canaus1

Hi, I just joined discovered this website and have had so many questions answered just by browsing through past posts! It is great!

I am just beginning the process. I am Canadian, living in London (England) with my Australian partner. He has lived in Canada in 2007 for one year on a working holiday visa, which is how we met. We have decided to move back to Canada together, hopefully within the next year but when I started to look through all these CIC forms, papers required, etc I started to panic! It is a lot and these are the questions I still have...if anyone can answer/shed light on any of them, that would be great!

1. Does my partner need a police check from Canada, as he lived there for a year. The thing is, on the CIC website when you click on the map for needing criminal checks from Canada, it says it is not necessary and RCMP will contact you if necessary.

2. Does anyone know of local police stations in SW London that do fingerprints...we need them for the Australian police check. And, the CIC website says to send police checks directly to the Canadian consulate in Sydney...but, am assuming this is only if you are living in Aus?? The UK docs say to send all police checks with your application.

3. The UK site (Canadian consulate) says to have medical done and send in with your application. But, when I read through all these posts on this site, people keep saying they get their medical forms later in the mail?? About this...when I click on the UK site for a list of medical practitioners, the site is down. Any one have any suggestions on how I can get this info bc I have called the consulate with no answers.

I think that is it -- for now!! Sorry, I know it is a lengthy post!

Paul Wildy

No, they have the ability to check a persons record directly as I understand it - so you just have to supply police certs from countries outside Canada.

I'm afraid I dont know where you can get fingerprints doen in London.

For Australian police certs you apply to Australia but ask for them to be sent to the Canadian High Commission in Sydney directly (not to you or CHC London) and this is the same regardless of whether you are living there or not.

Note you dont need them unless you lived there since you were 18.

For sponsorship you have to have the medical done first because sponsorship is fairly fast (so no need for them to send you a letter part-way through the process). The people that are talking about getting their requests for medicals are applying under other much slower routes.

I looked at the list of medical proactioners and it worked for me. These are the ones for London:

London Michael J. Clarke 15 Basil Mansions, Basil Street, Knightsbirdge, London,

(44 20) 75898965
English / French
London Charles Easmon 1 Harley Street, London, , W1G 9QD

(44 20) 73078756
www.numberonehealth.co.uk English / French

Are you aware that there are different sponsorship options for spouse/common-law partners? There is Family Class (apply before you go to Canada) and In-Canada Class (apply after you move from within Canada). There are pros and cons of each depending on your circumstances.

Also, are you happy you have enough evidence to meet the requirements of being Common-Law partners?

canaus1

Thanks so much for your response! We have been living together for nearly a year and a half so not too worried about satisfying the common-law requirement. And, we live in London UK now so we will be applying from here as we do not want to move to Canada until my partner's visa comes through -- we have a rental property here, and both of us are working as well.
Not sure why I cannot access the info for medical practitioners in London. Thanks so much for that info...can you put the link of where you got it from in here for me?

As for the Australia police check, it is for my partner as he is Aussie and has lived there longer than 6mths since he was 18. But, the reason I asked about where to send the police check is...why would we send it to the Canadian consulate in Sydney when we are applying through the London, UK consulate? Won't that be confusing?!? How will they know what it is for?

Thanks!!

Paul Wildy

Just to be clear about the police check - you dont send anything to the Canadian consulate in Sydney. You send you application form to the Australian Police authority asking them to send the police certificate to the Canadian consulate in Sydney. CHC London would presumably contact CHC Sydney to confirm it said you were all clear.

Link to Med practitioners is http://www.cic.gc.ca/dmp-md/medicali...&ProvinceName= There seems to be an error on the page so make sure you scroll down the page - the actual list is at the bottom under a load of blank space.

If you have been living together over a year you meet the criteria but dont forget you still have to provide plenty of evidence (ideall joint lease agreement, joint bank account statements, photos, letters etc).

Good luck!

Sharonanana

Hi Canaus

We've just gone through this process- I sponsored my English partner under the Common Law (family) group.

We had our medical done at the Brigstock clinic in South London.
http://www.brigstockmedicalpractice....ivateservices/

I found it was significantly cheaper than the other three London clinics doing the exact same Canadian medical, and it was easier to get to for us (we are also based in South East London).
They have all the forms there, and I think we just needed to bring a passport photo.

I know nothing about Australian police checks, but if you have other questions about the Sponsoring application, PM me. I found the application process quite complicated- some of the information they required was ridiculous!

Anna

canaus1

Thanks for both your responses.
We will go ahead and get the Aus Police to send the check to Sydney then. Perhaps when we send in the application to the Canadian consulate here in London, we will make a note of that was where it was sent (as the application checklist asks if all police checks are enclosed).

I didn't see that clinic for medical practices listed as approved for the medical but if it is cheaper, closer, and able to do them, that sounds good to me! Thanks for the info.

As for the living together for one year -- our situation is a bit confusing...we lived together for 8months (May-January 2007), then my partner's visa ran out in Canada, so he went home to visit family in Australia, where I met him a month later (Feb-mid-March). He then came to London to set us up here. I went back to Canada to finish working. He visited me over Easter and we have proof of that (and the trip to Australia, etc) and I moved to England in April and we have lived together now in London since then (April-now). I am assuming this is not going to be a problem as we were only really apart for a month (which techinically he was on vacation for in Australia) and then I met him there for a month vacation, and then I was away for a month again for work, till we moved here. I have read that that can be explained as short gaps. We have TONS of photos, letters from friends about our relationship, airline intineraries, lease agreements in both names, joint bank accounts in Canada and England, bills in either of our names at the same address to show we both are paying bills at the same address, tons of trips booked together (under the same address for billing), insurance policies (private health and property) in both our names, etc, etc. Am assuming this is sufficient?

Sharonanana

sounds pretty good to me, but I am not an Immigration Official!


I know that when we applied for my UK visa under a similar 'sponsor your common law partner' arrangement there was a provision for people who would live together full-time if visas/immigration rules allowed, but as I said, that was for a UK visa.

I don't know how many gaps (and what length of time) are permitted under the Canadian rules. If I were you I might consult a qualified Immigration consultant/lawyer. When we applied for my UK visa, we spoke to an immigration lawyer for an hour, and she gave us plenty of great advice. I think we may have paid her £50 for the consultation, and it saved us plenty of worry and anxiety over the next few months, as we felt confident we knew what we were doing.

Having said that, it sounds like you guys have plenty of evidence already. Shared accounts in both countries must count for something, as would shared leases. You should also consider writing wills naming each other as beneficiaries. (we bought DIY-will packs from WHSmith and asked our friends to witness them. Total cost: £15)
If either of you has a pension, get the other person's name added as beneficiary. Same with insurances, etc.

One more thought about the length of time you have been co-habiting: If you've been living together fulltime since April, you should make it to one year by the time you're ready to send off your application! It took me a few months to get all the evidence together!



Hope that helps!