In recent years, Canada has emerged as a preferred destination for immigrants seeking a better quality of life, education, and career opportunities. One of the avenues to secure a Canadian visa is through marriage to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Every typical person has the mindset and the willingness to obtain a Canadian visa which if without caution could get you a lifetime ban from getting one.

In this article, we explore ten ways to obtain a Canada visa through marriage, with a focus on seven ways that won’t cost you anything!

(1)Seeking Legal Assistance:

Obtaining a Canadian visa requires a lot of effort and patience. Considering the measures involved in getting a Canada visa, it would be advised you seek assistance from a legal organization or your personal lawyer to explain the pro’s and con’s involved in applying for a Canada visa. While hiring an immigration lawyer or consultant may incur expenses, in other words, it can significantly improve your chances of a successful application. Seeking legal advice from firms when pursuing a Canada visa through marriage can be a crucial step in ensuring a smooth and successful application process. Every immigration case is remarkable, and a legal expert can provide personalized solutions tailored to meet all your questions and expectations. They will survey your qualification, audit your documentation, and advice you on the best course of action. This type approach limits mistakes and maximizes the efficiency of your application. Amongst all these, seeking legal assistance provides in-depth knowledge of immigration laws, regulations, and procedures.

(2)Spousal Sponsorship Program:

The Spousal Sponsorship Program in Canada is a component of Canada’s immigration system, enabling Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their spouses. The program aims to facilitate family reunification by allowing Canadian citizens or permanent residents to bring their loved ones to live with them in Canada. With this method, things can really get complicated! With this program, you can apply for a Canada visa which can easily get approved in few months depending on your application process. Sponsorship applications take approximately 12 months to process from start to finish. They are typically not processed much faster than 12 months, but they can take longer, depending on the nature of your case. If you have a complicated case, or the visa office requires additional proof of your relationship, this will delay the processing of your case and it will take longer. Considering this method, if you live with the sponsor in Canada and you hold a valid immigration status in Canada, applying for a Canada visa is at a step glance from you.

(3)Open Work Permit:

This option provides financial independence while waiting for permanent residency. Spouses or partners of Canadian citizens or permanent residence may be eligible for an open work permit which enables them to work for any employer in Canada for a specified period of time without a specific job offer. To be eligible for an open work permit, five requirements must be met. Some of which are: you must be a resident in Canada, you must have applied under one of the temporary resident to permanent resident pathways, you must be authorized to work, must meet up with the language requirements and you must meet the immigration status. It takes anywhere between one and four months to process your spouse’s open work permit application. If the sponsored person is already in Canada, they are not allowed to work until they obtain the open work permit. Applying for an open work permit requires some documents such as a copy of your valid passport, existing work permit, proof of employment such as an offer letter or contract (especially if you plan to extend your work permit with the same employer), and evidence of meeting the occupation’s requirements.

(4)Apply for Permanent Residency from within Canada:

Having a permanent residency within Canada goes a large way to get you a spot of been the sole owner of a Canada visa. Having a spouse who is a permanent resident of Canada and also a citizen of Canada enhances your application in getting a Canadian visa. Applying for a permanent residency from within Canada involves you applying to the province or territory where you want to live and be nominated. After a province or territory nominates you, you must apply to IRCC for permanent residence which after then an IRCC officer will then assess your application based on Canadian immigration rules. Applying for a Canada visa involves requirements some of which are : a valid passport or travel identity card, a recent passport-quality photograph, the relevant application form, Medical exams, proof of funds, birth certificate or adoption certificate if you are applying with a dependent under 18,Representative form if you have hired an immigration lawyer. To apply for a permanent residence in Canada, you must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days during the five years right before the date you sign your application and meet all other conditions.

(5)Conjugal Partner Sponsorship:

A conjugal partnership is a relationship between two people who are in a marriage-like relationship but are not married and cannot live together due to circumstances beyond their control, To qualify for a conjugal partner sponsorship application the relationship should have been for at least one year before submission of conjugal partner sponsorship. A conjugal partner is someone with whom you have a sexual or physical partnership, but the sexual or physical relationship is not the only qualifying criteria, several other factors can play a vital role in defining a conjugal relationship.  You can only qualify under this category if you have not been able to live with your partner due to circumstances beyond your and your partner’s control. The IRCC has considered the conjugal partnership as an exceptional category applicable only in special cases thus you will not be considered for a conjugal partnership if you and your partner could have qualified as a common-law union. A conjugal partner can be sponsored if there is evidence of a mutually interdependent relationship showing legitimate intimacy and attachment between both partners or have been in a legitimate relationship for the past 12 months but were unable to cohabit due to genuine barriers such as religious reasons, sexual orientation, cultural differences.

(6) Common-Law Marriage/Partner:

According to Wikipedia, “common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, sui iuris marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal marriage despite non-compliance with the requirements for a statutory marriage, at least in the jurisdictions where marriage can still be contracted this way”. In Canada, while some provinces may extend to couples in marriage-like relationships many of the rights and responsibilities of a marriage, they are not legally considered married. The common-law partnership must show the evidence of cohabitation in a conjugal relationship. The sponsorship applications in all three routes i.e. spousal, common-law partner, or conjugal partner streams take around 12 months to process. The amount of time to process the application varies as per the complexity of the application and the circumstances of the couple rather than a stream of an application under which it is applied. Although it is a general concept that married spouses have to put less effort to show the genuineness of the relationship as compared to the common-law or conjugal partner applicants. It may be partially true as marriages may have certain advantages and obligations as well and being the de jure relationships easy to establish and prove but again genuineness of the relationship element will be the same as with other streams i.e. common-law or conjugal.

CONCLUSION

Getting a Canada visa through marriage requires so much efforts out of which fees might be involved. The above explained 6 ways discusses the ways and methods by which getting a Canada visa can be a easy route, out of which 2 won’t cost you anything! Do well to read through the article and digest the content.

Thank you for reading!

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