Proof of cohabitation rejected

[ShaLobo]

Guys,

I have received an ITA through OINP. In my OINP application, as well as my initial EE application I have mentioned my status as in a common law relationship. While waiting for my OINP to come through, I applied for an open work permit ( My partner has moved to Canada as a student in August 2019). My Work permit was refused by IRCC quoting that they were not convinced with the proof submitted for common law.

I have now received an ITA and I am still looking to maintain the same status of common law and submit the same proof that we had submitted for Open work permit. We do not have additional proof.

Question: Is it a good idea to mention my partner as an accompanying family member so that he can get his PR too OR should I make it non accompanying.

Would the lack of common law proof lead to both my PR and his getting rejected/ the entire application being rejected?

 

[michaeltoronto]

Hi DollyM, sorry for being unclear. My wife was working in her country not in Canada and she wasn't making much as she had living expenses to cover as well there.

We did try opening a joint bank account but most of the banks we went to require her to have at least a PR. They won't let her open a joint bank account and I have asked Simplii, Tangerine, CIBC, Scotia, and TD. I should have gone to RBC as advised but at the time we didnt' bother. I read in another thread that the rules and policy for opening up a Canadian bank account has changed as of last year.

We always kept cash at home for emergency and much later on she did have a joint credit card. We were going to have a joint bank account as soon as she got the PR. I just didn't think this would be a big deal in the eyes of CIC because I understood at the start of the application that I will be solely responsible for her. As for emergency funds, my parents and sibling are there to help her out if need be. This wasn't an issue for us.

She had very little expenses in Canada as we try to save and be as economical as possible. So she didn't have a monthly cell phone plan or subscription to anything.

I can confirm that as of June 2019 I was able to add my mother (who is a foreign national and not even a temporary resident of Canada) to one of my bank accounts. Instead of opening a new joint account, try to maybe add your wide to one of your existing ones?

 

[Eveslm]

Guys,

I have received an ITA through OINP. In my OINP application, as well as my initial EE application I have mentioned my status as in a common law relationship. While waiting for my OINP to come through, I applied for an open work permit ( My partner has moved to Canada as a student in August 2019). My Work permit was refused by IRCC quoting that they were not convinced with the proof submitted for common law.

I have now received an ITA and I am still looking to maintain the same status of common law and submit the same proof that we had submitted for Open work permit. We do not have additional proof.

Question: Is it a good idea to mention my partner as an accompanying family member so that he can get his PR too OR should I make it non accompanying.

Would the lack of common law proof lead to both my PR and his getting rejected/ the entire application being rejected?

I am a bit confused as to your being in common law of your partner moved to Canada in aug 2019 (it has not been a year yet since you started living together or has it?). Were you guys common law partners before you moved to Canada? If so, do you have proof of cohabitation for that period?

Anyway there are a couple of things you can do to get proof of Cohab... you can add your partner to your lease or title deed, you can add them to your cellphone/nternet/cable contract, you can add them to your other bills (e.g. Power), you can add them to your bank account/credit card, insurance, Costco, Walmart etc.
You can decide to put them as unaccomanying (and they can still ask you to submit proof of cohab), however If you intend to sonsor your partner in the future you cannot avoid showing proof of cohab and if so you should start collecting any evidence as soon as now.

 

[Eveslm]

I can confirm that as of June 2019 I was able to add my mother (who is a foreign national and not even a temporary resident of Canada) to one of my bank accounts. Instead of opening a new joint account, try to maybe add your wide to one of your existing ones?

I for one opened an account wothTd as a visitor (online). The sent me an ATM card with a cover letter that had my name and address, I then received the pin with a cover letter. About a month letter I received a letter asking for my tax payer number from my country. I submitted all these letters as proof of cohab.

 

[andrew3081]

I don’t get it, why do they need proof of cohabitation If you are married?
Isn’t marriage certificate enough ?

 

[k.h.p.]

I don’t get it, why do they need proof of cohabitation If you are married?
Isn’t marriage certificate enough ?

If you are applying inland, proof of cohabitation is necessary.

If you are applying common law, proof of at least a year's cohabitation is necessary.

 

[ShaLobo]

I am a bit confused as to your being in common law of your partner moved to Canada in aug 2019 (it has not been a year yet since you started living together or has it?). Were you guys common law partners before you moved to Canada? If so, do you have proof of cohabitation for that period?

Anyway there are a couple of things you can do to get proof of Cohab... you can add your partner to your lease or title deed, you can add them to your cellphone/nternet/cable contract, you can add them to your other bills (e.g. Power), you can add them to your bank account/credit card, insurance, Costco, Walmart etc.
You can decide to put them as unaccomanying (and they can still ask you to submit proof of cohab), however If you intend to sonsor your partner in the future you cannot avoid showing proof of cohab and if so you should start collecting any evidence as soon as now.

Hey there!

My partner and I stayed together for a couple of years. We however did not have our names together in rental agreements or bills. We had not thought of applying to Canada until my partner decided to move on a study permit. We later applied for an open work permit for me and submitted a few documents we had but they weren't good enough to get us the work permit. It was refused by CIC. I later got an ITA and I was still truthful in my Express entry and PR application that we indeed were in a common law relationship until my partner had to move for studies 6 months ago. Hence marked relationship status as common law and have attached the same documents that were submitted for the work permit. I have marked my partner as non accompanying in my PR application since we don;t have enough proof to establish that we were in a common law relationship.

I have submitted my PR application yesterday and I am hopeful that my PR application does not get rejected on grounds of not being able to prove common law relationship.

 

[scylla]

Hey there!

My partner and I stayed together for a couple of years. We however did not have our names together in rental agreements or bills. We had not thought of applying to Canada until my partner decided to move on a study permit. We later applied for an open work permit for me and submitted a few documents we had but they weren't good enough to get us the work permit. It was refused by CIC. I later got an ITA and I was still truthful in my Express entry and PR application that we indeed were in a common law relationship until my partner had to move for studies 6 months ago. Hence marked relationship status as common law and have attached the same documents that were submitted for the work permit. I have marked my partner as non accompanying in my PR application since we don;t have enough proof to establish that we were in a common law relationship.

I have submitted my PR application yesterday and I am hopeful that my PR application does not get rejected on grounds of not being able to prove common law relationship.

What was the reason you stated in your application for listing your partner as non-accompanying? Did you state this was because you don't have enough points to be selected otherwise?

 

[ShaLobo]

What was the reason you stated in your application for listing your partner as non-accompanying? Did you state this was because you don't have enough points to be selected otherwise?

My CRS score is independent of my partners profile. I have not claimed any CRS scores from him. Him being part of my application or not being part of it does not make a difference to my CRS score. Partner points are 0.

I have truthfully mentioned that I have added him as non-accompanying only to decrease the complexity of my application since CIC had already declared that the proof provided was not enough to establish common law. We did not have any more proof to add to the PR application too and did not want this to be grounds for my PR application to be rejected. If it does, it will make things difficult for my partner and I to get back together again.

 

[scylla]

My CRS score is independent of my partners profile. I have not claimed any CRS scores from him. Him being part of my application or not being part of it does not make a difference to my CRS score. Partner points are 0.

I have truthfully mentioned that I have added him as non-accompanying only to decrease the complexity of my application since CIC had already declared that the proof provided was not enough to establish common law. We did not have any more proof to add to the PR application too and did not want this to be grounds for my PR application to be rejected. If it does, it will make things difficult for my partner and I to get back together again.

The reason why I ask this question is that we have seen a number of PFL letters on this forum recently for situations where the spouse / common law partner has been listed as non-accompanying but is in Canada. You might want to research these (they are in the Express Entry section of the forum) in case you end up in this situation as well.

 

[canuck78]

My CRS score is independent of my partners profile. I have not claimed any CRS scores from him. Him being part of my application or not being part of it does not make a difference to my CRS score. Partner points are 0.

I have truthfully mentioned that I have added him as non-accompanying only to decrease the complexity of my application since CIC had already declared that the proof provided was not enough to establish common law. We did not have any more proof to add to the PR application too and did not want this to be grounds for my PR application to be rejected. If it does, it will make things difficult for my partner and I to get back together again.

By adding him as non-accompanying he is actually part of your application because he can be sponsored at a later date so it doesn’t really reduce the complexity of your application. You will still have to prove common law. Would agree that the fact that he is in Canada may cause an issue if you stated he was non-accompanying. We have seen many cases where the fact that the partner was already in Canada was an issue.

 

[Toks01]

Hi guys,

I had applied for my spouse open work permit since April 2020 and I just received her gcms note and her exemption request was not further processed by the Rapid response team because we did not provide sufficient proof of co-habitation even though we are married, provided marriage certificate and never life together in Canada, we only live together for four months in my home country before I move here on SP back in 2017 but I am now on PGWP, it's odd because our previous spouse work permit was not refused on the basis of any doubt about our relationship, we absolutely have nothing joint at the moment because we've only live together for a very short time, I did visited her back her back in Nov 2020, will attaching flight itinerary be of any help, any suggestion and advise is very much appreciated @canuck78 @scylla

 

[scylla]

Hi guys,

I had applied for my spouse open work permit since April 2020 and I just received her gcms note and her exemption request was not further processed by the Rapid response team because we did not provide sufficient proof of co-habitation even though we are married, provided marriage certificate and never life together in Canada, we only live together for four months in my home country before I move here on SP back in 2017 but I am now on PGWP, it's odd because our previous spouse work permit was not refused on the basis of any doubt about our relationship, we absolutely have nothing joint at the moment because we've only live together for a very short time, I did visited her back her back in Nov 2020, will attaching flight itinerary be of any help, any suggestion and advise is very much appreciated @canuck78 @scylla

Recommend you move over to the Foreign Workers section of the forum and read through the posts there. You'll find the most relevant information in that section of the forum.

My guess is that they are looking for evidence your marriage is genuine / ongoing give you've been living separately for around three years. You probably want more than just the November itinerary. You probably also want to show things like: shared property, shared bank accounts or money transfers, proof of ongoing communications, etc.

Again, I would move over to the Foreign Workers section of the forum.

 

[Toks01]

Recommend you move over to the Foreign Workers section of the forum and read through the posts there. You'll find the most relevant information in that section of the forum.

My guess is that they are looking for evidence your marriage is genuine / ongoing give you've been living separately for around three years. You probably want more than just the November itinerary. You probably also want to show things like: shared property, shared bank accounts or money transfers, proof of ongoing communications, etc.

Again, I would move over to the Foreign Workers section of the forum.

Thanks for your advise, I did check over at foreign workers section but most people that get refused or delayed with this reason are mostly common law partners, this is odd because I also have Permanent residence application and we have passed all stages now without any doubt of our relationship , maybe like u suggested I will go ahead and provide them with bank transfers to her and my ticket back in November which is the only thing I honestly have right now because we didn’t have any joint account or property in both our names that I can use, I will see how that works out

 

[scylla]

Thanks for your advise, I did check over at foreign workers section but most people that get refused or delayed with this reason are mostly common law partners, this is odd because I also have Permanent residence application and we have passed all stages now without any doubt of our relationship , maybe like u suggested I will go ahead and provide them with bank transfers to her and my ticket back in November which is the only thing I honestly have right now because we didn’t have any joint account or property in both our names that I can use, I will see how that works out

Can you demonstrate proof of ongoing communications? You should add this too.