common-law/ application forms/ background/ QUESTIONS!!!

[Saluma]

hey everybody,

i've some questions regarding filling out my application.
my boyfriend and i want to undergo the common-law sponsoring process soon. my boyfriend is canadian, i'm from germany.

here's the short version of my/our story.

- i came to canada the first time in august 2011 on a work and holiday visa.
- i met my boyfriend at a halloween party in october 2011 (we've been seeing each other ever since)
- we moved in together june 1st, 2012 (rent contract in our both names, rent receipts written in our both names)
- august 3rd, 2012 i went home to germany for 5 weeks since my work and holiday visa expired
- september 7th, 2012 i returned to canada (this time on a visitor visa)
- i'll be going home for a visit september 11th, 2013 for a few weeks

--> we have continuously lived together for a 12month period plus a few days

now my questions about filling out the forms...

1. form IMM0008 no. 13): here i'll obviously say that i'm in a common-law relationship; now they ask for the date i entered the common-law relationship...is that june 1st, 2012 when we first moved in together OR september 7th, 2013 after we've continuously lived together for an uninterrupted 12 months period of cohabitation?

2. form IMM5669 n. 12): here they ask for all the addresses i've lived since i turned 18; (i'm currently 24)...well, till i came to canada first, that's easy since i was only living at home...
my question is this one time last year when i went home in august, 2012 for 5 weeks: am i going to mark that as "i lived at home" and write my family's german address down OR is that considered a visit more than actually "living" somewhere since i've had the intention all along to come back anyway...i'd personally consider it vacation/visit etc.

...and another question regarding this:
let's assume i was somewhat like a "nanny" from august 2011 - may 2012 and i lived with this family...am i going to put their address down?
here's the question:
i'm not quite sure if i you're allowed to be a "nanny" on a work&holiday visa...coming here i definately thought everything was alright...i was allowed to work and this "nanny"-thing was overall more a taxi-job than anything else anyway...LOL! picking up kids from school, driving them to their activities, picking them back up, etc...it was only like 3 hours a day and the kids were 6 and 8 already, so no fulltime looking after toddlers!

now that i'm in the process of filling out my sponsoring application i stumbled over some controversy statements about "being a nanny" on a work&holiday visa...
what is exactly true now?

and in case i wasn't actually allowed to do this...what am i going to do now? is this considered a illegal act and my application will be refused and i'll be asked to leave?
should i just not mention those months then and just say i was traveling around and didn't have a place where i stayed for more that 5 days etc?

what are your thoughts?

one last thing:
as i said i'll be going home september 11th, 2013 but even though we'll go "outland" i want to come back in october and live here with my boyfriend till everything went through and i can land as PR.
how are the chances this will be approved? does anyone have any experiences when it comes to that?

i'm hoping to just get a stamp in my passport again which is good for 6 months, then i'll file for extension...should i do this right away after we send off our application? which will likely be in november and only after months of me being back here...
OR should i wait till my visa almost expires (approx. after 5months/latest 30 days before it expires)?

AND for how much time should i ask?
outland first stage takes approx. 1 month, then second stage through the vienna office takes about 11months recording to CIC...
should i ask for a year to be safe?

holy...so many question...i'm sorry, you guys...those are probably the same old questions all over again!

i appreciate anyone's help though!
thanks so much!!!

 

[Rob_TO]

- i came to canada the first time in august 2011 on a work and holiday visa.
- i met my boyfriend at a halloween party in october 2011 (we've been seeing each other ever since)
- we moved in together june 1st, 2012 (rent contract in our both names, rent receipts written in our both names)
- august 3rd, 2012 i went home to germany for 5 weeks since my work and holiday visa expired
- september 7th, 2012 i returned to canada (this time on a visitor visa)
- i'll be going home for a visit september 11th, 2013 for a few weeks

--> we have continuously lived together for a 12month period plus a few days

Not quite, when your visa expired and you returned home Aug 3, 2012, your cohabitation ended. It started up again Sept 7, 2012, so the counter reset back to 0 here.

1. form IMM0008 no. 13): here i'll obviously say that i'm in a common-law relationship; now they ask for the date i entered the common-law relationship...is that june 1st, 2012 when we first moved in together OR september 7th, 2013 after we've continuously lived together for an uninterrupted 12 months period of cohabitation?

You will enter into the common-law relationship on Sept 7, 2013. NOT the date you first moved in together... this is specifically stated in the guide.

2. form IMM5669 n. 12): here they ask for all the addresses i've lived since i turned 18; (i'm currently 24)...well, till i came to canada first, that's easy since i was only living at home...
my question is this one time last year when i went home in august, 2012 for 5 weeks: am i going to mark that as "i lived at home" and write my family's german address down OR is that considered a visit more than actually "living" somewhere since i've had the intention all along to come back anyway...i'd personally consider it vacation/visit etc.

You had no valid visa to Canada during that time, and 5 weeks is long enough to be considered "living". You need to put down your German address during this time.

Sorry not sure about the nanny question.

one last thing:
as i said i'll be going home september 11th, 2013 but even though we'll go "outland" i want to come back in october and live here with my boyfriend till everything went through and i can land as PR.
how are the chances this will be approved? does anyone have any experiences when it comes to that?

Should be ok for visa-exempt passport holders. Just make sure to stress you are VISITING Canada as a tourist only. Never ever say you will be LIVING here, since that may lead to you being rejected at the border. You can mention you have an outland app in progress, and make sure to explain you fully intend to leave Canada after 6 months if you don't get an extension and/or the app is still not approved.

AND for how much time should i ask?
outland first stage takes approx. 1 month, then second stage through the vienna office takes about 11months recording to CIC...
should i ask for a year to be safe?

Most likely you will just get 6 months, regardless what you ask for. But everyone is a bit different.

 

[ghunter]

I think that your relationship would have started on June 1, providing that you had a good reason to leave and make it 'uninterrupted' (family emergency, work, visa ending etc) for the five weeks. The officers know that people have circumstances that are unavoidable.

Especially with a relationship that is ongoing and has spanned over 12 months anyways, I don't think it is a problem.

In my application we had a bit over 4 weeks apart in the common law time frame, but I wrote a long description about why my partner stayed in the UK while I moved home to Canada (financial reasons), and it has not been questioned. We had also been together for over a year at this point.

Maybe it is better to be safe than sorry and wait until September, but I honestly think you will be fine, providing you explain that you had to leave for your Visa, but continue to live together now/ in the future.

 

[Rob_TO]

Maybe it is better to be safe than sorry and wait until September, but I honestly think you will be fine, providing you explain that you had to leave for your Visa, but continue to live together now/ in the future.

I would NOT advise to apply before September 8th of this year. There have been cases seen on this forum, where people were denied common-law status for having just 3 weeks apart during the 12-months cohabitation period. Common-law is a fact based criteria, and depending on the VO who reviews your application, you don't want to give them ANY reason to doubt the common-law status. CIC has shown they often don't care what excuses you have... they will just go off the rules.

Starting Sept 8 they will have a confirmed, no-doubt common-law status, so best to wait until then.

 

[Saluma]

I think that your relationship would have started on June 1, providing that you had a good reason to leave and make it 'uninterrupted' (family emergency, work, visa ending etc) for the five weeks. The officers know that people have circumstances that are unavoidable.

Especially with a relationship that is ongoing and has spanned over 12 months anyways, I don't think it is a problem.

In my application we had a bit over 4 weeks apart in the common law time frame, but I wrote a long description about why my partner stayed in the UK while I moved home to Canada (financial reasons), and it has not been questioned. We had also been together for over a year at this point.

Maybe it is better to be safe than sorry and wait until September, but I honestly think you will be fine, providing you explain that you had to leave for your Visa, but continue to live together now/ in the future.

thanks for your response!
i will for sure state in a letter that i had to go home in august 2012 since my visa expired etc.
my dad wasn't feeling well at the time either so i can probably put that in there too...

either way we will now be able to qualify under common-law since we will have lived together from september 7th, 2012 till september 11th, 2013 (the day i'm going home)...which is 12 months plus 4 days...

Not quite, when your visa expired and you returned home Aug 3, 2012, your cohabitation ended. It started up again Sept 7, 2012, so the counter reset back to 0 here.


You will enter into the common-law relationship on Sept 7, 2013. NOT the date you first moved in together... this is specifically stated in the guide.

thanks for your reply!

so i basically put the date in that we officially (CIC consideration) qualify as common-law...meaning after living together for 12months...september 7th, 2013...

i just wasn't quite sure since to me the common-law relationship started when we first started building up an household together, but thanks for your advice! i'll follow it!

 

[Saluma]

I would NOT advise to apply before September 8th of this year. There have been cases seen on this forum, where people were denied common-law status for having just 3 weeks apart during the 12-months cohabitation period. Common-law is a fact based criteria, and depending on the VO who reviews your application, you don't want to give them ANY reason to doubt the common-law status. CIC has shown they often don't care what excuses you have... they will just go off the rules.

Starting Sept 8 they will have a confirmed, no-doubt common-law status, so best to wait until then.

oh ya, for sure!
my intention wasn't to start the process until i'm back in canada after my visit in germany in october...
we will for sure have our 12 months full...september 7th, 2012 till september 11th, 2013...
then i'm going home for a few weeks...returning in october 2013, then finish up filling out the forms etc., then hopefully send off the application in november 2013...

i'm just asking now already to know ahead of time and i'm filling out some forms already so it won't be too overwhelming sitting in front of a big chunk and having to fill out all at once!

thanks!!

 

[Saluma]

does anyone know who i could ask regarding the "nanny"-thing?

 

[Rob_TO]

i will for sure state in a letter that i had to go home in august 2012 since my visa expired etc.
my dad wasn't feeling well at the time either so i can probably put that in there too...

Since you aren't counting this time towards your common-law status, then you don't really need a big explanation why you weren't living in Canada at the time.

What's more important is how you guys maintained the relationship during any times that you were long distance. This could be records/logs of emails, phone calls, chats etc etc.

so i basically put the date in that we officially (CIC consideration) qualify as common-law...meaning after living together for 12months...september 7th, 2013...

i just wasn't quite sure since to me the common-law relationship started when we first started building up an household together, but thanks for your advice! i'll follow it!

It's the same as a marriage. You wouldn't put a date you started building towards the marriage... you would put the day you actually got married and became spouses. Same here... you put the day you actually became common-law.

For your reference, read here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900ETOC.asp
Enter the date (year, month, day) you were married or you entered into your current common-law relationship.

Note: This is the date your status officially changed from being single to common-law, not the date you started living together.

 

[Saluma]

Hey everyone,

some more questions!

1. Can my boyfriend collect child subsidy for his after school care and still sponsor me?

2. Would he be allowed to collect rental assistance/rental subsidy or does this disqualify him from being a sponsor?

I'm all in all just not sure what is considered social assistance...I know welfare is but other than that, I don't know...

Thanks for your help!
I appreciate it!