Ex threaten to report undeclared common law in previous PR application

[random_name_]

TL;DR

I recently received my citizenship, and my ex found out about it and threatened to report me to IRCC for not declaring him as my common-law partner in my PR application.

FULL VERSION

I submitted my PR application in July 2021, after my ex and I had lived together for over a year. He asked me to be included as his common-law partner, but because I was unhappy in the relationship (we were open and he had multiple sexual partners) and worried it would impact my chance of being approved, I filed my application as single. I was on a postgraduate work permit, and he was on a student visa. I was not planning on sponsoring him since he had valid status. We had a huge fight over it and separated a few months later.

Fast forward to now, I just received my citizenship, and he found out about this. Because the recent immigration policy has been much stricter, he has not been able to get PR himself. He has blamed me for years for not getting him PR as part of my application, and has threatened to report me for misrepresenting myself in my PR application, getting my PR revoked, as well as my citizenship.

I came from a country that does not accept dual citizenship, and I have already renounced my original citizenship. If I lose my Canadian citizenship, I would become stateless. I want to know what would be the likelihood of me losing my status because I did not want to sponsor my ex in my PR application. Please help.

Thanks.

 

[YVR123]

TL;DR

I recently received my citizenship, and my ex found out about it and threatened to report me to IRCC for not declaring him as my common-law partner in my PR application.

FULL VERSION

I submitted my PR application in July 2021, after my ex and I had lived together for over a year. He asked me to be included as his common-law partner, but because I was unhappy in the relationship (we were open and he had multiple sexual partners) and worried it would impact my chance of being approved, I filed my application as single. I was on a postgraduate work permit, and he was on a student visa. I was not planning on sponsoring him since he had valid status. We had a huge fight over it and separated a few months later.

Fast forward to now, I just received my citizenship, and he found out about this. Because the recent immigration policy has been much stricter, he has not been able to get PR himself. He has blamed me for years for not getting him PR as part of my application, and has threatened to report me for misrepresenting myself in my PR application, getting my PR revoked, as well as my citizenship.

I came from a country that does not accept dual citizenship, and I have already renounced my original citizenship. If I lose my Canadian citizenship, I would become stateless. I want to know what would be the likelihood of me losing my status because I did not want to sponsor my ex in my PR application. Please help.

Thanks.

1. It's very rare that citizenship get revoked.
2. When did you get your PR (land/virtual land) and when did the relationship break down?

If your relationship was already starting to break up, you were no longer in a common law relationship when you landed as PR. It doesn't matter that you had a common law partner when you submitted your application.
IRCC rarely look into this kind of issue unless you were trying to sponsor your partner AFTER you became PR and WANTED to sponsor your partner. And that usually results in mis-representation and the person being sponsored will NOT get PR. But I have not read/heard of any sponsor getting any repercussion.

BTW what you describe was not "sponsorship". It was "including him in your PR application".

 

[random_name_]

Thanks so much for your response. Our relationship had cracks, but we didn't officially break up until after I got my PR (became PR in Oct 2021, separated in Aug 2022). I am not sponsoring him since we have broken up, and his recent behavior. I am just not sure how much of a threat he would be to me if he were to make a report now. We were never exclusive, but we do have a dog together. From everything I looked up and read, there seems to be minimal risk to me, but he has made it seem like I would get deported if IRCC finds out, so I was spooked.

 

[YVR123]

Thanks so much for your response. Our relationship had cracks, but we didn't officially break up until after I got my PR (became PR in Oct 2021, separated in Aug 2022). I am not sponsoring him since we have broken up, and his recent behavior. I am just not sure how much of a threat he would be to me if he were to make a report now. We were never exclusive, but we do have a dog together. From everything I looked up and read, there seems to be minimal risk to me, but he has made it seem like I would get deported if IRCC finds out, so I was spooked.

Really, what does he want?

You cannot sponsor him even if you "want to". He just needs to go back home, accept that he cannot stay in Canada if his study and work permits expires and start his life back there.
(and leave you alone)

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

Thanks so much for your response. Our relationship had cracks, but we didn't officially break up until after I got my PR (became PR in Oct 2021, separated in Aug 2022). I am not sponsoring him since we have broken up, and his recent behavior. I am just not sure how much of a threat he would be to me if he were to make a report now. We were never exclusive, but we do have a dog together. From everything I looked up and read, there seems to be minimal risk to me, but he has made it seem like I would get deported if IRCC finds out, so I was spooked.

nah, if your relationship wasn't going to work out - that was a valid point of exclusion from his PR application.

Meanwhile, if he's threatening you to just to get sponsored as a PR by marrying him - there has to be something that can be done against him here legally.

 

[iSaidGoodDay]

Really, what does he want?

You cannot sponsor him even if you "want to". He just needs to go back home, accept that he cannot stay in Canada if his study and work permits expires and start his life back there.
(and leave you alone)

I assume, he would want OP to marry him, sponsor him, etc. It won't work as common-law, but will work if OP agrees to marry him.

 

[YVR123]

I assume, he would want OP to marry him, sponsor him, etc. It won't work as common-law, but will work if OP agrees to marry him.

That would be marriage of convenience (for immigration purpose) and OP would be committing immigration fraud.
That's a bigger crime than what OP was threatening with.

 

[random_name_]

I do not want to be involved with him further. If he could do this to me with the common law application, I don't want to imagine what he would pull if we got married.

 

[random_name_]

I think he knows I can not sponsor him anymore. I think he just wants me to pay for his immigration lawyer or have sex with him (even though he said he is not threatening me if I don't do those things, but he did say I have to do something to "make it fair").

 

[Buletruck]

"make it fair"

You know what's fair....not reporting him to the police for making threats or using blackmail against you. Tell him to pound sand!

Extortion:

• Section 346 of the Criminal Code addresses extortion, which involves using threats, accusations, menaces, or violence to induce someone to do something or cause something to be done, with the intent to obtain something.
  
  
• Extortion is also an indictable offense.

 

[armoured]

I do not want to be involved with him further. If he could do this to me with the common law application, I don't want to imagine what he would pull if we got married.

Short form: I agree, tell him to go pound sand (he has nothing on you, that is)..

If he continues to threaten you, go to the police - although if you can, best to do this when he has uttered a specific thing he 'wants' (that's kind of required for the extortion bit, I think, or at least stronger - but I'm not a lawyer). But don't wait for threats or behaviour to get violent, of course.

-I believe you can comfortably also tell him that if he wants to 'report' you to IRCC, go ahead - you have a simple defence, you were not exclusive, and you believed the relationship was not of the type meant by IRCC, and over or almost over anyway (even if you had not stopped living together at that point). This brings what is between you to no more than a disagreement about the nature of the relationship, and you were/are under no obligation to agree with him on that.

-In all cases I'm aware of, the 'punishment' for not including a common law partner is ... you can't sponsor that partner anymore. Your defence is that you were not going to include him anyway - because (as above) wasn't that type of relationship, you just resided together.

-There's a funny burden of proof with respect to immigration - to sponsor him afterwards or (in theory) include him, you'd be expected to show it was a real relationship, if they asked; but to not include him/never sponsor him - no need to prove it wasn't a real relationship. You are not required to agree with the person that you're still in a common law relationship if they're not included / not being sponsored - at least for sponsorship/inclusion purposes (other things like common property might be a different matter).

-Again, if he continues, tell him to talk to a lawyer. The lawyer will likely tell him he has no standing with respect to IRCC and your status in Canada, and no right to be/have been sponsored, and no rights with respect to you and the immigration issue. (I'm 90% sure he won't see a lawyer about this, mind).

-He could report it to IRCC, and IRCC would potentially have the ability to decide it was misrepresentation - hypothetically. In practice - you're not asking them for anything, you have a plausible and obvious defence, etc. Nobody who wasn't eligible immigrated to Canada as a result of your actions. But IRCC is only obliged to consider cases where the public interest was undermined by a fake relationship which ... isn't an issue, because you didn't try to sponsor him or include him.

-So in short: if he complains to IRCC, they're going to ignore this. Or at most take a quick look and decide this is a personal matter and none of their business. There is no case here.

-The other potential areas for them/law enforcement looking into this might be things like human trafficking or exploitation and the like. Not remotely close to facts here, it sounds like.

-Now some caveats: I'm not a lawyer. If you really want to be safe, you might speak to one. And I've no idea / not going to guess on whether he has potential claims if you had financial or property agreements; if you took his betty crocker bake set, you might have to give it back.

 

[armoured]

If he continues to threaten you, go to the police - although if you can, best to do this when he has uttered a specific thing he 'wants' (that's kind of required for the extortion bit, I think, or at least stronger - but I'm not a lawyer). But don't wait for threats or behaviour to get violent, of course.

One additional thought, depending very much on how police listen to you: if this guy isn't a complete reckless idiot, a warning from a police officer should scare him off.

The chance of a charge being laid would effectively mean no chance of ever remaining in Canada (legally anyway).

 

[random_name_]

Thanks everyone, for your response. I was really stressed about what might happen, but seeing everyone saying the likelihood of deportation is low makes me feel a lot better.

 

[canuck78]

I also caught the non-exclusive part. If that was the case that would typically not be considered common law. Would suggest you go through your texts, emails, etc. and create a folder showing that this was not an exclusive relationship in case he attempts to erase things and for your piece of mind. For others in somewhat similar positions who are unsure about a relationship but who are common law the option always exists to list a partner as non-accompanying when filing. That gives you time to figure out whether you want to sponsor them.