Dan909

Hi all, thanks in advance for any help rendered.

I'm a UK citizen, my girlfriend is Canadian, we have been together for 4.5 years and lived together for the last 3. The plan up until now has been to apply for spousal sponsorship, however the 12 month waiting time has come as a surprise due to my poor planning. As such I am looking for advice with the aim of attaining a shorter period of time for entry (I'm sure this is the dream of many here).

Another option seems to be EE, to that end I hold a BEng and finish my MSc in September both in engineering, however my financials aren't great so I believe this rules out EE.

Alternatively, could i potentially enter on a shorter term visa? With the aim of working whilst completing the spousal sponsorship in-house at a later date.

Finally, i could attempt to achieve a job offer, and so enter on a work permit correct?

​​​​​​Also, is anyone aware of any expat veterans groups? Prior to university I completed 7 years in the army, I figured I might be able to leverage that somehow as a number of friends have received job offers through these social circles. Worth a try I guess.

Thanks all

Dan
​​​​​

Engineer_abroad

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!
Whilst processing can take 'up to' 12 months, it may also be quicker than that - particularly if you put together a solid application and are lucky enough to be processed by Ottawa or Mississauga rather than London! If working isn't an essential, do please also be aware that once your C-L partner received Sponsorship Approval, you could relocate to Canada with them to await processing under 'Dual Intent'- although you wouldn't be able to work ... You can see timelines for spousal sponsorship London on the spreadsheet maintained by our very own Hurlabrick and Schnookololy: HERE

Not sure how old you might be, but you could also apply for an IEC when it opens next, which is a 2 year open work permit (working holiday) which is available (in a pool, so it's 'draw' based) to those under 31 or under 35 if Irish Nationals. There would be nothing to stop you applying for spousal sponsorship and also applying for the draw for an IEC work permit.. you can have them concurrently, which at least would give you the opportunity to work whilst waiting. You can read more here: Find out if you’re eligible – International Experience Canada

You mention that you finish your Msc in September.. what kind of timing are you hoping for to move over (in an ideal world)? Yes, in theory you could see if you can find an employer willing and able to apply for an LMIA - but that takes several months with the advertising required and proof that no Canadian nor Permanent Resident is willing and able to do the job - so it really wouldn't necessarily be fast enough for your purpose - then once they receive the LMIA you could enter Canada and get a work permit on entry.

Have a good read of our wiki on immigration - and our wonderful Spousal wiki's, which you will find super helpful for when you put in your application.

I'd suggest starting the application for spousal asap regardless.

Yes, with EE you would need proof of funds unless you were currently working in Canada. Do you know which Province you may be looking to locate to? It may be worth your while looking at Provincial Nomination, if the need for working/urgent processing is a priority. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...igibility.html

Do bear in mind that in order to work as an Engineer, you will need to obtain Certification /Licensing in your Province of choice.

Hope that helps a little and do feel free to post any other questions you might have.

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...an_Immigration
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...sorship-Canada
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spous...hip-Canada/FAQ

Hurlabrick

What the others have said. Plus.

Strongly recommend you read the various wiki pages on this site regarding spousal sponsorship. One of them here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spousa...lication_Forms

As regards processing times, please see the spreadsheet link in the signature line of my posting. This tracks outland spousal sponsorship via London timescales for actual cases (people who volunteer their timelines).

You will see that for most visa exempt applicants, the elapsed time from receipt in CPC to approval is normally shorter than 12 months and can vary from anywhere from (an exceptional!) 3 months to more like 9 - 10 months. Still no quick, but nothing you can do to speed it up, other than making sure your application is complete first time.

christmasoompa

Which is about as quick as any other visa route anyway - EE takes 6 months, but of course you've got to put an application together first (ECA and IELTS usually takes at least a couple of months to get), and you may not get selected straight away. A job offer/LMIA/TWP is likely to take just as long if not longer, the LMIA alone takes 3-4 months, but that's only after you've managed to find a sponsoring employer which can often take quite a while.

So I concur with the above, just go spousal sponsorship, it's likely to be quicker in the end anyway than any other visa route, and will certainly be much easier.

Best of luck.

Dan909

Thanks for the responses, and thanks Hurlabrick for recommending these forums.

As you all indicate I think I'll follow the spousal sponsorship route and hope for the best. I am only 28, so the IEC might be a good route to follow. Is there no way applying for the IEC will interupt my spousal PR application? That sounds like the perfect route to take for myself.

Again, thank you all so much for the replies. It's a great help.

christmasoompa

It won't interrupt it or cause any issues at all, although unless you're Irish then the earliest you'd get a IEC would be spring next year, so again won't be any quicker.