Marry or Common Law

[Roxie-B]

I'm glad you guys opened this thread. Me and my sponsor, we have been together fir over 2 years but we have nt officially been living togeyher. We both live in with family but we visit eqch other frequentlyie we sleep over and such so there is no witten proof tht we lived together. We have a joint account insurance we have testimonies from friends my boss and our doctor . And we have a lot of pictures. We have western uniin slips to show tht we suppot each other etc. However due to the fact tht we have no proof of cohabitation we applied as a conjugal couple alsoo because it say ie immigratiin barrier as a reason we are nt current ly together he has been living in canada since 2013 and he is now filing me. Do you think we applied under the right relationship another thing is we put tht we were in a common law relationship prior to his landing in canada. I'm so worried me messed up our application and they are going to turn us down. We have been visiting each other tiand fro but wr dont have the money to get married yet so this is where we are at. Could u guys tell me what u think.

 

[Roxie-B]

Hi, I asked some questions in other threads but I have a more specific question so I made a new one. I am Irish and my fiance is Canadian. We live in Korea.

We are planning at the moment to do a common law application but I'm starting to think we lack evidence to show it. We have lived together for a year and 3 months currently. We don't have:

- The lease under both our names (It's under my name - just because my elderly Korean real estate agent insisted out of convenience)
- Bills under both names (They come to my name - actually they come to a basterdized spelling of my first and middle name)
- Joint bank accounts/Joint insurance policies
- Much documentary evidence for her - we have like one official govt letter mailed to her here

We do have:

- We can get a letter from our landlord/testimonial letters
- It would be tricky, but we do have bank records that show she sent me half the amount of rent every month and also originally for key money (deposit - common in korea) but there would be a lot of investigation, translation involved in this - also sometimes she would combine rent with other money she owed me so it would not always be exact
- We have both been registered at the same address with korean immigration for a year and three months (this seems strong to me but not sure how much weight it has outside country)

Do we have enough evidence for co-habitation?

We also have another problem, in that we are planning to get married in December in Bali. Do we mention that in our common law application?

Would it be easier to marry legally here first and do a spousal application? Is it considered suspicious to get married directly before applying? Would we include our plans for wedding ceremony? We would rather make our wedding in Indonesia.

We have a ton of evidence for a real relationship (visited each others countries/families, photos, text, letters, cards and testimonials) so that wouldn't be a problem.

Jmom..I'm faced with a similar dilemma...I'm new to this..but I'm my experience canada makes everything diff :'( but keep ur chin up...I can't say we cause I'm jus as clueless but there are really nice experienced ppl here to help u

 

[rhcohen2014]

I'm glad you guys opened this thread. Me and my sponsor, we have been together fir over 2 years but we have nt officially been living togeyher. We both live in with family but we visit eqch other frequentlyie we sleep over and such so there is no witten proof tht we lived together. We have a joint account insurance we have testimonies from friends my boss and our doctor . And we have a lot of pictures. We have western uniin slips to show tht we suppot each other etc. However due to the fact tht we have no proof of cohabitation we applied as a conjugal couple alsoo because it say ie immigratiin barrier as a reason we are nt current ly together he has been living in canada since 2013 and he is now filing me. Do you think we applied under the right relationship another thing is we put tht we were in a common law relationship prior to his landing in canada. I'm so worried me messed up our application and they are going to turn us down. We have been visiting each other tiand fro but wr dont have the money to get married yet so this is where we are at. Could u guys tell me what u think.

it doesn't sound like either commonlaw or conjugal apply to you. conjugal applications are hard to prove, and since you can travel back and forth to see eachother regularly, you technically don't qualify. Conjugal is reserved for couples who have significant barriers to being with eachother. Meaning, either they can't get married because of cultural/religious beliefs or can't see eachother because of immigration reasons. Not being able to marry because of financial reasons isn't considered a true barrier. As for commonlaw, a couple must be able to prove cohabitation for 1 full year, 365 consecutive days. Staying with eachother while visiting doesn't count, since both people maintain separate residences in different countries. At this point, either you would need to wait out the application process to see how conjugal will progress (because you never know how CIC will proceed with an application), or withdraw your application, get married and reapply as spousal. My suggestion is to do some research on other conjugal applications to get an idea what to expect.

 

[Roxie-B]

it doesn't sound like either commonlaw or conjugal apply to you. conjugal applications are hard to prove, and since you can travel back and forth to see eachother regularly, you technically don't qualify. Conjugal is reserved for couples who have significant barriers to being with eachother. Meaning, either they can't get married because of cultural/religious beliefs or can't see eachother because of immigration reasons. Not being able to marry because of financial reasons isn't considered a true barrier. As for commonlaw, a couple must be able to prove cohabitation for 1 full year, 365 consecutive days. Staying with eachother while visiting doesn't count, since both people maintain separate residences in different countries. At this point, either you would need to wait out the application process to see how conjugal will progress (because you never know how CIC will proceed with an application), or withdraw your application, get married and reapply as spousal. My suggestion is to do some research on other conjugal applications to get an idea what to expect.

Ok...thank you

 

[Rob_TO]

I'm glad you guys opened this thread. Me and my sponsor, we have been together fir over 2 years but we have nt officially been living togeyher. We both live in with family but we visit eqch other frequentlyie we sleep over and such so there is no witten proof tht we lived together. We have a joint account insurance we have testimonies from friends my boss and our doctor . And we have a lot of pictures. We have western uniin slips to show tht we suppot each other etc. However due to the fact tht we have no proof of cohabitation we applied as a conjugal couple alsoo because it say ie immigratiin barrier as a reason we are nt current ly together he has been living in canada since 2013 and he is now filing me. Do you think we applied under the right relationship another thing is we put tht we were in a common law relationship prior to his landing in canada. I'm so worried me messed up our application and they are going to turn us down. We have been visiting each other tiand fro but wr dont have the money to get married yet so this is where we are at. Could u guys tell me what u think.

You are NOT a conjugal couple for the purposes of CIC. Conjugal class is ONLY reserved for people who have legal/immigration barriers to getting married or becoming common-law. You can only apply as common-law or married, and that's it.

You should contact your visa office, and request they turn your conjugal app into a common-law app. As long as you were common-law as of the date you mailed the application, there shouldn't be any reason they can't do this as all the forms are the same. You should also submit as many proofs of being common-law as you can, if you didn't already in your original app.

another thing is we put tht we were in a common law relationship prior to his landing in canada.

Actually this is the part I would be most worried about. Do you mean you had lived together 12 full months before he landed, or that you were just starting to live together at that point?

If you were officially common-law (so lived 12 continuous months) BEFORE he landed in Canada, then he should have declared you on his own PR application as common-law partner, and you would have received PR together.

But now because he already landed as SINGLE when he was in fact common-law, this is misrepresentation and unfortunately CIC may decide to ban you forever under family class, and his own PR may be questioned also.

 

[innosense]

Hi,

I just want to tell you folks that no matter what application you decide to go with. Start accumulating your proofs from today. If you don't have a lease together, sign it now. open a joint bank account. CIC will eventually ask for more docs and atleast then you will have something solid to give.

Good luck !

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Do you think we applied under the right relationship another thing is we put tht we were in a common law relationship prior to his landing in canada. I'm so worried me messed up our application and they are going to turn us down.

You guys are in big trouble.

Having read through your previous posts, you confirmed that you lived together for a year prior to your partner becoming a PR and therefore were common-law. As your partner was a dependent on his father's application, the moment that he became common-law with you, he no longer qualified as a dependent and should have been removed from his father's application.

Your partner obtained his PR by misrepresentation. This is a crime and can result in not only the loss of his PR status but the loss of his family's PR status as well, since his father as the principal applicant also committed misrepresentation by not removing his son from his app.

 

[Hasan9999]

You guys are in big trouble.

Having read through your previous posts, you confirmed that you lived together for a year prior to your partner becoming a PR and therefore were common-law. As your partner was a dependent on his father's application, the moment that he became common-law with you, he no longer qualified as a dependent and should have been removed from his father's application.

Your partner obtained his PR by misrepresentation. This is a crime and can result in not only the loss of his PR status but the loss of his family's PR status as well, since his father as the principal applicant also committed misrepresentation by not removing his son from his app.

I believe they have not submitted application yet and trying to do the planning.

 

[sammystorm19]

I believe they have not submitted application yet and trying to do the planning.

No they have submitted the application already.

 

[Hasan9999]

No they have submitted the application already.

Oh yes.

 

[Roxie-B]

He was nt misrepresented ..gosh i feel like I'm in one of those chat rooms and everyone already knows each other and I'm being scrutinized... I realize my case is special and I have a lot to prove to cic but I leave it to my sponsor. And cic.

 

[sammystorm19]

He was nt misrepresented ..gosh i feel like I'm in one of those chat rooms and everyone already knows each other and I'm being scrutinized... I realize my case is special and I have a lot to prove to cic but I leave it to my sponsor. And cic.

Actually as per your post on the Kingston thread he lived with you for a year from Dec 11 to Jan 13. So actually when his father applied for him he would have been common law with you for that year and that should have been included on his application. They will cross reference the files and see that there were facts missing on his application and his PR can be taken away from him and ur application denied

 

[Roxie-B]

Actually as per your post on the Kingston thread he lived with you for a year from Dec 11 to Jan 13. So actually when his father applied for him he would have been common law with you for that year and that should have been included on his application. They will cross reference the files and see that there were facts missing on his application and his PR can be taken away from him and ur application denied

Sammystorm everything is on the application his previous uci# wen his dad started his filing everything as I said only the fact tht we dont havd proof of cohabitation
Id

 

[mikeymyke]

Roxie, I think it sounds to me like whoever is doing your application is doing a horrible job. I don't know where they got the idea that CIC would see you guys made a mistake and just simply "change" the form to common-law. The worst part about this is that they won't refuse the application until it gets to Stage 2, meaning you will have to wait several months for nothing, just for a refusal. I think the best option would be to cancel the application asap and start over.

But I think the biggest problem for you is the fact your b/f didn't declare he was common-law when he landed, meaning not only would he lose his PR for misrepresentation, but he would never be able to sponsor you forever.

 

[sammystorm19]

Sammystorm everything is on the application his previous uci# wen his dad started his filing everything as I said only the fact tht we dont havd proof of cohabitation
Id

That's what I'm trying to say. They will look at his UCI number and see that you, as his common law spouse, weren't on there. That is misrepresentation. He should have been taken off his father's application and You should have applied as common law. He could loose his PR card because of this.

You've come on here asking questions and many if us have given you answers and also advise. I just don't know what else to say except.....You've just said that you don't have proof of you two living together as common law. How do you expect to get approved if you don't have this information.? A letter from your mom just won't cut it!!

Again I'm sorry if this is harsh but it's reality....you have no proof of common law, your boyfriend misrepresented himself and his family is not willing to change anything for you.

I will end this by saying good luck and whatever you decide to do and maybe another senior member may be able to give you some more insight on this.