Please advise if you can...
I have been with my partner, a canadian citizen for twelve years and have two children aged 6 and 4 together. (i am a uk citizen)
we were due to marry last year but due to finance reason it fell through and has been put on hold. my partner has recently moved to canada for work as he was self employed here (uk) and has struggled for work for some time.
our children and i would like to move to canada to be with him but we are unsure if we qualify for the family class sponsorship. my partner can sponsor us (and his dad who is canadian and lives local to him is willing to be a co signer if my partners income fall short etc) and we technically are common-law due to be married but we dont think we have enough proof.
we have lots of photos, possibky emails, letters, holiday tickets, details of frequent trips to canada together etc over the years but we fall short on confirming 'committment'. for the last 5 years the address we are at was under my name only and we have no joint bank accounts etc. we may have credit/debit card receipts for things he has bought for the house but thats it.
although my partner is in canada, i remain in the uk at the moment so the application will be from outside canada, right? is this the best option if i want to be able to travel in and out of canada on a tourist visa while a permanent residency application is being processed?
where do we stand, can anyone help?