British High Commission

Canada Dept: I ve tried everything. But all I keep getting is let down. If he got his permanent residency he still wouldn t be able to work for months and I m told he would still have to wait for approval for 18 months. He can stay but if he cannot work that isn t good. If he finds a job he has to get a labour-market opinion, which means he will have to wait for months just to be able to work. And the business that wants to hire him has to fill out a lot of paperwork and it has to be a job a Canadian cannot do. Does this make any sense? Is there no way I can get around this? We wanted to get married this year and start our life. But now we can t. I just want to be happy again and be able to start my life with him, according to The Star. Q. It came to my attention this week that my UK. passport expires this month, so I decided to go on line and download a renewal form. What a surprise. It said that all passports are now being handled in Washington and not at the British High Commission in Ottawa. The charges for a passport are listed at around $250 U.S. and a fee of $33 U.S. for courier services. These must be paid by credit card or certified cheque when sending in the renewal. This is outrageous as at least Canada and the UK are related but the UK. has nothing to do with the U.S. Have you heard anything about this? I have applied for Canadian citizenship, which should be finalized within the next few months and I was hoping to carry dual passports but not at this outrageous charge and q. My fiance is from the U.S. and I want him to be able to live here. He is leaving next week and it breaks our hearts to see him go. This is literally my last option. A. As a citizen of a foreign country your husband-to-be needs to go through immigration procedures before he can settle here. Those are simply the rules. There was a time when it was very difficult for spousal sponsorships to be processed from within Canada. In those days, the would-be spouse in most cases had to leave Canada and await processing. Some years ago, the immigration department realized the strain this kind of separation can cause and changed the rules to allow an application for spousal sponsorship to be submitted and processed from within Canada. That was a progressive move. What you would seem to be proposing is that officials go one step farther and waive the work-permit requirements for those who are married to a Canadian citizen. But I believe many others would argue that at a certain point the rules have to be applied. My suggestion is this: If it is your intention to marry at a later date, why not get married now so that you can initiate the spousal sponsorship from within Canada. That way your fiance could remain in Canada while you get the ball rolling to obtain a work permit. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.