Is this considered common-law?

[bandwidth]

My partner and I have been cohabitating now for 6 months and thought 6 more months until we are qualified as common-law then I can sponsor his permanent residency application.

Then we came across this paragraph in one of the documents we found on CIC website:

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/FullText.html

Interpretation — common-law partner
(2) 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.​

From this, we interpreted it as we are now in a common-law relationship even without fulfilling yet the one year requirement of physically being together; and thought we can apply for his permanent residency now. My partner is still legally married in his country, and waiting for his annulment to finalize which will take ages. That is why we cannot get married yet.

Can someone here confirm if our interpretation is correct?

 

[wait_so_long]

No, your interpretation is not correct. The fact that you are currently freely cohabiting means that there is no barrier to you doing exactly that. And even if there was a barrier, and you are unable to be together under penalty of law, the conjugal relationship must also be of one year or more.

Your initial statement, however, is correct. Hopefully you have been keeping evidence of this continued co-habitation.

 

[scylla]

Agreed with the above - you won't be common law until you have lived together continuously for at least one full year. You don't meet the criteria of conjugal since you are free to live with each other (as demonstrated by the fact that you're doing it now).

 

[bandwidth]

Thanks. Both answers make sense.

Additional questions:

Because his stay now as visitor is expiring soon (he came Feb 2017), he will apply for extension in couple of weeks. What should he put on his extension application under "Current Marital Status"?

Should it be "Married" coz technically he is still married but with a pending annulment case already filed in the court.

"Legally Separated" makes me a bit of confused. Does this need to have supporting documents i.e. a court document stating that they are legally separated? My confusion is coming from a law/rule where my partner is from where they issue a legal document about your legal separation which is separate from annulment. I do not know if it's the same here in Canada. If not, does the term "Legal Separation" a Canadian definition?

Or perhaps, "Common-law"? But I doubt this. Because we haven't reached one year of cohabitation yet.

Your thoughts please?

 

[bandwidth]

No, your interpretation is not correct. The fact that you are currently freely cohabiting means that there is no barrier to you doing exactly that. And even if there was a barrier, and you are unable to be together under penalty of law, the conjugal relationship must also be of one year or more.

Your initial statement, however, is correct. Hopefully you have been keeping evidence of this continued co-habitation.

What evidences usually are acceptable? I have added him as beneficiary of my life insurance; he is my secondary user of credit card (on bill statement he got his name there listing his expenses under that secondary card but the bill is only adressed to me); i cannot add him yet to my property as a co-owner because I was told it should be done on mortgage renewal. What am I missing so far?