Working under the table in different city then common law sponsor

[cinloo]

Recently someone called Canada Border Services stating that my partner was living in a different city then me. The truth is he does have an apartment away from me because before we applied for a spousal sponsorship application he was working under the table in a different city. We decided to keep the apartment because when his work permit came through he would have work there.
CBS are calling our application false because he doesn't reside with me constantly. However, his true "home" is with me and we have been living together for around 8 years. They suspect we are not a couple because of his alternate residence but we are very much a couple and save for my landlord (who lives in the same house as us) giving a sworn statement that we have lived together as a couple for this time, we don't have "absolute" proof that we are and have been a couple for 16 years now. We never mentioned his apartment because we didn't want to disclose his working under the table but now we're facing his possible removal! We are both dying with worry. Can a couple still be considered common law if they don't live together every day of the year? Also, what could the possible consequences be for his having worked under the table? We are willing to pay a fine or repay the taxes he might owe but could they really separate a union of 16 years simply because we are a little "unconventional"? We love each other dearly and the thought of losing him is tearing me apart!!!

 

[zardoz]

If you submitted an inland application, I can understand why CIC is unhappy if you are not cohabiting.
You have an uphill battle now that you have raised a red flag.

Good luck...

 

[Alurra71]

Yes, then can tear apart a 16 year union and they won't bat an eyelash whilst they do it.

What you need to wonder now is who it was that called them and gave such an 'infallable' report that they were indeed moved to follow up on it? If this is the case, you can rest assured they may have also moved to get the proper information regarding his working under the table. In my known experiences, a simple anonymous call won't trigger them to go on a hunting expedition so the first thing you should do is secure you 'homeland' and figure out who is trying to stab you in the back!

If he is found to have been breaking the law, by working under the table, there is nothing you can do but suffer the consequences because he broke the law. Paying taxes and such is not going to be the punishment.

If I were you, I would be honest with them, that he used to do some work on the side and so he kept an apartment to save on travel costs. However, you will have to do some TALL explaining as to how he is still able to afford to keep it as well as maintain your current home. Do you guys have shared bank accounts, credit cards, insurances, anything else you can add to it?

I am afraid that Zardoz is correct here, you have raised a few flags and you have to now overcome these.

 

[zardoz]

For clarity, these are the requirements for inland sponsorship.

Whom may I sponsor using this application package?

You may sponsor your spouse or common‑law partner if he or she meets the following requirements:

lives with you in Canada,
has a valid passport or travel document,
is 16 years of age or older,
is your spouse or common‑law partner for genuine reasons and not primarily to obtain permanent resident status in Canada.
AND:

If you are married

You can sponsor the person as your spouse if your marriage is a legally valid civil marriage.

If your spouse is of the:

opposite sex and your marriage took place outside Canada, the marriage must be valid both under the laws of the jurisdiction where it took place and under Canadian law;
same sex, the marriage will be recognized for immigration purposes, where the marriage:
was legally performed in Canada, or
if performed outside of Canada, the marriage must be legally recognized according to both the law of the place where the marriage occurred and under Canadian law.
If you are in a common‑law relationship

You can sponsor the person as your common‑law partner

regardless of his or her sex, and
you are cohabiting in a conjugal relationship and have done so for at least one year.

Note that it says "are" and not "have". Present tense.

Finally, as an afterthought, you asked for the worst that could happen.
They could refuse the application, to which there is no appeal as it's an inland application.
They then deport him for illegal work as he now has no "public policy" protection.

 

[JRPW]

Recently someone called Canada Border Services stating that my partner was living in a different city then me. The truth is he does have an apartment away from me because before we applied for a spousal sponsorship application he was working under the table in a different city. We decided to keep the apartment because when his work permit came through he would have work there.
CBS are calling our application false because he doesn't reside with me constantly. However, his true "home" is with me and we have been living together for around 8 years. They suspect we are not a couple because of his alternate residence but we are very much a couple and save for my landlord (who lives in the same house as us) giving a sworn statement that we have lived together as a couple for this time, we don't have "absolute" proof that we are and have been a couple for 16 years now. We never mentioned his apartment because we didn't want to disclose his working under the table but now we're facing his possible removal! We are both dying with worry. Can a couple still be considered common law if they don't live together every day of the year? Also, what could the possible consequences be for his having worked under the table? We are willing to pay a fine or repay the taxes he might owe but could they really separate a union of 16 years simply because we are a little "unconventional"? We love each other dearly and the thought of losing him is tearing me apart!!!

Reap what you sow. I don't mean to sound cruel, but you DIDN'T follow the conditions that are REQUIRED by CIC. If your application is allowed to proceed, it will be a slap in the face to every other couple who has applied and abided by the conditions set by CIC.

 

[Becki567]

Reap what you sow. I don't mean to sound cruel, but you DIDN'T follow the conditions that are REQUIRED by CIC. If your application is allowed to proceed, it will be a slap in the face to every other couple who has applied and abided by the conditions set by CIC.

I have to agree. Many many many people on this forum have struggled financially ( or just with boredom) while they followed the "no working" rule. I imagine they deal with this swiftly and without pause or it would encourage others to break the law.

 

[cinloo]

I understand the severity of the situation we're in but is there any hope for us?
We unfortunately had a very bad lawyer and the information he gave us was wrong.
I am so scared!
Please if anyone has any advice or encouragement I could really use it.
If he does get sent back to Germany is there any possibility of us to apply as out of country?

 

[Ponga]

Recently someone called Canada Border Services stating that my partner was living in a different city then me. The truth is he does have an apartment away from me because before we applied for a spousal sponsorship application he was working under the table in a different city. We decided to keep the apartment because when his work permit came through he would have work there.
CBS are calling our application false because he doesn't reside with me constantly. However, his true "home" is with me and we have been living together for around 8 years. They suspect we are not a couple because of his alternate residence but we are very much a couple and save for my landlord (who lives in the same house as us) giving a sworn statement that we have lived together as a couple for this time, we don't have "absolute" proof that we are and have been a couple for 16 years now. We never mentioned his apartment because we didn't want to disclose his working under the table but now we're facing his possible removal! We are both dying with worry. Can a couple still be considered common law if they don't live together every day of the year? Also, what could the possible consequences be for his having worked under the table? We are willing to pay a fine or repay the taxes he might owe but could they really separate a union of 16 years simply because we are a little "unconventional"? We love each other dearly and the thought of losing him is tearing me apart!!!

The term `Lack of Status' (according to CIC) pertains to someone that has stayed beyond their visitor status (overstayed), or worked without authorization, but since he has done both...I don't know how/if that applies to him. Maybe, but he would basically be a double out of status person, I guess??

Here's the excerpt from CIC:

Lack of Status
For the purposes of the current public policy only, persons with a “lack of status” refers to those in the following situations:
• persons who have overstayed a visa, visitor record, work permit or student permit;
• persons who have worked or studied without being authorized to do so under the Act;
• persons who have entered Canada without the required visa or other document required under the Regulations;
• persons who have entered Canada without a valid passport or travel document (provided valid documents are acquired by the time CIC seeks to grant permanent residence).

If the truth of the matter is that you have NOT been living together (you know what I mean) as required by the common-law guidelines (no matter how you try to justify it to fit your situation), you will likely have great difficulty proving your relationship.

Hopefully, someone with much more knowledge about this can comment further.

Good luck.

 

[SenoritaBella]

Not to mention a possible charge of misrepresentation which carries a 2 year ban from Canada. What I have never understood is how people from visa-exempt countries(Germany in this case) break the rules with all the avenues available to them. Not that anyone should break the rules.

Why didn't he apply for a work permit - the one you get through an employer?

If the OP has been in a 8 year union, why wasn't sponsorship done 8 years ago?

If the truth of the matter is that you have NOT been living together (you know what I mean) as required by the common-law guidelines (no matter how you try to justify it to fit your situation), you will likely have great difficulty proving your relationship.

Hopefully, someone with much more knowledge about this can comment further.

Good luck.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I understand the severity of the situation we're in but is there any hope for us?
We unfortunately had a very bad lawyer and the information he gave us was wrong.
I am so scared!
Please if anyone has any advice or encouragement I could really use it.
If he does get sent back to Germany is there any possibility of us to apply as out of country?

I strongly disagree with what you have done. You and he have willingly and knowingly broken several laws. I doubt that the lawyer told you that working under the table and without a work permit is legal, so don't try to shift the blame or explain it away based on bad legal advice. CIC will not accept that as an excuse either.

As said above, for everyone else on this forum who went about the process the legal way, regardless of the hardship it caused, it's a slap in the face.


That said, I will attempt to give you some advice.

There is a strong possibility that the inland app will be refused now that they know he has a separate residence. You can try to explain the situation, wait it out, see what the decision is. Most likely, they will discover that he was illegally working, order him to leave Canada, slap a ban on him and of course, refuse the PR app. He should leave Canada before he is deported, as deportation will make it much harder to file an outland application. If you file outland, the app would depend entirely on being able to prove you are common-law and have lived together for a full year (actually lived together, NOT when he has a separate residence). Or you can get married; you would still need to prove a genuine relationship but you would not be required to have lived together for a year.

 

[cinloo]

The reason we never applied earlier was because by time we considered it he had already overstayed and we were worried that he might have been sent back. Basically we were young and we were stupid. His lack of status was a huge strain on our relationship and we finally decided to do something about it. As I mentioned earlier our lawyer gave us a lot of false information and we thought as long as he stopped working until his workering permit came through we would be fine. I guess we're both still pretty stupid. But that doesn't mean we're not in love. I very much appreciate all of your advice.

 

[cinloo]

My partner did stop working after we applied and I KNOW how we were going about it in the past was wrong. That is why we decided to apply for sponsorship and make it legal. We can't change the past, we can only learn from it. I apologize that we didn't go about things in the proper way. If they want to fine us or make it more difficult for us we understand. I don't mean to come across as privileged or that I should be exempt from punishment. I just think the punishment should fit the crime. We are trying to make amends. I am looking for advice not lectures, I know what we did was wrong.

 

[JRPW]

If they want to fine us or make it more difficult for us we understand. I don't mean to come across as privileged or that I should be exempt from punishment. I just think the punishment should fit the crime. We are trying to make amends. I am looking for advice not lectures, I know what we did was wrong.

Stop insulting my intelligence. Were you expecting a pat on the back and/or sympathetic words? You are coming across as a self-indulgent, spoiled brat. Do think paying a fine will absolve you of any wrongdoing? What you did was illegal and IS a serious crime. I might have had some sympathy if your partner was from a war-torn, third world country, but he comes from a first world country with a high standard of living. To put your plight into perspective: My wife is from Japan, a visa exempt country. She is highly educated (fluent in three languages & MBA). She WANTS to work, but has been waiting for 14 months for her COPR. This process of getting her PR has been a slow, drawn out affair. We left a comfortable situation in Japan to move to Canada. It has put some stress on our marriage. However, we have done everything by the book. Now, if you and your partner think that "making amends" by just paying a fine will make this go away, you have another thing coming.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I just think the punishment should fit the crime. We are trying to make amends. I am looking for advice not lectures, I know what we did was wrong.

Working illegally is like any other crime. The fact that he stopped the illegal action doesn't negate the fact that he committed the crime. Understand that when you say "the punishment should fit the crime", the punishment for illegally working is deportation and a ban from Canada.

I am not judging the authenticity of your relationship, nor am I trying to lecture you. I was simply trying to explain why myself and others feel as we do and why you might not get the responses you want on this forum. It is a touchy subject around here, asking advice on how to get out of an illegal situation that one has put themselves in. I've seen threads where others asking such advise have been ripped apart with much harsher words than you've seen here.

One other bit of advice: get rid of the lawyer, if you haven't already.

 

[zardoz]

Not to mention a possible charge of misrepresentation which carries a 2 year ban from Canada. What I have never understood is how people from visa-exempt countries(Germany in this case) break the rules with all the avenues available to them. Not that anyone should break the rules.

Why didn't he apply for a work permit - the one you get through an employer?

If the OP has been in a 8 year union, why wasn't sponsorship done 8 years ago?

I believe that the ban is now or will be 5 years and you are barred from submitting a new application for 5 years as well. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/backgrounders/2013/2013-06-20a.asp The clause may not yet be in operation but it's only a matter of time.