Failure to declare Common -Law

[vishkapoor]

Hi Guys!
Writing this post to explain my situation. Please give your feedback. Thank you.

I got my PR through CEC back in September 2017. Got married to my girlfriend in October 2017. Living in Vancouver. Submitted spousal sponsorship in February 2018. Got medical requests and PCC requests by December 2018. No further communication till February 2020. Received a letter saying I cannot sponsor my wife under family class as she was not declared as common law at POE by me.

History of our relationship:
We were friends from India. I helped her in a getting accommodation and all as I came to study in Canada 6 months prior to her in Aug 2014. She came to Canada Feb 2015. We lived in the same private student housing apartment but different rooms. We were also in same school here in Vancouver. We changed a few apartments living with other roommates until finally moving in together when we got into a relationship in January 2017. I got my PR in Sept 2017 and got married to her in October 2017. Till then she had lost her status and i applied for her sponsorship in Feb 2018.

When I landed, I marked myself as single. I got married after getting PR. While the sponsorship application seemed to go slow but positive, after almost 2 years we got a letter stating that I cannot sponsor my wife under family class as I did not declare her as my common law partner since I have been living with her since 2015. I was given 30 days to satisfy the officer for the concern he raised.

With COVID - 19 we were officially given 90+ days extension.

I was expecting a positive reply by now but this letter has me stressed out. I have replied to the officer stating that we were living under one roof but not in the same room. Got signed letters by my 2 landlords, one from me explaining the situation, from my family and from my in-laws and my one from my wife herself.

It’s been almost 2 months since we submitted the letters. Could anyone please tell me what happens in these cases. We were never really common law. Never supported her financially, nor in a conjugal relationship. We were just together as friends.

Any risk to our application or my PR? Please share your feedback. Thank you.

 

[canuck78]

Hi Guys!
Writing this post to explain my situation. Please give your feedback. Thank you.

I got my PR through CEC back in September 2017. Got married to my girlfriend in October 2017. Living in Vancouver. Submitted spousal sponsorship in February 2018. Got medical requests and PCC requests by December 2018. No further communication till February 2020. Received a letter saying I cannot sponsor my wife under family class as she was not declared as common law at POE by me.

History of our relationship:
We were friends from India. I helped her in a getting accommodation and all as I came to study in Canada 6 months prior to her in Aug 2014. She came to Canada Feb 2015. We lived in the same private student housing apartment but different rooms. We were also in same school here in Vancouver. We changed a few apartments living with other roommates until finally moving in together when we got into a relationship in January 2017. I got my PR in Sept 2017 and got married to her in October 2017. Till then she had lost her status and i applied for her sponsorship in Feb 2018.

When I landed, I marked myself as single. I got married after getting PR. While the sponsorship application seemed to go slow but positive, after almost 2 years we got a letter stating that I cannot sponsor my wife under family class as I did not declare her as my common law partner since I have been living with her since 2015. I was given 30 days to satisfy the officer for the concern he raised.

With COVID - 19 we were officially given 90+ days extension.

I was expecting a positive reply by now but this letter has me stressed out. I have replied to the officer stating that we were living under one roof but not in the same room. Got signed letters by my 2 landlords, one from me explaining the situation, from my family and from my in-laws and my one from my wife herself.

It’s been almost 2 months since we submitted the letters. Could anyone please tell me what happens in these cases. We were never really common law. Never supported her financially, nor in a conjugal relationship. We were just together as friends.

Any risk to our application or my PR? Please share your feedback. Thank you.

Unfortunately it will be very hard to prove that you were not common law. It is extremely unusual not to be essentially living together and sharing a bedroom even if you rented 2 rooms especially since you then moved into an apartment with no roomates in January 2017. Nobody only starts dating when they decide to move in together. You also lived in more than one apartment together with rommates which will create concerns that you were dating most of that time. You can't deny that you were dating while living with other roomates before January 2017 and not just friends. You will have to see what CIC says.

 

[vishkapoor]

Thank you for your quick reply. Yes, we did not just move after dating. We kind of started dating a month before moving in. Lets say mid November of 2016.

Its just a very tricky situation. Ive tried to explain the same in my letters. Just hoping for a fair outcome.

 

[canuck78]

Thank you for your quick reply. Yes, we did not just move after dating. We kind of started dating a month before moving in. Lets say mid November of 2016.

Its just a very tricky situation. Ive tried to explain the same in my letters. Just hoping for a fair outcome.

Would search the forum. There have been similar cases as yours. You, your family and your spouse confirming that you weren't dating is not very strong proof because you are all unlikely to confirm that you were common law even if that was the case. You don't need to share finances to be common law. You only need to be living like a couple under the same roof.

Many couples actually have difficulty proving they are common law since they were living together and may not even had both names on the lease. To qualify as common law there are very few requirements.

 

[kanoon22]

I believe you should be fine. A common law is a de-facto relationship means it has to be proven, also I just got off from a phone with a CIC agent, she told me that it is up to you to declare common law or not. A common law relationship has to be established in every case.

Just as a suggestion, you can use affidavits from your friends in addition to families to strengthen your case.

 

[vishkapoor]

To prove that we were not common law I approached my landlords. They agreed to help and have provided letters in support. I have also referred to the decision in the case of Moldovich v. Penttinen.

When it comes to proving common law there is just not one factor of living together that makes you a common law partner but also other factors such as emotional and financial support. Shared lease, bills. If I had an genuine common law situation I still would have failed to prove to CIC that we are common law as I had no bills, no lease, no shared bank accounts. We were independent before we got married.

In our sponsorship explanation we did write a statement that we are together since 3yrs, which only refers to being together here in Canada. At no point we said that we lived as a couple before moving in together, we got bills, lease, joint accounts all after we committed to each other.

I fully support CIC’s decision to question our application and thankful for the fairness letter but i hope they understand the full situation.

 

[kanoon22]

Please read this as well- In this case he was able to prove that they were not common law

https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/irb/doc/2018/2018canlii131181/2018canlii131181.html?searchUrlHash=AAAAAQAvImJyYXIiICJjb21tb24gbGF3IiAibWlzcmVwcmVzZW50YXRpb24iICI0MCgxKSIAAAAAAQ&resultIndex=3

 

[vishkapoor]

I hope I don’t get referred for an admissibility hearing.

 

[kanoon22]

No Man, you have a different situation, that guy was claiming common law and denying it afterwards. You are sticking to your story, which is the truth.

 

[KamBag]

I am also looking for similar help. We are in common law technically but going by proofs required by Immigration, we aren't.. so i am planning to get married once I get my PR and then sponsor my spouse. We definitely know each other for long time, live under same roof but not as common law. Will CIC question me if I apply my EE as Single and then get married and sponsor my spouse. Shall I tell them I know him since beginning or after I got my PR?

 

[vishkapoor]

For now, it will just be waiting for CIC to reply. COVID 19 backlog may also affect the processing. I will update the thread as soon as i get a reply back. If anyone was in this situation and got a positive response please share your timelines as well.

I did not lie, words used were confusing which might have trigerred this response. My reply to cohabit was since 2015 hence the concerns. My fault for not understanding fully what they meant. Trying to prove that our marriage is genuine got me stressed out and i might have written something i did not mean to write. Hope the officer is human and understands through our letters that we did not misinterpret and our case is good to be approved.

Another question - Is the online tool to check application status updated real time?

Thank you for all the feedback

 

[kanoon22]

That I am not sure of, hopefully a senior member will be able to help.

 

[canuck78]

I believe you should be fine. A common law is a de-facto relationship means it has to be proven, also I just got off from a phone with a CIC agent, she told me that it is up to you to declare common law or not. A common law relationship has to be established in every case.

Just as a suggestion, you can use affidavits from your friends in addition to families to strengthen your case.

There have unfortunately been similar situations and they weren’t fine. Given OP got a letter saying he didn’t qualify to sponsor and he did include informations this is definitely a tough situation. The case that you attached is quite different and the fact that they broke up helped the application. The timeline of living together was much shorter.

Would really suggest meeting with a lawyer.

 

[canuck78]

I am also looking for similar help. We are in common law technically but going by proofs required by Immigration, we aren't.. so i am planning to get married once I get my PR and then sponsor my spouse. We definitely know each other for long time, live under same roof but not as common law. Will CIC question me if I apply my EE as Single and then get married and sponsor my spouse. Shall I tell them I know him since beginning or after I got my PR?

Would suggest getting married and applying as married. It will solve a lot of issues. If you are common law, even if you don’t have good proof, can’t apply as single.

 

[vishkapoor]

I have contacted a few consultants/reps/lawyers. All advised to wait for further correspondence from CIC.

I am more worried about any misinterpretation blame on me or any affect on my PR. I am settled here, the only thing missing is a child and a house really, well, my wife’s PR too. It will be very hard for me to change my life. Once you live on the other side of the world far away from your home country your connections and family are distant and its not the same anymore also financial burden is great plus the mental stress.

my wife might be able to get pr from some other economic stream if everything else fails, but i hope there are no questions on my PR.

just praying every second at this point.