tomsteetley

Hello,

I've already been to see an immigration specialist on this matter but I thought it'd be nice to get some advice from people with actual experience in these unfortunate cases.

I really appreciate anybody taking the time to read and to help me with my dilemma.

I'm a British citizen currently living in Whistler with my Canadian girlfriend.
I'm 29 years old and i'm on my 2nd and last IEC visa which is due to expire on April 20th 2015.

My girlfriend and I have been together for 6 months now and we very much want to stay "together"

We have booked flights back to England for my dads wedding on May 22nd and will be returning to Whistler 2 weeks later.

I am now faced with 2 options. I can either register to change my visitor status to a tourist or apply to extend my work permit (which will inevitably be denied but it will give me 2-3 months while it's processing). When i return to YVR after my dads wedding i obviously want to it to be as smooth as possible. I can prove that i have funds to support myself etc but i'm not sure if i should mention that I have a girlfriend in Canada etc. Also i was planning on booking another return flight to England purely so they can see that i'm not going to be stranded in the country.

The longterm goal is to camp out here until December when I can apply for the
'One Year Pilot – Issuance of open work permits to applicants for permanent residence under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class'
Program delivery update - December 22, 2014
Does anyone know much about this?

Again, many thanks for taking the time to read all this!

Tom

ChrisBan

I must add that for option 2 you can't do this as implied working status does not apply to IEC work permit holders:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/immig...us-iec-815262/

Even if it did, by leaving Canada you lose implied status anyway.

tomsteetley

Apparently i'm still entitled to apply and it will 100% be denied. But as long as it's processing (2-3 months) i'm entitled to stay/work.

But seeing as i'm leaving 4 weeks later, changing my visitor status does seem like a much cleaner idea. Especially as you have mentioned it will be void when I leave Canada for my dads wedding anyway.

SchnookoLoly

Except you are NOT entitled to work while the application is processing, that's the thing. If you are on an IEC work permit, you CANNOT get an extension, and "implied status" is a type of extension. So even though you know the request will be denied, you still have to stop working as soon as your IEC expires.

Do not try to find loopholes like this, being found to be working illegally can get you barred from Canada, so don't tempt fate, especially since you want to be sponsored in the future.

As for "does anyone know about this", you need to read the Wiki article on Spousal Sponsorship here - Spousal Sponsorship-Canada : British Expat Wiki

That explains all about an inland application, which is the one that includes that work permit program.

The bigger issue is that you are going to have a tough time being allowed in for 6 months as a visitor after being in Canada already for 2 years, and you will probably be asked if you have a signficiant other in Canada, in which case you'd say yes because you wouldn't lie. If you are denied entry and have to return to the UK then your common-law status becomes at-risk because you are no longer living together, and CIC will see that you have an attempted entry rejection on your record and you would have to disclose it in your application as well. That would hurt your application, mainly from the view that it would bring a huge question to your common-law status. Basically if your rejected, your girlfriend would have no more than about 6 days to get to the UK to start living with you. Any longer than that and your common-law counter is at risk and you may have to start from scratch. CIC is INCREDIBLY strict about the first 12 months being completely unbroken cohabitation.

What would be better would be for you to either find a way to get another work permit, which I'm guessing is not likely, but the better option would be for your girlfriend to spend some time with you in the UK instead. If she can go with you to the UK until December when you qualify for common-law, that would make way more sense. You can come back to Canada and then file (bring your proof that you are intending to file), or you can apply outland while still in the UK (read the wiki for info about an outland application) and then come back to Canada once you have PR.

Read up on the options and go from there.

Good luck!

Edit: I just re-read your original post, and it says there you've been TOGETHER for 6 months, not LIVING together for 6 months. Which is it? If you are going ot be sponsored by her then you have to b LIVING together for 12 months, not dating for 12 months.

tomsteetley

Thank you so much for the response!
I should have made my original post a bit clearer. Although i'm currently on my second IEC I haven't been here for 2 years. I've been here for about 7/8 months and yes we are living together and doing everything we can to be in a common-law relationship in the eyes of the CIC.

I recently spoke with my employers about the possibilities of applying for an LMIA work permit and although i have 10 years of managerial experience they don't have any more senior positions so my minimum wage job won't make the cut

My girlfriend is contracted until December which is why we're trying to hold on until then. We're finding the whole ordeal extremely stressful and upsetting.

SchnookoLoly

So how long have you been living together then? Once you hit 12 months you can apply for sponsorship as common-law partners. Read the wiki articles posted in my last post for inland vs outland. I still think you may have some trouble getting approved to stay in Canada as a visitor after your IEC runs out if you have not yet applied for sponsorship, but you can always try. It will be important that you include all your proof of intent to apply when you ask for the extension.

Don't forget the other option you have is to get married and then you can apply immediately. Read this - Spousal Sponsorship-Canada/FAQ : British Expat Wiki

tomsteetley

Ok so we're toying with the idea of marriage. It does seem a little crazy but if it's a sure fire way of making this happen we're willing to give it a shot.

Does it not seem very obvious to the CIC that we got married for sponsorship?

Aviator

What's the difference? A piece of paper that simplifies immigration. If you split up, asset distribution and spousal support is the same for common law as married and a divorce for married can be done easily through the courts yourself. If one dies, joint assets are easier to get hold of for the survivor. If you are married. If there are kids, the same complications for common law as married.

PMM

Hi

except no spousal support for C/law Quebec

SchnookoLoly

If you have only been together a few months, CIC may raise a few questions, but as long as you can provide tons of proof if your application that your relationship is genuine and that you likely would have gotten married anyway, then you shouldn't have any problems.

CIC does distinguish between "We are getting married solely to gain immigration status" and "We are getting married in order to be able to apply for immigration status faster, it's not a question of whether or not we get married, it's just a question of when we get married." Make sense?

In addition, if the marriage is a "normal" affair - you still have a ceremony, friends/family present, etc, as opposed to just rocking up at a courthouse, that also weighs in.

Does the difference between the two "getting married to help with immigration" clarify things a bit more?

Almost Canadian

Doesn't it require 2 years of cohabitation before "common law" division of property is the same as "married" division of property? Would 6 months qualify?