Marrying my Canadian Boyfriend/Immigration Questions

[LittleDermo]

Hello,

I have a few questions about the Immigration process when it comes to marrying a Canadian. I'm an American and we will be dating close to a year when any of this takes place. Currently it's been about 6 months and he has been here to see me twice so far. With plans to be out here again in May. I'm going to be going up to Canada to visit in July and then he'll be back out to see me again in August. We have been trying to keep all documentation of this and we've been dating each other since November 2013. Also have proof of texts and such dating back to that time. Our plan is to get married probably sometime later this year. Close to the 1 year mark maybe a little after but we'd like to have myself moved up there definitely by the end of the year. All of this would be taking place in the province of Ontario.

With that explanation I have a few questions about the immigration process:

1) Am I able to move up there and live before we submit the application for him to sponsor? (I have a passport I just renewed this year)

2) Does he need to submit his sponsor application first? Or can we submit both applications at the same time?

3) How long does it take for an application to go through the process generally?

4) Do we need to marry in Canada or can we marry in America and have that be ok? (I've heard stories of people marrying in America and being told they have to live in the US for a while before coming back up to Canada.)

I have started some of the process by submitting for my background check (police certificate) and getting the pictures done that will be needed for the application. If you have any other information that could help us outside of the questions I have asked I would greatly appreciated any input! Thanks!

 

[Rob_TO]

1) Am I able to move up there and live before we submit the application for him to sponsor? (I have a passport I just renewed this year)

Until you become a PR, you can not officially "live" or "move" to Canada. Using either of those words at the border, could result in a rejection to enter Canada.

You can only VISIT Canada. Usually you will get a 6 month visitor status to start, and then before that expires you can apply to extend that status by 6 or 12 months. So you can effectively live in Canada as a visitor. You won't be able to work though until you get PR, or can get a work permit somehow.

2) Does he need to submit his sponsor application first? Or can we submit both applications at the same time?

You submit full application including sponsor and applicant parts together.

3) How long does it take for an application to go through the process generally?

If you apply outland then Americans are processed through CPP-Ottawa office and the whole thing takes in the 10 month range.

If you apply inland then you could be waiting for around 16 months, but you could get an open work permit around the 8-9 month mark.

4) Do we need to marry in Canada or can we marry in America and have that be ok? (I've heard stories of people marrying in America and being told they have to live in the US for a while before coming back up to Canada.)

It doesn't matter where you are married.

I have started some of the process by submitting for my background check (police certificate) and getting the pictures done that will be needed for the application. If you have any other information that could help us outside of the questions I have asked I would greatly appreciated any input! Thanks!

Police checks are only valid for 3 months. So you should only get them when you are actually prepared to send in your application shortly after.

Same with the medical exam, it's only valid for 1 year total so best to get it done as last step before submitting your application.

 

[LittleDermo]

Thank you for your response! It should be helpful!

Yeah I know the certificate is only good for 3 months but it looked like it was going to take at least 18 weeks to process it and I was told when I got fingerprinted that my prints were weak and may not be acceptable so I wanted to get that started early.

Also, on the whole visitor thing... Don't they ask you when you get to the border to show proof you will be going back to your home country? If that is the case how can I go about doing that?

 

[keesio]

Thank you for your response! It should be helpful!

Yeah I know the certificate is only good for 3 months but it looked like it was going to take at least 18 weeks to process it and I was told when I got fingerprinted that my prints were weak and may not be acceptable so I wanted to get that started early.

Also, on the whole visitor thing... Don't they ask you when you get to the border to show proof you will be going back to your home country? If that is the case how can I go about doing that?

FBI certificates can take as little as 4 weeks (my wife got hers in about 4 weeks). The average time seems to have risen to 8-9 weeks late last year after the government shutdown but I think it has gone down since then. The 18 weeks on CIC's webpage is horribly conservative. I don't know anyone who waited more than 3 months for their certificate.

My wife has a hard time with fingerprints because her hands get so dry and her ridges are weak. She tried at her local police station and they came out horrible. So she went to a private fingerprinting service where they have better equipment (like special moisturizes to get ready and also little individual finger ink pads and such) and she was able to get a decent set after a few tries. If you have a hard time getting good prints, you may want to try a private place that specializes in prints.

Yeah they would like to see some proof that you will be going back. The best thing is to show that you have a return ticket purchased. That is usually enough for Americans (again that is all my wife needed to come visit me). If you plan on staying in Canada for the duration of your application, you can simply cancel the ticket once up here.