Are Spousal applications processed faster than Common law?

[shandymoo]

If evidence is the same do visa offices favour spousal applications over common law ones? I've noticed common law timelines can be almost twice as long as spousal ones.

 

[Baloo]

If evidence is the same do visa offices favour spousal applications over common law ones? I've noticed common law timelines can be almost twice as long as spousal ones.

The problem is, the evidence can't be the same.

 

[doctorkb]

I would surprise me a lot if they weren't.

The evidence you have to provide (and they have to wade through) to prove common-law is far greater than a simple certificate of marriage...

Also: common-law is more easily fakeable. You could share a lease and utility bills with anyone without actually having any more than a friendship with them. It is only by your word that the "relationship" is more than convenience.

 

[Tiggilicious]

That is my fear too - that it will take longer. We are common-law. He came up 14 months ago on a visitor visa (we have extended it), and our daughter was born January of last year. He came up for the birth and never went back. We have been together for 2.5 years and have submitted 4 notarized letters from family that our relationship is genuine and that we have lived continuously together since he has been up here, we sent in a few plane ticket stubs from us flying in the past visiting eachother, we sent about 50 pictures, sent some emails from before he arrived up here, sent in our daughters birth certificate, sent in the receipt to the car we bought together this last year, sent in the last 12 months worth of our joint bank account statements coming to our address, and my life insurance policy showing him as one of my beneficiary's, my BLUE CROSS card showing him on my health benefits policy, and a copy of his last Visitor Visa Extension VR, I hope that was enough considering 1) They didnt stamp his passport and 2) I cant put him on my lease since he doesnt have a SIN or utilities.

 

[angelbrat]

I applied Inland under common law. I was approved and had my PR in less than 8 months.

Personally, I believe, it is not about common law v marriage, it is whether you prove to CIC that the relationship is genuine.

 

[Jez]

Regardless of whether you're married or not, the validity of your relationship will still be assessed. A marriage guaranteeing the validity of a relationship is a bit presumptuous, doctorkb.

If the CIC website is anything to go by, applying inbound is the slowest route... 9 months, as opposed to 35 days for an outbound initial Assessment of Sponsor to be processed. Then there's the applicant assessment.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm-fc.asp

From what you have told us there is nothing to worry about in terms of proving your relationship. It may just take a while!

 

[shandymoo]

Why do people apply common law then? There's nothing stopping them getting married, if they want to be together badly enough to apply for residence then wouldn't you get married to prove that?

 

[Love_Young]

Some couples feel as if they are already married and don't need to legally do it to feel as such.
Also some couples do not believe in marriage. I know for one that my in laws have been together for 27 years (either 25 or 27 can't remember lol) and they aren't married. They just got engaged a couple of months ago but if or when they will actually marry, I don't know. I personally don't think they will as both don't believe in marriage. I just think they must have got a little of the wedding bug from us. It is contagious. Lol.

 

[doctorkb]

A marriage guaranteeing the validity of a relationship is a bit presumptuous, doctorkb.

It depends on what validity we're trying to prove.

A marriage is a very concrete legal step -- even if we take immigration out of the picture, you have to go through the courts for a divorce and also have to deal with paying of alimony. It's not an agreement to be entered into lightly. That said, a single piece of paper assures anyone that this agreement has been made.

Common-law, on the other hand, is a situation of convenience. In some cases, you would have to deal with some sort of divorce proceeding, but both parties have to agree that they were "married" -- I know of several couples who live in the same house (have for years) but keep all their affairs separate. Yes, under CIC's rules, they could claim common-law marriage, but their current status doesn't consider it -- if they separated, there'd be nothing (except, perhaps their lease agreement) tying them together.

*IF* someone who is common-law wanted to apply, they need to provide SUBSTANTIAL evidence of the *legality* (not validity) of their union. On the other hand, a couple who is legally married needs only one piece of paper to prove the same.

 

[missmini]

some don't believe in that single paper u pointed out...some would get married but they cannot (maybe religious barriers, maybe the country where they r does not consider it legal, maybe a divorce to be finalized, so on so on); don't look at it from a perspective where u just need to want it, to do it, NO, maybe u want and u know that u find the one but in specific circumstances u CANNOT

also, some believe that a marriage could make their road to Canada more secure and fast (genuine or not genuine) and unfortunately CIC did question some very genuine marriages on the basis that they didn't spend much time together, they didn't live together, they married fast, etc...

on the other hand, if u get married u could apply right away, right? but with common-law u need to live together for at least one year...if any one would be a scammer which road will he take? wasting one year with some one he does not have any feelings or getting married?

yes common-law have to show more papers than the married ones but it's not too much more work....the most work and proof has to be put in the genuinity of the relationship and that they both have to show

as for the timings, that i really don't know; i really think there's a group of events affecting the process of an application and the region too; so it's really case by case scenario; but no matter the timings the important is the positive outcome

PS: don't rate me negative if u don't agree with me; (it happened before :-X)

 

[patiently_waiting]

yes common-law have to show more papers than the married ones but it's not too much more work....the most work and proof has to be put in the genuinity of the relationship

We applied common law and we sent about a third of what I see people sending here, and we are at the end of our back ground check. The only other piece of paper we had to send was the common law declaration which pretty much no different that providing a marriage certificate. The only reason that we are still waiting is they required a non conviction cert from the military which isn't listed in the documents checklist or we would have provided that with the application.

What other documentation are you talking about? Just curious.

 

[rjessome]

If evidence is the same do visa offices favour spousal applications over common law ones? I've noticed common law timelines can be almost twice as long as spousal ones.

No. There is no favouritism of a marriage over common-law in processing at the visa offices.

The only extra documentation that a common-law couple needs to provide is proof of co-habitation for 12 months and the Statutory Declaration of a Common-law relationship. The standard of proof required to prove the genuiness of the conjugal relationship remains the same for both married and common-law couples.

Read OP Manual 2 starting at Section 5.26 to see how ALL of these relationships are assessed. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf

 

[patiently_waiting]

Ah right ya, we did that LOL..
It still seems like less paperwork than people that meet online and as their relationship develops get married ... I guess the skype/msn chat logs seems like a lot more proof.. (haven't had nearly enough coffee yet)

 

[Jez]

To spell it out...

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/facts/marriage.asp

 

[Tiggilicious]

Why do people apply common law then? There's nothing stopping them getting married, if they want to be together badly enough to apply for residence then wouldn't you get married to prove that?

Some people can't get married. Like us. My divorce hasnt finalized and I have been separated for 3 years now, and until we go to the court for our full divorce hearing at the end of the year, I cant. It didn't make sense to wait until we got married since we are common-law now.