Outland Sponsorship address of residence

[juljud]

Hello,

My partner and I will arrive soon in Canada and launch an Outland Common law partner Sponsorship process.
We are French and Hungarian currently residing in Ireland together for a year soon.
Regarding the residency, as the application will be outland and the 2 of us will physically be present in Canada, we won't be able to lodge the application through Buffalo as we need to have lived in Canada for a year for this. We want to lodge if through London as it has better processing time than Vienna for her.

Questions are:
-Could we definitely leave our Irish appartement before we land in Canada and still be able to process through London (and still use the old address as residency)?
-What about if we keep the Irish appartement for 2-3 months the time we lodge the application through London and then leave it?
My partner would then not have any more residence in Ireland, she could use another address in Hungary if needed and we would forward all the letters of the Irish address to the other one.
Would it affect the fact that the application is processed in London? Do we have to let London know about her change of recidency? Will they forward the application to Vienna?

Additionaly there is a question in the Sponsor Spouse/Partner Questionnaire: "Are you currently living with your sponsor"
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5490E.PDF
How to answer this if the application is Outland but the Sponsoree is currently "visiting" in Canada for the entire duration of the Sponsorship process?
I guess we need to answer No but it's a bit strange.
We were planning as well to wait a bit after landing before launching the application to allow us to have more time together and more proofs for the Sponsorship (even Canadian proofs as phone bills,etc...).
Will the time we spend in Canada count even for Outland as we need to answer "When did your sponsor return to Canada" if we say No to "Are you currently living with your sponsor"?


Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[RobsLuv]

Hello,

My partner and I will arrive soon in Canada and launch an Outland Common law partner Sponsorship process.
We are French and Hungarian currently residing in Ireland together for a year soon.
Regarding the residency, as the application will be outland and the 2 of us will physically be present in Canada, we won't be able to lodge the application through Buffalo as we need to have lived in Canada for a year for this. We want to lodge if through London as it has better processing time than Vienna for her.

Questions are:
-Could we definitely leave our Irish appartement before we land in Canada and still be able to process through London (and still use the old address as residency)?
-What about if we keep the Irish appartement for 2-3 months the time we lodge the application through London and then leave it?
My partner would then not have any more residence in Ireland, she could use another address in Hungary if needed and we would forward all the letters of the Irish address to the other one.
Would it affect the fact that the application is processed in London? Do we have to let London know about her change of recidency? Will they forward the application to Vienna?

Where the application processes isn't about how long the applicant has lived in a particular place. An applicant for permanent residence can have their application processed at the embassy that represents 1) their country of birth/nationality, 2) their country of permanent residence, or 3) a country to which they have been legally admitted with temporary status valid for at least one year. So, if your partner is legally admitted to Canada, on entry, with documentation that authorizes her to stay for a period of at least one year, she will be eligible to apply through Buffalo - even if she has only been in Canada for a week. Same thing for processing via London - if she has documents that prove that she was admitted to Ireland with authorization to stay for at least one year (and that status is still valid), she can use her residential address in Ireland and have the application processed through London. You can always use the Canadian address as the mailing address so all correspondence comes to you in Canada, regardless of which embassy is processing the application. (The residential address is only used to tell CPC-Mississauga which overseas visa office is to process the file.) Keep in mind that if an interview is required, your partner will have to attend at whatever embassy is processing the application, and her passport will have to get to that embassy whenever it's finally requested in order for her to receive her Confirmation of Permanent Residence that she needs to have to "land". So in requesting Buffalo (or London) it's important to be sure that she'll have authorization to enter those countries in the event of an interview, and that she can get her passport to them. It's also important to understand that there is no guarantee that she'd be readmitted to Canada if she has to leave to attend an interview.

Additionaly there is a question in the Sponsor Spouse/Partner Questionnaire: "Are you currently living with your sponsor"
How to answer this if the application is Outland but the Sponsoree is currently "visiting" in Canada for the entire duration of the Sponsorship process?
I guess we need to answer No but it's a bit strange.

Again, this depends on what type of documentation she's given on entry to Canada. If she is given a document that proves her entry date (and thus proves how long she's eligible to remain in Canada) it's possible to say you're "living together" in Canada. Even a stamp in her passport gives her the proof she needs to demonstrate when she entered, and to apply to extend that temporary status (supported by the PR ap in process) by mail from within Canada - which is very important if she intends to remain in Canada while the PR ap is processing. She can only use your Canadian address as her residential address if she's legally admitted for at least a year, because the address is how they determine which visa office processes the file, but if she can demonstrate that she has valid temporary status in Canada when you submit the application (regardless of for how long), you can say you are "living together" and the time spent together under that status is used as part of your cohabitation for common-law qualification.

We were planning as well to wait a bit after landing before launching the application to allow us to have more time together and more proofs for the Sponsorship (even Canadian proofs as phone bills,etc...). Will the time we spend in Canada count even for Outland as we need to answer "When did your sponsor return to Canada" if we say No to "Are you currently living with your sponsor"?

Qualifying as common-law partners involves being able to demonstrate that you have co-habitated for a period of at least one year. It does not matter which country you've been living in - the proof is in the evidences you provide of having lived together. "When did your sponsor return to Canada?" is not necessarily a question included to make a determination about common-law qualification, although it could be used for that, too. But in a case like yours, when the two of you are hoping to come to Canada together, when the sponsor returned to Canada is a question you can answer, but it really doesn't have implications to the common-law qualification unless the sponsor's return to Canada ended the cohabitation and several months/years have passed since that date and there needs to be a determination as to whether or not a couple separated for that long are still common-law partners. Yes, time spent living together in Canada can count towards the common-law qualification - it doesn't matter whether you're applying inland or outland. The important piece is demonstrating the co-habitation for a period of at least one continuous year - and the documentation of her valid temporary status in Canada is a big part of helping to prove that you're still together after your return to Canada, and for how long.

Hope that helps.

 

[juljud]

Thank you for your answer RobsLuv, I did not know about that the only fact to be accepted in a country for a year is enough to state the country as your residence.
I doubt though that she will get a year at the border and that we can apply through Buffalo, we'd be happy even if she gets few months, even if she enters without problems...

As we are Europeans, we don't have any Visa requirements to live/work in any countries of the EU so with what you wrote, I doubt we will have any problems even if she does not reside anymore at the Irish address.
By precaution I think we will keep the apartment few months the time we lodge the application and maybe in case something goes wrong at the border for my partner.

So hopefully we will be able to state that she is living with me in Canada and add a few months to our cohabitation and make the entire application stronger.

Now as the time to land is getting closer, it's really her entry in Canada that worries us, I'm a PR and we will state at the border that we intend to lodge a sponsorship application but it looks like there is no way to be absolutely certain that she will pass without problems and be allowed as a Visitor (we are from Visa exempt countries).
We are trying to get proofs that she will leave if something goes wrong (lease, return ticket, interview as outland) but it's like there are no magic thing to do or have that will guarantee her entrance...