Im not so sure. Lets see what the experts have to say

I suppose it depends what you mean by "resident". Does she physically live here, yes. Does she file a tax return here, no.

You asked why something is allowed. I was teasing, we cannot know why things are allowed or not allowed as there's neither rhyme nor reason to laws.

If she is present more than 183? days then she at the very least should be filing taxes.

Before you can complete your Canadian income tax return, you must first
determine your residency status.

Were you a non-resident in 2004?

You were a non-resident of Canada for tax purposes in 2004 if you did not have
residential ties in Canada and:

- you lived outside Canada throughout the year (except if you were a deemed
resident as defined on this page); or
- you stayed in Canada for less than 183 days in the year.

What are residential ties?

Residential ties include:

- a home in Canada;
- a spouse or common-law partner (see the definition in your tax guide) and
dependants who stayed in Canada;
- personal property, such as a car or furniture in Canada; and
- social ties in Canada. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/t4058/README.html

It would be advantageous if she could file a tax return here as I could split my income so as to take advantage of her allowances, something I do with the children, but I don't know that she can file; she has no SIN. I don't think she can apply for a SIN without being resident. I did run that by the immigration lawyer a while back but he just laughed, presumably Americans don't usually rush to pay Canadian taxes and generally try to avoid being deemed resident.

Thats because if she tried to get a SIN you would find that she has in fact been staying illegally, regardless of how you want to dress it up.

Either she is breaking immigration laws, or tax and revenue laws, or quite possibly both. I would be off to speak to a lawyer again if I were you. Good Luck.

Well I wish you both luck. Perhaps BC is a little tighter on the cross border regulations - who knows.

You have THAT one absolutely right!!!

Thank you for the good wishes, it would nice not to be in this nebulous state as it's rather a bother and the tax break would be great. We'll get there eventually.

That was my point. I don't know CIC's definition but I'd be pretty certain that having your principal residence in Canada and only a mailing address care of your parents in the US means you are a "resident".

I filed Canadian returns with no SIN, the accountant used my UK National Insurance number, there was a box on the forms marked "Foreign SIN". I then got a SIN in the UK without being resident, but I'm a citizen so that probably isn't relevant to your gf's situation.

Anyhow, why aren't you sponsoring her, you meanie hehe

How should I sponsor her ? I've imported people before, to work for my firm, but they were specialised computer people; she's an historian and we don't have any archives. I can't sponsor her as a spouse because I'm not in a position to marry her. A possibility is to sponsor her as my common law spouse based on having lived together in Canada; the suggestion of the immigration lawyer. It remains to be seen how well this works, it first seemed a strange idea but all the supporting documentation, shared bank statements, credit cards, property ownership can be established without one partner being formally resident. It's strange world.

Hi

Just thought I would mention to you to have a look at Saskatchewan its lovely, perfect for bringing up children, the countryside is lovely people tend to think that Sask is just about farmers but once you have been here and seen & experienced the beauty & all the lovely places and valleys I'm sure many would agree. The cost of living is much cheaper and so are the houses, we have free basic healthcare and the taxes we have to pay are amongst the lowest in Canada.

If you are a skilled worker and on the shortage list you can get a temporary working visa once you have a permanent job offer. You can always find help in getting a job offer but obviously at a cost. This seems to be the easier route as well as a pnp.

Sask is the sunniest Province in Canada and is known as the land of the living skies. At the moment it is underly promoted probably due to the fact that it isn't as rich as other Provinces but in time hopefully it will develop & may well be as popular as other provinces

Here are web sites of small towns in the Regina area. www.reginabeach.ca
www.lumsden.ca www.lakediefenbakertourism.com www.reginatourism www.sasktourism.com.

Just something for you to consider..

Take care & good luck.

Gill n Neil

I've just sponsored my common-law partner, it's not difficult. I also bought property, got bank account etc without being resident (and didn't even have citizenship in the bag at that point) - you don't need it for those things, but it doesn't make you any more legal.

A problem you may have is if you're saying on one hand she never resides in Canada more than 6mths at a time, yet on the other you'd need to prove 12mths or more continuous cohabitation to be eligible as common-law... so you'd have to decide way round you're claiming it is

No, you cannot live in Canada as a visitor, you can stay here for 6 months I understand. After that you must return to the UK for a similar length of time before you will be re-admitted.
Try applying as a skilled worker.