Common law PR checklist?

[bribriman]

Hi there! My boyfriend and I have been dating for 2 years now. I moved to Canada as a student in May (as a visitor in March, and we've just been doing long distance from Canada to US before that), so we are thinking of applying for common law PR next May or June, which will be under the law just one year of cohabitation. We are thinking of including our lease agreement, info on our joint bank account, a lottttttt of photos from the past 2 years, testimonies from friends and family members, and personal essays illustrating how we met, etc. Would that be enough to supplement the PR application form? Anyone who's gone through the process: would you recommend hiring a lawyer?

Thanks!

 

[starnaenae]

They only want 20 photos- nothing more. Lawyer is not needed your proof sounds good. Any joint utilities? Work benefits?

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

You do not need a lawyer unless you have a very difficult or problematic case..you can do it all yourself and you will find this forum an invaluable resource.

You need to follow the checklist and send what they ask for. Do you have the checklist?

Also you mention being "just under" your one year. You need to have a full year to apply common law, not a day less.

 

[kailu]

You do not need a lawyer unless you have a very difficult or problematic case..you can do it all yourself and you will find this forum an invaluable resource.

You need to follow the checklist and send what they ask for. Do you have the checklist?

Also you mention being "just under" your one year. You need to have a full year to apply common law, not a day less.

No she means that "Under the law of canada (just) one year qualifies" not "we will be just under one year"

However what is said is right, you cannot apply one day sooner than that one year has passed.

On a side note you need proof dating to when you moved in together. (This is the most important thing, so the lease is a GREAT addition) So if it was last may, all utilities/joint bankings/ any other bills that have the address being the same dating back to last may would work as well. They like seeing that you see finances/bills.housing as a joint endeavor.

For my common law I did also include prior of our long distance relationship as well supporting a genuine relationship growth with visits.... It doesn't say that it is necessary, but I felt that it looked better showing it after proving our 1 year common law.

Also, as stated a lawyer is not needed as well. Getting a lawyer doesn't guarantee anything, and I have seen people here on the forums talking of what their lawyer has said, and active/most helpful members have shown that their lawyer has been wrong in what they have said (with direct links of proof to what is true)

 

[bribriman]

No she means that "Under the law of canada (just) one year qualifies" not "we will be just under one year"

However what is said is right, you cannot apply one day sooner than that one year has passed.

On a side note you need proof dating to when you moved in together. (This is the most important thing, so the lease is a GREAT addition) So if it was last may, all utilities/joint bankings/ any other bills that have the address being the same dating back to last may would work as well. They like seeing that you see finances/bills.housing as a joint endeavor.

For my common law I did also include prior of our long distance relationship as well supporting a genuine relationship growth with visits.... It doesn't say that it is necessary, but I felt that it looked better showing it after proving our 1 year common law.

Also, as stated a lawyer is not needed as well. Getting a lawyer doesn't guarantee anything, and I have seen people here on the forums talking of what their lawyer has said, and active/most helpful members have shown that their lawyer has been wrong in what they have said (with direct links of proof to what is true)

Thank you so much, all of you above, for the insight!

I was just worried that having fulfilled "just" one year of common law relationship (by next May) would be considered too weak of a case and whether being together under common law partnership for 5 years vs 1 year would make any difference. It seems it does not.

So far, I can only think of joint bank account (which we use to pay bills, groceries, etc.) and joint lease as the only two "official" documents that would effectively prove our relationship to be genuine. Would those be enough?

And I forgot to mention: we are both students. Law students, to be more specific. Would that change anything?

Thanks in advance!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I was just worried that having fulfilled "just" one year of common law relationship (by next May) would be considered too weak of a case and whether being together under common law partnership for 5 years vs 1 year would make any difference. It seems it does not.

So far, I can only think of joint bank account (which we use to pay bills, groceries, etc.) and joint lease as the only two "official" documents that would effectively prove our relationship to be genuine. Would those be enough?

And I forgot to mention: we are both students. Law students, to be more specific. Would that change anything?

Common-law is common-law, whether it's one year or five.

Do these documents cover the entire one year period, from day 1? Do you have any mail at that address? Utilities? IDs? You must have solid proof of the one year of cohabitation. Proof of a genuine relationship is really the other stuff, i.e. pictures, financial dependency, letters etc.

Being law students changes nothing.

 

[kailu]

Thank you so much, all of you above, for the insight!

I was just worried that having fulfilled "just" one year of common law relationship (by next May) would be considered too weak of a case and whether being together under common law partnership for 5 years vs 1 year would make any difference. It seems it does not.

So far, I can only think of joint bank account (which we use to pay bills, groceries, etc.) and joint lease as the only two "official" documents that would effectively prove our relationship to be genuine. Would those be enough?

And I forgot to mention: we are both students. Law students, to be more specific. Would that change anything?

Thanks in advance!

The two documents are specifically co-habitation, and this is what you HAVE to prove. Other mails as stated by canuck_in_uk would be great. Even if they aren't joint accounts. Anything to the same address like utilities, even cell phone bills, or credit card statements. Just need to make sure that you show that it has been 1 year. I included statements (roughly 1 for every 3 months showing the address was still the same) of my credit cards, and the hydro bill over the course of the one year. (just showing that our addresses were the same continuously)

Pictures and everything else are the part of proving a genuine relationship. We had pictures through the year, but like i said after showing our year together, I added a little extra with the growth of the relationship since we were a long distance relationship prior. We included letters from my parents (since i trekked here), as well as a couple letters from his friends, and pictures from visits we had w/dates.

In the application there is also an area where it says "Is there anything you would like us to know about your relationship" You can talk about the length and how it developed here. I did a short summary here and put that there was more "proof" attached and labeled.

 

[methyl]

I was just worried that having fulfilled "just" one year of common law relationship (by next May) would be considered too weak of a case and whether being together under common law partnership for 5 years vs 1 year would make any difference. It seems it does not.

So far, I can only think of joint bank account (which we use to pay bills, groceries, etc.) and joint lease as the only two "official" documents that would effectively prove our relationship to be genuine. Would those be enough?

And I forgot to mention: we are both students. Law students, to be more specific. Would that change anything?

Thanks in advance!

We started the process right after 1 year of common law - sent the application just before the beginning of 13th month of cohabitation. It was fine and was approved without issues.

Other than lease - try to get BOTH of your names on as many documents as possible -
Utilities in both names - electricity/water/tv, etc.
Joint purchases - for example sofa, car, etc
Any contracts - we supplied for example building speakerphone form with two names, car insurance, etc

It helps to have life insurance in each other's names, in fact this is asked if you have that on one of the forms.
Medical/dental benefit plans that benefit both
Pension plan with named common-law beneficiary
Supplementary credit cards issued in partner's name

All of this is with basic intent to prove a common household and shared finances (at least to some degree), rather than just being roommates.

In addition, it helps to show a degree of intimacy that goes beyond roommates/friends or marriage of convenience. So you can start saving your chats, keep your phone statements showing calls to each other, all the trips together(boarding passes, passport stamps, book hotels in both names if possible)

We passed the process pretty quickly, and without an interview, maybe thanks to diligent collection of a lot of proof, albeit my partner was staying in the country without status for the duration of the whole process.

Good luck

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

Thank you so much, all of you above, for the insight!

I was just worried that having fulfilled "just" one year of common law relationship (by next May) would be considered too weak of a case and whether being together under common law partnership for 5 years vs 1 year would make any difference. It seems it does not.

So far, I can only think of joint bank account (which we use to pay bills, groceries, etc.) and joint lease as the only two "official" documents that would effectively prove our relationship to be genuine. Would those be enough?

And I forgot to mention: we are both students. Law students, to be more specific. Would that change anything?

Thanks in advance!

Things you may have not thought of that I plan to include;

- Joint gym membership (gyms often primarily only allow those at same address a joint membership)
- Joint Costco membership
- CRA summary statement that shows your marital status, address and names your common law partner.

As others have said include things that aren't necessarily joint but show the address as the same eg driving license, phone bills, I even have a few wedding invites with their accompanying envelopes to include. My partner and I don't have any bills in same name as our rent is all inclusive of bills, so we have included what we can address match wise.

 

[bribriman]

We started the process right after 1 year of common law - sent the application just before the beginning of 13th month of cohabitation. It was fine and was approved without issues.

Other than lease - try to get BOTH of your names on as many documents as possible -
Utilities in both names - electricity/water/tv, etc.
Joint purchases - for example sofa, car, etc
Any contracts - we supplied for example building speakerphone form with two names, car insurance, etc

It helps to have life insurance in each other's names, in fact this is asked if you have that on one of the forms.
Medical/dental benefit plans that benefit both
Pension plan with named common-law beneficiary
Supplementary credit cards issued in partner's name

All of this is with basic intent to prove a common household and shared finances (at least to some degree), rather than just being roommates.

In addition, it helps to show a degree of intimacy that goes beyond roommates/friends or marriage of convenience. So you can start saving your chats, keep your phone statements showing calls to each other, all the trips together(boarding passes, passport stamps, book hotels in both names if possible)

We passed the process pretty quickly, and without an interview, maybe thanks to diligent collection of a lot of proof, albeit my partner was staying in the country without status for the duration of the whole process.

Good luck

Thanks for the reply!

Just wondering : how long did it take until your application was approved?

Also, you said your partner was in the country without status. I technically started living with my bf in March, and from March to May, I was on visitor status (90 days granted). Would those months count toward the year of cohabitation?

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

We started the process right after 1 year of common law - sent the application just before the beginning of 13th month of cohabitation. It was fine and was approved without issues.

Other than lease - try to get BOTH of your names on as many documents as possible -
Utilities in both names - electricity/water/tv, etc.
Joint purchases - for example sofa, car, etc
Any contracts - we supplied for example building speakerphone form with two names, car insurance, etc

It helps to have life insurance in each other's names, in fact this is asked if you have that on one of the forms.
Medical/dental benefit plans that benefit both
Pension plan with named common-law beneficiary
Supplementary credit cards issued in partner's name

All of this is with basic intent to prove a common household and shared finances (at least to some degree), rather than just being roommates.

In addition, it helps to show a degree of intimacy that goes beyond roommates/friends or marriage of convenience. So you can start saving your chats, keep your phone statements showing calls to each other, all the trips together(boarding passes, passport stamps, book hotels in both names if possible)

We passed the process pretty quickly, and without an interview, maybe thanks to diligent collection of a lot of proof, albeit my partner was staying in the country without status for the duration of the whole process.

Good luck

If you don't mind me asking.. What was the reason your partner was without status?

 

[bribriman]

If you don't mind me asking.. What was the reason your partner was without status?

I'm the non-Canadian -- I was studying in the US for undergrad and doing long distance from Toronto to Boston back and forth. Decided on the law school I wanted to go to, committed, and got my study permit (hence, legal status as a student instead of a simple visitor) in May.

 

[bribriman]

Also, if anyone knows whether I should include explanations/descriptions of each photo...??

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

Also, if anyone knows whether I should include explanations/descriptions of each photo...??

The checklist specifies what you have to write in the back of each of the 20 photos.. PAs DOB and the location/circumstance under which photo was taken i think is what it asks for.

 

[WeegieInOttawa]

I'm the non-Canadian -- I was studying in the US for undergrad and doing long distance from Toronto to Boston back and forth. Decided on the law school I wanted to go to, committed, and got my study permit (hence, legal status as a student instead of a simple visitor) in May.

My question about being out of status was for methyl.