This one is for Sharon

Canada Immigration Forum (discussion group)


 
       
Subject: This one is for Sharon
  If you have a definate web-link or can backup your comment please do so; else please don´t give your made up opinions. This is legal matter - if someone based on your comments make a mistake they don´t have a second chance. You can´t say to CIC - opps I made a mistake!! but Sharon (who??) told me to do so on the forum...

So please back-up your comments or plain simple tell you DON´T KNOW.

Hope you don´t take it personal... But I´m just tired of reading stuff that has no basis

[31-10-2004,19:55]
Go Legal Only
(in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
I agree. I mean Sharon - who did you ask/ ref. to do your own application?
[31-10-2004,19:57]
Anonymous
legal advice (in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
we did our own application. My comments about illegal and legal are directly out of CIC procedural manual #1 and Operational manual #6. I was very careful to suggest legal advice as the best source of a correct answer. I am not a stupid person, and I cannot find a clear definitive answer that I would be prepared to risk my application money and my future on.

In future I will keep my research and opinions to myself. If it is not welcome, I will not waste my valueable time on those who just want to spout questions about how long they have to wait for something.

[31-10-2004,20:07]
sharon
Support for those who are helping (in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
To Go Legal Only:

Who will say "... someone told me on the forum to do so...", there are many people who will say many different things. All these are suggestions and personal opinions and no one should make up her/his mind based on these answers 100%. I stay on Sharon´s side in this, I think Sharon gave her opinion and this is what really forums are for. If you need a professional opinion than you find an immigration lawyer and pay her/him $200 per hour and you know exactly what to say and what to do.

Thank you Sharon for taking YOUR time and helping others who want to be helped.

Oliver

[31-10-2004,20:55]
Oliver L.
living with NO. (in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
I am sorry but I cannot accept NO and walk away. Do we all have a clear picture what the implications are for this fellow? I am not prepared to leave him to the consequences of ´NO´ until I satisfy myself about the answer. Let´s just consider the implications of NO for this couple. Menino would apply as a single skilled worker to Canada. (how long would it take?) once he is accepted, he would travel to Canada and his partner would go back to his home country to wait. Menino would need to get his required time in Canada before he could sponsor his partner. (how long would that take?) Obviously for Menino, from his perspective, staying in the US is not an option. He is in a same sex relationship, and if you read the news...you will understand that in the US there is no rights or protection for his relationship. In Canada, they would have all the protection of the laws of Canada. So, I am not prepared to blow a NO at him and suggest he is ´out of luck´ quite as fast as our other forum friend because I am not quite ready to condemn him to several years of separation from his partner. I still maintain he seek legal advice, (more likely a lawyer) and in the mean time, I want an answer for myself about what might happen to these folks. I want to know how my goverment would treat these people.
[31-10-2004,22:36]
sharon
(in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
This site may be helpful. If its about same sex relationships. This is pretty extensive website and may have answers to all of you questions.

http://www.legit.ca/

Thanks Sharon for your valuable comments and time. People should be smart enough to make up their own minds after reading different views. Thats whats the forum is all about.

[31-10-2004,22:52]
Friend
(in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
Thank you everyone for taking interest in our case! Ha, ha! I actually thought nobody would even read the post and I am getting different opinions and I do appreciate that. My philosophy is just to be polite and everyone is allowed to express his/her own opinion as long as they are respectful of others...with that said..here´s a little more background on the case..My partner is from El Salvador. (Not a very good country to live in if you´re gay). Anyway, he tried to get a visa for the US (the US Embassy in San Salvador even stamped his passport with the date and says APPLICATION SUBMITTED).When this was denied the only option we saw was for me to go to El Salvador. For him to enter the US without inspection (illegally) was not even a consideration. I was only able to last three months down there. It was hard to get used to. Very tiny country. No freedom. Anti-American protests, Homosexual bashings by the police, etc. We decided to go to Mexico. We entered as tourists and later changed our status to students. We lasted a year in Mexico City. Although Mexico City was a lot bigger and had more opportunities, we still had no work authorizations and even if we did, there are no jobs down there. It is incredibly dangerous in Mexico City. After Colombia, Mexico has the second highest rate of kidnapping in the world. My savings were becomming exhausted and I became really angry for not being able to live in my own country with the person I have been in a monogomous relationship with for one year. We decided to leave Mexico and head north. Believe me, it was a rough very rough decision but I could not live in Mexico any more. (Maybe if I were a millionaire it would have been okay). So, here we are in the US. But what kind of life can one have if he is illegal? It´s true we are together (almost two years now) but as the saying goes, you can´t live on love alone. My partner never finished his undergraduate degree and in the US he´ll never have this opportunity and I definitely want him to do so. The one good thing, however, is that he has learned to speak English really well in the eight months he has been here. I think I can prove that he came to the US for NON-Economic reasons (i.e. the stamp in his passport that the applied for a visa to come to the US legally, the fact that I went to El Salvador for three months, and then the fact that we both entered Mexico and got student visas together). We are registered in our city as Domestic Partners. We signed our apartment lease together, etc. so there are no doubts as to if we are a real couple or not. It makes me sad that I have to abandon my own country just to be with someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I see many people (and I will specifically address gay men here) who just go through life alone spending each night with a different man and if they are not careful, they could wind up with an STD or even HIV (as some friends of mine.) So what is the incentive in the USA for me to be in a monogomous relationship? NONE!
I also hold an Italian passport so I suppose going to live in Europe might be easier as some countries (not Italy) recognize same-sex couples for immigration benefits. The thing is...I really don´t want to go to Europe. I´m only 33 but I have had my adventures and Canada, although a foreign country (a more humane one also) is also very familiar. I can live in practically any major city and be within one hour from my home country. I am used to this "North American" lifestyle and I really admire Canada for her policies. 50,000 people are awarded green cards for the US each year in a lottery and I, an American citizen, (my parents were born in the US as well as two of my grandparents), have zero rights. Doesn´t it seem like a joke? You can win the lottery to get a green card but not sponsor your partner.
I have gone on and on about my whole personal story here, but it helps to vent...I´m not looking for pity. I´m just angry because I know things in the USA will not change.
By the way, I got the Information from the LEGIT website about same-sex immigration..the part about:

"Where To Send The Application
? The partner who is the principle applicant must be living legally in the country where the application is made and have a visa that is valid for one year. For example, a common-law couple is living in the USA. One partner is a US citizen. The other is from Hong Kong and is living illegally in the US. If the American is the qualified principle applicant, the application can be made in the US. If the Hong Kong partner is the qualified principle applicant, the application must be made in Hong Kong."

I emailed the LEGIT office in Ottawa to ask them how current this info was and they said it was current but didn´t tell me the source.

Again, thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. It does help to hear of other people´s experiences. As well. Take care!

[31-10-2004,23:47]
Menino
reply from the heart with no basis in fact (in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
the way I see it (which has no credibility because I have nothing to reference)... you have very little to lose by applying. The worst case scenario is ´no´ for an answer and a little less cash in your wallet. You are already living the worst case scenario. I think an immigration lawyer could get you through this. Don´t try to do it alone. If you go the route of my previous scenario, I do not know how they would view the stability of the relationship because of time apart and no legal marriage certificate creates a whole other set of issues. I truly wish you the best of luck and I would like to hear what the result is.
[01-11-2004,00:13]
sharon
(in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
Thanks, Sharon. My question is: What can an Immigration lawyer do for my application? I, mean, we are not in Canada, and we won´t be going to an immigration hearing or anything like that. Also, how much does one cost? (You don´t want to know how much it cost for my partner to enter the US the route he took! ha ha). He has an aunt in Canada. I know that will get us 5 more points. I guess he´ll have to prove that she is his aunt (his dad´s sister). Would her birth certificate as well as his dad´s birth certificate do that? (plus a copy of her canadian passport, of course).
I know we have to get a clearance from the FBI. Do you know much about that? I know I have gotten clearances before (for work I currently work for an airline and also when I got my secondary school teaching license). I don´t think it should be a problem if my partner sent his prints in to the FBI because they won´t find any matches in their databases as he has never been convicted of anything criminal. (Neither have I, of course).
So are you Canadian, Sharon? Or did you immigrate yourself? Where did you come from? In which city/province do you live?
I´m asking if you went through the immigration process yourself because I have some questions about preparing the application. Thanks..If you feel more comfortable, I can give you my email and you can write to me there. Thanks again.

[01-11-2004,00:24]
Menino
to answer your questions (in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
I am Canadian and I am bringing my fiance here as a skilled worker rather than sponsored. I can tell you more about that in an email. feel free to email me at sgbia@radiant.net.

A Lawyer or approved Immigration Consultant would likely have the answers to the questions we are struggling with. They may also have some idea that we are not thinking of. The applications are fairly straight forward but given your situation, you want to present it in a way that would give you the best possible chance of success.

[01-11-2004,01:01]
sharon
Legal Help (in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
Oliver:

You should get a Para-Legal to help you for about 1200-1500 USD (entire case). The $200 you ref. is for people who are in Canada itself (or) are working out immigration on basis of investment etc.

[01-11-2004,06:31]
Anonymous
(in reply to: This one is for Sharon)
I have a suggestion for u..just an advice OK. Get urself sponsored under skilled worker category...!! And then afetr becoming PR of Canada , go ahead and sponsor ur partner from within Canada by having him their on tourist visa and applications take on an average 38 days within Canada for spouse/common-law partners.

Just my 2 cents..
Good luck !!

[01-11-2004,17:07]
Friend