Common law residency-US/Canadian

[xoxokirsten]

I'm a U.S. citizen and my boyfriend is Canadian, we live 20 minutes apart so we cross rather frequently. We wanted to go about applying for me to get permanent residency through common law, I was told this was ok by another officer and to inform them when we start our application about a week ago, but when I told a different border officer today that we started our application he informed me that we can not go the common law route because I am not allowed to live in Canada, that would mean I have been living in Canada "illegally" and he can deny me entry. He told me the only way to go about this is marriage.

I'm rather confused on how others have received their permanent residency through common law when it is illegal for a citizen of another country to live in Canada?

This has gotten me really distraught and because marriage is not an option at the moment, I don't know what to do. I just want to live with the one I love.

Is there someone who can guide me?

 

[Ponga]

Re: Common law permanent residency, but illegal?

The second officer is correct on one thing...you cannot legally live in Canada. You absolutely CAN be a visitor to Canada and, in essence, reside with your boyfriend as you work towards the one year requirement to be eligible for a Common-Law sponsorship.

As an American, you are generally allowed to enter Canada, as a visitor, for up to 6 months unless told otherwise by the border officer. Once in Canada, you simply apply to extend your stay (online, prior to it expiring) citing that you are working towards the Common-Law eligibility requirement.

Even if a person applies for an extension one day before their visitor status expires, they can still remain in Canada while they await a response. This is known as Implied Status, but ONLY works if the person had legal status at the time that the extension was received, which in the case of an online request, could certainly be the day before.

IMHO, the real problem is the semantics game that people have to play. You want to prove to CIC that you have been living together, yet you cannot tell CBSA that you are living together.

 

[xoxokirsten]

Re: Common law permanent residency, but illegal?

Thank you so much for your response!

But I guess a problem I'm having is that I go to college in the United States so I have to cross four days a week back into the U.S. for a few hours then cross back into Canada (I also visit my mom during that time.) I've been staying here in Canada the rest of the time, staying the night and staying all weekend. I'm on the lease, have all the documents and we can prove common law. I've been doing this for a year and and a half and they never stamp my passport, they ask how long I'm visiting and I tell them how long and that's that.

Should we still apply? Can the officers see we applied the common law route?

I'm nervous that if we apply and the border sees that we applied common law when I cross they can pull my application and stop me from ever seeing him again. Like you said, I have to prove to CIC that we've been living together, yet I can't tell CBSA that we're living together. It's completely twisted and has been nothing but a headache.

 

[Rob_TO]

but when I told a different border officer today that we started our application he informed me that we can not go the common law route because I am not allowed to live in Canada, that would mean I have been living in Canada "illegally" and he can deny me entry. He told me the only way to go about this is marriage.

This officer is 100% wrong.
You can most certainly establish the 12 months of cohabitation as a visitor. Countless thousands of people have done it before you. CIC simply does not care if you were a visitor, worker, student, or even illegal/no status... while establishing the 12 months for common-law. And being common-law or married has no real difference in applying for PR, as both are legal unions.

As long as you can prove cohabitation for 12 months (so joint lease as you mentioned, joint accounts, mail to same address, declarations from family/friends, etc) then go ahead and apply.

And in fact once you have your common-law PR app submitted, you'll usually find it's easier to cross the border if you show them proof of having the app in progress. However every entry into Canada is a new event, so depending what CBSA officer you get you never know if you'll have problems. Generally the more times you leave and re-enter, the more possibility there is to run into a problem. You might want to look into getting a NEXUS pass to make the process easier/quicker for you.

 

[xoxokirsten]

This officer is 100% wrong.
You can most certainly establish the 12 months of cohabitation as a visitor. Countless thousands of people have done it before you. CIC simply does not care if you were a visitor, worker, student, or even illegal/no status... while establishing the 12 months for common-law. And being common-law or married has no real difference in applying for PR, as both are legal unions.

As long as you can prove cohabitation for 12 months (so joint lease as you mentioned, joint accounts, mail to same address, declarations from family/friends, etc) then go ahead and apply.

And in fact once you have your common-law PR app submitted, you'll usually find it's easier to cross the border if you show them proof of having the app in progress. However every entry into Canada is a new event, so depending what CBSA officer you get you never know if you'll have problems. Generally the more times you leave and re-enter, the more possibility there is to run into a problem. You might want to look into getting a NEXUS pass to make the process easier/quicker for you.

Thank you for this!
My mind has been jumbled all day because of what that officer said and I was unsure whether or not I should even continue with our application. I've gotten mixed things from so many different officers that it's kinda hard to figure out whats what and whats right.
I'm going to continue with it and look into getting my NEXUS pass.
But can the border see my application is processing once I submit it?
Cheers!

 

[Rob_TO]

But can the border see my application is processing once I submit it?

I'm not sure what info they can or can't see, but if you have your PR app in progress you should definitely mention it. Bring proof of it such as the payment receipt, the notice of confirmed delivery to CPC-M, and sponsor approval when you get it.

 

[xoxokirsten]

I'm not sure what info they can or can't see, but if you have your PR app in progress you should definitely mention it. Bring proof of it such as the payment receipt, the notice of confirmed delivery to CPC-M, and sponsor approval when you get it.

Got it! I'll make copies of the application as well.
Nervous that they'll give me a hard time for the common-law thing but who knows.
Thank you!

 

[Ponga]

How long have you been crossing the border like this (4 days a week, only for a few hours at a time)?
(Sorry, found the answer by re-reading one of your earlier posts here).

I'm actually surprised that you haven't encountered any problems, since it would certainly `appear' that you may be living in Canada.

How could CBSA not already know that you're spending the majority of your time in Canada? This could only help you, once you prove that you have an active sponsorship application, right?

 

[xoxokirsten]

How could CBSA not already know that you're spending the majority of your time in Canada? This could only help you, once you prove that you have an active sponsorship application, right?

I guess I never looked at it that way, the officer just startled me by saying it was impossible unless we got married because it's illegal for me to live there, so he asked how could we have started our PR application through common-law if it's illegal.
I just never really had an issue crossing though. I was asked once awhile back if I could keep a piece of mail on me to prove my address in the states and never got bothered after that.