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spikehades

Full Member
Oct 20, 2013
29
1
So, I have applied for a common law family class visa, however, although we did not have the same residence for one year went we sent the application. We had been cohabiting but, just staying at each others addresses. The apartments were linked to our employment contract and we couldn't arrange our joint home until after the employment contract finished.
By now we have been officially at the same apartment for 1 year, and we have lots of evidence to show our relationship is genuine, however I fear that they will deny us based on the technicality.

I just checked that I have enough points as a UK citizen to get a work permit for canada. It takes on average 2 months for a work permit for the UK to be accepted. We have decided to get married in August, so if our family class application is denied can we re-apply and can I also apply for a work permit concurrently?

Or will that raise red flags?
 
in order to get a work permit, i believe you need to have an actual job offer and the company needs to do an Labour Market Opinion. From the other threads about working in canada, it sounds LMOs are taking upwards of 5 mo. to get, if they are even approved at all. it may just make sense to gather the application for spousal sponsorship, and send it in as soon as you can get your marriage certificate.
 
rhcohen2014 said:
in order to get a work permit, i believe you need to have an actual job offer and the company needs to do an Labour Market Opinion. From the other threads about working in canada, it sounds LMOs are taking upwards of 5 mo. to get, if they are even approved at all. it may just make sense to gather the application for spousal sponsorship, and send it in as soon as you can get your marriage certificate.

I don't know that much about UK work permits, but I believe they have something like an open work permit, or working holiday visa - where you wouldn't need an LMO.
 
He or she has to be under 30 for a holiday work visa .When did you send the application in.Did you apply inland or outland?You could be waiting some time for a response . If they do catch that you didnt complete the 1 year they will refuse the application., from what i have have seen on the forums .May be pull the application now ,save yourself some money and apply once you get married .

It can take 10 months from outland in the Uk and it may take all this time before you have any word .
 
taffy7 said:
He or she has to be under 30 for a holiday work visa .

Plus all of the spaces for this year were taken a long time ago.
 
I was thinking of applying under the Federal skilled workers visa. It has an average processing time of 2 months.
 
spikehades said:
I was thinking of applying under the Federal skilled workers visa. It has an average processing time of 2 months.

Federal Skilled Working visa is closed at the moment and it takes ages for the application to be process.

I think the good option is withdraw your application now and file for Spousal if two of you are planning to get married in few months. It's pretty straight forward where as applying for common law you have to send a lot of documents like Statutory Declaration from your family and friends, Joint lease agreement, joint bank account, credit card and ect.
You have to prove them that you live together for 12 months to be qualified. In the eyes of CIC, if you cant prove it, it doesn't happen. That's one of their mantras and they're pretty strict about it...
 
spikehades said:
I was thinking of applying under the Federal skilled workers visa. It has an average processing time of 2 months.

2 months is the processing time for a temporary work permit. In order to get a work permit, you will first require a job offer from a Canadian employer with a positive Labour Market Opinion.

Posted processing time for 80% of Federal Skilled Worker applications through the London office is 27 months http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/perm/skilled-fed.asp#europe
 
Also, will CIC send all our documents back after they make a decision, including police certificates?
 
Carlaganda23 said:
Federal Skilled Working visa is closed at the moment and it takes ages for the application to be process.

I think the good option is withdraw your application now and file for Spousal if two of you are planning to get married in few months. It's pretty straight forward where as applying for common law you have to send a lot of documents like Statutory Declaration from your family and friends, Joint lease agreement, joint bank account, credit card and ect.
You have to prove them that you live together for 12 months to be qualified. In the eyes of CIC, if you cant prove it, it doesn't happen. That's one of their mantras and they're pretty strict about it...

I think you are right. The application has reached the final consideration stage. There was a request for new information last week. I need to decide whether to withdraw and re send. Will withdrawing now raise a red flag? And applying immediately after marrying - will that raise a red flag? Also, if we decide to do an inland application , is getting an OWP straight forward?

Again thanks for your help.
 
spikehades said:
I think you are right. The application has reached the final consideration stage. There was a request for new information last week. I need to decide whether to withdraw and re send. Will withdrawing now raise a red flag? And applying immediately after marrying - will that raise a red flag? Also, if we decide to do an inland application , is getting an OWP straight forward?

Again thanks for your help.

Whether to withdraw now, or wait until the decision is made is up to you. You can apply immediately after marrying, as long as you have a marriage certificate. If you have been together for a while (and have proofs of that), then there is no reason why you can't apply just after getting married.
CIC process is 2-folds: first, CIC needs to establish whether you are a member of the family class (married, common law, or conjugal). Then they will examine if your relationship is genuine... but these are 2 separate things. So - in your case, they might not be able to determine whether you are common law or not - if they don't have proofs that you have lived together for 12 months, they will reject your application based on "not being a member of the family class". It doesn't mean that they think that your relationship is not genuine - it's just that you don't qualify.

If you get married - you qualify as a member of the family class. Then they will assess your relationship, and if you have enough proofs, there is no reason why your PR would not be approved.

Inland - you can apply for an OWP but you won't get it until the first stage is approved (somewhere between 6 and 9 months). If you're from the UK, outland is most likely a better idea - as you might get your full PR by that time (see in my signature the spreadsheet for London).

Good luck,
Sweden
 
Thanks for your comprehensive reply. We have sent a lot of evidence to CIC, if they reject the application, will they send it all back?
 
spikehades said:
Thanks for your comprehensive reply. We have sent a lot of evidence to CIC, if they reject the application, will they send it all back?

it's hit and miss... you can ask for it, and in your case, I would - explain that you would like to get all the proofs back, and hopefully they will send at least some of it. Some people had more luck than others, but if indeed your application is denied, then you have nothing to loose.
 
Sweden said:
Whether to withdraw now, or wait until the decision is made is up to you. You can apply immediately after marrying, as long as you have a marriage certificate. If you have been together for a while (and have proofs of that), then there is no reason why you can't apply just after getting married.
CIC process is 2-folds: first, CIC needs to establish whether you are a member of the family class (married, common law, or conjugal). Then they will examine if your relationship is genuine... but these are 2 separate things. So - in your case, they might not be able to determine whether you are common law or not - if they don't have proofs that you have lived together for 12 months, they will reject your application based on "not being a member of the family class". It doesn't mean that they think that your relationship is not genuine - it's just that you don't qualify.

If you get married - you qualify as a member of the family class. Then they will assess your relationship, and if you have enough proofs, there is no reason why your PR would not be approved.

Inland - you can apply for an OWP but you won't get it until the first stage is approved (somewhere between 6 and 9 months). If you're from the UK, outland is most likely a better idea - as you might get your full PR by that time (see in my signature the spreadsheet for London).

Good luck,
Sweden

What would happen if they get married now and send the marriage certificate to the VO? Would this look suspicious or would it make their existing application stronger?