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Canadian Common Law partner - What to fill out?

yorkshirelass

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Dear all,

I have lived with my Canadian boyfriend for over one year. I know that we can demonstrate evidence to support us being in a common law relationship, however I have chosen to do CEC rather than family sponsorship.

Now, he is Canadian so do I have to have him fill out all the forms where it mentions common-law partners/dependents? (IM 0008 DEP, 5669, 5409, 5562)
 

diana83

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Sep 13, 2012
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Yup -- still have to declare him on everything. I'm married to a Canadian but decided to do CEC (faster, cheaper, and you can leave the country as they're processing your application...apparently being sponsored from within the country means you can't leave the borders as they're processing it!). They still needed all of his information, all of the places he's traveled, all those tiny little details.

Good luck!
 

shells

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Yup.. Me too. My fiance is Canadian.. but I opted for CEC. It was a good thing I secretly uploaded pictures of us and posted it on my FB (he warned me not too). :D I went to do screen captures of all the photos of both of us (pictures and dates they were posted) and printed everything out for the application. We've been together for 3 years.. So there were lots.

Don't forget your notarized oath swearing you are a couple too.
 

Chococherry26

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Hey there! My bf and I are in a common law relationship but he is not Canadian. I am the principal applicant on the CEC application, did they ask for Facebook pics? Why did you submit Shells? I am actually nervous about our application as was out of the country for 2mnths.
 

shells

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They didn't ask for my fb pictures.. But those were one of my best ways (photos wise) as proof of our relationship (I even captured my friends' comments), so I did it on my own will. In my "dictionary" for CEC application, there's no such thing as "too much proof", only too little. They can chuck it out if it's not necessary.. I rather that than being delayed.
 

jes_ON

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yorkshirelass said:
Dear all,

I have lived with my Canadian boyfriend for over one year. I know that we can demonstrate evidence to support us being in a common law relationship, however I have chosen to do CEC rather than family sponsorship.

Now, he is Canadian so do I have to have him fill out all the forms where it mentions common-law partners/dependents? (IM 0008 DEP, 5669, 5409, 5562)
Since your Canadian boyfriend does not need to apply for permanent residence, he cannot be a co-applicant. So for example, on the Generic Application Form IMM 0008, Question 3, where it asks "How many family members are included in this application..." Do not count him here. But you do mention him on Question 13; attach a written explanation that your common law partner is a Canadian citizen, for that reason he is not included in the application (include a photocopy of his passport and or birth certificate).

You do have to mention him on the Additional Family Information form. He does not have to fill out any forms.

If CIC wants more information, they will ask for it.
 

yorkshirelass

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Thank you all for taking the time to write. Very useful!
 

seton

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Had the same situation, live with my common law Canadian girlfriend for over 3 years. Agree with jess_ON's advice, add her/him on the application form but do not list him/her as a dependent.
 

jennifer1980

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Mar 13, 2010
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Hi there,

I have just read your posts and I was wondering if you could help me with my CEC application.
I am in a common law relationship with my Canadian partner and I am confused about what forms he has to fill out.

IMM0008 has a section for dependents: should I include him?
additional dependents form: should he fill it out?

Based on your experience, what have you done?

Thanks in advance.

:)
 

jes_ON

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jennifer1980 said:
Hi there,

I have just read your posts and I was wondering if you could help me with my CEC application.
I am in a common law relationship with my Canadian partner and I am confused about what forms he has to fill out.
Scroll up and read the third post above yours.
 

shells

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jes_ON said:
Scroll up and read the third post above yours.

I love your reply, jes. ;)
 

shells

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jsm0085 said:
Yorkshire lass has not lived with her partner for over two years - they haven't even lived in the same country. It's a totally different situation!
Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Didn't yorkshirelass said she lived with her common law partner for over 1 year in her first post. Maybe not two years, but one year for sure. Why would it be a different situation?? I must be going blind.
 

jsm0085

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shells said:
Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Didn't yorkshirelass said she lived with her common law partner for over 1 year in her first post. Maybe not two years, but one year for sure. Why would it be a different situation?? I must be going blind.
My mistake - was mixing this post up with another one. Apologies.
 

ownio

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Feb 27, 2013
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jes_ON said:
Since your Canadian boyfriend does not need to apply for permanent residence, he cannot be a co-applicant. So for example, on the Generic Application Form IMM 0008, Question 3, where it asks "How many family members are included in this application..." Do not count him here. But you do mention him on Question 13; attach a written explanation that your common law partner is a Canadian citizen, for that reason he is not included in the application (include a photocopy of his passport and or birth certificate).

You do have to mention him on the Additional Family Information form. He does not have to fill out any forms.

If CIC wants more information, they will ask for it.
Jes_ON, Thank you so much for your response on this. I am in a very similar situation - living with a Canadian girlfriend for 14 months. I am applying under CEC. Based upon your advice I am going to include her on the following forms:
- Generic Application Form for Canada IMM0008 (Box 13). What about the detailed Dependent section for her at the end of this form - complete or ignore?
- Additional Family Information IMM5406E - include in common law section at the start
- Statutory Declaration of Common Law Union - complete in full

I am otherwise going to ignore all the information requested for common law spouse / delendents for Schedule A Background, Additional Dependents, Additional Family Information and Travel History forms FOR HER. I will include a copy of her passport. I will not pay any application fees for her.

I am sure many others are facing similar confusion so your response will probably help everyone a lot!


-
 

jes_ON

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ownio said:
- Generic Application Form for Canada IMM0008 (Box 13).
What about the detailed Dependent section for her at the end of this form - complete or ignore?

Read the instructions - it says to Include those who are not already permanent residents
or citizens of Canada. So if she is a PR/citizen, do not include.

Everything else looks fine -