Proof of common-law relationship.

[gm1517]

Hello.

I have a couple of questions so I hope it's not too much!

1). I am applying for Permanent residence within this month, I have been living with my boyfriend for about 2 and a half years, he is a Canadian citizen.
Although we've been living together, we don't really have a lot of legal documents that prove it, we don't have joint bank accounts and our apartment lease is under his name only, since he was already living there when I moved in. I have a lot of pictures of us together and some with our families, our ID's have the same address, we get all our mail together as well, and also when I applied for my student permit He wrote a letter saying that I would be staying with him, and that was over a year ago, so Immigration must have some sort of registry of that as well I suppose. Would pictures and letters be enough? What else would you recommend me to include as proof with the application?

2). In the application says that we should provide statutory declarations from people that know us, friends and family I assume. How many letters could we need in this case? I was thinking probably both our parents could provide one and maybe a couple of close friends?

3). In the proof of conjugal relationship part, it says we should provide attitudes and mindsets towards our relationship, does that mean we both have to write letters about our relationship? It just sounds a informal to write my feelings and them send them to the government, so I'm just wondering how is this suppose to be done?

4). Last question, is there a way to change our status to common-law BEFORE we send the application? I know he can change his marital status but I'm not sure what that implies, because I've heard for that I need to have a Social Security number and I don't have a work permit yet so I can't get one.

Thanks and sorry for all the questions!

 

[scylla]

Did your boyfriend file his taxes last year and the year before as common law?

 

[Ponga]

Hello (again),

1. At the very least, you should ask anyone that can confirm that you have been living together, to write a short letter attesting to that, as THIS is the most important piece of the Common-Law sponsorship puzzle. Do you know his landlord, and if so, would s/he consider writing a letter for you? Having mail delivered to the same address is good, but having something from his landlord is even better.

2. That sounds good. Make sure that at least two of these are notarized.

3. Proof of conjugal relationship part?? For a Common-Law couple, this is inclusive. Many people do in fact write a letter from their perspective about their partner and their relationship. Don't be shy.

4. If you have been living with your boyfriend for 2-1/2 years, he should have changed his tax status with CRA 1-1/2 years ago. Hopefully, he didn't file as single for tax year 2012.

You will not have, nor will you ever have a Social Security number in Canada. You will, someday, have a Social Insurance Number (SIN). Once you have your Open Work Permit, you will get a temporary number, which will convert to a permanent number after you have PR.

 

[gm1517]

Last years I believe he hasn't filed his taxes (I know, he's a bit late on that), could he file them as common-law this time? What does that imply, does it matter that I only have a student status in the country?
The year before that he probably filed them as single still.

 

[Ponga]

Last years I believe he hasn't filed his taxes (I know, he's a bit late on that), could he file them as common-law this time? What does that imply, does it matter that I only have a student status in the country?
The year before that he probably filed them as single still.

You may run into a problem if his dates of Common-Law between CRA and your application don't match.

Basically, if he was in a Common-Law relationship with you, yet filed as being single...that's a form of tax fraud.

 

[gm1517]

It was ignorance, we checked and apparently I had to have a SIN number for him to change his status to common-law, but now I see that you don't.
Would that affect my application or him? I don't see why 'cause I wasn't working at the time, I was just studying so I wasn't providing any income. Is there any way to fix it?

 

[Ponga]

Yeah, that's not true at all. A person can be the partner in a Common-Law relationship without having a SIN.

I'm not a lawyer, so I can't speak to whether this will be a problem for you or not. Personally, I'd be surprised if it is, since you are likely not the first couple to make what appears to be an honest mistake.

FYI, even without income, you should have been included in his tax return, as he may have been eligible for tax credits, since you were unable to work.

 

[gm1517]

Well I'll make sure he files them as common-law for last year. Hopefully it won't 'cause any problem to either him or me. Thanks a lot for both answers!

 

[Rob_TO]

Well I'll make sure he files them as common-law for last year. Hopefully it won't 'cause any problem to either him or me. Thanks a lot for both answers!

What is the exact date you started living together? You would have become officially/legally common-law for tax and immigration purposes exactly 12 months to the day from that date. There is nothing you need to sign or do, simply by living together 12 months you obtain common-law status.

So if your 12 months after starting to live together happened on any day before Dec 31, 2012, then for the 2012 tax year he should have claimed taxes as common-law. If this is the case, then he should do a re-assessment of his 2012 taxes, and re-file them under common-law with you as his spouse/dependent. He may actually get a bigger refund adjustment.

However if you became common-law anytime in 2013, then it was correct for him to file as single in 2012, and just make sure he files as common-law for 2013 tax year.

 

[gm1517]

We started living together on January 2012, does it still count as common-law?

 

[Rob_TO]

We started living together on January 2012, does it still count as common-law?

So you became officially common-law on January 2013. This is the date you will also put in your PR application as the date you entered into the common-law relationship. Therefore it was correct for him to file as SINGLE for tax year 2012. As mentioned, make super sure he files as common-law for 2013 tax year.

Also, he is actually supposed to have told the CRA his status changed to common-law shortly after it happened, so he should have told them in Jan/Feb 2013 that his status changed. But if single vs common-law doesn't affect any benefits/credits he has been getting since that time, it shouldn't matter.