is my relationship with my boyfriend considered a common-law partnership?

[gzheansian]

I am applying for a tourist visa to Canada to see my boyfriend and i am having a hard time completing the TRV form and family information form RE: common-law partner. I am still legally married but separated from my husband. We are still on the process of planning the annulment. My boyfriend is a permanent resident in Canada and we are in a relationship for 3 years. We have not lived together but see each other 3 or more times a year. I am living in the UK and he lives in Canada. We are in a committed relationship and have future plans of getting married and having a family. Now, I am confused if we are considered common-law partners and if i need to write his name down in the forms as my common-law partner. Please clarify for me. Thank you.

 

[scylla]

You're only common law if you have lived together for at least one full years. So you're not common law.

 

[Jalex23]

I am applying for a tourist visa to Canada to see my boyfriend and i am having a hard time completing the TRV form and family information form RE: common-law partner. I am still legally married but separated from my husband. We are still on the process of planning the annulment. My boyfriend is a permanent resident in Canada and we are in a relationship for 3 years. We have not lived together but see each other 3 or more times a year. I am living in the UK and he lives in Canada. We are in a committed relationship and have future plans of getting married and having a family. Now, I am confused if we are considered common-law partners and if i need to write his name down in the forms as my common-law partner. Please clarify for me. Thank you.

You are married. Married people can not be common law.

 

[gzheansian]

thanks for both replies.

Being still legally married means I am still married in paper. We are not living anymore or shall i say never lived together as husband and wife since we got married coz i left the day after our secret marriage and worked abroad. We mutually ended our relationship and he started his own family. We can consider ourselves separated but not yet annulled. In a common-law partnership both parties can be married to someone else before, can be both single, or either party is married or single. The legal restrictions of being still legally married is one of the reasons why both parties enter into this kind of relationship. If you are married and still living with your spouse and get a partner is another issue.

Citizenship & Immigration Canada states that a Common-law partner refers to a person who is living in a conjugal relationship with another person (opposite or same sex), and has done so continuously for a period of at least one year. [9] A conjugal relationship exists when there is a significant degree of commitment between two people. This can be shown with evidence that the couple share the same home, that they support each other financially and emotionally, that they have children together, or that they present themselves in public as a couple. Common-law partners who are unable to live together or appear in public together because of legal restrictions in their home country or who have been separated for reasons beyond their control (for example, civil war or armed conflict) may still qualify and should be included on an application. This phrase confuses me.

My boyfriend landed in Canada last year but stayed out of the country for almost a year to finish his contract with his previous employment. He returned to Canada only this month so basically, he haven't started anything yet.

I need to write him down in my application coz i am going to live with him during my visit. I will finance my travel and then share whatever expenses we incur during my stay. That's why i'm confused if we are considered common-law partners.

What is the best thing to do? shall i omit him in my application and reserve a hotel instead? shall i say that i don't know anyone in Canada? to save him from making the invitation letter. If so, shall i write my estranged husband as my spouse in the family information form? im really confused.

I started the application online i wrote my boyfriend down as a family, and there was a question how am i related to him. One of the choices in the drop down box, which i chose obviously, was "committed partner for at least a year (not living together)". This also added to my confusion.

 

[Regina]

You're only common law if you have lived together for at least one full year

And you did not live together for 12 months.

 

[happymama]

shall i say that i don't know anyone in Canada? to save him from making the invitation letter. If so, shall i write my estranged husband as my spouse in the family information form? im really confused.

Wouldn't this be lying? I wouldn't recommend this as it will eventually catch up to you if you decided to marry one day and apply for legal status here. The dates on which you'll claim to have met your boyfriend will coincide with your trip and CIC will catch this.

I started the application online i wrote my boyfriend down as a family, and there was a question how am i related to him. One of the choices in the drop down box, which i chose obviously, was "committed partner for at least a year (not living together)". This also added to my confusion

Unfortunately, since you are not common-law as per the definition (as having lived together for a period of at least a year) you cannot include your current boyfriend family. The only options for family are Spouse, Common-law partner (again, which unfortunately you are not), parents, dependant children, siblings and half siblings.

 

[Regina]

Jalex23. there some cases when even legally married could live in common law relationship and be considered by CIC as common law. If interested read Operational manuals for Family sponsoring on www.cic.gc.ca.

 

[marso]

I understand that most of us here are not really sure and we are just sharing our opinions but let's try not to spread wrong information. I don't want to argue with anyone, but I would like to correct the notion that you cannot be in a common-law relationship if you are previously married.


The op02 manual reads:

5.38. What happens if the common-law partner (principal applicant) is married to another person?
Persons who are married to third parties may be considered common-law partners provided their marriage has broken down and they have lived separate and apart from the spouse for long enough to establish a common-law relationship – at least one year. In this case they must have cohabited in a conjugal relationship with the common-law partner for at least one year. Cohabitation with a common-law partner cannot be considered to have started until a physical separation from the spouse has occurred. A common-law relationship cannot be legally established if one or both parties continue their marital relationships.

Officers must be satisfied that a principal applicant is separated from and no longer cohabits with a legal spouse. This evidence may be in the form of a signed formal declaration that the marriage has ended and that the person has entered into a common-law relationship. An officer may require that the person produce other written evidence of a formal separation or of a breakdown of the marriage. Acceptable documents include a separation agreement, a court order in respect of custody of children identifying the fact of the marriage breakdown, documents removing the legally married spouse(s) from insurance policies or will as beneficiaries (a “change of beneficiary” form).

In the above circumstances, the legal spouse of the principal applicant need not be examined and will not be considered a member of the family class if the applicant later attempts to sponsor this spouse. [See R117(9)(d)]. Notes in CAIPS should indicate that the applicant was aware of the consequences of non-examination.

***​

On another note, if you are in a genuine marriage-like relationship with someone, but you have not cohabited or lived together physically for 1 year that person can be included in your application as conjugal partner. The thing is, I do not know how to include a conjugal partner in an application because it is not in the options.

In the Justice Laws Website of Canada, the legal definition of common-law is as follows:
For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, an individual who has been in a conjugal relationship with a person for at least one year but is unable to cohabit with the person, due to persecution or any form of penal control, shall be considered a common-law partner of the person.

So I guess you can put your partner as common-law in the form, but I am not sure with that. Maybe you need to include an explanation or something.

 

[bbcj]

I'm from UK also and my partner Canadian. I have been living here on visitor status to meet the 1 year cohabitation definition. As far as we could tell, the interpretations/experience of immigration consultant varies on this one, even CIC phone operators seemed unsure.

From what I understand - Common-law in Canada needs 1 year cohabitation, setting up a 'home' together and that you can prove with official documents, e.g. joint lease, joint mortgage, joint bank accounts.

For both common-law and conjugal - you would need to supply evidence (trips, photos, testimonials, etc) that prove your relationship is genuine - so ensure you collate all the paperwork to support this.

 

[marso]

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. I think you're right, this can be a case to case basis depending on the immigration consultant.

 

[ppeg]

I'm from UK also and my partner Canadian. I have been living here on visitor status to meet the 1 year cohabitation definition. As far as we could tell, the interpretations/experience of immigration consultant varies on this one, even CIC phone operators seemed unsure.

From what I understand - Common-law in Canada needs 1 year cohabitation, setting up a 'home' together and that you can prove with official documents, e.g. joint lease, joint mortgage, joint bank accounts.

For both common-law and conjugal - you would need to supply evidence (trips, photos, testimonials, etc) that prove your relationship is genuine - so ensure you collate all the paperwork to support this.

could you share a little bit how was your experience from TRV to common law? I assume you have to have 2 TRV extension to make it done to apply common law, I hope you have done everything and settle in Canada

 

[rosewelt]

Could you share a little bit how was your experience from TRV to common law? Because i have same issue so what you fill up or your got approval?
please share your experience