I made a huge mistake earlier not reading what common-law means in Canada (very different where we live in Europe), and I'm about to pay the price for it now.
Long story short, I have lived in the same address with my girlfriend for some years now, and we have been thinking of moving abroad in future. Canada has always been a special place for us, so last summer I decided to create a profile for express entry. I created the profile with marital status of "single or never married", as our wedding was scheduled for 2024. Unexpectedly, I received ITA already in the beginning of December 2023. We decided that I submit the application, and I add her to the application after we get our marriage certificate (pretty soon after the application deadline). Fast forward to the beginning of this week, I'm scanning final documents for the application and reading immigration forums and realize, that she is seen as my common-law in Canada. It hits me that I can't apply as a single as it would be misrepresentation, and it would be revealed in the bank statements for example.
This situation left me with 3 options, at least what I can think of. Explain the situation in the letter of explanation, and
1) Change marital status to common-law, and choose that she will accompany me to Canada.
2) Change marital status to common-law, and choose that she won't accompany me to Canada.
3) Decline invitation, and apply again as common-law.
I would like to go forward with option 1), but this realization came so late, that it is very unlikely that she will get her IELTS and ECA before the deadline (currently estimated 1-2 days after the deadline, and without those my score is below the threshold). So very likely, 1) won't work, unless there would be some way to give those results later (probably not as it was stated that they have to be there when submitting the application). So my question is, if I would do the option 2), can I still add her to the application after submitting it, or will it become impossible for me to get her to Canada? Otherwise, I only see the option 3) as viable, as much as it hurts after all the effort and money that went into preparing the application.
Best,
jjp92
Long story short, I have lived in the same address with my girlfriend for some years now, and we have been thinking of moving abroad in future. Canada has always been a special place for us, so last summer I decided to create a profile for express entry. I created the profile with marital status of "single or never married", as our wedding was scheduled for 2024. Unexpectedly, I received ITA already in the beginning of December 2023. We decided that I submit the application, and I add her to the application after we get our marriage certificate (pretty soon after the application deadline). Fast forward to the beginning of this week, I'm scanning final documents for the application and reading immigration forums and realize, that she is seen as my common-law in Canada. It hits me that I can't apply as a single as it would be misrepresentation, and it would be revealed in the bank statements for example.
This situation left me with 3 options, at least what I can think of. Explain the situation in the letter of explanation, and
1) Change marital status to common-law, and choose that she will accompany me to Canada.
2) Change marital status to common-law, and choose that she won't accompany me to Canada.
3) Decline invitation, and apply again as common-law.
I would like to go forward with option 1), but this realization came so late, that it is very unlikely that she will get her IELTS and ECA before the deadline (currently estimated 1-2 days after the deadline, and without those my score is below the threshold). So very likely, 1) won't work, unless there would be some way to give those results later (probably not as it was stated that they have to be there when submitting the application). So my question is, if I would do the option 2), can I still add her to the application after submitting it, or will it become impossible for me to get her to Canada? Otherwise, I only see the option 3) as viable, as much as it hurts after all the effort and money that went into preparing the application.
Best,
jjp92