Conference kaosws::canada

    Technically, no .... not at all.
    
    Although, there is no accounting for what unofficial influence it
    will have on the immigration officer who examines your application.
    Ther is a subjective assessment made by an immigration officer of
    whether you would be successful at settling in Canada, and a
    Canadian spouse will help, but normally only if they have been in
    Canada recently.
    
    Note that a work permit is for temporary positions only ... I believe
    there is a 6 month limit.  If you want to work and live in Canada
    longer, you must apply for landed immigrant status.  There are
    quotas and so on that you must meet.  You can apply to enter Canada
    under the family class, providing your wife can and will sponsor you.
    If, for example, she is not working and would therefore be unable to
    sponsor you, you must pass on the point system, which includes factors
    like education, job demand in Canada, current means and numerous
    others.
    
    Applications for landed immigrant status must be made outside of Canada
    to a Canadian Diplomatic office.  You would also enquire there about
    work permits etc.  I also believe that to obtain a work permit, you
    must have pre-arranged employment in Canada.
    
    Stuart

    Art,
    	I married a Canadian citizen in January of this year and I thought
    this would make obtaining a work permit very easy.  I live and work in
    New Hampshire and my husband was living/working in Montreal at the time
    we applied for residence/work permit for me.  It was quite an involved
    process.  My fiance (at the time) had to sponsor me by paying some fee
    and waiting for hours at the Quebec immigration office in Montreal. We
    then had to wait for the paper work to find its way down to the Boston,
    MA Quebec immigration office.  Then they sent me a ton of paper work to
    complete (I had to get police records from every town I ever lived in
    and list my whole family history and complete an extensive physical)
    and then I was given an interview date.  At the interview I had to pay
    some more fees and then sit and be humiliated by a rude representative
    who imformed me that if I was not fluent in French I would never get a
    job and that my Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from an
    accreditted college in Massachusetts MIGHT (if I was lucky) get me a
    job as a technician in Quebec. I started this process in September of
    1990 and still had not heard anything when we were married at the end
    of January this year.  In February, my husband applied for a residence
    and work permit at the INS in Boston.  He was immediately given a
    temporary work permit.  Four months later, he went in for an interview,
    they asked him a few questions and told him he'd get his green card in
    the mail.  Maybe it was easier after we were already married but I'm
    not sure. 
    
    Sorry to paint such a negative picture.  I guess I was somewhat bitter
    after my experience.  Maybe, if you apply from Montreal after you've
    already married, the process will be much easier.
    
    Good luck!

	Well, my brothers girlfriend was offered a job in Toronto, and the 
	company negotiated the landed imigrant status.

	Approx 6 weeks from initial telephone interview with the employer to 
	getting the landed imigrant status. (and there were probelms on her side
	trying to find the deed poll which changed her surname - duplicates are
	NEVER issued!)

	They were told that my brother could not go over their with landed 
	imigrant status unless:

	She went over first, and sponsored him, timeframe 3-ish months,

	Or,

	They got married.

	They got married, and were in Canada 2 weeks later, with full landed
	imigrant status for both. 
	This is fairly recent, they went to Canada in August last year.

	Maybe it helps if neither of you is Canadian?????????


	I can remeber the phone call one Thursday...........

	"Hello Heather, it's Ian, what are you doing Saturday?"

	"Okay Ian, I've nothing booked, what do you want help with?" - well,
	such short notice, I thought it must be a "help" phonecall.

	"Me and Tracy are getting married, and we would like you to come."

	Heather

    Going to Montreal poses two sets of immigration problems ... the
    first is Canadian, and the second is Quebec's.  To go to most other
    provinces is less daunting.  Quebec imposes their own quotas and
    rules on top of the Federal ones, including language issues.
    
    I don't see how a company can assist in the immigration process other
    than by providing details of a bona fide job offer which adds to your
    personal points total to allow immigration.
    
    As I mentioned before, application MUST be made outside of Canada.
    Sponsorship application must normally done from within Canada,
    unless the immigration officer is willing to bend the rules on
    this one - which they may sometimes depending on personal situations.
    
    The rules are complex.  So the best thing is to go and have a chat
    with your local Canadian Consulate.
    
    Stuart

    Having read the replys to your situation and the difficult picture that was
    painted for your future ....I wish you Good Luck!!
    Being a Canadian, who married a New Yorker, 12 years ago....
    I have to say it was no picnic for me with the U.S. Dept. of Immigration 
    either!....There was masses of red tape, paperwork, police records, 
    long lines and humiliating questions.
    ...So I guess acid rain continues to fall on border bureaucracy.
    
    Cheers and Congratulations -
    Margery Warren