Inland vs outland + other sponsorship questions (Jan 2021)

[stewjohnson]

Hey everyone,

I'm a British citizen engaged to a Canadian, both currently together in Canada, and we're trying to decide between inland and outland sponsorship path. I've read most related posts on here, immigroup, reddit and other forums but still unclear on best approach for our circumstances.

Background/Context:

We started dating in August 2019 (16+ months) while I was living in Beijing and she in Melbourne. We had multiple short trips over 3 months and ended 2019 together in Melbourne. I then never returned to Beijing due to COVID-19. We spent Jan-Feb living in her flat share (no bills/lease showing I was living there, but plenty of joint expenses, photos etc) and moved into our own apartment in March (joint lease). We used a joint bank account and accumulated plenty of evidence of our common-law status over 2020 (flights, hotels, bills, apartment lease for ~9 months etc)

We got engaged in September and decided to relocate to Vancouver in Dec 2020 for my fiancee's job. I entered Canada on an eTA (exempt from travel restrictions as her extended family member) and we just signed a lease on a Vancouver apartment. I have been employed by a Chinese company throughout this process, and plan to continue working for this company remotely from Canada.

I travel frequently for work (pre-/post-COVID) and don't need a new job in Canada, so was thinking outland application due to faster processing times and ability to leave/return to Canada on my eTA without affecting the application. However, with international travel 6-12 months away (at least) and outland processing times evidently much slower than usual due to COVID, I'm wondering if inland makes more sense. Also, I'm not completely sure of any legal implications of me working remotely from Canada on my visitor visa (even though none of my business activities / income is derived from Canada), so the OWP would be welcome (despite wait times).


My Questions:

1. Inland v Outland: Which path makes the most sense for our application?
2. Common-law v spouse: Do we meet common-law requirements or should we consider bringing our wedding forward / before applying?
3. Working remotely in Canada as visitor/tourist: Less relevant to this post but would also welcome any insight into the legality of working remotely while I'm in Canada without a work permit (based on my circumstances above)

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance and here's to a better year than 2020...!

 

[armoured]

1. Common-law v spouse: Do we meet common-law requirements or should we consider bringing our wedding forward / before applying?

Because your travel/cohabitation history is not clear and a bit complicated (at least as above), would recommend bringing wedding forward. Your admission to Canada on extended family seemingly recognises your exclusive relationship but does not extend to saying you were recognised as common law.

You need 12 months continuous residence together. Documentation for this needs to be quite strong given your moves around. Technicalities could easily trip you up. (I honestly don't follow the details of what you wrote above for timeline, but didn't try particularly hard)

Now, you may be able to document this sufficiently, with some work and very careful attention to detail (it has been done before) - but if you are planning to marry soon anyway, why go through this (and bear some risk as well)? In contrast, as married with marriage certificate, your relatively long relationship and easily documented cohabitation (even if short of 12 months), etc., your relationship will likely be seen as genuine even at first review.

Less work for the IRCC examining officer, less work for you, less risk. Pretty simple decision (in my view).

 

[stewjohnson]

Because your travel/cohabitation history is not clear and a bit complicated (at least as above), would recommend bringing wedding forward. Your admission to Canada on extended family seemingly recognises your exclusive relationship but does not extend to saying you were recognised as common law.

You need 12 months continuous residence together. Documentation for this needs to be quite strong given your moves around. Technicalities could easily trip you up. (I honestly don't follow the details of what you wrote above for timeline, but didn't try particularly hard)

Now, you may be able to document this sufficiently, with some work and very careful attention to detail (it has been done before) - but if you are planning to marry soon anyway, why go through this (and bear some risk as well)? In contrast, as married with marriage certificate, your relatively long relationship and easily documented cohabitation (even if short of 12 months), etc., your relationship will likely be seen as genuine even at first review.

Less work for the IRCC examining officer, less work for you, less risk. Pretty simple decision (in my view).

Thanks for your prompt response. We're hoping to avoid rushing the wedding for visa purposes (my family/friends realistically won't be able to enter Canada until travel restrictions change), but it clearly would make things much easier. I will also consult an RCIC or lawyer on common-law approach before making a decision, but thanks for your help - greatly appreciated!

 

[armoured]

Thanks for your prompt response. We're hoping to avoid rushing the wedding for visa purposes (my family/friends realistically won't be able to enter Canada until travel restrictions change), but it clearly would make things much easier. I will also consult an RCIC or lawyer on common-law approach before making a decision, but thanks for your help - greatly appreciated!

It is up to you of course. It is perfectly fine to have a smaller civil wedding in covid times, and whatever ceremony + family events at a later date.

If it's a religious wedding that concerns you, speak to your minister or equivalent.

 

[Kevin4097]

My partner (canadian) and I(USA) raddled our heads over this exact predicament with similar circumstances for the past year. We have been together 4 years on and off "living" together, but more of visiting while the other works, no formal documentation etc. of us living and more importantly, sharing/ depending on each other (proof). We bit the bullet and got married in Dec 2020, it was just my partner, our officiant (friend) and witness/ cameraman (friend's partner). We haven't told anyone and don't intend to, with Covid and our original plans changed and after speaking to consultants and lawyers, they all advised us to get married rather than common-law, so we did. Common law is difficult to prove, keep in mind you'll need substantial proof of it being no less than 365 days cohabiting together, not a day less.
The wedding is a little secret in the grand scheme of things and it will allow us to remain together, so be it! The real engagement, ceremony and wedding will happen when we're comfortable and able (financially and post covid). We'll be traveling from US to Canada soon to begin Inland sponsorship and wait for the long delayed OWP (looks to be about 6-8 months ).

As far as working on your eTA, I would say you're a visitor and treated as such, which would permit you to keep your job and work remote and thereby represent yourself on the application as currently working for that employer. However, once your application is submitted, your intentions are stated that you intend to formally live and work in Canada, and submitting an Outland application with a your current Canadian address would seem suspect, would it not? As a PR you'll need to be providing Canada with some form of dependency and income (taxes for the gov't, social programs and healthcare). I'm not sure how you would go about keeping your overseas job and being a PR of Canada without paying into taxes. I would speak with a lawyer about this, Please update if you do speak to someone who can clarify.