Help! looking for advice on sponsorship of British boyfriend

[ccolls]

I am hoping that you could provide me with some advice regarding having my partner immigrate to Canada from England?

I am a Canadian with dual citizenship (British). I lived in the UK for four years and was in a committed relationship with Daniel, who is British. We have a confusing situation as we had lived together in London, England for a year and a half from Sept 2011-September 2012, our finances were kept separate, however we were both named on the rental lease.

We lived apart in London from Sept 2012 until July 2014, although we remained in a committed relationship with each other for a total of four years. I have returned to Canada and he wants to immigrate here to Canada with me. Would I be able to sponsor him under a common-law sponsorship? Our intention is to live together in Canada and get married here but I am worried because we have not lived together for the last couple years of our relationship.

If Common law doesn't work, then do we have any other options? He doesn't have a university degree which hurts him in his application for skilled worker, even though he has worked as an accountant for the past four years.

Any advice you could give me would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[zardoz]

I am hoping that you could provide me with some advice regarding having my partner immigrate to Canada from England?

I am a Canadian with dual citizenship (British). I lived in the UK for four years and was in a committed relationship with Daniel, who is British. We have a confusing situation as we had lived together in London, England for a year and a half from Sept 2011-September 2012, our finances were kept separate, however we were both named on the rental lease.

We lived apart in London from Sept 2012 until July 2014, although we remained in a committed relationship with each other for a total of four years. I have returned to Canada and he wants to immigrate here to Canada with me. Would I be able to sponsor him under a common-law sponsorship? Our intention is to live together in Canada and get married here but I am worried because we have not lived together for the last couple years of our relationship.

If Common law doesn't work, then do we have any other options? He doesn't have a university degree which hurts him in his application for skilled worker, even though he has worked as an accountant for the past four years.

Any advice you could give me would be so greatly appreciated!

I doubt that CIC would still consider you to be common-law, given the extended separation. In all honesty, your best bet is to either reestablish your formal common-law status by living together for another year or to get married. The concern that you are voicing regarding marriage makes me believe that you may be taking a serious risk if you go down the sponsorship road at this time. It's absolutely not a step to be taken lightly as you are on the hook for 3 years if the relationship doesn't work out for you both. My advice, for whatever it's worth, is to restore the relationship through cohabitation and only after a confirmed year together, apply for permanent residency through sponsorship. Can he apply for a working holiday visa (IEC)?

 

[Kayaker]

Zardoz is right - if you think marriage is a big commitment and you might not be ready for it yet, the fact is, marriage is a small personal and financial commitment compared to sponsoring someone for Permanent Residency. (Whether you are sponsoring a spouse or a common-law partner doesn't matter. The financial and personal responsibility is the same for both.)