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A while back I posted about my stepson (from the US) and his girlfriend (from Canada) and I'm pretty well versed in what it would take for her to come here to live. But now questions have come up about him going up there. From what I can gather, about his only chances are getting a school visa or getting married.
He is 19 and has less than 1 year of work experience as a stocker at a big box retail store but is currently unemployed. He's registered for college courses starting next month. He has very little money saved up but does have access to savings bonds, although most don't mature for quite some time.
She is 24, has training as a baker and currently has a job (full-time I believe) and has over $15K in savings.
They have known each other for a bit over a year, talked extensively on the phone and Skype for that time, but this month is the first time they've actually seen each other when he took some of his savings to fly up to see her where they'll spend 2 weeks together before deciding what the next step is.
I know what the steps are if she were to come here to live, I have a small bit of knowledge from past friends who have moved to Canada to be with their significant other but it's all pre 9/11 information, as well as information I've been able to gather from the Internet.
But so far finding out real information from US to Canada is trickier than the other way around...or I'm just not looking in the right places.
Since this is the first time they've actually met, if they were to get married so that he could go up as Family, would that be frowned upon or ok? I did see where they are required to live together for 2 years..which shouldn't be an issue for them, but is it something more beyond that? Like they've had to have met face to face more than once before getting married?
If they can get married (if they want to) how soon can he start looking for a job? Go to college? Apply for permanent citizenship?
If he moves up there and they don't get married he can only visit and can only stay for 6 months than has to come back to the US for 6 months before being able to go back to Canada? Or is the timing shorter, or even longer?
He does not have any job experience beyond stock work in retail, so what jobs are available to him? Can he get a job at Canadian Tire where she works? Or is he tough out of luck? I know he can't get a job if he's just visiting (no matter how long he's there) but what if they are married? Can he get a job than, or does he have to wait til he has Permanent residence?
What about schooling? Can he go to Canada (in whatever capacity) and take online classes from here? Can he take classes in Canada without being on the Student Visa? How hard is it to get a Student Visa? Can he get a job while he goes to school? *some of that information I'll see when I look into it more*
Over all I want him to find this information. If he wants to do it, he needs to know what he's getting into. However, I also know he'll find the information that *he* wants to find and will miss things that will only bite him in the rear later down the road. (like the having to come back to the US after being in Canada for so long) I'd like to have as much information as possible so I can steer him towards how things really work.
I know I won't be able to change his mind, and his dad wouldn't have any better luck, but if he at least has the facts he won't get into trouble later.
There are long list of things that are going to be against this plan.
For a start, their "relationship " isn't anywhere near long enough for the Canadian Immigration standards.
Her employment, in Canada, if she is going to sponsor him, for a spousal Visa, has to be .....Full time, with a minimum annual income of 24k or more, and she has to have her own place to live, and she must be willing to sign a legal contract , with the Canadian Government, assuming total financial responsibility for him for five years.
For him.... His lack of a University 4 year degree, or him being a certified skilled trades person, such as a auto mechanic, welder, carpenter, or the like, is going to make him unlikely to be approved. Canada is looking for educated mature adults, who have the kind of training that our country needs. Because we get hundreds of thousands of applications every year, from around the world, we can afford to be picky.
For a couple that has not had a "close, enduring and intimate relationship, that has seen the couple sharing financial, social, and family ties", the spousal visa program's investigators are going to reject the application, based on a short time line and a lack of actual " time together ". Remember that SOME applicants go to great trouble to fake a relationship, for the goal of Immigration approval. Canada has a system that looks at the overall facts of the application, and the decision is based on the facts found.
If he was to apply, on his own, as a general class of Immigrant, he would be denied, based on a lack of education , skills and his short past work history, and a lack of financial support ie "money in the bank ". .
If she applies, for a spousal Visa, I don't think it will be accepted, based on a number of factors, as I pointed out above.
Now for a point about what NOT to do. He should NOT come to Canada, posing as a visitor, and attempt to stay here. That will result in him being found out, and deported. It is VERY hard to live in Canada, as a illegal person, due to our co-ordinated system of employment identification. With out a Social Insurance Number card, a person here cannot apply for a job, open a bank account, rent a place to live, go to school, or access any social services programs. In reality, he would be sleeping in some body's basement, and hiding. Being deported from Canada, results in a five or ten year ban, from re-entry.
I wish I could offer more hope, but the reality is harsh, given the set of facts that you presented above.
In fact it's very similar to the information I found out for her to come here.
If you need to check on that, you'll find a link to the USCIS website linked in the first "sticky" in this forum. That's also a very easily navigable site. The course of true love doesn't run smoothly where immigration is concerned!
Just for the record...........I volunteer on a Yahoo Canada questions site, about Immigration to Canada. I have been doing that for about 10 years. The type of question that you asked is a very common one, at that site. The exact same rules apply to all spousal visa applications, regardless of the country of origin of the persons involved.
The main criteria for approval for a Immigrant to Canada is a combination of their formal educational achievements, plus a minimum of five years of actual working experience that is directly linked to their line of education. They must also have a 100 percent clean criminal history in their country of origin and any other country where they have lived for longer than six months. They must also pass a medical examination, conducted by a Medical Doctor who is authorised by the Canadian Government, and the examination will take place in their home country, before they can be approved to come to Canada. All adult Immigration applicants must be fully able to work and support themselves, in Canada. Applicants can be denied, based on their chronic medical conditions, if that condition will place "undue costs on the Canadian health care system ".
Financially, all applicants must have a minimum of one years worth of cash funds, in a bank account, in their name, to support themselves in Canada, once they arrive here. For a single person that amount is $24,000 cdn, for a family of two adults and two kids under 16 that amount is $55,000 cdn.
Remember that there is a huge difference between a Immigrant, and a Refugee applicant. Refugees are judged under a completely different set of rules and standards, and they must be fleeing a country that is in a state of war, or civil war. The United Nations charter definition of a "refugee" is the standard that Canada uses to assess applicants. Canada sends our own Government workers to refugee camps, to select and interview potential refugee persons. Canada accepts about 50,000 UN refugee claimants a year. In many cases, they are illiterate, unable to read or write their own language. We teach them English or French , house them, feed them, send their kids to school here, train them for employment, and support them with health care and child care. One group that we can point to as a Canadian success story are the Vietnamese boat people, who came here in the 1970's. Their children are now adults and most of them are University graduates, and professionals in the fields of medicine, law, and engineering. A outstanding success.
Hm, than based on your comment they are tough out of luck for either of them. I know at one point she had $20K saved up which would have put her with most of what you say is required for money in the bank, he however has a tiny drop in the bucket compared to that.
She has some sort of training (exactly how high I don't know) and skills as a baker, but he has no skills and no education beyond high school.
I'll look through that site and the links and pass them on to him. He has a very tinted pair of Rose-Colored Glasses on and he needs to get his eyes opened to what it all involves because it's not as easy as he'd like to think it is.
A while back I posted about my stepson (from the US) and his girlfriend (from Canada) and I'm pretty well versed in what it would take for her to come here to live. But now questions have come up about him going up there. From what I can gather, about his only chances are getting a school visa or getting married.
He is 19 and has less than 1 year of work experience as a stocker at a big box retail store but is currently unemployed. He's registered for college courses starting next month. He has very little money saved up but does have access to savings bonds, although most don't mature for quite some time.
She is 24, has training as a baker and currently has a job (full-time I believe) and has over $15K in savings.
They have known each other for a bit over a year, talked extensively on the phone and Skype for that time, but this month is the first time they've actually seen each other when he took some of his savings to fly up to see her where they'll spend 2 weeks together before deciding what the next step is.
I know what the steps are if she were to come here to live, I have a small bit of knowledge from past friends who have moved to Canada to be with their significant other but it's all pre 9/11 information, as well as information I've been able to gather from the Internet.
But so far finding out real information from US to Canada is trickier than the other way around...or I'm just not looking in the right places.
Since this is the first time they've actually met, if they were to get married so that he could go up as Family, would that be frowned upon or ok? I did see where they are required to live together for 2 years..which shouldn't be an issue for them, but is it something more beyond that? Like they've had to have met face to face more than once before getting married?
If they can get married (if they want to) how soon can he start looking for a job? Go to college? Apply for permanent citizenship?
If he moves up there and they don't get married he can only visit and can only stay for 6 months than has to come back to the US for 6 months before being able to go back to Canada? Or is the timing shorter, or even longer?
He does not have any job experience beyond stock work in retail, so what jobs are available to him? Can he get a job at Canadian Tire where she works? Or is he tough out of luck? I know he can't get a job if he's just visiting (no matter how long he's there) but what if they are married? Can he get a job than, or does he have to wait til he has Permanent residence?
What about schooling? Can he go to Canada (in whatever capacity) and take online classes from here? Can he take classes in Canada without being on the Student Visa? How hard is it to get a Student Visa? Can he get a job while he goes to school? *some of that information I'll see when I look into it more*
Over all I want him to find this information. If he wants to do it, he needs to know what he's getting into. However, I also know he'll find the information that *he* wants to find and will miss things that will only bite him in the rear later down the road. (like the having to come back to the US after being in Canada for so long) I'd like to have as much information as possible so I can steer him towards how things really work.
I know I won't be able to change his mind, and his dad wouldn't have any better luck, but if he at least has the facts he won't get into trouble later.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
They don't HAVE to be married in order to him to apply as a family member.
He can apply as a common-law partner if they can show that they lived together for at least ONE year.
They have NOT been together for a year. They only met face to face a month or so ago. Time on face book doesn't count .
Second point. The Canadian woman doesn't have the required financial and employment situation to sponsor anybody. We require that a sponsor must be fully employed, make at least 24 k a year or more and have her own place to live( not her parents basement ). She would have to meet those standards plus be willing to sign a personal contract with the Government of Canada, to be financially responsible for him for a minimum of five years. AND he still has to pass the criminal records check , and the medical examination, and with his poor level of job skills and a lack of educational achievement, he is liable to be denied, anyway.
Just getting married to a Canadian is NOT a sure fire plan that you will be approved to come to Canada. Far from it.
They have NOT been together for a year. They only met face to face a month or so ago. Time on face book doesn't count .
Jim B,
I know that they don't meet the 1 year requirement. It was for OPs information only, as the OP mistakenly stated that the couple should be married and be togehter for at least 2 years in order for her to sponsor him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by canadian citizen
Second point. The Canadian woman doesn't have the required financial and employment situation to sponsor anybody. We require that a sponsor must be fully employed, make at least 24 k a year or more and have her own place to live( not her parents basement ). She would have to meet those standards plus be willing to sign a personal contract with the Government of Canada, to be financially responsible for him for a minimum of five years. AND he still has to pass the criminal records check , and the medical examination, and with his poor level of job skills and a lack of educational achievement, he is liable to be denied, anyway. .
Jim B,
For your information,
There is NO minimum income requirement in order to sponsor a spouse/common law partner or a dependent child.
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