U.S. to Canada Conjugal Partner Sponsorship Question

[littlelola]

Hello, Bonjour all.

I'm new to this forum, and the immigration process. If anyone could offer any insight on my situation, that would be very helpful!

I am a Canadian-born citizen living in the Toronto area. My partner is a U.S.-born citizen living in California. We have been together for almost 1 year, having met various times for a combined 4 weeks (with a plan to live together for a month in this summer there, and additional weeks throughout 2018). He has met my family and some friends. He has a very steady, well-paying job there, but no education beyond high school. I am currently full-time in university studies here, and I also work a steady part-time position to support myself. He is very interested in moving to Toronto. We are finding it very difficult to be apart after our last visit, as we are each other's primary emotional and mental support. :-[

I originally thought the conjugal partner category was fitting for us, however, the more I look into it I am concerned that because the U.S. is not a visa-exempt country, there is technically no barrier to living together. I strongly hesitate to bring him here on a visa, as it would mean giving up his job. It would mean that should we apply for common-law after a years stay, and it is rejected, he would go back to California to no job - it would be disastrous, given that he has worked consecutive years to qualify for his current position and he has no other education. He would be unable to support himself if he had to start from the beginning again. I also hesitate because he would be unable to work in Canada for that entire year, which is really out of the question. I looked into a work visa, however, the company he works for (UPS) would not be able to transfer him to Canada. Therefore, he would have no job offer to qualify.

Any advice or insight is very helpful! Thank you, merci all!

 

[Hurlabrick]

Hello, Bonjour all.

I'm new to this forum, and the immigration process. If anyone could offer any insight on my situation, that would be very helpful!

I am a Canadian-born citizen living in the Toronto area. My partner is a U.S.-born citizen living in California. We have been together for almost 1 year, having met various times for a combined 4 weeks (with a plan to live together for a month in this summer there, and additional weeks throughout 2018). He has met my family and some friends. He has a very steady, well-paying job there, but no education beyond high school. I am currently full-time in university studies here, and I also work a steady part-time position to support myself. He is very interested in moving to Toronto. We are finding it very difficult to be apart after our last visit, as we are each other's primary emotional and mental support. :-[

I originally thought the conjugal partner category was fitting for us, however, the more I look into it I am concerned that because the U.S. is not a visa-exempt country, there is technically no barrier to living together. I strongly hesitate to bring him here on a visa, as it would mean giving up his job. It would mean that should we apply for common-law after a years stay, and it is rejected, he would go back to California to no job - it would be disastrous, given that he has worked consecutive years to qualify for his current position and he has no other education. He would be unable to support himself if he had to start from the beginning again. I also hesitate because he would be unable to work in Canada for that entire year, which is really out of the question. I looked into a work visa, however, the company he works for (UPS) would not be able to transfer him to Canada. Therefore, he would have no job offer to qualify.

Any advice or insight is very helpful! Thank you, merci all!

You seem to have rightly come to the conclusion that conjugal sponsorship simply does not apply to you. You are quite correct, you have no hope whatever - there is no legal barrier to your being together if you want or in marrying if you want.

Which brings me to my suggestion - get married and apply under spousal sponsorship.

 

[Bcboundboy]

I originally thought the conjugal partner category was fitting for us, however, the more I look into it I am concerned that because the U.S. is not a visa-exempt country, there is technically no barrier to living together.

There is no barrier at all. You can marry, or you can live together to establish common law. A conjugal application would have no chance whatsoever of success, and be a waste of time and money.

I strongly hesitate to bring him here on a visa, as it would mean giving up his job. It would mean that should we apply for common-law after a years stay, and it is rejected, he would go back to California to no job - it would be disastrous, given that he has worked consecutive years to qualify for his current position and he has no other education. He would be unable to support himself if he had to start from the beginning again. I also hesitate because he would be unable to work in Canada for that entire year, which is really out of the question. I looked into a work visa, however, the company he works for (UPS) would not be able to transfer him to Canada. Therefore, he would have no job offer to qualify.

He wouldn't/couldn't need a visa as a US citizen. He could go to Canada as a visitor, and as you rightly say, would not be able to work. This would take a year living together to establish common law status, then you could apply inland, apply for a work permit at the same time. He would probably be without work for a total of around 16 months.

If you want to apply for PR quickly, you must get married. If you want to not get married but bring him to Canada, one of you must live in the other's country, without being able to work, for a year. Those are your only options.

 

[Landagirl]

My suggestion would be get married, apply Outland and he stays in California and works while waiting for PR. Yes it's very hard to be away from each other, we have or are still doing it. It took us less than a year to get married, paperwork complete and PR granted. He too is an American and we visit every 4 months for about 10 days and it is devastating to both of us when our time is up. With Outland he also has the option to come to Canada to stay with you while he waits for PR if the separation is too hard. We all know how you feel in here and no it's not easy, but you will get through the wait and it will be worth it.

 

[taffy7]

Depends on the age of your partner but he could look into Holiday working visa/ IEC which could allow him to stay in Canada and work and then you could apply for PR after you become common law.

 

[scylla]

Depends on the age of your partner but he could look into Holiday working visa/ IEC which could allow him to stay in Canada and work and then you could apply for PR after you become common law.

FYI - US equivalent is called SWAP. However OP's boyfriend does not qualify since you have to be a college graduate. So unfortunately not an option.

 

[Aquakitty]

FYI - US equivalent is called SWAP. However OP's boyfriend does not qualify since you have to be a college graduate. So unfortunately not an option.

The only loophole there is to register for school. He can register for a community college online.

Could UPS transfer him if he doesn't need them to get him a work visa?

That's one of the crappy things about immigrating. Unless you have an in-demand or highly skilled job it's sometimes hard to find equal employment in the new country. There are a lot of shipping companies though, and his experience probably has value.

Before jumping to any decision maybe look at job postings and see what's out there.

 

[littlelola]

Thank you all so much for the helpful answers! It's really wonderful that individuals like yourselves take the time out to help those on this forum, expecting nothing in return at all. Very grateful for online communities like this.

 

[littlelola]

The only loophole there is to register for school. He can register for a community college online.

Could UPS transfer him if he doesn't need them to get him a work visa?

That's one of the crappy things about immigrating. Unless you have an in-demand or highly skilled job it's sometimes hard to find equal employment in the new country. There are a lot of shipping companies though, and his experience probably has value.

Before jumping to any decision maybe look at job postings and see what's out there.

Thanks so much for the suggestion. I'm looking at it right now, and for 1 year program, it'd be about $15,000-$20,000 in a skilled trades program. I think it'd be a really good opportunity to start a new career - he happens to absolutely hate his current job lol
But I'm not sure how that could be financed... bank loan? Federal loan through the United States? I'd have to do more research into that.

Unfortunately not It is extremely rare to transfer outside of a district at UPS. The company doesn't seem to jump through any hoops for anyone that they don't have to.

Thanks!