Looking to marry my gf and move her to Canada from the US

[T1000]

Hey everyone. brand new here. Hope you are all doing well. My girlfriend and I want to get married and I want to move her here. I am not quite sure where to start. I could phone the government and ask but that process could be lengthy and time consuming so I am hoping you all could give me some insight. First thing is first though. Do we need to be legally married before I can sponsor her to live up here to get her permanent residency? I know there is a thousand dollar fee to start the paperwork but how does that all start? She is coming to visit in July and I plan to propose to her. So I don't know if we should start the process for permanent residency when she comes to visit. I would love to get her here ASAP so we can start out lives together. I hope someone can help educate me. I need all the help I can get.

 

[scylla]

Hey everyone. brand new here. Hope you are all doing well. My girlfriend and I want to get married and I want to move her here. I am not quite sure where to start. I could phone the government and ask but that process could be lengthy and time consuming so I am hoping you all could give me some insight. First thing is first though. Do we need to be legally married before I can sponsor her to live up here to get her permanent residency? I know there is a thousand dollar fee to start the paperwork but how does that all start? She is coming to visit in July and I plan to propose to her. So I don't know if we should start the process for permanent residency when she comes to visit. I would love to get her here ASAP so we can start out lives together. I hope someone can help educate me. I need all the help I can get.

You need to be either legally married or common law to start the process. Common law means you have lived together continuously for at least one full year.

Detailed information about how to apply is here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp

Suggest you start by reading through this info in detail. If you have further questions, post them in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum.