American moving to Canada - visa questions

[jiynx]

My boyfriend, Casey, lives in Mississippi and I live in British Columbia. He's trying to get accepted to a school to get a student visa so we can close the distance. He needs to get loans from the government. Was just wondering - does anybody know how difficult it is to get these loans? (just some reassurance to ease his mind a little)

On another note, anybody know how else to get a visa other than schooling and marriage?
He hasn't gone to college yet so he can't be considered a skilled worker. I think those are the only three ways he can come live in the country?

OH and another one - we've read that he can't work for the first six months of going to school here. Once that passes, he can only work part-time. Is this true?

PS - in the similar threads section, I read about Casey moving here as a common law?

Just looking for general info anybody might have.
Thanks in advance!

[Riyko]

Since i'm an american living and working in Canada i'll offer up some advice and answer your questions.

does anybody know how difficult it is to get these loans?
I went to school in Ontario and i got the loans no problem, but in the past 2-3 years they've gotten a lot pickier at the amount of loans and the type of loans they give out. So it will be harder for him to get a loan for all of his schooling. I know people from the states who have applied for loans to go to UBC (university of British Columbia) and UofT (university of Toronto) and while they got approved they said the amount they would need to finish would be to great for the government to loan them (it's around $100,000 for 4 years of school).

On another note, anybody know how else to get a visa other than schooling and marriage?
Temporary Work Permit, but even those are hard to get and are far and few especially for americans. I was lucky to get mine when i did and for the job i had, but mine is good for 4 years with any company.

we've read that he can't work for the first six months of going to school here. Once that passes, he can only work part-time. Is this true?
That is true, after 6 months of going to school full time he can apply for an off campus work permit, but he has to have a GPA of 2.5 to even be able to apply for the work permit and even then he has to keep the 2.5 GPA. He can work on Campus without needing a work permit, but it's still only part-time and what they consider part time is no more than 20 hours or 3 days a week of work. I bolded and underlined full time because people just assume as long as they have been in school 6 months total they can get it, but it has to be part time or you get turned down.

in the similar threads section, I read about Casey moving here as a common law?
he can move as a common law, but only if you two have lived together continuously for a full year, but even then it's hard to get your boyfriend or girlfriend in canada on common law status and if you did go that route after living together for a year, you still need around 80 or so papers you have to send to the canadian government and even then you can be denied, it's actually really common to get denied and once you are you have to wait a year or two before you can reapply.

If you have any more questions please feel free to ask me as i've gone though the whole process.

[Love_Young]

I don't usually post here but as an American who just finished going through the immigration process to Canada to live with her spouse, I thought I would at least share a link. I am not certain if the admins will allow me to post a link to another forum but this forum will help answer a lot of your questions. Everyone is nice there and very knowledgable. I wish you both a lot of luck. Things may seem difficult when you first get started but it is all worth it.

Here is the link to the forum I am talking about: https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-im...oard/index.php
Good luck!