Are we (still) in a common-law relationship?

[greenish]

Hi
I was living in Canada together with my common-law partner from october 2009 till February 2011 (She was in Canada for almost 2 years on a student visa). In Feb she had to go back to Korea to finish her last year of college, while I was finishing mine in Canada. I graduated in May and came to Korea to visit her in June. I'm staying here with her and her family till December. I have to go back since my visitor visa will expire and I need to start working a new job. Hence, starting December 11th we wont be living together anymore until she will join me in Canada.

1.) Are we currently considered a common-law couple? We hadn't been living together for a little more than 4 months, from Feb till June 2011.

2.) Will we still be considered a common-law couple once I go back to Canada on my own? (Does the cohabitation requirement need to be current? We will be living together at the time we send the application but we will live apart from each other while the application is being processed. That is, if she can enter Canada while the application is being processed, we'll be living apart for a few weeks only)

3.)Also, we are hoping to get our application sent in while I am still in Korea. Will she be able to visit me in Canada while my sponsorship and/or her PR application are being reviewed? Or does she need to stay in Korea till the whole application process is (successfully) completed?

I'm kind of confused on hw to handle this whole living together requirement. Hope my questions are clear enough for someone to give some answers!
Thanks in advance!

 

[greenish]

I think I just found the answers for my first 2 question myself.
In case somebody in interested in the answers, go check out this guide to which I found a link in a different post somewhere on this forum:
www(dot)cic.gc.ca(slash)english(slash)resources(slash)manuals(slash)op(slash)op02-eng.pdf (not allowed to post links, sorry)
pay special attention to chapter 5.36

In short, yes, people who have cohabited for at least a year can still be considered a common-law couple even if they currently had to stop cohabiting. However, apparently you need to be able to prove your intentions to live together again as soon as possible.

Still curious about the third question though! I think I will repost it with a different Subject line.

Cheers

 

[CharlieD10]

If she is visa-exempt, she should be able to come visit you with little problem. If she has an interview, she will have to go home for it.

 

[greenish]

Thanks for your reply CharlieD10! That's what I figured after doing a little more research.
Apparently she will just have to be able to convince the border/immigration officer that she will leave the country again in case she has to.
Any idea what kind of proof would convince the officer that she will leave if she must? Will a return ticket to her home country be sufficient?
She's a South Korean national btw, I believe that makes her visa-exempt?

 

[CharlieD10]

Yes, South Korea is visa-exempt. In addition to a return ticket, proof of sufficient funds for the trip, appropriate amounts of luggage and any other proof of ties to home (lease/rental agreement etc).

 

[tiger74]

Hello! if you are not physically present to each other. you guys are called conjugal partners. common law states that you should be physically together and living in one roof =) ... if you've been a conjugal partner for 4 mos ( meaning u were apart from each other), you have to wait for 1 year being a common law husband/wife to file a sponsorship... of course just present everything to prove them that your relationship is genuine. Hope this one can help you.

 

[simply_grazie]

hi to all members!

im just new here.. i just want to ask about my status here in canada,it's about sponsorship of a common law partner outside canada,. we have a child and they were my dependants,, we lived together for more than a year but in our case we don't have joint accounts and other proofs like bills of house rentals and telephone because we lived in my parents,, i only have pictures, receipts of remittances named to my common law, baptismal and birth certificate of our son that also has his name as the father,,is it enough as a proof that he is my common law partner? and is it a good decision that i will marry him after i finished the 24 mos contract and before i submit my application for open permit and PR? is it the right time to marry him or i will just wait until i got my PR, does it delay the processing because i will change my status at that time from common law to married?

 

[Stumpedmom]

Hello! if you are not physically present to each other. you guys are called conjugal partners. common law states that you should be physically together and living in one roof =) ... if you've been a conjugal partner for 4 mos ( meaning u were apart from each other), you have to wait for 1 year being a common law husband/wife to file a sponsorship... of course just present everything to prove them that your relationship is genuine. Hope this one can help you.

Not 100% correct. They have already met the common law requirements BEFORE the 4 month separation. You can file right away, another piece of evidence that you can show to the CBSA when she comes to visit, is pay your fees in full before she comes, and have her bring a copy of the reciepts and proof if you do file before she visits. Answer all their questions honestly, but don't offer too much information. Remember she sis just allowed to VISIT, she can not move here till the PR process is finalized...

 

[greenish]

Hi Stumpedmom
I think tiger74 misunderstood my original post a little. I wanted to comment on that but was too busy lately. Anyways, I agree with your statement, having already met the requirements before should be fine.
Concerning your idea to bring the receipts as proof when she comes to visit, how do you think that will prove that she will leave the country if she has to? I think it's a good idea to bring them but I don't see how they will prove that she will leave Canada if asked to do so.

 

[Stumpedmom]

Hi Stumpedmom
I think tiger74 misunderstood my original post a little. I wanted to comment on that but was too busy lately. Anyways, I agree with your statement, having already met the requirements before should be fine.
Concerning your idea to bring the receipts as proof when she comes to visit, how do you think that will prove that she will leave the country if she has to? I think it's a good idea to bring them but I don't see how they will prove that she will leave Canada if asked to do so.

It wouldn't be for proof that she would leave the country, it would be proof that you have or intend to apply for PR. If you pay the PR fees in advance, that just proves to CBSA that you are trying to do things the legal way, and that you are not having her come here and not file, or stay here illegally

 

[tiger74]

Not 100% correct. They have already met the common law requirements BEFORE the 4 month separation. You can file right away, another piece of evidence that you can show to the CBSA when she comes to visit, is pay your fees in full before she comes, and have her bring a copy of the reciepts and proof if you do file before she visits. Answer all their questions honestly, but don't offer too much information. Remember she sis just allowed to VISIT, she can not move here till the PR process is finalized...

it just happened to me ... i did the filing 8) the long common law relationship that we stated like 7 years was not included because we were separated for about a year and hence were considered as conjugal partner. So when i arrived here in Canada we counted again DAY 1 of our common law relationship. (that is through the immigration lawyer) ... but still conjugal partner can be sponsored. thank you

 

[greenish]

it just happened to me ... i did the filing 8) the long common law relationship that we stated like 7 years was not included because we were separated for about a year and hence were considered as conjugal partner. So when i arrived here in Canada we counted again DAY 1 of our common law relationship. (that is through the immigration lawyer) ... but still conjugal partner can be sponsored. thank you

That's interesting. May I ask what the reason for your 1 year separation was? I'm hoping that they will accept that our 4 months separation was 'unavoidable' since she had to go back to school in Korea while I had to finish mine in Canada. I read somewhere that under some circumstances you will still be regarded as a common-law couple even if you had to take a break of cohabiting for a while. We've been living together for 2 years now, with that 4 months break from Feb to June.

 

[tiger74]

That's interesting. May I ask what the reason for your 1 year separation was? I'm hoping that they will accept that our 4 months separation was 'unavoidable' since she had to go back to school in Korea while I had to finish mine in Canada. I read somewhere that under some circumstances you will still be regarded as a common-law couple even if you had to take a break of cohabiting for a while. We've been living together for 2 years now, with that 4 months break from Feb to June.

the reason is he needs to go back here in canada while i stayed in our country coz i am not a PR yet that time. And then, when i followed here as tourist, he sponsored me, but only to find out from the immigration lawyer that i need to wait for another year before he can sponsor me (in- canada application) as common law. We need 1 year to be together physically before he can sponsor me. i'm saying again that this is from my experience. after that we filed and i waited, and being patient is a virtue, just keep all the proofs if you'll be apart or you were apart for 4 mos

 

[pinklady]

I think your immigration lawyer is wrong...