CLAIMING SPONSORED SPOUSE ON TAX RETURN?

[chelley]

I'm on mobile now but I'll post more links to support this.. You should be reporting as married when you are married, period... This is part of the reason the original poster is seeing some of the issues she is... Ultimately if you do not report it in a timely fashion they will come back to halt payments on child benefits, GST and other expected incomes... And I'm sure it would also go back against OAP as well... Much better to report up front rather than them having to come back and halt or even collect...

http://www.howlandtax.com/articles/nonresident-spouse.htm

Ultimately it's your return but claiming as single when you are not is misrepresentation and will probably come back to haunt you.. There are questions that allow you to specify that your other half is not a resident and does not have a SIN, these are designed for those of us in the immigration purgatory I think

[chelley]

And I mentioned earlier, but it's worth repeating, those of us with children can claim  a child as an eligible dependent  (former equivalent to spouse) if you are involuntarily separated from your spouse (ie not due to relationship break down or work circumstances)...
Brought my tax return up over 4000 a couple years back, might help someone else too!