New and looking for some insight into PR's

[displacedcanuk]

Hey there.
Well I am completely new to this discussion forum and based on what I have read, I am hoping your combined wisdom and knowledge will help me in the process I/we are about to undertake. The Immigration website is sorely lacking in details.....
A bit of background first:
I am a non resident Canadian with an Indonesian spouse. I have been living overseas since 2010. We have been in a committed relationship since 2012, but due to social and political issues in Indonesia, we did not start living together until December 2013, and this is with no "official" documented proof. Due to the lack of a marriage certificate, adding her to any sort of insurance policy was impossible at the time.
In may of 2014 I changed employers and moved to Thailand, where she now resides with me for 30 days at a time (due to the visa exempt status for her here), but cannot get her a temporary residence visa. I have no medical insurance or life insurance through my current employer, so adding her to that is a no go. On my time off, she travels with me to Canada. This year, my work situation changes and I now start a rotation of 30 in Thailand/28 in Canada and intend to spend the majority of my off time at home in Canada. In February, I will start looking for a home in Canada. I currently have a leased home in Thailand and will continue to maintain that while I am working here. I will include her name on any lease in Canada. I have already contacted a tax lawyer to discuss the tax implications for living part time in Canada. The intent is for her to remain in Canada (on an outland application...at least until I hear otherwise) while I work, as she has a 5 year multiple entry visa, with her leaving the country only as necessary to avoid overstaying.

The questions:
1) Does working overseas make me ineligible to sponsor?
2) We have an extensive history of travel together starting in 2011, but limited documentation (other than coinciding passport stamps), including 7 trips to Canada. We have about 100 or so pictures together in different locals and she has met family, friends and co-workers in Indonesia, Thailand and Canada. Will this be sufficient documentation? I can provide letters of confirmation from most of the people she has met.
3) Does documentation need to be originals and if it is, do they return it?
4) I've decided outland is probably the best choice, but with a TRV, if we apply inland, would that allow here travel (vacations, travel to Thailand with me, etc.) or is that risky? Once you apply and are accepted as a sponsor and her application approved, do they supply documentation that makes entry into the country easier?

I'm sure as I embark on this I'll have more questions, but this should get me started.

Thanks in advance

 

[Cathy645]

Hi, it's wise to do Outland application because it's risky leaving Canada when doing inland.

Please remember to extend TRV one month before it expires because she only can stay six months at most each time with multi entry visa. She can ask for one or two year extension and it should not be a problem getting approved.

You can sponsor her even you live outside of Canada as Canadian citizen but you have to provide strong evidence to say you will move back and settle down in Canada after her PR gets approved.

You need to get marriage certificate otherwise you can't sponsor her because you have not met with common law.

The good thing is that you have very strong evidence to prove your genuine relationship.

Good luck

 

[displacedcanuk]

You need to get marriage certificate otherwise you can't sponsor her because you can't meet with common law.

Appreciate if you could clarify why you don't think we meet the requirement.

 

[Cathy645]

You need to get marriage certificate otherwise you can't sponsor her because you can't meet with common law.

Appreciate if you could clarify why you don't think we meet the requirement.

What does the Government of Canada consider to be a common-law relationship?

You may apply to sponsor a common-law partner, of the opposite sex or the same sex. If so, you have to prove you have been living with your partner for at least 12 consecutive months in a relationship like a marriage.

That means living together for one year without any long periods where you did not see each other. Either partner may have left the home for work or business travel, family obligations, and so on. However, that separation must have been temporary and short.

 

[displacedcanuk]

(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.

Correct me if I am wrong, but based on the interpretation from the website, being unable to cohabitate due to social and political reasons in Indonesia, we should still be eligible under common law?

 

[canadianwoman]

You have to live together for 12 months to qualify as common law. You will need proof of that cohabitation and proof the relationship is genuine. You seem to have enough proof the relationship is genuine. You don't have enough for the cohabitation.
I think her staying in Canada while you stay with her one month then away for a month won't be good enough. If she accompanied you for 12 months it would be, as long as you can prove it. So if you two stayed together for one month in Canada then one month in Thailand, alternating like that, could work as long as her visa allowed it.

 

[Cathy645]

(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.

Correct me if I am wrong, but based on the interpretation from the website, being unable to cohabitate due to social and political reasons in Indonesia, we should still be eligible under common law?

You should check CIC website instead of other website.

Please wait for knowledgable members to answer your question.

I wish you good luck in PR application.

 

[canadianwoman]

She has a Canadian visa, so you could cohabitate here or in Thailand (depending on the visa for Thailand). CIC does not care if the reason for not cohabiting is job-related.

 

[displacedcanuk]

We have cohabitated for 12 months, since 2013 in December. Prior to that the risk of punishment in Indonesia was a formidable risk for us living together (Muslim/Ignostic), both in terms of religious views and political requirements to live/work in Indonesia (you have to be one of 6 recognized religions). The plan going forward is to have her stay in Canada while I work after applying (sorry if I didn't make that clear. The interpretation comes from the CIC link to Government of Canada Justice Law website.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We have cohabitated for 12 months, since 2013 in December. Prior to that the risk of punishment in Indonesia was a formidable risk for us living together (Muslim/Ignostic), both in terms of religious views and political requirements to live/work in Indonesia (you have to be one of 6 recognized religions). The plan going forward is to have her stay in Canada while I work after applying (sorry if I didn't make that clear. The interpretation comes from the CIC link to Government of Canada Justice Law website.

You stated in your first post that she has been living with you for 30 days at a time in Thailand due to visa restrictions. Have you actually lived together CONTINUOUSLY for one year and can you prove it?

 

[displacedcanuk]

We live together in Thailand while I work and then travel to Canada for my time off. Apart from short trips out of Thailand to visit her family and friends, we have airline tickets that show we are in country at the same time, along with letters from friends, family and co-workers to back it up. So, yes we have live together for a year continuously. At least in my understanding we have.

 

[canadianwoman]

If you have lived together for one year continuously, even if this was in different places, you qualify as common law. Not being able to live together in Indonesia is irrelevant, because you were able to live together somewhere else, as you did. In your application you can talk about your relationship in Indonesia and the difficulties there, but you have to prove one year of cohabitation as well.

 

[Rob_TO]

Sounds like a common-law app here will be in for a very long processing time and could run into many difficulties to prove 12 months of continuous cohabitation. CIC may view each time her visa status in Thailand ended and she left the country, as a break in the cohabitation. The rules here are quite vague and open to interpretation of the visa officer.

Would be much easier if you simply get married and apply that way.

 

[Cathy645]

We live together in Thailand while I work and then travel to Canada for my time off. Apart from short trips out of Thailand to visit her family and friends, we have airline tickets that show we are in country at the same time, along with letters from friends, family and co-workers to back it up. So, yes we have live together for a year continuously. At least in my understanding we have.

How can my common-law partner and I prove we have been together for 12 months?

Items that can be used as proof of a common-law relationship include:

a statutory declaration of a common-law union,
statements for shared bank accounts,
shared credit cards,
proof of shared ownership of residential property,
shared residential leases,
shared rental receipts,
bills for shared utilities accounts, such as
electricity,
gas or
telephone,
proof of shared management of household expenses,
evidence of shared purchases (especially of household items),
mail addressed to either or both of you at the same address,
important documents for both of you showing the same address, such as
identification documents,
driver’s licences and
insurance policies and
any other documents that show you have been living together.
You do not need to include all these items to prove your relationship is real. Citizenship and Immigration Canada may consider other proof as well

Photos, telephone bills and letters will not be returned. Do not send videos or CD-ROMs. Documents such as marriage certificates and passports will be returned. However, you should send certified photocopies, not originals.

 

[Cathy645]

Sounds like a common-law app here will be in for a very long processing time and could run into many difficulties to prove 12 months of continuous cohabitation. CIC may view each time her visa status in Thailand ended and she left the country, as a break in the cohabitation. The rules here are quite vague and open to interpretation of the visa officer.

Would be much easier if you simply get married and apply that way.

I agree.