rebecca1986

Hi everybody,

Hoping for a little bit of advice and am hoping this isn't a stupid question.

I gained PR status in February of this year, and visited Canada last month with my family on a 2 week recce trip to check the place out and look around. Planning to move over there permanently in April of next year.

My fiance and I are currently in the process of planning our wedding and have seen a beautiful place while we were in Canada, so we are planning on saving up and getting married there in May of next year. He will be coming out to stay with me over there for as long as legally possible.

I am hoping to sponsor him under the spousal route once we are married. He could also apply himself under the Skilled Worker route as his occupation is in demand, but we were not sure which way to go about it. Could not imagine living out there without him.

Question is, would I be eligible to sponsor him once we were married, or is there a rule on how long you have been married once you can sponsor? Would it be easier if he applied by himself now under the Skilled Worker route?
Have had a good search through the previous threads but cannot seem to find the answer. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Rebecca

Edo

Hello Rebecca

You didnt say if you have lived together with your fiance. If you have co-habited for at least a year and if you can prove that, then you can sponsor him straight away. I assume you do realise that as a PR holder, you need to be in inside Canada to sponsor your spouse?

With regards to your fiance applying through the Skilled Worker category, he can certainly do so but 1stly the new rules are making it more and more difficult so he has to pass through a lot of loops, and 2ndly immigrating through that route takes a lot longer than the spousal sponsorship route. Hope this information helps you. Have a fantastic wedding and let us know if you have any more questions.

christmasoompa

You can sponsor him, but have to be living in Canada to do so. Spousal sponsorship (outland) only takes approx 3 months (inland takes much longer). Details of both routes are in the Wiki.

Or he could apply as a Skilled Worker now, and would then have PR himself before you get married.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

rebecca1986

Thankyou so much for the quick replies!
Have left me a little disheartened though I understand I have to be living in Canada to sponsor him, and that is not a problem as I will be living there permanently when we get married.
However, we have not been living together properly in the UK (lots of family problems, and also I was a student so could not afford to pay bills etc as I had no income). So as we have not been living together properly, does that mean I cannot sponsor him when we are married?

We have been looking at the Skilled worker route and as this is also an option, we are also worried about the possibility that they may reject his application for some reason, and then we were worried that he may not be able to live in Canada with me if his application was refused.

Oh so complicated!

smivers

Once you're married you can apply straight away - there's no requirement to have been living together.

The "living together for a year" bit just means you can apply earlier as common-law spouse rather than fully-fledged married spouse.

rebecca1986

Ahh thankyou so much! I was worrying thinking we had to have been living together for a year while we were married to sponsor him, and I was wondering how we were ever going to meet that requirement if he had no legal status in Canada. I hope thats the case, because that will make me one happy girl and I can continue to get excited about my wedding planning

christmasoompa

That is the case. Be happy!

So you can either get him PR prior to your wedding as a SW, or wait until you're married and then apply to sponsor him once you're in Canada. If he wants to be able to work straight away when you move to Canada then it would be better for him to get PR as a SW, as he'll have that before you move so therefore be able to work.

Or if he doesn't mind a while not working whilst on a visitor visa in Canada then you can wait for PR via spousal sponsorship - assuming he gets admitted on a visitor visa of course.

Good luck and happy wedding planning!

rebecca1986

You're all brilliant, thankyou so much for the advice.
I can now relax and make a start with plans...
I'm sure I'll be back sooner rather than later with new questions to ask you knowledgeable people!