Hi everyone,
My common-law partner and I moved to Canada two years ago. My partner was a student and I was a worker. We applied for our permits using the services of a RCIC. He sent us some forms (Excel files which I assume he created himself to collect information) which we filled. One of the questions was "Have you ever been married before?" which I answered NO as I have not. He submitted our application, we got approved, and we moved to Canada.
Later we applied for my partner's PGWP. This time we did it ourselves. I noticed that this time the question was "Have you ever been married or in a common-law relationship before?". Not sure if it changed or if the consultant's form was inaccurate back then. It turns out I lived with my ex for 2 years a long time ago. We presented ourselves as a couple to friends and family, but other than that our relationship wasn't marriage-like. We didn't have shared finances/assets, we didn't have both names in leases/bills, we weren't even exclusive/monogamous. So I did some research and I figured this wouldn't be considered a common-law relationship, and I answered NO and kept it consistent with the first application.
Now my partner received an ITA for EE FSW. We hired another RCIC and again, the question about previous common-law appeared. I asked him what to do and he told me to continue answering NO as the relationship was not a common-law and to keep it consistent with the other applications. I did that, we submitted the application and we are waiting for the results.
But after reading so much about how misrepresentation has very severe consequences, I am very anxious that this past relationship can ruin our life in Canada (during the application or even worse, later in the future when we are already settled). I called my RCIC to suggest we send a webform to disclose this relationship for whatever it is worth to IRCC, and the consultant said "absolutely do not do that, it will add unnecessary complexity to your application and raise concerns since you didn't answer that in the other applications".
I am very anxious about this. I don't know if IRCC can track this somehow and if they did, what they would conclude. Who knows if this past partner did or will ever disclose this relationship somewhere which can conflict with my applications. I have absolutely no means to prove/disprove anything about this relationship at this point, it's really just my word.
What are your thoughts?
My common-law partner and I moved to Canada two years ago. My partner was a student and I was a worker. We applied for our permits using the services of a RCIC. He sent us some forms (Excel files which I assume he created himself to collect information) which we filled. One of the questions was "Have you ever been married before?" which I answered NO as I have not. He submitted our application, we got approved, and we moved to Canada.
Later we applied for my partner's PGWP. This time we did it ourselves. I noticed that this time the question was "Have you ever been married or in a common-law relationship before?". Not sure if it changed or if the consultant's form was inaccurate back then. It turns out I lived with my ex for 2 years a long time ago. We presented ourselves as a couple to friends and family, but other than that our relationship wasn't marriage-like. We didn't have shared finances/assets, we didn't have both names in leases/bills, we weren't even exclusive/monogamous. So I did some research and I figured this wouldn't be considered a common-law relationship, and I answered NO and kept it consistent with the first application.
Now my partner received an ITA for EE FSW. We hired another RCIC and again, the question about previous common-law appeared. I asked him what to do and he told me to continue answering NO as the relationship was not a common-law and to keep it consistent with the other applications. I did that, we submitted the application and we are waiting for the results.
But after reading so much about how misrepresentation has very severe consequences, I am very anxious that this past relationship can ruin our life in Canada (during the application or even worse, later in the future when we are already settled). I called my RCIC to suggest we send a webform to disclose this relationship for whatever it is worth to IRCC, and the consultant said "absolutely do not do that, it will add unnecessary complexity to your application and raise concerns since you didn't answer that in the other applications".
I am very anxious about this. I don't know if IRCC can track this somehow and if they did, what they would conclude. Who knows if this past partner did or will ever disclose this relationship somewhere which can conflict with my applications. I have absolutely no means to prove/disprove anything about this relationship at this point, it's really just my word.
What are your thoughts?