How long will it be if I marry my Canadian Partner before I am able to be authorized to work in Canada?

Question

I am an American Citizen. We lived together in the United States of America for about 6.5years

Answer 1

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/s...

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information...

Simply go find yourself somewhere to live in Canada, on a visitor's or other visa, and then fill out the forms to immigrate as a spouse or common-law partner. Your partner will need to sponsor you, which means your partner will need a certain level of income.  Once you've filled out all the forms, and you've been approved, you'll get a permanent resident visa in your passport - take this to any canadian  border crossing, and they'll finish the rest of the paperwork there, which includes a Permanent resident card, which will allow you to apply for a SIN (social insurance number - same as an SSN).  Processing time is 2-3 months.

Answer 2

If your Canadian partner is a citizen, she can sponsor you while you both are still living in the US.  That way you can still both work while you wait for your papers to go through.  Only thing is one of you might need a job offer or something to prove that you intend to live in Canada when you get your PR.

Second method, your spouse goes to Canada to sponsor you from there, no need to prove that you intend to live in Canada when you get your PR but you would be separated while waiting for paperwork although you can still visit each other.

Third method, go to Canada together and apply from there.  You would be together but it takes longer than the other methods and you can't work for a few months.  Also your status in Canada would be a unclear, you would not be deported while you are being processed but if you had to leave to the US in the meantime, family emergency or whatever, you might not be let back in.

The processing times for different applications can be found at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information... but you have to know how to read into them.  First your partner needs to apply to sponsor you, since it's a spouse application, no proof of income is needed.  They might ask but it's not critical.  The processing time for this is 38 days.  With method 1 and 2, your file would then be transferred to Buffalo and take 3 to 9 months to get the PR.  With method 3, your first stage approval and temporary work permit should be done in 5 to 6 months unless as they say it gets sent to your local immigration office for further approval, I have heard it may take more like 6 to 9 months.

So the answer to your question, anywhere from 4 to 10 months before you can work.