so my partner made a mistake in her PR application. We did not know we were considered as common law , as i thought it was something that needed proof and we didnt have any sort of document together. Now she got her PR and waiting on her PR card.
At this stage, can we write a letter of explanation on the change of marital status? I am not being sponsored by any way, but i am worried we will be accused of misrepresenting.
You may wish to see a lawyer.
Short form, my opinion: it is better for you and her to advise IRCC sooner rather than later.
Typically the worst 'punishment' for such a case is that the PR who didn't disclose a spouse cannot sponsor that spouse - ever.
The point to making the disclosure is that there is a
chance that disclosing ASAP would give one a 'good faith' defence to the claim of misrepresentation. (Along the lines of "in X province common law is 3 years and we did not realise different understanding of
common law at federal level). It's not a great defence but it's not implausible.
There are
occasional cases reported here where PRs have disclosed on arrival (i.e. on becoming PRs) or as soon as possible after arriving that they had a spouse, i.e. that in
good faith they corrected as soon as they became aware.
But: I repeat, you may wish to see a lawyer. Your argument that 'we though it needed proof' absolutely undermines the good faith argument (because it implies you knew you were common law ... and "I knew I was common law but figured that lack of proof means it doesn't count" is, ahem, a very bad and illogical argument). I won't claim that providing info soonest to govt is a guarantee it will work - but I think it's your best chance. And a lawyer is important because you absolutely must NOT make arguments that make your situation worse.
Note, not professional advie and I'm not a lawyer. I'm sure there are also published cases in canlii that have some value but a lawyer would know how to properly research.
Some may suggest not disclosing and getting married later. Problem with that is, if government determines you were common law before marriage and didn't disclose, you are well and truly stuck and you no longer have a good faith response.
On the positive side, if you can qualify on your own, this should not affect that application.
