EU Work Permit for spouse (non-married)

I have lived with my BF for over 5 years in Canada. According to Canadian Law, we are common law spouses and as such we are entitled to all rights and benefits of married couples.

My BF is German and we would like to move to the EU (preferably France or Spain), but before moving, we need to get at least one well paid job. I have more marketable skills (IT) than he, so we think that it would be easier for me to get a job first.

The questions are: am I entitled to look for a job in the EU considering that I'm the common law of a EU member even if we live in a non-EU member country (Canada)?. Would it be any different if we were married?

Thank you for any feedback.

What you would have to find out if the country you want to move to recognises "durable" relationships. In any case, a marriage makes immigration certainly easier as you probably won't have the immediate right to work. Have a look in Directive 2004/38/EC for details.

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/ ... 152_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/faq/fr ... _ec_en.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/ci ... nt_low.pdf

Thank you Guru!!