Please Help!! Advice needed for Common Law Sponsorship!!

[JB1922]

Hi all ! I'm so thankful i found this forum as it has helped me with many questions about me sponsoring my boyfriend from Barbados. I am still getting used to this so i may have already posted this as a reply on another thread. :-[

Here is our situation:

I am a Canadian citizen ( born and raised) He is Barbadian.We have been together for almost 9 years now and he moved in with me and my parents back in 2012. We used to pay a set amount of money to my parents every month to cover rent and bills and were given a receipt as proof of payment. After about a year and half of living together i left the island to study for two years ( i traveled back to Barbados several times in this period). After i graduated, in May 2015 we have resumed living together paying rent again to my parents.

I would like to know if the receipts i have can be used as proof of cohabitation as we also have many messages,pictures, declarations from family and friends, and emails that prove we live together and our relationship is genuine. I am moving back to Canada and would like to sponsor him under inland -common law sponsorship. Marriage is definitely an option but we didn't want to plan a rushed wedding based on this. Please, any advise or information will be greatly appreciated. We really want to just be able to start our lives and future family in Canada as soon as possible.

 

[Aquakitty]

Yes, you can use those receipts as part of the proof. As long as you lived together for 1 consecutive year (and you say you did). Leaving for that long might be a problem, as they do consider you no longer common-law after a certain point (but I can't say what that point would be). As long as you kept visiting each other it would probably be ok, and you did resume your living situation when you returned.

You'll want a bit more than that though, such as joint bank account statements, bills in each other's names, tickets etc. Barbados is visa-exempt, right? He can live with you in Canada even if you apply outland. You just need to renew his status at the 5 month mark.

 

[JB1922]

Thank you so much for your reply Aquakitty!

Unfortunately he doesnt have any statements with our shared address on it. He would pick up his mail from his parents house who lived close by ( it's a small island lol). What if we open a joint account now before i leave Barbados?. I have a statement where he signed off as a surety for my loan, can i use that?

Yes thankfully Barbados is visa -exepmt. The reason he is not initally coming to Canada with me is that we are still trying to work out with my family about accommodating the both of us. My plan was to come to Canada first ( as i have a job opportunity ), find a house/apartment and then let him come to Canada and apply for sponsorship etc.

Would the time spent apart affect our application?

The reason we want to take the inland route is because he wants to be able to work while waiting. Can you give me an estimate for the amount of time we would have to wait between me applying to be a sponsor and him being able to work?

 

[surleplateau]

Here is CIC's explanation:

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

The thing is: if you don't have a marriage certificate, then you need 12-months-exactly, no skipped months, of something like bills or other things that tie both of you to the same address for those 12 months. Think of those 12-months of proof as the "equivalent" to a marriage certificate for common-law couples.

Opening up a joint account now will only add to the 12-months of proof, but by itself, if it is created *after* your 12-months cohabitation period, it does not in itself show you guys are common-law.

If he has no official records or bills in his name at the same address as you during that time, I'm afraid that won't be enough.

The photos and records of contact and statements from friends/family can proof the relationship is genuine/long-term, but: Common-law needs 12-months of solid proof!

Honestly, if you can't establish 12-months of proof, just have a quick courthouse marriage and plan for a more traditional ceremony later (there's even space for this kind of thing in the applicant's questionnaire).

 

[surleplateau]

We used to pay a set amount of money to my parents every month to cover rent and bills and were given a receipt as proof of payment.

Sorry, I missed this. If the receipts are in both your names, for 12-straight months, with the same address, then yes, it should be good proof.

Also have your parents write up a "statutory declaration" letter (they can sign it in front of a city clerk or lawyer/notary) that you guys were tenants at the same time for those 12-months.

 

[JB1922]

Thank you for your reply Surleplateau !

Yes i have receipts from January 2012 until August 2013 then i went away to study for 2 years where each year, half of the year i spent abroad and half in Barbados living again with him. After i graduated last May we resumed living together until now. My Parents will have no problem writing up a statutory declaration.

We both want to move to Canada but i will be arriving before him because of a job opportunity and he still has loose ends to tie up before he can pack up everything and go. I just wanted to know if that proof should be sufficient and what kind time window are we looking at between him coming to canada, us filing all necessary paperwork for an inland PR application and OWP and him being able to work. Since i would be the one supporting us, we want brace ourselves financially.

If we did get married right before applying, would it not be a big red flag? Although we have plenty of proof of our long relationship.

 

[JB1922]

Hi all!, I have another question that has been really stressing me out.I am a Canadian citizen that has been living in Barbados for the past 15 years. I have just returned to Canada to live about 2 weeks ago. I got a part time job while i look for a job in the field i which my degree is. I want to apply to be a sponsor for inland sponsorship and an OWP for my boyfriend in a bout 6 months. when i request my option c printout from the CRA, it will only show my income over the last 6 months, which would not be much money (providing i don't find another job by then) but it will be enough to support the both of us . I am 24 and i only graduated from university last year. I have been together with my boyfriend for 9 years and we have lived together for about 4 years in Barbados. We plan to get married and for him to move to Canada. My question is will CIC have an issue with my option C printout given it's short span of time and the amount of money?. I can obtain tax records from when i was working in Barbados but they are from 2012-2013. I haven't worked since then because i was in school and my boyfriend and family supported me.Any advise will be greatly appreciated.