I just got PR, can I sponsor my girlfriend who I live with more than 3 years?

[kabob]

Hello,

I got PR recently (July, 2014) and I would like to sponsor my girlfriend who I have been living with for more than 3 years in Canada. I know that to sponsor someone(common law partner), we have to live together more than a year. We are wondering if CIC would consider our relationship and marital status FROM the day I received my PR (July 2014 to present) or if all the past years also count.

I have been with my girlfriend for 6 years already and live with her 3 years in Canada. We are not married but committed to be together. She has working visa till Aug 2016, so we would like to apply for it before it expires.

Thank you for your help!!!

 

[MilesAway]

Was she indicated and examined when you applied for your PR?

 

[kabob]

NO she was not. I was not sure if I could get PR or not so I did not put her name.

 

[MilesAway]

Then unfortunately you can never sponsor her, and since you misrepresented yourself, you have put your own PR at risk. Sorry.

 

[kabob]

Well, as far as I understood back then, it was optional for me to mention my girlfriend and apply for her PR.
We have 6 years of relationship in total but never applied for things such as Official Common Law status. Both of us are in canada with our respective Study and Work Permits which we got individually. In simple words, none my girlfriend nor me depend on each other to keep our current status in Canada, as each of us got Work Permits and Visas independently.
We never declared an Official Common Law status, that's the main reason why I chose "single" as my marital status during MY PR application.
Another reason why I didn't mentioned her during my application is because we figured we would apply for our PR independently, but later on we realized that could be quicker if I sponsored her.

My girlfriend and I are still together after I became a PR, but we didn't even apply to become Common Law partners.

Isn't it possible from this point to sponsor her so that she becomes PR as well?
If we weren't Officially Common Law by the time I was applying for MY PR, how could that put at risk my Permanent Residence status?

Thank you

 

[canuck_in_uk]

My girlfriend and I are still together after I became a PR, but we didn't even apply to become Common Law partners.

Isn't it possible from this point to sponsor her so that she becomes PR as well?
If we weren't Officially Common Law by the time I was applying for MY PR, how could that put at risk my Permanent Residence status?

Thank you

You don't "apply" to become common-law. There is no official process. You are legally considered common-law after living together continuously for one year.

You were required to declare your common-law partner in your application. Because you didn't, she is forever excluded from the Family Class. And because you lied to CIC, your PR status could be revoked if they find out.

 

[Graihn]

You don't "apply" to become common-law. There is no official process. You are legally considered common-law after living together continuously for one year.

You were required to declare your common-law partner in your application. Because you didn't, she is forever excluded from the Family Class. And because you lied to CIC, your PR status could be revoked if they find out.

Why not start counting from now, and gather proof of having been common law from now till one year from now, and then apply? Since his GF has a work visa till 2016 they should be able to achieve such common law status, apply and be approved.

Or just make sure her job qualifies as skilled so she can apply through CEC by herself to obtain PR.

 

[screech339]

Why not start counting from now, and gather proof of having been common law from now till one year from now, and then apply? Since his GF has a work visa till 2016 they should be able to achieve such common law status, apply and be approved.

Or just make sure her job qualifies as skilled so she can apply through CEC by herself to obtain PR.

That's the same thing as me getting a divorce and remarrying and then sponsoring my wife because I didn't declare to be married at landing. The OP cannot legally sponsor her.

 

[Graihn]

That the same thing as me getting a divorce and remarrying and then sponsoring my wife because I didn't declare to be married at landing. The OP cannot legally sponsor her.

I know, his decision what he wants to do. Unfortunate that he didnt declare her. If I couldnt be with my partner, ever, in Canada, I would surely jeopardize my own PR status.. But then again, Sweden is the same as Canada and wouldnt be too bad to live in.

 

[scylla]

If we weren't Officially Common Law by the time I was applying for MY PR, how could that put at risk my Permanent Residence status?

As others have explained, you were in fact officially common law by virtue of having lived together for more than a year. You committed misrepresentation (i.e. lying in your application) by failing to inclue her when you applied for PR and failing to add her to your application before you landed in Canada and became a PR. Misrepresentation can result in having your PR status revoked.

The best course of action is to NOT sponsor her as your common law spouse and instead have her apply to immigrate to Canada independently / on her own.

 

[saria1]

I'm seriously confused on this topic, so I'm budding in for some clarity. As many know, common law is rarely recognized much in the US.

So if he has had a girlfriend, but didn't consider their relationship common law, even though they lived together, then why wouldn't he be able to later sponsor her? You can be a "roommate" with your partner. I know many many women, my sister included, who live together with their boyfriends for years but everything; bank accounts, utility bills, are all separate and they're responsible for certain utilities and the other partner is responsible for their specific utilites. They each pay 50% of the rent. This makes them "exclusive roommates with benefits" since they both maintain their independence.

If this mans situation is similar and she's pulling her own weight and all things are kept separate, then there is nothing that legally has made them common law, correct? Especially since CIC requires heavy documentation of joint everything to even prove common law. So with that given, if their scenario is similar to the one I listed, if he chooses to later join everything, accounts, utilities etc, and marry her, she was never fully exempt.

 

[zardoz]

I'm seriously confused on this topic, so I'm budding in for some clarity. As many know, common law is rarely recognized much in the US.

So if he has had a girlfriend, but didn't consider their relationship common law, even though they lived together, then why wouldn't he be able to later sponsor her? You can be a "roommate" with your partner. I know many many women, my sister included, who live together with their boyfriends for years but everything; bank accounts, utility bills, are all separate and they're responsible for certain utilities and the other partner is responsible for their specific utilites. They each pay 50% of the rent. This makes them "exclusive roommates with benefits" since they both maintain their independence.

If this mans situation is similar and she's pulling her own weight and all things are kept separate, then there is nothing that legally has made them common law, correct? Especially since CIC requires heavy documentation of joint everything to even prove common law. So with that given, if their scenario is similar to the one I listed, if he chooses to later join everything, accounts, utilities etc, and marry her, she was never fully exempt.

If only it was that simple. However, if you cohabit with someone, of either sex, in a marriage-like relationship, for more than 12 continuous months, you ARE common-law for Canadian immigration purposes. It's not negotiable.
He HAS, possibly unwittingly, committed misrepresentation and his girlfriend is now under the influence of IRPR 117(9)(d). He cannot sponsor her, ever. He can also lose his own PR status and be banned from Canada for 5 years.

 

[Rob_TO]

then there is nothing that legally has made them common law, correct? Especially since CIC requires heavy documentation of joint everything to even prove common law.

Canada only cares about Canadian rules, not what other countries laws are. And in Canada, if you've lived with a gf/bf for 12 months anywhere in the world, you are officially common-law for both tax and immigration purposes. There is no paperwork and nothing to declare, it simply happens after the 1 year of cohabitation whether you want it to or not. i.e. when it comes to Canadian taxes, if you still continue to file taxes as single when you have actually lived with someone for 1 year, that is tax fraud (which is another thing the OP here needs to consider).

The way CIC works is that if you are trying to prove common-law to sponsor your partner, they demand a mountain of evidence to accept it.

However if having been common-law will hurt you (such as in this case) they will basically accuse you of being common-law with no evidence, just based on a very long past relationship or if they see the residential addresses of both people show at least 1 year of a shared address.

 

[saria1]

Thanks for more clarification, I still don't get the common law thing. How can you sponsor someone who you are not legally bound to through marriage or directly related by blood? It's one of those iffy shades of gray. It makes me wonder why anyone would undertake a 3 yr financial commitment with the government if they can't even make a martial commitment. :-\

Even though it doesn't make sense to me. I've had to assure I stressed all this stuff with my sister, so if she decides to sponsor her BF, she will do it all right and not flup it up with his kids living elsewhere.

Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Thanks for more clarification, I still don't get the common law thing. How can you sponsor someone who you are not legally bound to through marriage or directly related by blood? It's one of those iffy shades of gray. It makes me wonder why anyone would undertake a 3 yr financial commitment with the government if they can't even make a martial commitment. :-\

Seriously? You realize that not everyone can get married - right? Just because two people aren't married doesn't mean their commitment is any less serious than a married couple.

Anyway - pointless argument. CIC definition of common law is black and white. Absolutely nothing grey about it. One year cohabitation = common law.