Significant other & moving to Canada

[magisterludi]

I've recently been accepted to a university in Canada, my first choice school since the beginning of the process. I would love to attend but will not if my boyfriend cannot get into / find a job in Canada. We're both US citizens. Does anyone have any experience with this? We have no evidence of cohabitation or we'd consider the common law union. Any information would be appreciated!

[PrettyVacant]

I've recently been accepted to a university in Canada, my first choice school since the beginning of the process. I would love to attend but will not if my boyfriend cannot get into / find a job in Canada. We're both US citizens. Does anyone have any experience with this? We have no evidence of cohabitation or we'd consider the common law union. Any information would be appreciated!

Congrats on your acceptance!

As you mentioned, you need to be married or in a common-law relationship for your partner to get an open work permit while you study in Canada. There's really no way around that.

Your boyfriend could try to find a job in Canada and then apply for a temporary work visa. If you decide to go that route, you need an offer of employment and a labour market opnion. Getting a Labour Market Opinion takes about 5-9 months, so he'll be without a job for quite some time, and even then, you don't know if the LMO will be positive or negative. It's a really lengthy and complicated process. Some jobs don't require LMO, so check if your boyfriend falls into that category: http://www.cic.gc.ca...-who-permit.asp If so, you are in luck!

I hope this helps. You could also check out http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/index.php and ask this question over there.

Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work-spouse.asp

Edited March 21, 2011 by PrettyVacant

[qbtacoma]

How close is your school to the border? Maybe it would be feasible for him to relocate relatively closely and then drive up for long visits until he finds a job in your city. That's the route I'm taking. I think I remember reading somewhere that it isn't very difficult to get common law status in Canada, but since I've looked and cannot find that maybe it was wishful thinking on my part. Do any other international students know?

[PrettyVacant]

How close is your school to the border? Maybe it would be feasible for him to relocate relatively closely and then drive up for long visits until he finds a job in your city. That's the route I'm taking. I think I remember reading somewhere that it isn't very difficult to get common law status in Canada, but since I've looked and cannot find that maybe it was wishful thinking on my part. Do any other international students know?

It's not that hard assuming you've been living together for quite some time.

The CIC defines common law status as any relationship in which the couple has been living together for at least one year. I recently applied for permanent residence, and I filed under common law status. I had to send a lot of documents to prove it: a copy our lease, a statutory declaration of common law union, notarized letters from family and friends, pictures, post-cards, emails, phone records, a letter from our landlord, etc. It's safe to assume the CIC will require this type of evidence if your boyfriend decides to apply for an open work permit.

Here's the definition straight from Canada Revenue:

According to the Canada Revenue Agency, as of 2007, a common-law relationship is true if at least one of the following applies:

a) the couple have been living in a conjugal relationship for at least 12 continuous months;

the couple are parents of a child by birth or adoption; or

c) one of the couple has custody and control of the other partner's child (or had custody and control immediately before the child turned 19 years of age) and the child is wholly dependent on that person for support.

Hope this helps.

Edited March 21, 2011 by PrettyVacant

[qbtacoma]

That does help, thank you!

[squaresquared]

You could also look into work abroad programs, or perhaps the university offers a type of work exchange program. I know they have this at the university I work at. It might be easier for him to find a job on campus under this special status, rather than the normal workforce outside the campus community.

We have many 'foreigners' who come to work on contracts for different periods of time (weeks to months). They sort of act as temps who can become semi-permanent (contracts just keep getting renewed)