Hi Everyone,
Some of you have already given me information on this matter but I have some more questions.
My girlfriend and I have been together for 2 years and she will be moving to Canada at the end of 2010 as she has PR gained by her parents when she was younger.
I have been told that she can sponsor me if we live together for a year beforehand.
Will I still need a temporary work visa?
Also, would she need to have a permanent job in Canada before she can sponsor me?
Another question on my mind is whether she would need to land in Canada before me in order to sponsor me or can she apply when we are still in the UK?
By the time we are settled in early 2011, we would have been together for 4 years, what if I want to marry her? Some people have said she would lose her residency.

I hope you can answer my questions

If she has PR status then she must already have 'landed' at some point in the past, most likely with her parents if she got PR status as their dependant. A PR visa is only valid for 12 months after it is issued so if she didn't use it, land, and become a PR within a year of it being issued then it is no longer relevant and you'd both be starting from scratch. As you said you are moving there end of 2010 then she must already be a PR or she isn't moving anywhere.
Given that she is already a Permanent Resident then you should find out when she became one because there are residency requirements linked to maintaining PR status. She needs to live in Canada for (last time I checked which was a while ago) 2 out of any 5 year period. So she should make sure that she doesn't stay outside Canada for more than 3 years from when she landed otherwise she will lose that status.
So presuming she has PR status and it is still valid then she could apply to sponsor you as her spouse if your 2 year relationship can fulfill the requirements of 'common law marriage' which means proving you have been in effect living as a married couple despite not being legally married. So cohabitation for at least a year, shared finances, evidence of relationship, photographs etc. ideally some with family and basically just proving the relationship is genuine and commonlaw.
If you got married then that would be an easier relationship to prove as you don't have the whole varying opinions on commonlaw marriage etc. it is a striaghtforward legal marriage but again you need to show evidence that it is a genuine marriage and relationship and not one of convinience in order to get a visa.
She could sponsor you while being in the UK and then once you get the PR visa you could travel to Canada with her and 'land' at the airport and become a Permanent Resident and et voila.
Theoretically you could move to Canada with her as a visitor and apply from within Canada but that is more complicated as you risk being denied entry to Canada as a visitor if they decide you have no intention of leaving and then you can't legally work until you get an open work permit at a certain point int he application etc. As you have time before you plan to move anyway you should apply while in the UK and get it all done and sorted out before you move there.
Getting married won't affect her PR status if she is already a Permanent Resident. It would affect her if she had the visa, it was still valid, btu she hadn't landed yet as she would no longer be a dependant of her parents and so her visa would be invalid (as far as I am aware) so in that case she should just take a short trip to Canada and land and become a Permanent Resident before you get married. However from the way you say 'got PR from her parents when she was younger' it seems unlikely she would still have a valid unprocessed visa and so must already be a PR.

Hi Dom,

Thought that the below Wiki article on spousal sponsorship may help explain it a bit. Once she is a PR living in Canada, she could either sponsor you as a common-law partner (if you can prove you have lived together for at least a year continuously), or as a spouse if you do marry. Neither way will affect her rights in any way, and you'd have all the rights of a PR once it's granted (i.e. could do any job without a work permit etc).

But, as Wizzard said, that is all dependent on her definitely being a PR - and for that she'll have needed to have kept up her status over the years since she obtained it when younger.

Hope it helps, good luck.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spousa...sorship-Canada

I presume she has maintained her PR status somehow? Either by living outside Canada with a Canadian Citizen or by living in Canada for at least 2 years out of every 5?

Yes, provided she is still a permanent resident (see above)

Yes, if you want to work before your sponsorship is approved. If she is going to sponsor you through the Spouse/Common-Law Partner in Canada Class (as opposed to the Family Class or outside Canada route) then there is in interim approval stage ("approval in principal") and when you reach this you can apply for an open work permit (which allows you to work for any employer. Otherwise you have to get a job offer, have employer obtain an LMO etc to work. Obviously once the application process is finalised and you gain PR you can work without a permit for whoever you want.

No, but if she is only a Permanent Resident (as opposed to a Canadian Citizen) she has to be in Canada to sponsor you (working or not). Only citizens can sponsor their spouse/partner before moving to Canada.

See above. She has to be in Canada to sponsor you (unless she has citizenship).

No, she wouldn't. And the sponsorship process would be the same regardless with the exception that you will need fewer supporting documents to prove your relationship is genuine if you are married.

Hi everyone, I'm the girlfriend!

I'll give you my history so you have a better understanding of what I'm doing.

When I was around 15 years old my parents applied for Canadian residency. Many years later, we finally got approved in 2007 and I landed in Toronto, Canada in March 2008.
Dom was with me at the time and the officer probed Dom for answers too so I'm sure there will be paperwork showing that we have been together since at least March 2008.
I now have my PR card.

I am 21 years old and am finishing University. I will graduate in 2010 and I have until March 2011 to live my 2 years out of 5 in Canada (although I will most likely move sooner than the deadline).

My boyfriend Dom and I don't currently live together but would like to.

I would like to start my new life in Canada (somewhere like Alberta) with my Dom and we are trying to figure out what to do/what route to go down so he can come with me as I will be parting ways with my parents (they have chosen to move to Toronto).

I will like to marry him one day (after we have been together maybe 4 or 5 years) but until that day, we are trying to work out how he can come over with me without being deported!

Any help is much appreciated for us young emmigrants

Hi Maggie, and welcome to the forum.

I would definitely recommend Dom looks at Bunac (just Google it) which would give him a years open work permit for Canada so he could accompany you when you move. Then you could live together for that year and at the end of it you could sponsor him (although he wouldn't be able to work until his PR came through so you'd need to save for him being without work for those few months).

Another option is to live with him before you move out to Canada , and then get him a Bunac for when you move so that he can work. That way you'd get your years living together earlier, so he'd hopefully get his PR through before his Bunac expires. That option seems to make the most sense if you can manage it.

Btw, I would definitely go at least a few months earlier than your 'deadline' date as otherwise you won't be able to leave Canada at all without risking your PR status, and what if you have to fly back to the UK for a family emergency, or want to holiday elsewhere, etc?

Thank you!

I too think living together for my final year at University (which starts this September) would be the best option. I would have graduated around 5 months before my deadline so going straight after that shouldn't be a problem. This would also give leeway if I do need to come back to the UK/or anywhere else for a month or two.

Sounds like a cunning plan! Just make sure you have lots of documentation to prove you've lived together so get all bills in joint names, rental agreement in both names, joint household insurance, joint bank account, etc, etc. You'll need to prove you've lived together as 'man and wife' for at least a year to qualify.

To get Dom a Bunac visa so that he can go to Canada with you and work, he'll need to apply in the December before, and there are only a certain number of visas available so make sure he doesn't leave it too late to apply.

Best of luck.