Can traveling together for 4 months count as part of the 1 year for common law sponsorship?

[juliakristof]

The plan was to travel together before settling down in Canada together. I am Canadian and my boyfriend is Belgian.
At the end of June 2018 I flew to Belgium (where my bf lived with his parents since he was finishing his masters). We traveled together until end of September which is when we flew back to Canada together where we both lived with my parents until my bf found a job. Once my bf found a job, he border-hopped to the USA to activate his one year working holiday visa. We moved into our own place November 1st 2018.

In order to apply for a common-law sponsorship, we have to live together for one year. What I want to know is if the period from June-October qualifies as part of that one year or whether its too risky and we should wait until November 2019. We traveled mostly by bicycle and camped so it's very difficult to prove we were together during that time period. We have hundreds of photos and instagram stories from every single day but we only have airplane tickets to show when we flew back to Canada together. (There was one week during that time when we were not together because I flew to a next destination a week sooner since my bf had to finish up something).

To make it less confusing, here is the timeline:
June 23: I flew to Belgium and stayed with my bf at his parents
June 28: we left on our trip via bicycle and cycled across europe to Italy
August 5: we flew back to Belgium together
August 24: I flew back to Canada WITHOUT my boyfriend
September 1: my boyfriend flew to Canada and lived with me until...
Sept 4: we both flew to hawaii
Sept 25: we both flew back to Canada and lived with my parents until...
Nov. 1: moved into our own place where we have been living since

We don't want to wait until November to apply because then my bf won't be able to work for a few months until he gets his OWP through the spousal application. And no he cannot extend his 1 year working visa.

Do we wait until november or can the period from june-end of september count as part of the one year of living together?
Thanks!

 

[canvis2006]

Do you have paperwork to prove it ?? IRCC loves paperwork you know....

 

[juliakristof]

Do you have paperwork to prove it ?? IRCC loves paperwork you know....

Basically I only have flight confirmations on my email for all the flights I mentioned in the main post. We camped throughout our entire trip so we don't have hotel confirmations or anything else.

 

[Linda_s74]

Basically I only have flight confirmations on my email for all the flights I mentioned in the main post. We camped throughout our entire trip so we don't have hotel confirmations or anything else.

There was another couple on here that we're in a similar situation, travelling together, living in campsites etc. they were together for longer than a year as well. They also struggled to submit additional evidence and were finally presented with a procedural fairness letter. I think only you would know if you have sufficient evidence to prove that you were "living together in a marriage-like relationship" during that time. In my personal opinion I think you should wait and gather as much evidence as possible in the meantime

 

[juliakristof]

There was another couple on here that we're in a similar situation, travelling together, living in campsites etc. they were together for longer than a year as well. They also struggled to submit additional evidence and were finally presented with a procedural fairness letter. I think only you would know if you have sufficient evidence to prove that you were "living together in a marriage-like relationship" during that time. In my personal opinion I think you should wait and gather as much evidence as possible in the meantime

Do you have a link to their thread? Did they eventually get accepted or was the denied post procedural fairness letter?