Hi, I am a Canadian citizen living in the US. I am planning on moving back to Canada in February 2020. I want to sponsor my girlfriend for permanent resident status. She is an American citizen. We have been together for 2.5 years but have only been living together for the last 4.5 months, ie, joint utility, cable bills, etc...My question is can we start the sponsorship process NOW, or should we wait for the full 12 months of living together. Also, is this is fairly simple process we can do on our own or should we use a lawyer? Many thanks in advance, Adam
Common law partner sponsorship
- Thread starter Alittke
- Start date
You have to wait until you have 12 months of continuous cohabitation to be eligible to apply for common-law sponsorship. You would have to get married if you wanted to start the process right away.
Provided you don't have major red flags or complications, it is a fairly simple (albeit tedious) process that you should be able to do on your own.
Provided you don't have major red flags or complications, it is a fairly simple (albeit tedious) process that you should be able to do on your own.
Yes if you are applying Outland you can move to Canada. Your gf would be a visitor and couldn’t move all her belongings to Canada. If your target is moving in Feb2020 you will have just completed your 12 months of living together. You should be gathering evidence that you are living together for the whole 12 months. Various forms of mail, lease, being named dependents on insurance policies, etc. Just having a name on a utility bill is not enough. You have to show proof of when you started living together. For example if you both paid movers to move into a new home that would help. Since it seems like you want to apply soon after the 1 year mark you need to be able to prove when you started living together or CIC will consider the date when you could prove you started living together.