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So I've been dating my Canadian boyfriend/fiancé for a bit over two years now, and we're starting to feel like the time has come to make it more permanent. We've been pretty lucky so far that we get to spend, relatively, a lot of time together, particularly these last two summers (three months at his place in Ontario, three and a half months with him here in Seattle) but parting is just getting more and more painful and Skyping is barely a band-aid on the real thing. Unfortunately, neither of us has any idea of how to go about my immigrating, particularly on how to get started. We both know a couple people in our friend circle who've done it and they offered tips, so we'll definitely be consulting them as well but it seems like a good idea to ask here as well. The basics: -What? How? Where? The whole process seems so overwhelming. Where, exactly, should we begin? -What do we need to provide? I've heard that we need to provide documentation of our relationship, which is actually great because we've got extensive facebook conversations and absurd amounts of video dating back to the first time we met. -Any particular do's/don't's? Is a dual citizenship more difficult to acquire than simply switching? Does not having an industry job harm my chances? So yeah, any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated, especially in regards to first steps. It seems like there's an awful lot of ducks to get in a row.
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Sep 22, 2015 20:09
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| # ? May 2, 2024 00:25 |
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Canada actually has really good websites about nearly every aspect of federal government. You can find detailed information about how to do pretty much anything really quick and easy. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp Getting some degree of actually married is a good first step.
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Sep 23, 2015 11:07
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Do either of you make any money? It's likely to be a lot easier if at least one of you is a doctor or laywer or computer programmer, rather than if you're both bringing down minimum wage at Taco Bell.
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Sep 25, 2015 10:38
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You may or may not find this relevant, but I hope you at least find it funny.
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Sep 25, 2015 18:09
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I sponsored my wife a couple years back. At the time, the processing only took 1 year, it might be longer now last I read. Here's the run down. First you need to get married, I just did a small event (6 people) for the marriage certificate signing and then did a proper reception with everyone a year later. There's a huge application package which is broken into a couple steps and they have instructions for you to go through, but the government will first look at your husbands income to make sure he is not a bum and he doesn't have a wife in another city\province. The government then looks at your application and ask information about you and your family. They want to make sure this is not a marriage sham, you're not a convict, you don't have another husband and you don't have some disease that will rape the taxpayers for treatment once you arrive here. You will have to get a medical check and police clerance for any countries you've lived for over a year after the age of 16. The paperwork takes some time to put togeather but a lot of it is just waiting. Avoid importing your car because it's a pain in the rear end, I went through this. You will need some proof of evidence, I just had a lot of pictures and that was fine. I would suggest getting married though as soon as possible and just get the paper work in. This (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/) says 17 months to process. During the application, you are still able to visit each other. The other way is come to Canada as a "visitor" and don't leave. You then apply. but I would not recommend this as you just sit there, can't work and probably end up just having a lot of sexy time. You don't qualify for the health care, so you don't want to get pregnant.. If you leave anytime during the application process, it's voided as well. (You still have to be married for this as well though.) After all your paper work is done though, you just cross the border and say you're landing as a permanent resident, they go through some quick 20min process and you're on your way. You arrive at your province of residence, technically you're not covered for health care until 3 months of living there. (You might want to get some private insurance during this time.) You apply for your drivers license, social security number, drink lovely tim hortons coffee and learn to say thank you for anything and everything. It will cost roughly $1500 to $2000 for the paperwork and medical checks. Also, for what it's worth.. me and my wife decided to move back to the US after 2 years in Canada. Depending where in Canada, it's definitely a lot more expensive and in general work wages are lower to the US, now even worse because of the exchange rate. lol internet. fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Feb 24, 2016 |
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Feb 24, 2016 20:18
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lol internet. posted:You arrive at your province of residence, technically you're not covered for health care until 3 months of living there. (You might want to get some private insurance during this time.) Private insurance just in case isn't a bad idea, but important to note that this waiting period is only the case in Ontario and BC. Every other province has decided that a waiting period for healthcare services is unconstitutional and everyone in those provinces is eligible for healthcare immediately upon establishing residency, citizen or not. Also, if you do happen to get pregnant, in Ontario and I think also in BC you are eligible for free midwifery care on the government's dime from the moment you become a resident, whether or not you're a citizen and whether or not you have OHIP coverage. You can also access primary healthcare through Community Health Centres if you're uninsured.
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Feb 24, 2016 23:35
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Dogfish posted:Private insurance just in case isn't a bad idea, but important to note that this waiting period is only the case in Ontario and BC. Every other province has decided that a waiting period for healthcare services is unconstitutional and everyone in those provinces is eligible for healthcare immediately upon establishing residency, citizen or not. Heh, I've only lived in BC and Ontario :p
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Feb 25, 2016 01:01
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My buddies went through this, their best advice was to shell out a small consulting fee for an immigration lawyer. Made their application smoother than that of the several other couples I know who have tried/are trying. I think they paid a total of 300/400 or so, and they estimate it took about 6 months off their application process and outright saved them from a couple big errors. The person they got laid out the process from start to finish and made sure they were on the most efficient track. This is a couple who lived common law through most of university though, so experience may not apply. I remember they had to fill out an 80 odd application that included pictures from every stage of their relationship, submitted shared bank account and rental statements going back a couple years, things like that are incredibly important. Any big life contracts of any kind, make sure you have both your signatures on them and keep several backup copies.
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Feb 25, 2016 04:31
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My wife is from the States and I'm Canadian, we've been living in Canada for over 3 years now. Do you guys have a decent job or education? The whole process is pretty expensive and long. We got around a lot of the headaches because my wife got a good job and got a working visa. Most of the details have already been mentioned in this thread but I'm just going to say that it is a huge pain in the rear end and it's a process you will need to commit to. Luckily it seems you guys are already used to being apart and waiting on the visa will be a bit easier. Your partner can live with you up to 6 months as a visitor but can't work. Also you need to be married and have a marriage certificate which takes a few months after you get married to receive. I strongly suggest you guys talk to a lawyer for advice.
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Feb 25, 2016 06:06
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I did this. It took a couple of years and reams of paperwork. We were also lucky in that we had extensive IRC conversations while we were apart and records and plane tickets from all the visits we had with each other, plus heaps of photos and the wedding guest list etc. It took a crazy long time to get all the poo poo together, but once we did, it was fairly quick to be approved (I am a New Zealand citizen, may differ for non-commonwealth countries). My (now-ex, lol) husband took care of most of the paperwork, but I had to get medical checks and write a statement about our relationship. While waiting for my residency I was not entitled to work or to receive subsidized medical care, so the Canadian partner should be able to support a non-working spouse. As a resident I am also not entitled to welfare, but am entitled to provincial medical coverage in BC. Although I am sad that the marriage didn't work out in the end, I am glad to have Canadian residency as Canada is a really cool country and I would like to move back and live there.
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Feb 25, 2016 06:25
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