need help finding place like VisaJourney

[Knobby_Wheezer 0]

My brother has met a USC who wants to move to Canada (as a PR---she is currently here on a work permit) and I recommended finding a place like VisaJourney. I have looked online and can only come up with 2 and they look nothing as good as VisaJourney (Canadian Immigration Station and Immigration Boards where you select a subcategory for emmigrating to Canada).

I have emailed him the CIC URL already, but as we all know, the government take on instructions is woefully bare.

Any guidance or assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Merry Boxing Day!

Oh, I should add, they've been engaged for about 4 months and have been co-habitating for over a year. They met in Singapore when they were both teaching there. So, it's not like a marriage of convenience.

Edited December 26, 2006 by Knobby_Wheezer

[KarenCee 3]

Here's a link that I found. It has a PDF (about 31 pages long) that describes the process. I plan on doing this too, but several years down the road, after my husband attains dual citizenship. Hope this helps and Happy Boxing Day to you!

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html

[Knobby_Wheezer 0]

Hmm . . . thank you, KarenCee, for taking the time to help, but I already have *that* link. Initially, we were going to have Del move up here and I looked into parts of the process then---but, things blew apart when his brother died and so I am moving to the US.

I was telling my brother (who is a Canadian like me) about VisaJourney and said that I would ask here if anyone knew of a message-board-community-thing for asking questions about his fiancée becoming a Permanent Resident of Canada. She is currently up here on a work permit teaching college level (*not* the same as university) history on Vancouver Island. Both my brother and she would like the PR thing, but don't want to screw things up by following the government's idea of instructions. Hence: is there a Canadian VJ-like place?

I only found Immigration Station (woefully lacking compared with VJ) and ImmigrationBoards/Canada (or something to that effect) that only has 1 page of posts---very small community.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

A somewhat better (than CIC's) site would be the Serbinski forum.

http://forums.serbinski.com/viewforum.php?f=6

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Unfortunately, I am not aware of a site like VJ for Canada, however another option for them to explore would be going to his Member of Parliament's office. Most of them assist immigration applicants quite regularly, and I know that when I worked for an MP immigration was a major part of our workload. I kept copies of all of the application kits on file as well as lots of copies of immigration q&as and info sheets. What was not clear from the published material I was able to ask through my channels and come back with the correct advice.

Basically, if the laws haven't changed (and they may have) your brother and his fiancee can get married, he applies to sponsor her to Canada and she applies to become a permanent resident at the same time, using an "In Canada" application instead of "Outside of Canada". He does not need to meet an income criteria (waived for spouses), and she needs to keep her work status valid, renewing her employment authorization until such time as her PR is approved. She will need to do a medical plus provide security references for every place in which she has resided since the age of 16, including both state and FBI clearances for the US. Once she receives Approval in Principal, she can work without the employment authorization. PR status usually follows shortly afterwards. If her employment authorization expires or she no longer works, she can apply for a change of status to a non-permanent resident - a visitor - and still remain in Canada with your brother. They are actually in a good situation to get married and apply for 'In Canada' processing of the Permanent Resident status. Generally, the information on the CIC site about the process is quite accurate and your brother is not likely to experience any difficulties following it. A sit down consultation with his MP or his MP's staff would be a good idea and would go a long way to reassuring him about the process. Good luck to them.

One more quick comment - Canada's immigration policy strongly favours family re-unification so once your brother and fiancee marry, Canadian immigration will do their best to let them stay together in Canada during the process rather than requiring a separation.

Edited December 30, 2006 by Kathryn41

[Buttons 0]

ask married my love, she immigrated to canada and then back to the USA

[KarenCee 3]

Hmm . . . thank you, KarenCee, for taking the time to help, but I already have *that* link. Initially, we were going to have Del move up here and I looked into parts of the process then---but, things blew apart when his brother died and so I am moving to the US.

I was telling my brother (who is a Canadian like me) about VisaJourney and said that I would ask here if anyone knew of a message-board-community-thing for asking questions about his fiancée becoming a Permanent Resident of Canada. She is currently up here on a work permit teaching college level (*not* the same as university) history on Vancouver Island. Both my brother and she would like the PR thing, but don't want to screw things up by following the government's idea of instructions. Hence: is there a Canadian VJ-like place?

I only found Immigration Station (woefully lacking compared with VJ) and ImmigrationBoards/Canada (or something to that effect) that only has 1 page of posts---very small community.

Didn't realize you had *that* link. Sorry I wasn't more help there.

[Captain Ewok 1,923]

Unfortunately, I am not aware of a site like VJ for Canada, however another option for them to explore would be going to his Member of Parliament's office. Most of them assist immigration applicants quite regularly, and I know that when I worked for an MP immigration was a major part of our workload. I kept copies of all of the application kits on file as well as lots of copies of immigration q&as and info sheets. What was not clear from the published material I was able to ask through my channels and come back with the correct advice.

Basically, if the laws haven't changed (and they may have) your brother and his fiancee can get married, he applies to sponsor her to Canada and she applies to become a permanent resident at the same time, using an "In Canada" application instead of "Outside of Canada". He does not need to meet an income criteria (waived for spouses), and she needs to keep her work status valid, renewing her employment authorization until such time as her PR is approved. She will need to do a medical plus provide security references for every place in which she has resided since the age of 16, including both state and FBI clearances for the US. Once she receives Approval in Principal, she can work without the employment authorization. PR status usually follows shortly afterwards. If her employment authorization expires or she no longer works, she can apply for a change of status to a non-permanent resident - a visitor - and still remain in Canada with your brother. They are actually in a good situation to get married and apply for 'In Canada' processing of the Permanent Resident status. Generally, the information on the CIC site about the process is quite accurate and your brother is not likely to experience any difficulties following it. A sit down consultation with his MP or his MP's staff would be a good idea and would go a long way to reassuring him about the process. Good luck to them.

One more quick comment - Canada's immigration policy strongly favours family re-unification so once your brother and fiancee marry, Canadian immigration will do their best to let them stay together in Canada during the process rather than requiring a separation.

What do people think about opening a few new forums for immigrating to other regions/countries? I am not sure if it would be useful, but maybe...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

It may be useful. There have been a number of posts recently about individuals whose circumstances were such that they had to change their plans from immigrating to the US to having their partners emigrating to their fiancee/spouses' countries instead. I don't know if you would need several forums, but perhaps a general forum that discusses what needs to be considered if an American wishes to move to their partner's country instead would be useful.

Edited December 31, 2006 by Kathryn41

[KarenCee 3]

I really like this idea Captain. I plan on emigrating to Canada eventually, when our daughter is older. I have seen others on here already doing this very thing...emigrating to their SO's country. Thanks for thinking of it!

[Knobby_Wheezer 0]

Wow! As has oft been said before---VJers rock!

Thank you so much for caring and sharing information. I have copied the link to this topic into an email for my brother and requested that he read the WHOLE THING. He has a legal background (law degree) and so will probably not be troubled by any "legalese" that may be included. Thank you Kathryn41 for the ton of info and to CherryXS for another link.

Captain Ewok: what a lovely idea. I have no idea how you would go about putting something like that together, but you have my support for doing so (even if it *is* selfishly related to my brother).

PS: buttons: I do not understand your post, though I *did* read it.

[MichelleandCraig 1]

I think that's a GREAT idea, Cap! Not one I would probably use, but I can see it being useful for *many* people in the future, as we've seen this question before. Really great of you to consider that! M.

[KarenCee 3]

Wow! As has oft been said before---VJers rock!

Thank you so much for caring and sharing information. I have copied the link to this topic into an email for my brother and requested that he read the WHOLE THING. He has a legal background (law degree) and so will probably not be troubled by any "legalese" that may be included. Thank you Kathryn41 for the ton of info and to CherryXS for another link.

Captain Ewok: what a lovely idea. I have no idea how you would go about putting something like that together, but you have my support for doing so (even if it *is* selfishly related to my brother).

PS: buttons: I do not understand your post, though I *did* read it.

married my love is a poster on here. that's what buttons meant. i do believe you could *do* a search for her posts on *this* subject.