RoShamBo

Firstly, I'd just like to say what a great forum. A wealth of information and great contributors, hopefully you can all help me achieve my dream of moving to Canada (Ontario)

I promise I have searched through and read the Wiki and the 'stickies', My head hurts from all the info I have tried to soak up!

My wife is Canadian from birth (as is her family who live in ON), she also holds a UK passport due to marriage to me. We currently live in the UK but wish to move over to Canada in the next 3-5 years. So I am starting my preparation early to avoid pitfalls!

I have read that its best to for me to go over there with PR status, Would that be correct?

Is it possible for my wife to 'sponsor' me to acheive PR status without a job offer for me? Neither mine or my wife's occuaption are currently on the NOC/FSW list at the moment however I'm confident we'd both find jobs without too much trouble once we were 'in country'

Ideally (might be a dream world!) I'd like to accompany her to Canada and then start the search for a job once we were settled there (Ontario). Of course she can return to Canada at anytime with no job as she is a Canadian Citizen but can I go with her?

We have lots of family in ON so housing/transport etc is all no problem. We have also saved @£150k so we can support ourselves and purchase a home.

Am I dreaming that it might be this easy? Or do I need a reality check?!

Thanks for your time in reading so far, apologies if I made any errors as a first time poster!

iaink

Welcome to BE

For you its pretty easy (as long as shes coming too)... Here's the relevent wiki
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spousa...sorship-Canada

Good Luck, dont be afraid to ask questions here, lots of people have experience of coming that way and can help out.

chobert

Welcome and the answer is yes!
I'm married to a Candian and we're currently living in the UK. My wife left Canada 15 years ago but we're looking to move back ASAP next year.

As you will see from my timeline below, we went the Spousal Sponsorship route earlier this year and it was all approved very quickly. So long as your application is completed acurately and medical/police checks are ok, no reason why this wouldn't be the best route for you too.

We're in limbo at the moment (waiting for our house to seel ) - just need to active my PR by May next year and then make the big move when we're ready.

Good luck with everything and enjoy BE.

RoShamBo

Yes, she will be coming as well!

So you think that via the sponsorship method I could be awarded PR status without a job offer?

I've also read about the '2 year in 5' rule once PR is awarded. If I understand it, I'd "land" in Canada, sort of the paperwork and then I could return to the UK for upto 3 years (whilst finding a job and sorting out the "move") then move over to Canda, thus staying for the next 2 years and complying with the '2 in 5' rule?

Can it really be that simple?!

Thats if I can obtain PR status of course, from what I have read/learned when I am applying fo work it will be beteer if I have PR rather a TWP? does that sound right?

Sorry for all the different Q's, It's like working through a minefield! Thanks for the replies - all much appreciated.

Thanks for the reply, its great to hear from people in the same boat!

Medical/Police will all be fine for us both so no worries there. Its a few years away for me yet (3-5) but it's good to have all the information and forward planning completed.

So you achieved your PR with no job offer, have I understood that correctly? (for either of you)

iaink

Yes Its even simpler actually as time spent overseas with a canadian spouse counts towards residency, but not citizenship Its PR you are sponsored for, and jobs/ money dont come into it. It really is that easy. The only slight complication is that if you choose to come to CAnada and then apply, you wont be able to work initially, not until you have "Approval in principle"

You cant get a temporary permit and then apply for work, they are only issued once a job offer has been made and the need to bring in a foreign worker has been established, but thats not at all relevent to you.

chobert

Hi again,

Yes - I don't have a job offer as this isn't relevant for the Spousal Sponsorship route. I'm busy researching possible employers but until we're actually ready to make the move, there is not a lot more I can do from over here withough a definate 'in Canada' date to give potential employers.

Your wife has to give certain guarantees as her role as the sponsor however you won't be asked for your current financial situation.

You have to have the medical & police check - she won't.

Loads of useful advice and people who are/have gone down this route. Sounds like you're getting well prepared for when you actually come to submitting the application and eventualy make the move - nice one!

Cowgirl

We too are in the same situation as you. I'm Canadian living in the UK (housewife with no income) and will be sponsoring my husband to come to Canada.

It takes some getting your head around it all, but once you do it's actually fine. I've asked loads of questions on this forum - it is really helpful - so don't be afraid to ask anything. There are loads of us who are in the same boat as you!

Another thing you should know - do you and your wife have children? If so, then they are already automatically Canadian citizens because of having one Canadian parent. All you have to do is apply for proof of their citizenship. This can take a long time from the UK (around 14 months or so), so it should be the first thing you do.

Welcome to the forum and hope everything goes well for you!

RoShamBo

Thanks for the response so far and the warm welcome, the 'move' is certainly starting to sound less daunting than it did before I found this forum!

We don't have children so that is one less thing to plan for/worry about.

It's BRILLIANT to know that I should be able to live over there first, and then start my job search once we're settled in the right area....I was worried I might have to find employment before the move - I'm guessing that would be difficult and problematic.

As I say it's a couple of years away yet but it's the biggest event of our lives for many years so everything will planned out and organised as much as I possibly can.

After hearing a lot of horror stories, it seems (I hope!) that things might just be a little simpler than I had been led to believe.

caleo

There are quite a few of us in the process of applying for spousal sponsorship - and I think all of us had question after question answered on here, and the support is amazing.

My husband is canadian by birth, and we have lived in the UK since we got married in 2005. We have 2 children (who now have proof of Canadian citizenship) who were born here in the UK, and I have an older daughter as well. Our application was fairly straight forward, and we are hoping that the visa etc will come through over the next few months.

we are not planning on moving over straight away, as we need to sell the house etc, but it will be nice to know that once it has sold, we can move with no further hassle.

The police checks and medicals don't take long to arrange - but it may be worthwhile you looking at the relevant paperwork and proof of relationship etc that you will need for your application when you go ahead. It took us quite some time to sort through all the photos and paperwork etc.

Allie73

I'm the Canadian spouse and I've been living in the UK for over over 7 years. I've successfully sponsored my British husband and we're moving to Canada once our house sells. My husband is going to start the job hunt soon.

Cowgirl

So exciting Allie! I've been living here for almost 9 years now! I will really miss the UK but so excited to be with my family again in Calgary... hopefully this summer!!

I hope the job hunt process goes well for your hubby!! There seems to be some good opportunities in Canada for work (better than the UK, IMO).

MillieF

Sorry, I'm a bit confused, even having read the WIKI's. Can my husband - a a Canadian - sponsor me even if he doesn't presently have a job? He will find it relatively easy (we sincerely hope) to find work in Canada, but have been waiting for him to go there after Christmas, find work and THEN we fill in all the sponsorship papers for me. But can we apply now? He lost his job in April - European aviation, not being great right now. Our son is a Canadian citizen. We have been married for ten years, but living in Europe. Immediate living costs are not a problem, nor the long term, but we would both like to work, however, we can support ourselves adequately. Is it not imperative that he has a job, when we apply for him to sponsor me? He does have family in Canada - mother, brother, uncles etc.

christmasoompa

He doesn't need a job, and can apply now. He'll just need to show that he intends to move back once you have your PR. If he applies now, you should have your PR by about February - March time.

Allie73

I'm a stay at home mother with no income and I successfully sponsored my husband.

MillieF

christmasoompa, and Allie73 THANK YOU so so much for your replies. I am sitting at the kitchen table bawling my eyes out! I can finally see a way through the ruddy quagmire which my family finds itself in.

I apologise to the original poster, as I didn't mean to hijack their post, but I couldn't believe it when I read it, it covered all our queries. This means that come next summer we can seriously look at moving back to Canada.