I'm an American who is dating a Canadian and will likely be moving within a year or so...?

Question

What do I need to do? Should I marry her first to apply for citizenship or should I apply for a work visa and then go from there? How do I apply for these visas, etc.?

(And before I get a lot of trolling, let me explain. I love the U.S., but I love her too, and if leaving my beloved homeland is what I need to do to keep her, then so be it! Besides, with global warming, Toronto will be as warm as Dallas in a decade or so anyways.)

Answer 1

Here are your choices:
If you marry, you can move immediately to Canada and apply for permanent residency while living in Canada on a Visitor Visa. However, you cannot work in Canada on a Visitor Visa and would have to apply for a work visa as well. The advantage is you would be able to live within Canada while the applications are being processed. Also, if your application isn't approved (for residency), you can't appeal if you use this route.

You can apply for permanent residency or a work permit while living outside of Canada, and wait to move to Canada until the application/s are approved.

Note: marrying does not automatically give residency to your spouse to the states, anymore than it does to Canada. You still have to go through the immigration process. Also, the U.S. has a provision for fiance's, which Canada does not.

You can find all the instructions, applications, and fee information here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/
Best of Luck to you!

FYI ... you can get married in either the U.S. or in Canada (or anywhere else for that matter, I suppose!) without having status in that country. We were married in Canada.

Answer 2

OK bud, I was in your EXACT situation. What you need to do is marry in the US first, don't marry in Canada. This will make everything easier. When you and your wife come into Canada she can now sponsor under the family sponsorship part. You'll want to get a drivers license experience/record abrstract from your home state before to you leave. You'll have no credit here so bring several thousand dollars with you. Whe you cross into Canada stop at immigration and get a visitors visa, this will be good for 6 months. at www.cic.gc.ca you'll be able to get all the forms you will need. DO NOT use a lawyer this is easy. Next you'll fill out the permanent resident paperwork, this will be long but easy to do. About 6 months and you'll be a sponsored permanent resident and a couple years later you can apply for citizenship. Now there are alot of hoops to jump through but just be patient if you need to work, just live close to the border, and cross back to the US daily until your permanent resident papers come through. Avoid C Singer immigration attorney he ripped me off for $1500 US dollars (in my oppinion). Good Luck hope this helps.

Answer 3

I'm in the same situation except I'm the girlfriend and I'm Canadian.
I however did move to the states but my bf was in Canada first. He has residency in the states and citizenship in Canada. ANYWAY.
You're allowed to be in Canada for 6 months a year however without a visa or residency you can't work. Sorry.
If you two were to marry you would get residency and she would get residency to the states. I strongly suggest getting married because lately the borders have been hell and if you have a green card it'll make it so much easier to get across!
I don't know where to get the visa's but they can take a while....
I've been to Toronto enough, it's huge! It's the city that never sleeps! It can be a bit scary at first though. Enjoy!!

Answer 4

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.html
or even...
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/sponsor/familymembers.html

will tell you everything you need, and it has a downloadable application kit.