# Marrying Canadian citizen and confused.com



## doug1970 (Oct 20, 2013)

Hi

I'm hoping this is going to be simple but I'm sure it's not gonna be.

I am a U.K citizen

I have a lovely Canadian partner, we have been together long distance for about a year or so.

We intend to get married in Ontario later this year but want to be together straight after and apply for PR.

My vague understanding is that I can apply inland and I will get a work permit, maybe as soon as 4 months.

So I fly in to get married. What do I tell Immigration at airport? Do i tell them? Will they refuse me? Do I just say I'm staying 2 weeks and forget to go home? Will that impact badly on my application/our application.

If above is not correct or gonna lead to hassles what's the correct procedure? Can I apply inland and go home and then return after work permit issued?


I have read believe me just need some advice if any kind soul could advise.

Doug


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Will Brian be part of the wedding party? :eyebrows:


LOL.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.


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## doug1970 (Oct 20, 2013)

Am I missing something?


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## doug1970 (Oct 20, 2013)

Okay okay I got it smarty pants 

Doug


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Firstly do not tell lies to Immigration Officers. You are opening yourself up for a load of trouble, including deportation. And, sins of omission are equally bad.
Your partner needs to sponsor you under a Spousal Application. You (nobody) is allowed to wander into Canada and decide to stay without Governmental Approval. If you wish to work/receive G of C benefits you need to be here legally.
Read the CIC website under the Spousal Application portion/section. AND FOLLOW THE RULES/REQUIREMENTS.


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## doug1970 (Oct 20, 2013)

I think you must be reading my confusion as intent to bend the rules, not correct.

Surely I can come into the country to get married, then we can apply for spousal sponsorship Inland. So the confusion is then what? Am I allowed to stay pending outcome or do I go home to await the outcome?


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

doug1970 said:


> I think you must be reading my confusion as intent to bend the rules, not correct.




When you say "_What do I tell Immigration at airport? *Do i tell them?* Will they refuse me? *Do I just say I'm staying 2 weeks and forget to go home?*"_" that does give the impression that you were not going to be truthful with them.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

I'm afraid you need to get familiar with the average processing times involved Doug. Read here: Processing Times: Family Sponsorship

It shows if you live outside of Canada while awaiting your PR visa, it will take 55 days +28 months (London office).
If you live inside Canada it will take 16+10 =26 months. If you chose that option, you could not work in Canada while you waited.

I'm guessing this is going to come as a shock to you. There is no problem in coming to Canada to get married but staying and then working is a whole other story. But all may not be lost yet. How old are you?

If you qualify for the Working Holiday Program you might be able to come in under that program and get married, apply from within Canada for your PR and be able to live together in Canada while you could work under the WHV program for up to 2 years.
International Experience Canada - travel and work in Canada

But you will see it is currently closed, so you would need to talk to them, find out when the next round is, the chances of you getting on it, etc.

No, it is not going to be either an easy or quick process Doug.


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## armycanwife (Jul 17, 2015)

doug1970 said:


> I think you must be reading my confusion as intent to bend the rules, not correct.
> 
> Surely I can come into the country to get married, then we can apply for spousal sponsorship Inland. So the confusion is then what? Am I allowed to stay pending outcome or do I go home to await the outcome?


You can remain on a 6 month visitor visa. In that time period you have to apply for citizenship and then you are allowed to stay in the country as long as it takes. After the citizenship is approved (approx. 2 years or more) you can apply for permanent residency. Once you apply for citizenship (via your spouse sponsoring you) you are allowed to apply for employment (this was just allowed Dec 2014) BUT the employer will have to agree to sponsor a work permit for you. UNLESS you come into Canada for an already lined up job where the work permit is different. You are also not allowed to study while in Canada unless on an approved student visa.

To apply for immigration within Canada you're looking at approx. 2000.00 can. dollars. 300.00 for the immigration doctor medical exam and there are only few within Ontario who do it (you can't go to just any doctor) then you will need to pay for a chest X-ray and have blood work done. Then the application fees, notary fees and postage fees. It is best to submit the money for perm. residency with your citizenship app to speed things along AFTER you have gotten your citizenship. 

You will NOT have any healthcare in Ontario until your immigration application passes a specific hurdle and they send you a landing certificate or something saying you are cleared and your application will continue for citizenship phase. AT least 18 months for this.

Applying outside of Canada is FASTER. Meaning if you get married here and move back to UK then apply for citizenship from there you're look at a year vs. 2 or more. You will need your immigration medical completed in the UK. 

I am in a similar situation. I'm from the U.S. - married my Canadian husband in the U.S. and moved here then applied for citizenship - in 2014 and it hasn't even been touched. They are currently processing March 2014 and I submitted July 2014. I have submitted 200 applications and not one job. Common here from what I am told. 

Hope this helps.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

I like your last comment armycanwife, "hope this helps". Obviously, Doug isn't going to see it as helping. LOL He doesn't want to hear it is likely to be a couple of years before he can get his PR visa or that he has to find an employer willing to sponsor him for a work permit which is unlikely unless he has very in demand profession/trade.

What do you do for a living Doug? It might be that you would be quicker to go apply for PR via a Skills Visa on the Express Entry system. In other words, apply on your merits rather than your marriage.

Another thought is what about your wife moving to the UK while you are waiting for your PR visa to come through. The question would be is it easier for her to join you in the UK than for you to join her in Canada. That depends on UK Immigration and you would need to research that obviously. https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

If they want to be together immediately after the wedding, it would be faster for his Fiancée to go to the UK as his wife, assuming Doug can meet the income requirements etc. 

Since it will take 30 months for Ottawa to adjudicate the application from London and a UK Spousal Visa is also 30 months in length, the plan would be to get married in Canada and then apply for Doug's Canadian visa first (it will have to be lodged via the High Commssion in London), follwed by the UK spousal visa (which will have to be lodged in Toronto)... the UKBA currently has a 2-3 month turn around for Canadian applications, with priority processing available for a USD 576$ _non-refundable_ surcharge. As soon as Wife's UK visa comes through, she immediately goes to the UK to wait for Ottawa to process Doug's application. 

Amongst other things, on her Spouse Visa she will be allowed to a) work as soon as she arrives in the UK; b) trade her Ontario drivers license for a UK license without having to sit a theory test or road test (this is only offered to citizens of certain countries, and unless she can prove that she took her driving test on a standard transmission car, her license will be "Automatic (transmission) Only" and _not_ a full permit); c) as a citizen of a Commonwealth country, vote in _all_ UK/EU elections.

Doug _will *not*_ be afforded voting rights in Canada until he has been granted Canadian citizenship, and he _cannot_ apply for citizenship until he has been in Canada on Permanent Residency for 4 years (residency terms and conditions apply).

If Doug wants to get UK citizenship for his a Wife (this would take a total of 5 years from start to finish by way of a series of 2 Spouse Visas and 1 Indefinite Leave to Remain visa), which would allow her to return to the UK in the future without having to worry about applying for visas, he would be better off waiting until the end of Wife's first visa and after the second one (a further 30 months in length) has been granted (a few months to process via a mailed in application with same-day priority service is available, for a surcharge) before applying to come to Canada. At the end of the second visa, Wife will be eligible for 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' and as soon as the ink has dried on that visa has been approved (same day priority processing available, again for a surcharge) she can (and should) apply for Citizenship. By this time, Doug's Canadian application should have come back as approved and they can return to Canada while Wife's citizenship application is being considered (up to 6 months to process, with no priority processing is available, so you may want to put down the address of relative so that you will know when a decision has been decided). She will have to return to the UK for her Naturalisation ceremony, but other than that, she can leave and return as often as she wishes, and can apply for her British passport in Canada.


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Sounds about right WCCG. Much easier for her to join him in the UK. Now we just need to hear what Doug thinks if he has got over his shock from hearing all this. LOL


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

I think that the clincher would be that the Home Office is offering Mrs_Doug a lot more perks sooner in the process (the right to vote, easy driving license conversion, working) than the CIC is prepared to offer Doug when he arrives in Canada.

Unfortunately, she will have to pay £500 in advance (£200/yr x 2.5 years) of applying for _*both*_ of her Spouse Visas in order to access NHS cover (this is a recent development and she'll be exempt when she applies for indefinite leave to remain) and she won't be allowed to claim JobSeekers or anything similar (again, until she is granted indefinite leave to remain), but other than that, those are the major hurdles to her living in the UK.

Given that the currency exchange is currently GBP £1 = CAD 2$, it might just be beneficial for her to go to the UK to save up their £££ and wait (the lowest I've seen the exchange rate in recent times was £1 = 1.65$ and that was almost 4 years ago... mind you, if the Tories are voted out of power in October, that may change the strength of the Canadian dollar).


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## OldPro (Feb 18, 2015)

Re the driving license. I went through having a Canadian (Ontario) license and getting a UK license. It was a bit of a laugh.

I drove legally in the UK on my Ontario license for 1 year. I also had no problem getting insurance for that year. But after the first year you have to apply for a UK license and can't re-new your insurance without it.

So then I encountered the standard/auto transmission issue. As you said, if your license doesn't specify (which Canadian licenses do not) manual shift, you can only get a license to drive an automatic transmission.

Here's the laugh. I drove a manual shift for the first year. Legally, on my Ontario non-specific license. People who are on vacation and rent a car, do the same every day. So when it came time to get a UK license and I came up against this issue, I asked how it was legal for me to drive my manual transmission car for a year but I could not get a license to drive my car on day 366? If I was safe to drive for a year and no threat to the UK public at large, how did I suddenly become unsafe on day 366?

A prime example of bureaucracy at work and having nothing whatsoever to do with common sense. I had to do both the written and driving test to get a license to drive a manual transmission. 

I got one 'mistake' instead of a tick in the box on my driving test. That was for not doing a shoulder check when pulling out of a parking spot. Again a laugh. I was driving a left hand drive car. So where a right hand drive car requires a shoulder check of the blind spot to the right, a left hand drive car does not, it requires shoulder checks to the left. The guy doing my driving test faulted me for not doing a shoulder check to the right! That's what the form and rules say you must do and makes no allowance for what makes sense if you are driving a left hand drive car. LOL


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