Argh! Frustration!

Hi, all. Any info anyone can give me would be great - the situation is described below (arg! arg!):

My partner and I have been together for 1.5 years. He's a 38-year old Brit and I'm a 40-year old Canadian woman. Due to circumstances beyond our control (his employer sort of forgot to get his HRDC paperwork in on time so his work permit expires/he has to be on a plane on Feb. 24 or he'll be in breach of the Canadian Immigration Act. Don't get me started). He's in healthcare that will require him to start building up a patient list from scratch, etc. I do office administration work. At this point, although our relationship is most definitely a "together years down the road" thing, marriage is not really an option because neither of us can afford it and he's had a bad experience in that regard (one of the reasons why we can't afford me moving there - LOL bitterly) and even then, I wouldn't be allowed to work for 2 years - which neither of us can afford.

Are we as stuck as we seem? It looks like a long-distance relationship is in the offing unless one of us wins a lottery and/or he can afford to come back to Canada, which neither of us feels is a great option either, since Canada is just as insane as the UK about letting people into the country and hasn't been a great experience for him.

If anyone can give us a ray of hope, yay! If anyone needs more details feel free to ask.

Teel

Can you not apply for common law status?

That way he could get a residence permit and probably will be allowed to stay while the paperwork gets done.

Just a thought-
Matt

Like the UK, we can't apply as common-law partners unless we've physically lived together for 2 years which, sadly, we haven't. And due to his having to leave the country or be in breach of the immigration act (at which point he'd be deported - not a good thing if we decide to move back to Montreal in the future), it's going to be a bit interesting just trying to live in the same country as the other. On the upside, nowhere does it state that the living-together-for-2-years can't be done in in spurts of a few months here, a few months there.

Still - gah!

Thanks for the words, though, Matt.

Teel

Actually, it's only one year for common-law status, not two. I just went through this with my girlfriend.

And I think that when you file the paper work they allow you to stay in Canada regardless of whatever visa you might be in the country with anyhow.

The best way is to just call immigration and explain the situation, or maybe talk to an immigration lawyer. I'm sure there's some way around this.

I can only speak from a UK immigration perspective, but a way people often get round this here is for the foreign partner to register as a student, and stay in the contry, thus continuing the co-habitation, on a student visa.

Might not apply in Canada - I don't know.

It is one year - I'm currenty going through the application process so my boyfriend can immigrate to Canada. Even failing that, you can sponsor a person to immigrate to Canada under a "Conjugal Partner" heading. This usually applies if you've made every attempt to be together for the amount of time required for common-law, but couldn't because you live in different countries.

Here's the link I used: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/sponsor/index.html

And the good part is, if you're only sponsoring your partner, and he/she has no dependants, you don't even need to prove that you're financially secure to be able to sponsor that person (although it's probably a good idea if you are anyway).

Thanks for your feedback. I guess what I'm saying -- well, no guessing actually -- is that at this point, Canada is a no go. He doesn't want to immigrate at this point (and I don't blame him, quite frankly), although I can definitely sponsor him no problem. Our sights are set on me going to the UK at this point. Keep in mind that:
- I am 40 years old (thus, too old for most of the immigration schemes)
- I work in administration, thus no special skills that can get me into the UK
- There is no way I can afford to not work nor can my sweetheart afford to support me at this point.
- There is certainly no way I can afford international student tuition fees re: coming in on a student visa.

So, as you can see, we're a bit stuck. Any advice from any of you on this aspect. And keep in mind, neither of us are that excited about staying in Canada. :-/

Teel

Sorry, no advice on immigrating the other way. But it sure is strange to see the other side of things; both of us are so desperate to move back to Canada.

How come?

Teel

Both of us are of the firm belief that Vancouver is simply the best place in the world. We're doing okay in Manchester, but we mention almost daily the things we miss about Vancouver. Pho, Hon's, cheap and good sushi, yummy Italian baked goods on Commercial Drive, affordable everything, a society that promotes an active lifestyle. Mountains, ocean, proper back-woods camping.... I could go on.

The UK has its advantages (easy travel, good beers) and we enjoy living here, but given the choice of settling in the UK or in Vancouver, it's no contest.