desperately seeking answers!!! PLEASE HELP

[rhcohen2014]

How is it possible to make an outland application while living inland with my partner? I know inland takes much longer but I have just come from Australia and New Zealand using both my one year visas travel is never an issue and neither is marriage really, we know it won't change the relationship. We would have just preferred to do it on our own terms rather than have it as a sort of ultimatum to be physically together.

because you are in canada as a visitor, and still maintain a residence and ties in your home country. it doesn't matter where the applicant is when the applicaiton is sent to CIC. Once your applicaiton is in process, you can then apply for an extension of your visitor status, and more likely than not, stay there for the duration of the application. IT's important to remember the applicant will NOT be able to work during this time, as their legal status is visitor.

 

[Rob_TO]

Will we be eligible for common law anymore because in a month or so I will go back to Canada and he will go back to NZ,

If at any time you lived together for a minimum of 12 continuous months, even if at multiple addresses, then you would establish an official common-law relationship. Then it would be fine to submit an outland common-law app, while you are in Canada and he is in NZ or elsewhere (or he could also come to Canada as visitor). Note that in establishing common-law the "continuous" part is very important, so you have to make sure there were no extended breaks (so say 3-4 weeks) of not living together during the 12 months.

 

[QuebecOkie]

Your partner is not actually "living" with you until he has status to do so. Until then, he's "visiting" you and has only visitor status.

An application as conjugal partners can not be changed to either common-law partners or married spouses, so no, sending in a marriage certificate wouldn't change anything at this point (after all, it would basically just prove that you are not, in fact, conjugal partners as you obviously were able to get married).

Yeah, I understand that it kind of stinks to have CIC dictate that how/where/when of the marriage. Luckily for us, we didn't really care about the ceremony or anything. We got married very casually at the chapel attached to the courthouse on a Friday the 13th, since we were already off work that day. 8)

If I were you, I would probably just withdraw the conjugal app and start thinking about how you want to reapply (common-law or married). Sydney is incredibly fast, so you could be done in well under a year if you start now, even with needing to cancel one app and put a new one together.

 

[jeniselam]

Yes right now we are looking at the option of letting it play its course, if the end result is we get denied, we will get married, and have him come in on a visitors visa and apply for a spousal visa. ( As I will be going back to canada before him if we wait it out) After talking with a immigration consultant early 2013 we were told we could apply within canada (outland or inland) and once it's on its way we are able to apply for a working permit, of course it's another few months and more money but oh well.
Our other option is for again our application to be withdrawn, and enter canada together with him on a visitors visa and apply straight away apply for a common law visa, we have lived together continuously for over a year but if we separate for longer than a few weeks it is no longer valid, correct?

 

[QuebecOkie]

I would highly recommend you read up a bit more on inland and outland. I'm no expert, no immigration lawyer or consultant, but I think you may find, if you read more on here, that applying inland and applying for an OWP (open work permit) makes no real sense compared to applying outland (since your VO will be Sydney). You can most likely be totally done with the process of an outland application well before you would have received stage one approval and an OWP through the inland process.

What's important in regards to establishing a common-law partnership is that you can prove 12 months of continuous cohabitation (that first 12 months is critical, and that is where long gaps of a few weeks or more may cause CIC to say that common-law status wasn't established). After you have established yourselves as common-law partners by living together for that 12 months (and being able to provide documentation that proves to CIC that you were living together), then you have a bit more leeway. Let's say you live together for 12 continuous months, no long breaks in that time, and you've got that documented (shared lease, etc.). After that, if you spend a month or two apart for employment reasons, or to visit family, that does not end the common-law status. However, the more time you do spend apart, the more carefully you'll need to document and "prove" your relationship to CIC. If you lived together for a year, then apart for a year, it's going to take more to prove to CIC that you're still in a real and on-going relationship (proof of daily communication, perhaps bank transfers to help each other with expenses, etc.).

If you do get married, you still have to "prove" your relationship is real and continuing, but the burden of documenting that 12 months of cohabitation is lifted. There's no minimum time of cohabitation for married couples.

 

[Rob_TO]

After talking with a immigration consultant early 2013 we were told we could apply within canada (outland or inland) and once it's on its way we are able to apply for a working permit, of course it's another few months and more money but oh well.

With an inland app you can get an open work permit at around 10 months of processing. Full PR then comes another 8 months or so later.

With an outland app there is no work permit associated with outland. You need to wait for full PR. But Sydney is one of the quickest offices in the world, so can expect full PR to be completed in at or less than the 10 months on just stage 1 process for inland.

Outland is almost always the better option. And he can still "visit" in Canada during process.

we have lived together continuously for over a year but if we separate for longer than a few weeks it is no longer valid, correct?

Once you establish 12 continuous months (and can prove it) you can then live apart. It's very common for people to submit outland common-law apps during which the sponsor is living in Canada, and applicant living in their home country... until PR is approved.

 

[Avadava]

I just thought I would share my opinion:

You might have a chance if you get married and send in the marriage certificate. I know someone who applied as common law, they got married during the process of the application, they sent in the marriage certificate and the VO informed them with an email that their application was changed from common law to spousal. I think this is something you should look into.
If I were you (since you haven't been refused yet, hence no decision was made), I would contact the VO with a letter explaining the whole situation. Tell them that after some research you realized your relationship does not fall under the conjugal category (you can explain why it was confusing for you e.g. immigration barrier), but instead you are actually common law, you intend to get married soon and you would like to amend your application to reflect that.

 

[Rob_TO]

I just thought I would share my opinion:

You might have a chance if you get married and send in the marriage certificate. I know someone who applied as common law, they got married during the process of the application, they sent in the marriage certificate and the VO informed them with an email that their application was changed from common law to spousal. I think this is something you should look into.
If I were you (since you haven't been refused yet, hence no decision was made), I would contact the VO with a letter explaining the whole situation. Tell them that after some research you realized your relationship does not fall under the conjugal category (you can explain why it was confusing for you e.g. immigration barrier), but instead you are actually common law, you intend to get married soon and you would like to amend your application to reflect that.

That would not work, as the couple must have be eligible as of the date the application was submitted. For common-law to married this is no problem as they would be eligible either way at time of submission.

It would better to just submit a whole new app. Trying to change from conjugal to married/common-law could just create a lot more delays and eventually be denied anyways in the end based on status at time of submission.

 

[jeniselam]

That would not work, as the couple must have be eligible as of the date the application was submitted. For common-law to married this is no problem as they would be eligible either way at time of submission.

It would better to just submit a whole new app. Trying to change from conjugal to married/common-law could just create a lot more delays and eventually be denied anyways in the end based on status at time of submission.

If we were not eligible for a conjugal status, does everyone not agree our application would have been denied the moment the first immigration officer looked at it? As well, if we are not eligible because we could have been together if I went to Aus. on a visitors visa, then why has someone said that if my partner came to canada, we would not be "living together" because he is on a visitors visa.

I guess our best option is to see where our application is at via GCMS, and if it looks bad we will pull out and head up to canada and apply asap as common law. Otherwise we wait for the approval.

 

[jeniselam]

We have decided that what we will do is file for our GCMS

If it looks positive obviously we will keep with it.

Can anyone please inform us exactly what the GCMS will tell us, will we be able to see our impending doom and pull out?

If we make this decision to pull out is it known at all weather we will get any of our application back? We know we cannot file medicals etc. twice as they expire.


If negative, we will pull out and head straight up to Canada, Simon on a visitors visa. We will immediately ( as quickly as we can ) file for a common law visa outland as we can prove we lived together continuously for 18 months, so our common law status will not be diminished with simon being on a visitors visa.

 

[Becki567]

GCMS notes will take at least 30 days to arrive.

You will be able to see what stage they are at in assessing your application, or what date has been assigned for them to look at it. And a brief paragraph on initial thoughts by whoever reviews it before the visa officer. If the visa officer has it, there may be a few additional sentences.

 

[jeniselam]

When requesting the electronic file, is it the sponsorship file we are looking for?

 

[Alurra71]

If we were not eligible for a conjugal status, does everyone not agree our application would have been denied the moment the first immigration officer looked at it? As well, if we are not eligible because we could have been together if I went to Aus. on a visitors visa, then why has someone said that if my partner came to canada, we would not be "living together" because he is on a visitors visa.

I guess our best option is to see where our application is at via GCMS, and if it looks bad we will pull out and head up to canada and apply asap as common law. Otherwise we wait for the approval.

You should be aware, that even if Simon comes here to Canada with you, while technically he is 'living' with you, for CBSA purposes, he is only visiting. It is still considered toward your common law time, so don't be thrown off guard by the wording. We only tell you that he will not be living with you for the purposes of getting through CBSA. If they, for one second, think he is moving here, lock stock and barrel, they will bounce him from the border EVEN WITH A VISITOR VISA, so it's important they only think he is visiting. Does that make any sense?

It's all in the wording we use to try to get the point across, and some of it should not be taken literally. We just know what it is to deal with CBSA and the pain they can cause if they feel like it.

 

[jeniselam]

yes thank you for your warnings. He will be entering the country after me with most definitely a ticket out, it will be a good excuse for him to go home to see his nieces and nephews he's never met!
We are thinking we might get married down here anyways now. If we did chose to, it takes away having to provide evidence of being common law and having lived for a period of 12 months consecutively? We are able to prove it, but we've come to the decision that if it makes this process easier and less stressful it will be worth it.

Whats the comparison of evidence and such between applying common law and spousal?
If we withdraw our application will the application package be sent back? Or do we lose everything in it?

 

[scylla]

If we were not eligible for a conjugal status, does everyone not agree our application would have been denied the moment the first immigration officer looked at it?

No - unfortunately that's definitely not the case. We've seen many instances here where the application was in process for many months (if not a year or more) before being refused because the couple didn't meet the base requirements for conjugal.