Unfortunately I have to tell you that they are right, you should have waited for your 12 months. Also to apply common law you need your common law papers signed by the public notary it's not only to live together for 12 months as far as I know. They are very clear in the CIC guide, to apply you have to be living together for at least 12 months to apply, not 11. You did not meet the criteria, doesn't matter if you did after you sent your application, you have to meet before you send it. They were not lazy in this case, I know it's hard but they did their job. I am the first to jump and criticize CIC but with the information you gave us so far it seems that it was your mistake and that is very unfortunate. The only option to do that without waiting that 12 months period is getting married.
CIC is very strict and rightly so, sometimes they do piss everybody off but I think that we also have to understand that rules are there and we have to accept them, painful as it is. My application is still in process and I would be devastated should it come rejected, we put a lot of time and effort into it. I am really sorry to hear what happened to you and I hope that you can find a better option for you and your partner. Next time make sure you check and double check everything, don't assume that if you are close to a date to meet a criteria that they will be o with that, they won't. Read the rules and follow by the letter, nothing less than that!
