I am a Canadian, born here in Canada, and have been living with my common-law spouse for over 2 years now, with our fourteen month old child. We are now in the process of waiting for my divorce to go through and then will be getting married immediately

She originally came to Canada from Hong Kong on a caregiver's visa. She doesn't have the requisite amount of months employed as a live-in caregiver to satisfy the requirements of the Caregiver Program.

I would like to sponsor her through the Family Class. I could sponsor her now as my common-law spouse or wait a few more months and then sponsor as my spouse. I am trying to determine which would be better, however, because of time constraints associated with her caregiver visa, I am leaning towards common-law spouse; I don't want to jeopardize things or create additional unnecessary difficulty.

I am looking for advice on the best way to proceed, and am hoping that I can hear from others who have experienced going from a caregiver visa to being sponsored as a spouse/common-law spouse.

Thanks in advance--appreciate your assistance!

Please remind her that LIVE IN CAREGIVERS only have 3 years (36 months) to complete the 24 months (2 years) employment required before she can apply for PR (permanent residence). If the immigration finds out that she hasn't completed the 24 out of the 36 required, she might be asked to leave Canada.

How close is she in completing the program? What is her current status here? Is she a holder of any type of VISA? I strongly advise for you to ACT now before its too late.