American BF wants to come to Canada... Unique circumstances.

[nicander1998]

Hi! Hoping I can get some advice here before seeking out the help of a lawyer.

So my BF and I have been together for a very long time and he wants to come here and make his base out of my place here.

He is a sports announcer which doesnt require a work visa and he is an independent contractor.

We dont want to get married for the sake of getting married and are looking for the best option.

Soooo.. Has anyone had any similar kind of experience? All of the forums and information I have been seeking out do not really apply to our situation....

I will be applying to professional school in the US soon, so if I get in there we have some relief...

Even if we do get married everything I have read that he would then have to stay in Canada if he wanted to get dual citizenship... Which is not ideal because he is a contract worker.

Anyways, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Leon]

He may be able to take on assignments without a work permit but that doesn't allow him to move to and live in Canada full time. He is basically visiting. In order for him to have the right to live in Canada, you would either have to live together for 12 months to qualify as common law partners or you would have to get married and then you can sponsor him for PR. After that, he'd have to live in Canada for some years before he qualifies to apply for citizenship. However, a PR gives him almost the same rights.

If you move to the US and get married, he can sponsor you for a US green card. You would then have to live in the US for some years before you can apply for US citizenship.

 

[scylla]

I agree with Leon. Your situation is actually quite typical and may of us here have gone through almost identical situations (my husband is an American independent contractor as well - although in a different line of work). Your boyfriend can only visit Canada at this time (not live here or make it his home base). In order for you to be able to sponsor him, you either need to be married or common law.

 

[nicander1998]

Thanks for your input! So being an independent contractor in his line of work it says on the canadian visa website that he DOES NOT require a visa to work here. It just feels sketchy and we want to do everything above board. I can guarantee that if he came across the border to work and explained the situation to the border guards they would refuse him entry...

We are trying to see through the various companies that he works for if there is a way to get some documentation to ease the process. I don't want anything we do now to affect our chances of living in Canada to be destroyed...

From what I have read about the whole conjugal thing it is very difficult to get...

Also, how is it possible to document "living together" for 12 months when neither of us are allowed to leagaly live in eachothers country of residency?? :

Right now he only spends a few months of the year here, and if he starts working here it will still be less than 6 months a year due to other work. That being said, every time he crosses the border lately they give him a hard time and only give him "permission slips" that allow him to be here for the exact amount of time he stated he would be here and no permission given to work.

THANK YOU for your help. Like I said, we just want to do it RIGHT from the get go.

Getting married isnt a realistic solution for either of us because he has to work in the US and I have all of my friends and family in Canada, there is no way I want to stay in one country for years waiting for the paperwork to go through...

 

[scylla]

Thanks for your input! So being an independent contractor in his line of work it says on the canadian visa website that he DOES NOT require a visa to work here. It just feels sketchy and we want to do everything above board. I can guarantee that if he came across the border to work and explained the situation to the border guards they would refuse him entry...

I think you've misunderstood us a bit. We understand that he doesn't need a work permit (again, my husband was in the exact same situation although in a different profession - he's an international development consultant). What we are saying is that your boyfriend can't technically "live" in Canada unless he has authorization to do so. Being a visitor doesn't give him authorization to "live" in Canada - all he can do is visit temporarily. There is no way to guarantee anything at the border - what happens is entirely up to the CBSA officer he speaks to. If he doesn't already have one - get a Nexus card. This doesn't guarantee entry but generally makes things easier. Generally speaking, he should limit how much he crosses back and forth since this generally increases the chance of issues / problems at the border. (Having said that, my husband was able to leave and return very frequently for almost three years.)

When he comes to Canada, it can't look like he's moving here. This means he should pack light, always have a return flight (if he's flying) and not bring anything with him that a tourist wouldn't normally take (i.e. don't bring household belongings like furniture).

It's fairly easy to document 12 months of living together. I'd recommend you join the Family Sponsorship section of the forum since this topic is widely discussed there. Stuff you can do: mail sent to the same address, joint bank accounts, joint utility bills, joint credit cards, joint lease agreements, joint property ownership, etc.

And yes - you have zero chances of being approved under conjugal. You don't meet the requirements and shouldn't even bother trying.

I don't understand your comment about getting married - it doesn't sound like you have a strong understanding of the overall process or timelines. If you got married now - then you could immediately submit an outland sponsorship application. Both of you could then continue living where you are now and doing what you're doing now. US outland applications are processed quickly. It's quite possible he might be approved in as little as 4 months. He doesn't have to be outside of Canada during this time - he can continue spending time both inside and outside of Canada. My husband was in Canada for most of the time the outland application was being process but also traveled to the US and also Africa on business during that time (many others here have done the same thing).

Again, suggest you move over to the Family Sponsorship section of the forum and read through the threads here. Your situation is pretty normal and you'll pick up good knowledge there on how to proceed.