Common-law sponsorship of US boyfriend - HELP!

[Amalthea]

The senior members of this forum know what they are talking about. You do NOT have to get married if you don't want to. The only benefit this would serve is to expedite the process, since you wouldn't have to wait 12 months to then apply and then wait some more. Applying as common-law is perfectly acceptable as long as you can prove you are in a marriage-like relationship and many many people on this forum have had their visitor visa extended even several times on the grounds that they were wanting to establish common law to apply for Spousal PR.

 

[Amalthea]

Just as one extreme example, I saw a post last week where someone had their visitor visa extended 4 times over 4 years on the grounds that they were "going to get married and apply for Spousal PR". CIC finally put their foot down and it was crunch time, so they came on the forums asking for help with the process. They had to show proof that they had actually applied to send with their next visitor visa extension.

Keep in mind Outland for US is much much faster than applying Inland, and in case you didn't already know, you can absolutely apply Outland from within Canada.

 

[msbigshot]

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?

Given my PERSONAL situation recently this is why I said that. Maybe I just got someone on their off day but I got my head ripped off. I would never want someone to have to go through that same situation. We were at a point as well when marriage was not an option and when asked about the whole 6 months and extending it I was told I'd be denied. Like I said, must've got someone who hated life that day. My apologies if I've offended anyone or misconstrued information.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Given my PERSONAL situation recently this is why I said that. Maybe I just got someone on their off day but I got my head ripped off. I would never want someone to have to go through that same situation. We were at a point as well when marriage was not an option and when asked about the whole 6 months and extending it I was told I'd be denied. Like I said, must've got someone who hated life that day. My apologies if I've offended anyone or misconstrued information.

Here's the thing: CIC IS NOT CBSA. Different agencies, different jobs, different red flags etc.

Rocking up to the border and telling CBSA that you are essentially going to live in Canada as a visitor in order to become common-law with your Canadian partner for awhile is a huge red flag for them. However, extending your visitor status so that you can remain in Canada with a Canadian partner to become common-law is not a red flag to CIC; it is a perfectly acceptable reason to extend status.

 

[killborn]

Is there any reason why the boyfriend in this case doesn't just leave Canada after 6 months and return into country renewing the 6 months (if granted obviously) rather than apply for an extension?

 

[scylla]

Is there any reason why the boyfriend in this case doesn't just leave Canada after 6 months and return into country renewing the 6 months (if granted obviously) rather than apply for an extension?

Generally there's a higher chance of success if you apply for the extension from within Canada and say you are working towards becoming common law. These extensions seem to be almost always approved. Doing a border run is riskier. He could be refused reentry if CBSA feels he's been spending too much time in Canada.

 

[killborn]

Thanks for the info. Not to hijack the threat, but in my case I am "living" in Canada. I work from home for a US company and travel to my clients weekly or biweekly for a day or three. I will maintain a US address just across the border and have a Nexus card to facilitate entry, but my home base where my partner and I share a home, bills and a bank account is in BC. Any reason that would be an issue after 12 months for a spousal application?

 

[Panamai]

Thanks for the info. Not to hijack the threat, but in my case I am "living" in Canada. I work from home for a US company and travel to my clients weekly or biweekly for a day or three. I will maintain a US address just across the border and have a Nexus card to facilitate entry, but my home base where my partner and I share a home, bills and a bank account is in BC. Any reason that would be an issue after 12 months for a spousal application?

As long as you have proof that you share a home with your partner, which it sounds like you do, it shouldn't be an issue. I never applied for an extension either. I have two young children who live with their father in the US, so I have been scheduling visits to them around the 5 or 6 month mark since December 2013. I also have a NEXUS card and I highly recommend getting one for anybody who plans to make frequent cross-border travels. Your only interaction when coming and going from Canada (at least in airports) is a kiosk.

 

[killborn]

As long as you have proof that you share a home with your partner, which it sounds like you do, it shouldn't be an issue. I never applied for an extension either. I have two young children who live with their father in the US, so I have been scheduling visits to them around the 5 or 6 month mark since December 2013. I also have a NEXUS card and I highly recommend getting one for anybody who plans to make frequent cross-border travels. Your only interaction when coming and going from Canada (at least in airports) is a kiosk.

Thanks for the response. Yep, flying in with Nexus is so easy. I do a lot of crossing by road and since I drove from Maryland to Vancouver and still have Maryland plates, I do get questioned at the border, even with Nexus. That will change now that I am changing residence to Washington state and will have Washington plates. Why does it all have to be so damn hard?

 

[deweysmith]

Here's the thing: CIC IS NOT CBSA. Different agencies, different jobs, different red flags etc.

Rocking up to the border and telling CBSA that you are essentially going to live in Canada as a visitor in order to become common-law with your Canadian partner for awhile is a huge red flag for them. However, extending your visitor status so that you can remain in Canada with a Canadian partner to become common-law is not a red flag to CIC; it is a perfectly acceptable reason to extend status.

This.

This is why I said the things that I said… I did almost exactly that. Rolled up to the border, said I'd just gotten married, came up to stay with my in-laws for a few months, and had a lot of stuff with me. 4 hours later I was driving back to Watertown, NY with a bawling wife because I was refused entry to Canada.

Getting in and then extending may indeed be no problem, but if you get a CBSA agent that decides he wants to grill you, and you have no apartment you're leasing, job expecting you back, or anything to show you're gonna leave when your time is up (even if you won't let it be up) you're gonna have a bad time.

 

[Amalthea]

This.

This is why I said the things that I said... I did almost exactly that. Rolled up to the border, said I'd just gotten married, came up to stay with my in-laws for a few months, and had a lot of stuff with me. 4 hours later I was driving back to Watertown, NY with a bawling wife because I was refused entry to Canada.

Getting in and then extending may indeed be no problem, but if you get a CBSA agent that decides he wants to grill you, and you have no apartment you're leasing, job expecting you back, or anything to show you're gonna leave when your time is up (even if you won't let it be up) you're gonna have a bad time.

Yeah, you need to show significant ties to your home country. Job, rental agreement, bank account etc. One suitcase. I just said I was visiting for 2 weeks, lol. They're a lot more lenient if you already have an application in process but i didn't need to divulge this information.

CIC says it's fine move and wait out the process with your spouse, CBSA feels differently. They are completely different beasts.

 

[Amalthea]

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.

I think that's where people were actually correcting you, it's extremely easy to extend a visitor visa, as they are almost always approved for spousal PR purposes.