lack of co-signed lease for proof of co-habitation and the necessity of PR?

[qingyunlan]

Hi friends,

I'm applying for OWP in QC as the common-law partner of my partner who's a citizen. I'm concerned about my burden of proof, since I had not jointly signed the rental lease with my partner, nor do we have a roommate or a landlord that can prove we've been living together. We've been in a relationship since end of 2017, moved together from December 2018 till now, living mostly in Quebec, but some two months in between we were living together with my partner's parents in BC.

Here's what we have: joint bank account opened by end of May, 2019, the billing address being the apartment we live together in; formal letters (graduation certificate, job offer, visitor record) addressed to me to our apartment; online purchase receipts of household items addressed to me to our apartment; numerous chat logs ( concerning mundane businesses like grocery shopping, etc.); bus and flight tickets of travelling together; photos dating as early as from beginning of 2018; we can probably secure written testimonies from parents (with whom we spent two months) and friends.
Would the above be sufficient? If not, anything else can I try to hold onto as a valid proof?

I'm also curious about the necessity of a PR. If all I want to is to be able to find a job, work for a few years, with no further plan beyond, would an OWP itself be sufficient? In what terms would PR be better than OWP alone?

Thank you so much.

 

[canuck78]

Hi friends,

I'm applying for OWP in QC as the common-law partner of my partner who's a citizen. I'm concerned about my burden of proof, since I had not jointly signed the rental lease with my partner, nor do we have a roommate or a landlord that can prove we've been living together. We've been in a relationship since end of 2017, moved together from December 2018 till now, living mostly in Quebec, but some two months in between we were living together with my partner's parents in BC.

Here's what we have: joint bank account opened by end of May, 2019, the billing address being the apartment we live together in; formal letters (graduation certificate, job offer, visitor record) addressed to me to our apartment; online purchase receipts of household items addressed to me to our apartment; numerous chat logs ( concerning mundane businesses like grocery shopping, etc.); bus and flight tickets of travelling together; photos dating as early as from beginning of 2018; we can probably secure written testimonies from parents (with whom we spent two months) and friends.
Would the above be sufficient? If not, anything else can I try to hold onto as a valid proof?

I'm also curious about the necessity of a PR. If all I want to is to be able to find a job, work for a few years, with no further plan beyond, would an OWP itself be sufficient? In what terms would PR be better than OWP alone?

Thank you so much.

All depends on what kind of evidence you have that you were living together for those initial 2 months and the beginning of your stay at you4 apartment. Do you have bills addressed to each of you starting in those initial 3 months. I see the first 2 months at being hard to prove and may be problematic. Often the issue is the evidence on start later on in the cohabitation period. You will need more than just people vouching that you were somewhere together.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi friends,

I'm applying for OWP in QC as the common-law partner of my partner who's a citizen. I'm concerned about my burden of proof, since I had not jointly signed the rental lease with my partner, nor do we have a roommate or a landlord that can prove we've been living together. We've been in a relationship since end of 2017, moved together from December 2018 till now, living mostly in Quebec, but some two months in between we were living together with my partner's parents in BC.

Here's what we have: joint bank account opened by end of May, 2019, the billing address being the apartment we live together in; formal letters (graduation certificate, job offer, visitor record) addressed to me to our apartment; online purchase receipts of household items addressed to me to our apartment; numerous chat logs ( concerning mundane businesses like grocery shopping, etc.); bus and flight tickets of travelling together; photos dating as early as from beginning of 2018; we can probably secure written testimonies from parents (with whom we spent two months) and friends.
Would the above be sufficient? If not, anything else can I try to hold onto as a valid proof?

I'm also curious about the necessity of a PR. If all I want to is to be able to find a job, work for a few years, with no further plan beyond, would an OWP itself be sufficient? In what terms would PR be better than OWP alone?

Thank you so much.

Spouses and common-law partners of Canadian citizens do not just qualify for work permits based on the relationship. If you apply, you will be refused. The only way to get an OWP based on your relationship is to apply along with an inland spousal sponsorship app.

 

[qingyunlan]

All depends on what kind of evidence you have that you were living together for those initial 2 months and the beginning of your stay at you4 apartment. Do you have bills addressed to each of you starting in those initial 3 months. I see the first 2 months at being hard to prove and may be problematic. Often the issue is the evidence on start later on in the cohabitation period. You will need more than just people vouching that you were somewhere together.

Thanks. We were living together with my partner's parents in BC for the first month (I guess that counts as been seen *living* together, not just seen being "somewhere together"? ); then we have the flight tickets of travelling together to QC; then online orders delivered to our apartment's address under my name and phone bills paid together-do those count as "bills"?

 

[qingyunlan]

Spouses and common-law partners of Canadian citizens do not just qualify for work permits based on the relationship. If you apply, you will be refused. The only way to get an OWP based on your relationship is to apply along with an inland spousal sponsorship app.

I see. Thanks.

 

[qingyunlan]

Spouses and common-law partners of Canadian citizens do not just qualify for work permits based on the relationship. If you apply, you will be refused. The only way to get an OWP based on your relationship is to apply along with an inland spousal sponsorship app.

Is it that I have to apply for inland sponsorship in order to apply for an OWP too?

 

[scylla]

Is it that I have to apply for inland sponsorship in order to apply for an OWP too?

Yes. You cannot apply for just the OWP.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Is it that I have to apply for inland sponsorship in order to apply for an OWP too?

Yes, as I already explained. If you apply for just a work permit, it is guaranteed to be refused. You don't qualify.

 

[YVR123]

Just to repeat the above. Spouses of citizens or PRs of Canada do not qualify for OWP.
The OWP that people mention here is a "pilot process" to allow applicants of inland spousal sponsorship to get OWP while waiting for their PR applications for approval.

So, yes. You cannot apply just for OWP.