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First, thanks to everybody in advance for reading this and any advice help you can get.
Let me set the stage - I am an American Citizen and a teacher with a masters degree. My fiance is a Canadian Citizen (She is actually First Nations) and has the ability to come and go between the two countries as she pleases.
We have lived together in a common law relationship here in the United States for the past seven years. However, she just recently (first of the year) moved back to Canada due to some family having medical issues and her needing to take care of her family. I wasn't able to make the trip up with her, not only because I can't just go and "hang out" in Canada - plus I have a teachers contract that I need to fulfill (it expires in May).
Our long term goal is that I can eventually become a Canadian Citizen. After the three months my fiance has been back up there, she has pretty lost all motivation to move back to the states. I have always enjoyed the summers I have been able to spend up there and would very much enjoy living up there.
As a teacher, I do not believe that is a skilled trade... however pretty much everyone in her family is willing to sponsor me - and they do have the financial means to do so (They all either live in the Yukon or NWT) My goals are this....
(1) Get Married
(2) Be able to be in Canada for more than 90 days at a time (hopefully never having to go back to the states, as I am currently renting an apartment and would like to end that lease when my contract expires).
(3) Eventually find employment - at first it could be working at Tim Horton's, but eventually since I have a Master's degree, I would like it to be in the field of education either working at a college or university.
(4) Stay in the Yukon / NWT for five years and save enough to move to a bigger city buy a house and live the dream.
So therefore, I have a few questions about that.
1.) Would we be better for us to get married in Canada or the United States - or does it even matter?
2.) What would be the best route to stay in the country (Can I be sponsored to stay while waiting on my PR? Do I need a work permit to stay? Can I go to college and learn what I need to learn to teach while waiting on PR?)
3.) Any advice on moving items into the country? I don't own much - just a couple of tv's, some household goods, everything I own will it in my Ford Escape (which is the highest value thing I own)... How does that get handled in the short term - as I would like to bring those items up with me if I am allowed to stay for any period of time.
Also if anyone can provide any other advice, it would be awesome....
You really need to speak to an immigration attorney about this...where you get married does matter but don't take advice on things like this from a forum of strangers.
I agree with Adventurgurl that instead of relying on information from a forum this is something you definitely need to speak to an immigrations lawyer about, you should also speak to a lawyer who deals with Canadian First Nations issues. I don't know how things may or may not have changed in recent decades but if you marry a Canadian First Nations status person there's a possibility that might have some beneficial influence on your own status as to becoming a First Nations citizen yourself through marriage. So get some professional legal advice on this matter.
First of all, you don't need to be married in order for your spouse to sponsor you if you have lived in a common-law marriage for two years or more, if that is the reason you are intending to get married http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...-apply-who.asp. That link should lead you to other links about employment.
And as to your question about your possessions - they are considered 'settler's effects' and you are allowed to bring normal stuff across the border. I think there is or there used to be some sort of time for which you need to have owned the items though - in other words you can't buy everything brand new in the States and then take that with you to Canada (I may not have that entirely right though - I haven't read through this entire document) http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publicati...d2-2-1-eng.pdf
This is just an assumption on my part, but since Canada is always trying to attract people up north, I think that you should have no trouble finding a job. I don't know how transferable teaching degrees are but there is a shortage of teachers in most northern areas.
I can't say I know anything about colleges in the north. Google would help you out there.
Don't discount running willy nilly to the Territories either. It's one thing to visit in the summer when it's pretty, light all the time, and wonderful. How many winters have you been there? It's effectively dark for months at a time, and full on winter for better than half of the year.
There's nothing in the States, short of Alaska that compares, even then Alaska is much more temperate due to the proximity to the ocean.
Don't discount running willy nilly to the Territories either. It's one thing to visit in the summer when it's pretty, light all the time, and wonderful. How many winters have you been there? It's effectively dark for months at a time, and full on winter for better than half of the year.
There's nothing in the States, short of Alaska that compares, even then Alaska is much more temperate due to the proximity to the ocean.
I've spent the past 7 summers either in the Yukon or NWT during Christmas as that is where the fiances family lives.. Also I did spend one entire year in Alaska teaching to Native Children in the interior. I also slept with the windows open as well..
People refer to me as that dude from Twlight who never wears a shirt - I am his fatter older brother.. I'd sweat in an Igloo. I love the cold and hate any weather over 20 degrees (C).
As for asking advice, I would love to thank those who have answered - it has given me a good start. Clearly at the end of the day you do everything through an attorney; but much like those people who call into talk shows for advice - the advice people give on here is a starting point. Perhaps even, with the 1.5 million registered users on this website, there may even be a remote possibility that just ONE person might have gone through the same situation I have gone through and thus could share my story.
That was the reason for the post... Because of this post, I learned that my fiance needs to "apply" to sponsor me; which takes on average 29 days. That is something neither of us knew before the process and obviously something she can easily do without having to pay someone to do things..
Again, if anyone has ever been in my situation; I would appreciate hearing from you and your experiences.
Do these people ask medical and financial advice on forums, too? Speak to a professional. They will have all your answers and then some.
Also if you happen to have advice on a good professional to speak to, I would love to hear it... Currently it would be spinning the wheel or throwing a dart picking a random person; and just like doctors and financial managers, most decisions made about those are through word of mouth and references, not throwing a dart in the phone book.
Don't underestimate the ability of the Government to help. To get quality people, especially in remote areas is a real bonus.
If your fiancee is up North, she could also check with the Territorial Government to see if there's anything they can do to help with the process.
Spousal sponsorship should be fairly straight forward. Personally I'd do some digging on the Government website, or ultimately 1800 O CANADA will put you in touch with Service Canada that can point you in the right direction. (yes that's really the phone number) before dropping $ on an attorney.
My wife is American. We got married in Canada, at which time she moved up to Canada on a temporary visa. In the meantime, she applied for landed immigrant status so that when the temporary visa had expired, she had become a landed immigrant.
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