common law date?

[Mbgirlfriend]

Question 13b asks the date that we entered into our common law relationship.

Does anyone know if this is the day we moved in together since this is when we started to live under the conditions required to become common law or one year later since that is the day we are legally considered to be common law and have then met the conditions.

The wording is confusing and I can't find anything on the CEC site that answers that. I only find repeated definitions of common law relationship (and I understand that) but an explanation of what the wording "entered into" means. To me we entered into it on the day we moved in together as that is when we entered into the conditions even if they were not yet met and then it became legal one year after we entered into it.

I know there have been a lot of threads on this already and I have read some on another forum but all the answers seem different.

Does anyone have any links to a clear explanation of the date we are to put in this box? I would love to see a link to the CEC site with an explanation or anyone who has actually spoken to a lawyer about this.

Keep in mind that I am not sponsoring my boyfriend and I am a Canadian Citizen so we don't really need to prove our relationship for immigration purposes its just that we have to be honest on the application.

 

[Ponga]

Question 13b asks the date that we entered into our common law relationship.

Does anyone know if this is the day we moved in together since this is when we started to live under the conditions required to become common law or one year later since that is the day we are legally considered to be common law and have then met the conditions.

The wording is confusing and I can't find anything on the CEC site that answers that. I only find repeated definitions of common law relationship (and I understand that) but an explanation of what the wording "entered into" means. To me we entered into it on the day we moved in together as that is when we entered into the conditions even if they were not yet met and then it became legal one year after we entered into it.

I know there have been a lot of threads on this already and I have read some on another forum but all the answers seem different.

Does anyone have any links to a clear explanation of the date we are to put in this box? I would love to see a link to the CEC site with an explanation or anyone who has actually spoken to a lawyer about this.

Keep in mind that I am not sponsoring my boyfriend and I am a Canadian Citizen so we don't really need to prove our relationship for immigration purposes its just that we have to be honest on the application.

Think of it like this:

Since it requires one full year of cohabitation, to be deemed Common-Law, how can a person enter into that `chapter' unless they've met the requirement?

The overwhelming consensus regarding this question is that a person `enters into' a C-L relationship on the 366th day.

 

[Rob_TO]

This is stated as a special note in several of the CIC guides (strangely not in the CEC guide), such as the one for sponsorship: 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.

 

[Mbgirlfriend]

Thank you so much for actually providing a link so I could read it myself. It always makes me feel so much better to read it off the CIC site so I know it's correct and not just someone's interpretation.

I don't know why they don't have it in every guide. I have read the guide top to bottom that is for the stream my boyfriend is doing for his PR and this information is not there. I have noticed other small difference in some other guides too. It's as if you have to read every guide in order to find out what you need to know. This is why this forum can be helpful. It's nice that I can hope that if I can't find an answer to something on The CIC site that someone here can provide the answer either with a link or by sharing their own experiences.