Please help me!!! Didn't declare a common-law relationship and received a PFL

[nicole_33]

Hi, all,
I recently received a PFL during my inland spouse sponsorship immigration process in BC province. I am the sponsored person and have already obtained a spouse work permit in Canada, but there is a situation with the spouse immigration. We are now be concerned as common law relationship before my husband got his PR since I am not qualified to be sponsored. Two years ago, when my husband received his COPR letter, we had just lived together for a year, and I am a master student at that time. Then when he landed in Canada, his marital status was still single and he didn't update it. We only got married a year later in our country and then, last year, we both came to Canada and I applied for spouse immigration. Now, I received a letter from IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) saying that I don't meet the standards for spouse immigration because they believe my husband didn't inform them of my existence when he applied for PR. Fortunately, the PFL letter didn't mention misrepresentation. When my husband applied for PR, we both were abroad and not in Canada. In our country, there is no concept of common law, people only be viewed as married when they registered marriage. At that time, I was still a student, not graduated, and had not considered marriage. We only got married one year after I graduated, which was after he became a PR. We now have 30 days to make the final response. I wonder if there are any solutions? Can I explain from this perspective: when we were living together, I was still a student and didn't live with him every day. I hope someone can help me analyze and solve this problem! I would be very grateful!!!

 

[scylla]

Hi, all,
I recently received a PFL during my inland spouse sponsorship immigration process in BC province. I am the sponsored person and have already obtained a spouse work permit in Canada, but there is a situation with the spouse immigration. We are now be concerned as common law relationship before my husband got his PR since I am not qualified to be sponsored. Two years ago, when my husband received his COPR letter, we had just lived together for a year, and I am a master student at that time. Then when he landed in Canada, his marital status was still single and he didn't update it. We only got married a year later in our country and then, last year, we both came to Canada and I applied for spouse immigration. Now, I received a letter from IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) saying that I don't meet the standards for spouse immigration because they believe my husband didn't inform them of my existence when he applied for PR. Fortunately, the PFL letter didn't mention misrepresentation. When my husband applied for PR, we both were abroad and not in Canada. In our country, there is no concept of common law, people only be viewed as married when they registered marriage. At that time, I was still a student, not graduated, and had not considered marriage. We only got married one year after I graduated, which was after he became a PR. We now have 30 days to make the final response. I wonder if there are any solutions? Can I explain from this perspective: when we were living together, I was still a student and didn't live with him every day. I hope someone can help me analyze and solve this problem! I would be very grateful!!!

It's probably best to hire a lawyer at this point to assist you in responding.

When you say you were a student and didn't live with him every day, what does this mean? Did you have a different primary address? Can you provide rental agreements and other evidence showing this other address was your primary address? You would then also need to explain why you indicated your husband's address in your PR sponsorship application instead of your own for this period.

If, on the other hand, you had the same primary address as your husband for a year or more before he came to Canada and became a PR, then you were common law and he was required to add you to his application before landing.

Get a lawyer.

 

[armoured]

Overall my comments are the same as @scylla's above here, and perhaps a bit more at length here:
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/spouse-sponsorship-pfl-for-didnt-declare-common-law-relationship-before.865462/post-10995801

we had just lived together for a year, and I am a master student at that time. ...
At that time, I was still a student, not graduated, and had not considered marriage. ...
We only got married one year after I graduated, which was after he became a PR.
...when we were living together, I was still a student and didn't live with him every day.

Specific questions for you to be clear about:
-when you moved in with him, was that as a couple (eg did you have separate sleeping rooms at any point)? Were there other roommates during this period of cohabitation? As above, what do you mean you didn't live with him every day?
-when he left for Canada, did you end the relationship? Was the understanding that you would continue together? If not, when did the decision to 'get back together' and get married happen?
-your timeline is unclear, eg when did he become a PR / you graduate / get married?

You don't have to share all these things here, but I'm pointing out things that may be factually important and substantive in how your case is seen.