Any chance we can apply for a common-law sponsorship?

[quokkamole]

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are wondering if we can be considered common-law.
He is a Canadian citizen and I am from a visa-exempt country in Europe.

We met in Thailand in October 2017 and soon after became boyfriend and girlfriend and started traveling through Southeast Asia together, staying in hostels until December 2017.
We both had working holiday visas and planned to move to Australia for a year.
He flew to Australia on the 9th of December to see his relative who was visiting there, but I still wanted to see Singapore and flew to Australia later to be with him, on the 16th of December.

We spent the year living together in Australia until the 4th of December 2018.
I know it's two weeks short of a full year living together in Australia, which we didn't realize at the time would affect a future application. Also our visas in Australia were about to expire so we had to leave.

My boyfriend flew straight to the Philippines for a holiday with his family and then home to Canada. I flew home to Europe for a few months to spend time with family and save up and then flew to Canada to be with him early in March this year. I spent nearly 5 months with him in Canada.
I would love to go back and stay with him, which is why we want to know if he could be able to sponsor me so I could eventually move to Canada.

I appreciate any advice you may have for us, thank you.

 

[scylla]

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are wondering if we can be considered common-law.
He is a Canadian citizen and I am from a visa-exempt country in Europe.

We met in Thailand in October 2017 and soon after became boyfriend and girlfriend and started traveling through Southeast Asia together, staying in hostels until December 2017.
We both had working holiday visas and planned to move to Australia for a year.
He flew to Australia on the 9th of December to see his relative who was visiting there, but I still wanted to see Singapore and flew to Australia later to be with him, on the 16th of December.

We spent the year living together in Australia until the 4th of December 2018.
I know it's two weeks short of a full year living together in Australia, which we didn't realize at the time would affect a future application. Also our visas in Australia were about to expire so we had to leave.

My boyfriend flew straight to the Philippines for a holiday with his family and then home to Canada. I flew home to Europe for a few months to spend time with family and save up and then flew to Canada to be with him early in March this year. I spent nearly 5 months with him in Canada.
I would love to go back and stay with him, which is why we want to know if he could be able to sponsor me so I could eventually move to Canada.

I appreciate any advice you may have for us, thank you.

You need to full 52 weeks to meet the common law requirements. If you are a few weeks short - then you don't meet the common law definition and cannot successfully apply under this category. When you were traveling together from October 2017 to December 2017 - did the two of you have your own room in the places you stayed and do you have evidence to prove this? If so, there may be a chance. Otherwise you unfortunately don't qualify as common law and will need to live together for a full year continuously until you do - or get married.

 

[quokkamole]

You need to full 52 weeks to meet the common law requirements. If you are a few weeks short - then you don't meet the common law definition and cannot successfully apply under this category. When you were traveling together from October 2017 to December 2017 - did the two of you have your own room in the places you stayed and do you have evidence to prove this? If so, there may be a chance. Otherwise you unfortunately don't qualify as common law and will need to live together for a full year continuously until you do - or get married.

We had our own room most of the time and have evidence of it, too. Thanks a lot for your reply, very helpful!