My partner and I are currently on PGWP. When we applied, we filed as single because we didn’t think we met the common-law criteria due to insufficient proof. She moved in with me in August 2022, but we didn’t have a lease or any documentation, and my partner didn’t update her bills or accounts to reflect our address.
Starting in June 2023, we began accruing sufficient documents such as joint accounts, IRCC correspondences, CRA NOAs, and eventually a lease together. In June 2024, I updated my status with the CRA to common-law as we could finally prove one year of cohabitation. It was then that we realized common-law status is de facto, and we should have filed as common-law for the PGWP.
The reason we filed our PGWPs as single is that in December 2023, we couldn’t prove one year of cohabitation and thought it would be misrepresentation to claim common-law without sufficient proof.
What is our safest recourse now? Should we raise a web form to amend our PGWP relationship status and explain our misunderstanding? We still cannot adequately prove our cohabitation before June 2023.
There was no intent or benefit in hiding our status; we just lacked the ability to prove it and misunderstood the law. We also qualified for everything on our own without needing sponsorship.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
N.B: we haven’t applied for PR, neither do we qualify yet under EE. We both qualify on our own under the Quebec Graduate Stream and we will be pursuing that route since we are fluent in French. However, we want to rectify all errors before we apply.
Starting in June 2023, we began accruing sufficient documents such as joint accounts, IRCC correspondences, CRA NOAs, and eventually a lease together. In June 2024, I updated my status with the CRA to common-law as we could finally prove one year of cohabitation. It was then that we realized common-law status is de facto, and we should have filed as common-law for the PGWP.
The reason we filed our PGWPs as single is that in December 2023, we couldn’t prove one year of cohabitation and thought it would be misrepresentation to claim common-law without sufficient proof.
What is our safest recourse now? Should we raise a web form to amend our PGWP relationship status and explain our misunderstanding? We still cannot adequately prove our cohabitation before June 2023.
There was no intent or benefit in hiding our status; we just lacked the ability to prove it and misunderstood the law. We also qualified for everything on our own without needing sponsorship.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
N.B: we haven’t applied for PR, neither do we qualify yet under EE. We both qualify on our own under the Quebec Graduate Stream and we will be pursuing that route since we are fluent in French. However, we want to rectify all errors before we apply.