Need help with my common law options! Help!

[Sweden]

Don't count too much on an LMO - your employer would have to prove that they can not find another qualified canadian or PR for the job. So if you're part time, and a teacher (unless you're really really really specialised!), it won't work probably.... and it costs them money as well and it's unlikely to be approved by the government as teachers are not a "rare specie".... so save yourself some time, and start filling out the forms and gather the proofs etc already today - get an idea of what you need to get as proofs etc, as in any case you will have to apply for PR.

Immigration is hard - but it's worth it, and not that difficult once you have an idea of where you're headed and what you need to do ( which you have now!).

Good luck,
Sweden

 

[Gary_87]

The only reason I was looking at the LMO route is because the ESL language schools in vancouver have been struggling to find people to fill the positions. Of all applicants interviewed when they advertised for the position I got,only 3 turned up and I was the only one qualified under the guidelines they wanted. So it could be possible. Also, as they are an international languge school, for all I know they may even already have one! Who knows! But youre probably right. I'll see anyway.

In terms of the proof we both have, would the following suffice:
a sworn declaration from a previous landlord that we lived at a certain address for a specific amount of time (no lease was given here)
a lease on our new property which brings the total living time together up to 1 year +
we have a joint bank account
we own a car together and are both on te insurance
we have correspondance such as letters and emails (including facebook correspondance) that has been ongoing for 3 years (we have been together for 1.5 of those years)
we have photos of both of us on many vacations together dating back to when we were both in Australia, to mexico, europe, the US
we DONT have any receipts of things we have bought for each other and we DONT have any receipts of previous travel together
We have friends who can swear that our relationship is true and genuine including our landlords
we are also arranged to be married in the summer (though ive heard not to mention this, is that true?)
our employers know us both and can swear by this
we can get a commonlaw declaration signed

what else is a good idea to have? Just so I am sure.

Thanks again. Im going to talk to my partner about this later and see what she thinks our best option is.

 

[Rob_TO]

It also states on the CIC website that applications for outland take 50 days for the sponsor approval and then it is taking 9 MONTHS from London. I thought it was meant to be quicker?

The stats for overseas visa office processing are very misleading on the CIC site. They do NOT represent the average time. They simply give you the maximum time to process 80% of the applications, which just gives a worst case scenario. i.e. out of 100 applications... if 79 took 1 month and the rest took 10 months... technically the stat on CIC site would show 10 months since it would need to reflect 80%.

A better stat which reflects more of an "average" is the 50% stat... and right now this it at 6 months for London. Also you should be happy to know that approval rating for all spouse/partner family apps from London is at a 94% success rate.

 

[Sweden]

Hey neighbor! (based in Victoria here!)

seems like you already have a fair deal of proofs and a very good start for sure.
Do you have any pictures of you with her family, or the contrary ? if yes, add them, if not, maybe explain why ? the VO is always looking for proofs that family are aware. If for any reason you 're not on speaking terms with both families, just say so.

No receipts for things is not a problem, we didn't have any either. If you have a ring (or she does) for engagement, include a picture of that.

About getting married: it's a bit tricky. Obviously it's best to mention it, because it's a proof for your relationship...

But if your PR is not issued when you get married, then you will have to update the VO and send a copy of your marriage certificate to London, and they will amend your file, and then issue the PR as married. It might take 2 weeks more.

But - in any case, you need to inform the VO of any change of status, so you will have to do it if the PR is not issued before August. So - I would mention it, especially if you already have a date, and started some planning (then include that as proof).

I think you have a pretty solid application, and I can't think about anything that you would need. just get all of that together, send it off, and join the waiting game! also - since you are from a visa-exempt country, and you have managed to get a visa to Canada on your own, keep in mind that you will not be under close scrutiny and suspicion that you're trying to get entrance into Canada - the only reason you want to be here is because your wife is Canadian, nothing else. So don't worry too much about the application (easier said than done!), and you'll read on the forum about people sending 1000 pages and 5kg worth of proofs (literally!) - every case is unique and comparing won't get you anywhere.

Put your application together, and look at it - would it convince a perfect stranger that you are in a genuine relationship? if yes, then that's enough.

Sweden

 

[Gary_87]

Thank you Rob! Thats definately a relief. The CIC website is probably the most intimidating thing Ive ever seen!

And Sweden, we are all on speaking terms and there are pictures of her with my family and me with hers. we also have a ring that she wears. and we have a date and the wedding is planned. we have invites and a venue and are meeting a commisioner next week. I read somewhere that it is not a good idea to say these things or to put them in the application. Would you suggest that it is ok and a good idea to put pictures of an engagement ring, our wedding invites, receipt of wedding venue etc? would this not say to them the application is pointless because if they approve it before the wedding then ill have to change it after anyway? or once you have common law and you get married you dont have to apply again?

So my steps would be the following. Pay for half of the PR application now.
Get my police certs and my medical done!
Fill out the paperwork and gather the evidence.
Apply for a change of visa status from my worker status to a visitor status. Request 6 - 8 months.
recieve all of my documents, send off the application to miss.
send aussie police cert when it arrives.
pay rest of fees.
my sponsor recieves approval after approx 50 days or less.
application sent to london.

from there I just wait on my visitor visa until it is processed? does this look about right? i think ive got it. with a little luck, if we were able to get approved, the whole process (touch wood) could be done by the wedding, if not before, and then id be able to work after it. am i right in assuming these things?

 

[herewecome]

Sweden - it was 3.9kg actually hahaha

Gary - Your proof sounds logical to me. I only sent in a lot because otherwise I worry. Some disagreement with my partner over the amount I wanted to send. I still worry regardless. Good luck!

 

[Gary_87]

Thankyou herewecome!

Can anyone direct me to the documents I need to download and fill in for outland applications please? I seem to keep finding the ones for inland and Id hate to fill out the wrong ones! haha.

Im such a newbie at all of this! Things were so much simpler with the IEC and bunac haha (saying that though, i remember stresing about them too!)

1. fill out forms for me.
2. get my partner to fill out her forms.
3. get police cert.
4. get medicals.
5. apply for visitor visa.
6. compile evidence and proof.
7. pay for the first part of it, the rest later.
8. send the things off.
9. wait in fear.
10. but hopefully not for too long!

does this sound about right? just checking because i think i have it figured out in my head.

 

[Sweden]

In terms of Canadian law, common-law and married have the same rights more or less. SO you won't have to apply again once married. The only thing is that the COPR ( Confirmation of PR, paper that get sent to you by post once the process is over) indicates your status... so if you apply now (common-law) and you are married before the PR is issued, you need to inform London so that they can amend your file and issue the COPR as married.

I have seen other people going through London office doing that - applying as common-law and then getting married during the process, and it didn't seem to create problems. You're allowed to apply as common-law (if you're not married that is!) already now, and since you are in Canada already, it makes sense that you are applying already.... I don't see a problem, and I would include the proofs that you are getting married. Maybe others have had other experiences, but for London I haven't seen a case ( I have been on the forum since april only of course) where it created a problem.

Not including the information about your marriage would be strange to me because it fits into the relationship proofs... you should not have only that - because of course you are still applying as common-law so you should have all the proofs that you are common-law already now - but I don't see how it would harm your application ( if you didn't qualify as common law and were getting married, but applied before you were actually married, then your application would be rejected).

If you get the PR before the wedding, you "land" as common-law, and you get married in Canada, then you can inform them that you are married, but it doesn't change anything to your PR status and you don't have to apply again.

The steps are logical, and in the right order!

and yes - once you have applied for your visitor visa, you just wait until it comes back...

You could very well be done before the wedding if you send your application within a month, and a short first stage approval (somebody in December going through London got it done in 7 days... ), you could be done soon. getting the application together now is the most important, and aim at sending it by the end of the month, so it's off your shoulders - it's heavy and it will most likely take up a lot of your free time ( but if you don't go out and work on your application, then you don't spend money! ), but it feels good once it's sent off.

Sweden

 

[Sweden]

Sweden - it was 3.9kg actually hahaha

Gary - Your proof sounds logical to me. I only sent in a lot because otherwise I worry. Some disagreement with my partner over the amount I wanted to send. I still worry regardless. Good luck!

I picked 5kg random, some people even sent more but 3.9kg is quite impressive already!
Good luck to you! (I'm done )
Sweden

 

[herewecome]

And done very quickly through London which is encouraging

 

[Sweden]

Thankyou herewecome!

Can anyone direct me to the documents I need to download and fill in for outland applications please? I seem to keep finding the ones for inland and Id hate to fill out the wrong ones! haha.

Im such a newbie at all of this! Things were so much simpler with the IEC and bunac haha (saying that though, i remember stresing about them too!)

1. fill out forms for me.
2. get my partner to fill out her forms.
3. get police cert.
4. get medicals.
5. apply for visitor visa.
6. compile evidence and proof.
7. pay for the first part of it, the rest later.
8. send the things off.
9. wait in fear
10. but hopefully not for too long!

does this sound about right? just checking because i think i have it figured out in my head.

link for outland is here http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/fc.asp

I would put "get police cert" first, as the quicker you ask for them, the quicker they come back!

Get a list of the proofs you need - that would be my advice - and start there, because it might take some time to get the declarations from family and friends etc.
9. wait in fear - Noooo! wait in confidence! you are a genuine couple, you have all the proofs, you'll be approved!

7 - pay for the fees go before 5 - apply for visitor visa, as you need this one to apply for visitor visa...

but in general - it looks good!

 

[Gary_87]

Thank you so much guys! Really, it gives me confidence that this will work!

I had a look at the link and it has 2 parts. sponsorship forms and immigration forms.

I assume I fill out the immigration forms and my partner fills out the sponsoship forms yeah? simple as that?

we fill out our own forms, get the evidence, get all the documents from the checklist (birth certs, police, medicals etc) and then send it?

if thats the case, we should be able to get all of this done by the end of the month!

 

[Sweden]

Don't forget part 3 - download the guide specific for western europe

but in general yes - part 1 is for the sponsor ( it's the easier part, the forms are quicker to be filled for sure and there are less documents needed, especially since she is Canadian and living in Canada...), and part 2 for you.

PRINT the guideline and read it before you start filling out the forms, it will save you time, believe me!

The clock has started - I'll check on you at the end of the month to see if you have sent it! there is a january thread started for people that have sent their applications in January, so by the time you apply, you will also be able to monitor how fast is stage 1 going...

organising the proofs and getting all together takes a bit of time. DON'T use staples - paperclip if you really have to, otherwise just put things together. You can print a few pictures per page ( 3 on a word document for example) and add captions to explain. Use the check lists provided, and made sure you have everything on there.

It will work!
Sweden

 

[herewecome]

Agree with Sweden, police certs first, get medical booked and completed, sponsor needs letter from employer, statutory declarations x 2. These are the ones off the top of my head that take a while. And sometimes errors can exist on these that push it back even further (the person who signed as proof of who I was for the UK police check filled it out wrong then didn't send it to me for sometime). We tackled each form together but yes, one set is for one, and one for the other. The biggest time taken was categorising and collating proof of relationship. I enjoyed working on the project together but at the end I was just wanting the thing sent off so we could get our spare time back. It was like writing a dissertation last minute and then not getting a grade for ages.

We split it into sponsor and sponsor supporting docs. Paper clipped and then into an A4 envelope with what it was on the front. Then applicant and applicant supporting docs, paper clipped where appropriate and into A4 envelope. Then proof of relationship docs pack (again paper clips and envelope)

Each envelope had a checklist highlighting what was inside. Someone wrote an overview of what they did organisational wise with photos and that helped us a lot.

You seem to have a logical approach so should be fine. Good luck

 

[Gary_87]

Yeah, it sounds painful to say the least.

I'm looking at these applications now. I donwload the guide to the western europe part correct? And this tells me what order I need to put everything in yes? Just arrange everything in the order on the guide, package it, mail it!

Do we have to fill out th following:
IMM 0008 DEP (additional dependants if we dont have any)
IMM5476 (representative - we wont use one)
IMM 5562 (your travels - what is this? only for paris?)

We MUST have the following:

Document Checklist [IMM 5491] (PDF, 159 KB)
Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking [IMM 1344] (PDF, 356 KB)
Sponsorship Evaluation [IMM 5481] (PDF, 110 KB)
Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union [IMM 5409] (PDF, 97 KB)
Sponsor Questionnaire [IMM 5540] (PDF, 160 KB)


Generic Application Form for Canada [IMM 0008] (PDF, 536 KB)
Additional Dependants/Declaration [IMM 0008DEP] (PDF, 472 KB) <--------------------------- not sure about this one?
Schedule A – Background/Declaration [IMM 5669] (PDF, 170 KB)
Additional Family Information [IMM 5406] (PDF, 88 KB)
Sponsored Spouse/Partner Questionnaire [IMM 5490] (PDF, 142 KB)


p.s. the document checklist looks scary! what does it mean by "copy 2 of your receipt IMM5401 stamped by the financial institution where you pay the fees" - what receipt?