Where to Start?!

[Aisuruu]

Hi there! This is my first post on this forum, so I hope someone may be able to help me!

I'm in a LDR with my boyfriend who lives in Canada, specifically Toronto, and we have been dating for 9 months now. I live in the UK and would very much like to move to Canada to be with him. I've been to Canada twice this year already to visit him (for no longer than 2 weeks at a time) and he is coming to the UK in February for a visit for 3 weeks. After that I would like to start applying for a visa so I can be with him, however I honestly have no idea where to begin. I have been researching online as to what visa I may need etc, and I seem to get a different answer every time!

I believe that I can stay in Canada for 6 months without a visa, but I would also want to be able to work and support myself too, so would it be just a case of applying for a work visa, and then trying to extend my stay around the 4th or 5th month out there? I apologise if the answer is in fact staring me right in the face, but I am really having a hard time understanding all of the visa processes and types, etc and where to start!

Would it be an idea to maybe call the Canadian embassy in London or maybe visit there when I am in London in February?

Any help would be super appreciated! ​

 

[scylla]

If you're the right age, your best bet would be to look into the IEC / Working Holiday visa program which would allow you to come to Canada to work temporarily without first having to find an employer.

Otherwise you could come here as a visitor. No - it's not as easy as just applying for a work permit - it's much more difficult than that. In fact, if you go the visitor route, you should assume you will not be able to work. In order to obtain a work permit you would need to find an employer willing to offer you a full time job and that employer would need to obtain an approved LMIA (permission to hire you). Most employers aren't willing to go through the LMIA process since it's so expensive, long and there's no guarantee of approval at the end. To start, the employer would have to advertise the job for at least a month to prove no Canadian could be found for the role. The employer would then have to submit the LMIA for processing along with a $1,000 fee. Processing can take anywhere from a few weeks to over four months. And again, approval is not guarantee.

Look into the IEC/ Working Holiday Visa program instead.

 

[Aisuruu]

Okay, so I've done a little more research and there seem to be two options from what I can gather:

1 - Work Visa like you suggest

- I believe this lasts a period of 24 months, right? Providing I apply for one and manage to obtain one, I would travel to Canada and live with my boyfriend and his parents - I'm assuming there would be no issues with that - and be able to apply for a job without the company having to go through obtaining a LMIA. After 12 months of being there, and thus being considered a common-law couple with my boyfriend, would he be able to sponsor me for PR?

2 - Go as a visitor for 6 months and try to get an extension to 12 months or more and not work for that time and then have him sponsor me for a PR?

- which I assume would be more difficult as we would have to keep sending in proof that my boyfriend is supporting me financially and such along with a letter from his parents saying that they are also supporting me. Also, if I were to go this route, would I be able to open a bank account there and have my mother (in the UK) put money into that account or would that not go down well?

We're really trying to do this without having to go down the getting married route. How would that work anyway? Would I simply be able to marry him after applying for a licence to do so or would applying for one have to be done out of the country? I'm so sorry that these probably sound like questions with the most simple of answers but I just want to be able to understand everything properly.​

 

[Aisuruu]

Bumping this up~​

 

[krishnalynn]

Okay, so I've done a little more research and there seem to be two options from what I can gather:

1 - Work Visa like you suggest

- I believe this lasts a period of 24 months, right? Providing I apply for one and manage to obtain one, I would travel to Canada and live with my boyfriend and his parents - I'm assuming there would be no issues with that - and be able to apply for a job without the company having to go through obtaining a LMIA. After 12 months of being there, and thus being considered a common-law couple with my boyfriend, would he be able to sponsor me for PR?

2 - Go as a visitor for 6 months and try to get an extension to 12 months or more and not work for that time and then have him sponsor me for a PR?

- which I assume would be more difficult as we would have to keep sending in proof that my boyfriend is supporting me financially and such along with a letter from his parents saying that they are also supporting me. Also, if I were to go this route, would I be able to open a bank account there and have my mother (in the UK) put money into that account or would that not go down well?

We're really trying to do this without having to go down the getting married route. How would that work anyway? Would I simply be able to marry him after applying for a licence to do so or would applying for one have to be done out of the country? I'm so sorry that these probably sound like questions with the most simple of answers but I just want to be able to understand everything properly.​

1 - yes.
2 - yes. You will need proof of living together during this time.

I personally had to show my work permit when getting a bank account but perhaps someone who's lived in Canada on a visitor visa can answer the bank question.