On 2012-01-01, 10:01, arkywebs wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm new to this whole immigration game, but need to get some
> information.

Happy New Year!

> I myself am a Canadian citizen, but my partner is not. Should
> he and I choose to get married (he's currently living in the
> US), how long would it take for us to logistically be able to
> live and work together in Canada? What is the best course of
> action?

If you do have marriage in your life plan, then practically you
do have to get married before you can help your partner to get
into Canada, otherwise still if you have nothing against getting
married then you probably should if you want to help him to be
able to move to Canada since it may make it easier to prove that
you have a marriage-like relationship. However the requirement
is not absolute, you can skip getting married if you can prove
that you have marriage-like relationship in other way - and
especially if you have objection and/or barrier against marriage
- or if he does not need your assistance to be able to move to
Canada.

Is he US citizen? The quickest way to be able to live in Canada
- at least temporary at first - other than become international
student in Canada, is for a US citizen to be hired by Canadian
company as professional where the job and his credential match
an entry in NAFTA professional list. In this case he will then
be able to simply enter Canada showing the job offer and proof
of his credential to get work permit. Other than that, getting
work permit probably still the quickest, but the company have to
be willing to sponsor him for work permit, which usually means
the company need HRSDC approval by proving that although the
remuneration is good, no Canadian / PR can and willing to take
the position, a process that may take few months.

Otherwise, the most straighforward is for you to sponsor him,
which probably take between 0.5 to 1.5 years depend on the path
you choose. To be able to do that, either both of you get
married or make the relationship marriage-like and live together
for a year (called common-law partnership).

If both of you decide to be married or become common-law
partner, this does not need to happen in Canada (although both
of you still need to meet the condition required to make it
legal in Canada), it can be wherever, as long as it is legal in
that place.

Once both of you are married or become common-law partner and
can prove it (e.g. marriage certificate and other proof of
relationship), the Canadian - you - can sponsor the
spouse/partner for PR. There is no minimum income requirement to
sponsor spouse or spouse with children only, but the sponsor
should not under social assistance (welfare), in active
bankruptcy, nor defaulted in previous sponsorship or family
support.

There are 2 separate path both of you can choose: (1) Family
Class (outside processing), Spouse / Common-law Partner
category, or (2) Spouse / Common-law Partner in-Canada Class.

Family Class (outside processing), Spouse / Common-law Partner
category is generally much faster and the PR applicant can be
either inside or outside Canada anytime during the application.
If the sponsor is Canada citizen, then the sponsor can sponsor
while being outside Canada, as long as the sponsor can show
intention and plan to return to Canada as soon as the sponsored'
PR application is approved, the PR applicant can also stay in
Canada temporarily if the PR applicant can manage to do it
legally by his/her own merit. However this class will not help
the PR applicant to stay in Canada while waiting for the
approval, and documentation requirement may be a bit more.

Spouse / Common-law Partner in-Canada Class will allow the PR
applicant keep extending your stay in Canada and the
documentation requirement may be less. However it generally take
longer time, generally the PR applicant will have to stay in
Canada during the application process, and in most of that time
the application will not make the PR applicant eligible to work
or study nor eligible for health care in most provinces. The PR
applicant also need to be able to enter Canada legally before
start the application.

Read more about getting to Canada:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/app/ctcvac/english/index

Read more about getting work permit:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/index.asp
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/index.shtml

Read more about spouse/partner sponsored PR application here:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

Family Class, Spouse / Common-law Partner category package:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

Spouse / Common-law Partner in-Canada Class package:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/spouse.asp

Recent processing time for most applicant:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

A forum for spouse/partner sponsored PR applicants:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/canadian_immigration/

--
____ ____ ____ ____ (stephan paul) Arif Sahari Wibowo
/___ /___/ /___/ /___ http://www.arifsaha.com/
____/ / / / ____/
***** Happy New Year! Felix dies Nativitatis! *****

Disclaimer: IANAL, IANALP, IANAMD, IANAMP, IANAAP
my statements - if any - should be treated as such.