Common-law sponsorship of US boyfriend - HELP!

[Stevin]

If my US citizen boyfriend resides with me in Canada for 12 months, can we then apply for Common-law sponsorship??
Aside from the security/medical clearance, and proof of living common-law for 12 months, what else should I be prepared for?

 

[deweysmith]

How is he going to reside with you in Canada for 12 months? He would need a work/study permit for the time he spends… A standard visitor visa won't cut it. The max any US Citizen can stay in Canada at one time is 6 months, unless there's a pretty good reason otherwise, and an even better reason that he's going to leave after that period of time. Additionally, the border may ask him for proof of residence in the USA. If he has a job just on the other side of the border, and were to commute every day, then he could likely change his residence to Canada without any kind of permits for the 12-month period required, and just go back and forth every day, but I'm not sure how that works exactly.

I'd just get married. Even if it's just legally at a courthouse without a big ceremony. Sponsoring someone into Canada is a pretty huge commitment anyway, 2+ years (depending on the province) of liability for your spouse should they go on social assistance, even if you're no longer in any kind of relationship together.

 

[Stevin]

He will not have a study/work permit. Therefore will not be working or studying. He has enough funds to support himself for the year. He will be residing with me at my residence. He still has a home that he owns in the US. We were thinking that after his 6 months stay we would ask for a 6 month visitor renewal. And if granted that, we would apply for Permanent residency once he has been here living with me for a full 12 months.

Is this how it works??

 

[msbigshot]

I have to agree with dewey. Sponsoring someone is a big commitment on its own and trying to prove common law is a sticky situation especially with how picky they are on residing/visiting in Canada for more than 6 months. Your best bet is to get married and file that way, chances are if you are sponsoring him to come to Canada marriage almost seems inevitable.

 

[Stevin]

I understand. The commitment of sponsorship is not of concern to me. Marriage is not a viable option at this time. My main concern is if we will be able to apply as common-law after he has resided here with me for 12+ months.

Thanks guys for your input.

 

[spinning_sponsor]

As long as you cohabitate for 12 continuous months, and have documents to prove you've joined households (for examples joint lease, bank account, etc), then your plan is doable. Since your BF is from the USA it will be very easy to get a visitor extension after the initial 6 months.

This is what my girlfriend (now common-law partner) did, and our application was submit in May.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

He will not have a study/work permit. Therefore will not be working or studying. He has enough funds to support himself for the year. He will be residing with me at my residence. He still has a home that he owns in the US. We were thinking that after his 6 months stay we would ask for a 6 month visitor renewal. And if granted that, we would apply for Permanent residency once he has been here living with me for a full 12 months.

Is this how it works??

Yes, that is how it works. Ignore the other posters. Your plan is fine and one that has been done MANY times in the past. You should have no issues extending his visitor status to become common-law provided he shows sufficient proof of finances.

How is he going to reside with you in Canada for 12 months? He would need a work/study permit for the time he spends... A standard visitor visa won't cut it. The max any US Citizen can stay in Canada at one time is 6 months, unless there's a pretty good reason otherwise, and an even better reason that he's going to leave after that period of time.

Completely wrong. He would not need a work or study permit; coming as a visitor and then extending his stay is perfectly acceptable. Provided a person has sufficient finances, CIC accepts wanting to become common-law as a perfectly valid reason to extend visitor status; this has been shown many times here on this forum.

 

[Stevin]

Yes, that is how it works. Ignore the other posters. Your plan is fine and one that has been done MANY times in the past. You should have no issues extending his visitor status to become common-law provided he shows sufficient proof of finances.


Completely wrong. He would not need a work or study permit; coming as a visitor and then extending his stay is perfectly acceptable. Provided a person has sufficient finances, CIC accepts wanting to become common-law as a perfectly valid reason to extend visitor status; this has been shown many times here on this forum.

@canuck_in_uk Thank you so much for you information . I am just trying to get all my "P"s and "Q"s in order before finally making the move, as he is sacrificing all securities in the US (Job Etc) and thank you to
@spinning_sponsor for your input. Good advice is hard to come by!!

 

[scylla]

Yes, that is how it works. Ignore the other posters. Your plan is fine and one that has been done MANY times in the past. You should have no issues extending his visitor status to become common-law provided he shows sufficient proof of finances.

Agreed. Ignore the other posters.

Your plan is fine.

 

[deweysmith]

Completely wrong. He would not need a work or study permit; coming as a visitor and then extending his stay is perfectly acceptable. Provided a person has sufficient finances, CIC accepts wanting to become common-law as a perfectly valid reason to extend visitor status; this has been shown many times here on this forum.

Huh. Maybe my marriage worked against me, then, or maybe I just got a douchebag of an immigration officer, but I presented this as my plan to an immigration officer and he told me I couldn't do that.

ANYWAY, carry on.

 

[Ponga]

I have to agree with dewey. Sponsoring someone is a big commitment on its own and trying to prove common law is a sticky situation especially with how picky they are on residing/visiting in Canada for more than 6 months. Your best bet is to get married and file that way, chances are if you are sponsoring him to come to Canada marriage almost seems inevitable.

Wow! Are you aware that it's 2015 and MANY people, especially Americans, have been successful with a Common-Law sponsorship application? As long as they can prove the fundamental requirement of having lived together for at least 1 full year, the rest is pretty easy.

Seriously...their best bet is to get married?

 

[Panamai]

Please, please, don't feel like you HAVE to get married for immigration purposes! Your plan is perfectly reasonable and it's exactly what I and many others in this forum have done successfully. I can't understand why other commenters want to warn you about the "huge commitment" of sponsoring someone, but in the same post, encourage you to marry him before you're ready. Marriage is a MUCH bigger commitment! I would gladly marry my partner this second if he asked me, however, we wanted to make sure that we married for the right reasons, not to make immigration easier. Plus, it would be nice if we could save up more money and have a nice ceremony/honeymoon with it. Marriage is not meant for immigration convenience. If immigration officials suspect this, it's a huge red flag!

 

[ashia]

Agreed. Ignore the other posters.

Your plan is fine.

just adding same answer, so you see that more people here agree that you don't have to marry him, and yep, just extend his visitor stay, as many many people did.

 

[Alurra71]

Huh. Maybe my marriage worked against me, then, or maybe I just got a douchebag of an immigration officer, but I presented this as my plan to an immigration officer and he told me I couldn't do that.

ANYWAY, carry on.

The key would be to show proof as only coming in as a visitor. Not announcing your 'plan' to go 'live' with your bf/gf for a year and just hang around until you become common law. If you do that you can bet you WILL be turned away at the border and not allowed to come in.

Now, if you show up at the border with proof of funds, proof of ties to your home country (the US in this case), a return ticket and only packed as a 'visitor', the odds that you will be turned away are drastically reduced. I am not saying you should lie, but you should be succinct in your responses with CBSA and answer ONLY the questions they ask of you and volunteer NO information at all. Say you are coming for a visit, state with whom, and don't tell them for 6 full months/year. Tell them/show them proof you only plan to stay 4-6 weeks for a 'vaction' or something then extend your 'implied' visitor visa as needed. Unless they stamp your passport with a date that you must leave by, as a US citizen you will receive 6 months 'implied'.

 

[canadianwoman]

Your plan is doable - lots of Americans (and others) have done it before. He will probably be let in with no problem, in which case he has 6 months to stay in Canada. He can apply to extend this time (about one month before the 6 months is up). If he is given a date he has to leave by by the border agent, he can still apply to extend this.

As others have said, though, he must be clear that he is a visitor. If he is flying here, have a return ticket with a specific date. He should bring with him proof of ties to the USA, if he has any. The border agent rarely asks for this, but it is good to have it just in case. Proof of sufficient funds is also something he should have with him.