Common Law Sponsorship Questions

[Grum]

Hi Forum,

I've a few questions regarding my impending application for PR under family sponsorship - common law. I've been in a relationship with a Canadian citizen for 23 months. I've made 2 trips to Canada totaling 8 months on a holiday visa and she has visited Australia twice, once for 3 weeks, and currently here on a 1 year holiday working visa. My first question is if we meet the 1 year common law requirement? Our time line is as follows:

2012
May - 3 week trip to Aus
July - 10 week trip to Canada
Dec - 5 Month trip to Canada
2013
May - 1 year trip to Aus

There was a 6 week gap between my first and second trip to Canada, and a 3 week gap between my second trip and her coming over to Australia.

Are we common law as we've lived together since Dec 2012 but with 3 week gap? I had to return due to work, house / dog sitter finishing, Visa and my flight could not be extended much more. I also could not stay longer in Canada as i need to apply for my Australian citizenship (there are travel requirements I have to meet to be able to apply), which leads onto my second question.

If we do meet common law requirements, and we put in our application, does it matter if i become an Australian citizen whilst the application is being processed? is it a matter of just letting cic know of the changes? or should i wait until my citizenship application is completed?

My next question is regarding travel whilst processing. I will be applying outland and was wondering if i would be able to travel to Canada on an Holiday Visa so we can at least be together during the whole process. I will hopefully be able to convince immigration that I will leave as i have house, dog, work here in Australia, and why would i apply outland if i was just going to stay in Canada?

My final question is to anyone who has done this application from Australia. Who can you contact on the phone from here? I cannot call Canadian immigration due to 18XX number, bar getting one of my partners relatives to call on my behalf it would be nice to speak to someone who actually knew what they were taking about.

If it matters, I'm a British citizen with PR in Australia (25 years and counting)

If anyone could help me on my quest for answers to these questions that would be great.

Oh 1 last question. Perth Australia is listed as a VAC, recently opened, would that be the processing center we put on our application?

Cheers

Graham

 

[Rob_TO]

Are we common law as we've lived together since Dec 2012 but with 3 week gap? I had to return due to work, house / dog sitter finishing, Visa and my flight could not be extended much more. I also could not stay longer in Canada as i need to apply for my Australian citizenship (there are travel requirements I have to meet to be able to apply), which leads onto my second question.

To qualify for common-law you must live 12 months continuously. Each time you have a long break apart, when you start living together again the clock starts back at zero and you have to start the 12 months from scratch again.

If you've lived together since Dec 2012 to today, a 3 week gap SHOULD be ok. CIC says that "short and temporary" breaks are allowed, and while there is no set time for this the general consensus is 3 weeks or less is fine. Although in the end it all depends on the visa officer reviewing your file (which is why i say SHOULD be ok).

If we do meet common law requirements, and we put in our application, does it matter if i become an Australian citizen whilst the application is being processed? is it a matter of just letting cic know of the changes? or should i wait until my citizenship application is completed?

It shouldn't have any effect on the application.

My next question is regarding travel whilst processing. I will be applying outland and was wondering if i would be able to travel to Canada on an Holiday Visa so we can at least be together during the whole process. I will hopefully be able to convince immigration that I will leave as i have house, dog, work here in Australia, and why would i apply outland if i was just going to stay in Canada?

For visa-exempt applicants, it's usually fairly easy to visit Canada while an outland PR app is in process. Typically you'll get a 6 month visitor status each time.

 

[corbs]

Hi Forum,

I've a few questions regarding my impending application for PR under family sponsorship - common law. I've been in a relationship with a Canadian citizen for 23 months. I've made 2 trips to Canada totaling 8 months on a holiday visa and she has visited Australia twice, once for 3 weeks, and currently here on a 1 year holiday working visa. My first question is if we meet the 1 year common law requirement? Our time line is as follows:

2012
May - 3 week trip to Aus
July - 10 week trip to Canada
Dec - 5 Month trip to Canada
2013
May - 1 year trip to Aus

There was a 6 week gap between my first and second trip to Canada, and a 3 week gap between my second trip and her coming over to Australia.

Are we common law as we've lived together since Dec 2012 but with 3 week gap? I had to return due to work, house / dog sitter finishing, Visa and my flight could not be extended much more. I also could not stay longer in Canada as i need to apply for my Australian citizenship (there are travel requirements I have to meet to be able to apply), which leads onto my second question.

If we do meet common law requirements, and we put in our application, does it matter if i become an Australian citizen whilst the application is being processed? is it a matter of just letting cic know of the changes? or should i wait until my citizenship application is completed?

My next question is regarding travel whilst processing. I will be applying outland and was wondering if i would be able to travel to Canada on an Holiday Visa so we can at least be together during the whole process. I will hopefully be able to convince immigration that I will leave as i have house, dog, work here in Australia, and why would i apply outland if i was just going to stay in Canada?

My final question is to anyone who has done this application from Australia. Who can you contact on the phone from here? I cannot call Canadian immigration due to 18XX number, bar getting one of my partners relatives to call on my behalf it would be nice to speak to someone who actually knew what they were taking about.

If it matters, I'm a British citizen with PR in Australia (25 years and counting)

If anyone could help me on my quest for answers to these questions that would be great.

Oh 1 last question. Perth Australia is listed as a VAC, recently opened, would that be the processing center we put on our application?

Cheers

Graham

I wouldn't bother calling the CIC call centre if you want to talk to someone that knows what they're talking about!

 

[Grum]

Thanks for those answers.
So if we explain the 3 week gap, which we can, we should be ok.

Regarding the checklist 9: If you reside in a country different from your nationality, include a copy of your visa for the country in which you currently reside.
I am a PR in Australia, I have a reentry visa, but that is just linked to my Passport in the Immigration computers, there is nothing actually in my Passport.
Does this not apply to me or is there something i need to get from Australian Immigration?

I wouldn't bother calling the CIC call centre if you want to talk to someone that knows what they're talking about!

Lol, though would be better than the email responses I am getting from Sydney

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks for those answers.
So if we explain the 3 week gap, which we can, we should be ok.

The explanation is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that there is a 3 week gap... CIC doesn't care what the reason was. It could be a life or death reason but it wouldn't make a difference to them.

So the only issue you would have to worry about is if the VO reviewing your file thinks 3 weeks is long enough to break the cohabitation. IMO i think 3 weeks or less is fine and you'll have no problems, no matter what the reason was. Hopefully the VO thinks the same.


Not sure about the other issue on proof needed for PR/visa status in another country.

 

[TG71]

That's not true. If you are building a home together and can prove with names on lease/mortgage, utilities and are leaving because of work purposes the gap is not that relevant as long as they are short and can show frequency. You need to make sure you tell the story properly and why there may have been gaps on why you are going back and forth. Let's face it, we have to earn money to build a home (most of us do) and if you can't work in Canada sometimes its necessary to go back "home" for such reasons. Give them as much information as possible to prove you are building a life together. There is not such thing as too much information when it comes to CIC.

Letters from family, friends and neighbours are also great to include verifying your relationship.

 

[Rob_TO]

the gap is not that relevant as long as they are short and can show frequency. You need to make sure you tell the story properly and why there may have been gaps on why you are going back and forth. Let's face it, we have to earn money to build a home (most of us do) and if you can't work in Canada sometimes its necessary to go back "home" for such reasons.

While it's good to include reasons, in the end it's the length of the gaps that is the key factor. CIC tends to look at the facts, and has little sympathy for the reasons behind them. Any reason you give for gaps is usually "legitimate", i.e. family reasons, work, school etc. But those reasons haven't stopped CIC from rejecting common-law apps for gaps of around 1 month in the 12 months of qualifying.

So the general rule remains that any gap should be kept to 3 weeks or less and as infrequently as possible, else no matter what good reason you have, there's an incredibly high chance for rejection.

 

[TG71]

It probably depends what Country you are immigrating from as well. I am sure Australia does not have the same issues as other countries do. I just went through this exact process as I sponsored my American husband. He had to some travel for work.

 

[Rob_TO]

It probably depends what Country you are immigrating from as well. I am sure Australia does not have the same issues as other countries do. I just went through this exact process as I sponsored my American husband. He had to some travel for work.

Yes and also depends on the visa officer you get assigned to your file. Some are very easy and lenient, while others are hard asses who will reject apps for minor reasons. Lots of it comes down to luck at the end.

 

[TG71]

So true and scary for those waiting.