Dr. PDLM generally recommends a marriage in this type of case and although I often think a second opinion on that might serve posters well in some cases of this advice, in this case, I think marriage makes imminent sense (forgetting for a moment that I have been with my wife for over 30 years and didn't bother with the formalities- however, if she and I were to move her permanently, we'd have to get the paper).
I too did the visa run once as I was too busy to submit the papers when I first got here to set up our company but I'd not have tried for 18 months and I too am white from Canada. The comment about tough times and tighter conditions makes a lot of sense right now.