Common-law to Married before AOR - Proof of Relationship

[jrossi]

My fiance is about to get his IELTS results, and with that I would be ready to add him to my profile as a secondary applicant in Common-Law status. We both live in Brazil currently.
We do have some proofs of longterm relationship, such as 1+ yr of shared credit card bills and around 6 months of his post-graduate studies tuition billed to our address (6 month is the time he has been studying in that program). But other than that, every other utility bill and condo fees are only in my name. Therefore, I think my proof of 12 month common-law is a little questionable. For sure we have 4yr+ of photos, hotel and flight reservations and other kinds of proofs of relationship if required, but they do not demonstrate our common-law status.
To try to mitigate that, I intend on getting married next month. But, let's say I get an ITA on March 4th. If I then update my profile, changing from Common-Law to Married, before submitting my application (before AOR/e-APR), do you know if I still will need to demonstrate the proof of 12 months of common-law partnership (since this was the condition at the time of the ITA)? Or we could simply submit our application as a married couple (therefore, without the need of proofing 12 month of common-law relationship)?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

My fiance is about to get his IELTS results, and with that I would be ready to add him to my profile as a secondary applicant in Common-Law status. We both live in Brazil currently.
We do have some proofs of longterm relationship, such as 1+ yr of shared credit card bills and around 6 months of his post-graduate studies tuition billed to our address (6 month is the time he has been studying in that program). But other than that, every other utility bill and condo fees are only in my name. Therefore, I think my proof of 12 month common-law is a little questionable. For sure we have 4yr+ of photos, hotel and flight reservations and other kinds of proofs of relationship if required, but they do not demonstrate our common-law status.
To try to mitigate that, I intend on getting married next month. But, let's say I get an ITA on March 4th. If I then update my profile, changing from Common-Law to Married, before submitting my application (before AOR/e-APR), do you know if I still will need to demonstrate the proof of 12 months of common-law partnership (since this was the condition at the time of the ITA)? Or we could simply submit our application as a married couple (therefore, without the need of proofing 12 month of common-law relationship)?

You are already common-law, so creating your profile as single was a mistake. CRS scores normally decrease with a partner included as accompanying, so you need to be VERY careful about this. If your partner is accompanying and you accept an ITA that you wouldn't have actually received if you had correctly included your partner in your profile, you must decline it. If you accept and then lie about the fact that you were already common-law and therefore didn't qualify, that is misrepresentation.

 

[jrossi]

You are already common-law, so creating your profile as single was a mistake. CRS scores normally decrease with a partner included as accompanying, so you need to be VERY careful about this. If your partner is accompanying and you accept an ITA that you wouldn't have actually received if you had correctly included your partner in your profile, you must decline it. If you accept and then lie about the fact that you were already common-law and therefore didn't qualify, that is misrepresentation.

Not actually, because the first proof that I have, which would be of the credit card bill, is actually dated from March 5th 2019. So, even though we're living together for a little longer (since February/2019), I can only prove this common-law status starting on March 4th 2020. Because that's how the Canadian Government defines a common-law relationship: 12 months of continuous cohabitation. So, in official terms, I'm legally "single" in the eyes of the Canadian Government up until next Tuesday. If I state on my EE profile today that I'm in a relationship, that would actually be a misrepresentation, based on their definition.

Yet, as I mentioned, I'm not confident that they will consider 12 months of shared credit card bills and 6 months of tuition fee bills are enough to demonstrate that status. So, I'm still thinking about if I'll even add him to my profile this week. After all, If I can't provide enough proofs, it means I'm legally single for the Canadian government.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Not actually, because the first proof that I have, which would be of the credit card bill, is actually dated from March 5th 2019. So, even though we're living together for a little longer (since February/2019), I can only prove this common-law status starting on March 4th 2020. Because that's how the Canadian Government defines a common-law relationship: 12 months of continuous cohabitation. So, in official terms, I'm legally "single" in the eyes of the Canadian Government up until next Tuesday. If I state on my EE profile today that I'm in a relationship, that would actually be a misrepresentation, based on their definition.

Yet, as I mentioned, I'm not confident that they will consider 12 months of shared credit card bills and 6 months of tuition fee bills are enough to demonstrate that status. So, I'm still thinking about if I'll even add him to my profile this week. After all, If I can't provide enough proofs, it means I'm legally single for the Canadian government.

Incorrect. Regardless of proof, you are legally common-law as of one year of cohabiting, which was last month for you. You will be required to declare your address history and IRCC will see you were actually common-law while you still tried to call yourself single. You are not single.

As I said, be very careful if including your partner as accompanying, as accepting an ITA you wouldn't have received had you properly listed your marital status as common-law is immigration fraud.

 

[Garry21]

Incorrect. Regardless of proof, you are legally common-law as of one year of cohabiting, which was last month for you. You will be required to declare your address history and IRCC will see you were actually common-law while you still tried to call yourself single. You are not single.

As I said, be very careful if including your partner as accompanying, as accepting an ITA you wouldn't have received had you properly listed your marital status as common-law is immigration fraud.

Roommates can love together in same house including same address then ?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Roommates can love together in same house including same address then ?

Sure. However, there is a big difference between actual roommates and people cohabiting in a conjugal relationship.

 

[Garry21]

Sure. However, there is a big difference between actual roommates and people cohabiting in a conjugal relationship.

How can you explain this ?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

How can you explain this ?

Explain what?

 

[Garry21]

How can you explain this ?

Your answer . Sure. However, there is a big difference between actual roommates and people cohabiting in a conjugal relationship. ??

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Your answer . Sure. However, there is a big difference between actual roommates and people cohabiting in a conjugal relationship. ??

Pretty self-explanatory, so I don't understand what you want explained.

 

[Garry21]

Pretty self-explanatory, so I don't understand what you want explained.

I want explained from your question that by seeing address history you are obviously common law but what if you people live like roommates ? You said there is big difference between both ok ? But how can you differentiate as you only said address history considers common law

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I want explained from your question that by seeing address history you are obviously common law but what if you people live like roommates ? You said there is big difference between both ok ? But how can you differentiate as you only said address history considers common law

Still not seeing the issue. Roommates don't include each other in immigration apps. If you include someone as a partner/spouse in your app and you have a shared address history, the assumption will be that you were living together in a conjugal relationship.

 

[Garry21]

Still not seeing the issue. Roommates don't include each other in immigration apps. If you include someone as a partner/spouse in your app and you have a shared address history, the assumption will be that you were living together in a conjugal relationship.

Not enough for common law .

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Not enough for common law .

Again, when IRCC sees the shared address history, they assume common-law. There have been many cases where IRCC has issued Procedural Fairness letters to people for failing to declare their partners after seeing the address history.

As was explained to you MULTIPLE times in many threads in the past, your partner was legally required to include you as her common-law partner and committed immigration fraud by not doing so. You can continue to try to argue the point but it is what it is.