALSO , this is a very important question,

the stated amount that i have is actually going to be from my house being sold, now, there is already a buyer, but my question is, is it safe and okay to start to file her application while the money isnt in my account YET? (completed payment of the house will be in june), so i was wondering about speeding up the process and starting her application while we wait for the money to arrive. or is the "show money" step going to be 1 of the first things they ask for?

 

[canadianwoman]

what would be considered proof besides assets? seeing as we are both still young, we do have tons of pictures, our own little journal, emails, facebook, phone logs and so on, would that suffice?

These things are good evidence to show your relationship is genuine. You also need to prove you lived together for a year (or are married). They want hard evidence of the cohabitation, such as a lease, bills, etc.

Facebook and emails are dated, so if you have some where it is obvious from the content that you are living together, then they can be used as proof of the cohabitation and the genuineness of the relationship.

You don't really need to show money in the bank - the money would just help show you can support the two of you when you first get back. So you could apply now and then send proof of the money in the bank later, to be added to your file. You could include n the application proof you own the house and add a letter explaining you are planning to sell it so you will have start-up money in Canada.

 

[qwertyko26]

Hmm this makes things complicated, because in the Philippines theres not much you have to split lol, theres only 1 name on any house hold bills. all we would have is friends and family stating that we do live together (seeing as she lives here with me in a house under my mothers name).

Now would you suggest conjugal? or is the chances of her failing under that visa class to risky?
weve actually been living together for a year, til she moved back to her parents house for the past 4 months due to now is the only time they came home in the last 10 years. but she is coming back within the next month.

a reason we could possibly use for conjugal visa is her religion, shes apart of that religion in where if she marries someone who is NOT apart of that religion she will be kicked out and weird stuff like that.

Sorry about all the questions thank you for helping, you really will make a HUGE difference in our lives.

 

[canadianwoman]

Hmm this makes things complicated, because in the Philippines theres not much you have to split lol, theres only 1 name on any house hold bills. all we would have is friends and family stating that we do live together (seeing as she lives here with me in a house under my mothers name).

You can also use mail that is addressed to either of you or both of you. If your name appears on one bill at that address, and hers on another bill at the same address, that can work too.
If official things like bills and a lease/mortgage/house deed are not available, get affidavits from friends, family, and anyone 'official' such as your priest, etc., doctor, whoever knows you both in an official capacity. You can also show joint bank accounts and credit cards. If either of you has insurance or a will with the other named as a beneficiary, this is also good evidence.

Now would you suggest conjugal? or is the chances of her failing under that visa class to risky?
weve actually been living together for a year, til she moved back to her parents house for the past 4 months due to now is the only time they came home in the last 10 years. but she is coming back within the next month.

Conjugal is harder to prove than common law. Basically you have to prove your lives are intertwined as if you were married: without a joint lease, bills, joint bank accounts, etc., this is hard to show. As well, conjugal is really for people who can't get married or who can't live together for one year to apply as common-law. Since you were living together, this does not apply to you. Not wanting to live together for some reason is not good enough: there has to be some reason why you can't.

a reason we could possibly use for conjugal visa is her religion, shes apart of that religion in where if she marries someone who is NOT apart of that religion she will be kicked out and weird stuff like that.

She could still apply as common-law, since her religion did not prevent her from living with you before.

Getting married and applying as married would be the easiest in terms of proof. But lots of people have gotten a PR based on a common-law application even though they didn't have all the financial proof CIC might want. The visa officers in Manila are aware that certain kinds of evidence are uncommon there.

 

[qwertyko26]

thanks for the quick reply, well yes actually most of the examples you listed are actually rare here. guess well just have to get married here instead. Actually her religion never knew we lived together, if they had found out that would have been a big issue.

Thanks again, i think we will go ahead with the spousal visa instead, to make thigns easier.