Advice needed - would a lawyer be worthwhile?

[stormageddon]

Hi all,

I am preparing the paperwork to sponsor my boyfriend outland from the US (we are both living in USA, I am a Canadian citizen)
I moved in with him in mid April 2019. We have been living to together since then, however he had to go to an inpatient mental health treatment center in a different city for 6 weeks, starting the beginning of April 2020. Therefore he was away for the last 2 weeks of our first year living together. It was for medical reasons, therefore do you think this would affect our common law status? Should I get a lawyer to ask this question? I know we are not supposed to not disclose everything, but can we not mention it? However, if we don't mention it I am afraid the question of mental health may be brought up in his medical exam and lead to further questioning about treatment, in which case it would be unwise to lie. (his mental health is not violent nor would cause harm to Canadian society)

Any advice is appreciated
Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

I am preparing the paperwork to sponsor my boyfriend outland from the US (we are both living in USA, I am a Canadian citizen)
I moved in with him in mid April 2019. We have been living to together since then, however he had to go to an inpatient mental health treatment center in a different city for 6 weeks, starting the beginning of April 2020. Therefore he was away for the last 2 weeks of our first year living together. It was for medical reasons, therefore do you think this would affect our common law status? Should I get a lawyer to ask this question? I know we are not supposed to not disclose everything, but can we not mention it? However, if we don't mention it I am afraid the question of mental health may be brought up in his medical exam and lead to further questioning about treatment, in which case it would be unwise to lie. (his mental health is not violent nor would cause harm to Canadian society)

Any advice is appreciated
Thanks!

Generally speaking anything above three weeks is classified as a break in continuous cohabitation. The reason for the break generally doesn't matter.

If you fail to mention he was away for 6 weeks, you are risking a misrepresentation finding which can result in a 5 year ban from Canada. Not sure I would do that. Sure, there's certainly a chance IRCC might not find out. But if they do the outcome could be very costly.

It's really hard to say how the officer will assess the fact you are short 2 weeks. Generally the full year is a hard / fast rule.

Any chance you would consider getting married? That would solve everything.

 

[stormageddon]

Generally speaking anything above three weeks is classified as a break in continuous cohabitation. The reason for the break generally doesn't matter.

If you fail to mention he was away for 6 weeks, you are risking a misrepresentation finding which can result in a 5 year ban from Canada. Not sure I would do that. Sure, there's certainly a chance IRCC might not find out. But if they do the outcome could be very costly.

It's really hard to say how the officer will assess the fact you are short 2 weeks. Generally the full year is a hard / fast rule.

Any chance you would consider getting married? That would solve everything.

Thanks for this. I wasn't sure what counted as a meaningful time apart since the Canada gov website does not specify.
Ideally we would prefer to get married on our own schedule and not be forced to early for immigration. If we get rejected for common law is there any sort of penalty or extra scrutiny for getting married and re-applying?

 

[scylla]

Thanks for this. I wasn't sure what counted as a meaningful time apart since the Canada gov website does not specify.
Ideally we would prefer to get married on our own schedule and not be forced to early for immigration. If we get rejected for common law is there any sort of penalty or extra scrutiny for getting married and re-applying?

There will be no penalty or extra scrutiny. However you'll need to reapply from scratch.

 

[ryester]

Thanks for this. I wasn't sure what counted as a meaningful time apart since the Canada gov website does not specify.
Ideally we would prefer to get married on our own schedule and not be forced to early for immigration. If we get rejected for common law is there any sort of penalty or extra scrutiny for getting married and re-applying?

yes, you get the most severe penalty - time, you lose your time and restart all over again.

 

[DollyM]

Thanks for this. I wasn't sure what counted as a meaningful time apart since the Canada gov website does not specify.
Ideally we would prefer to get married on our own schedule and not be forced to early for immigration. If we get rejected for common law is there any sort of penalty or extra scrutiny for getting married and re-applying?

You're not being forced to marry for immigration. You are getting married because you want to be together and marriage is probably the only way you will be able to do that.