Common Law Sponsorship Questions

[rafflone]

From my understanding, a US -which is me- citizen one is only allowed 6 months to stay in Canada as a visitor.

So how would one be able to apply for common law sponsorship? If when you are at the point of entry and if you at all mention that you wish to stay or have intentions to live in Canada, they can, and will deny you. [However I happen to be lucky after clearing that stuff up and playing the dumb teenager, I was 18 at the time, my birthday was in Dec., and I landed in Nov.]

So what difference does it make as to weather you apply to extend your stay as a "visitor" when you are already in Canada and have intentions to live in Canada. From the Archives that were on this website, most don't appile anymore since it's 2011 not 2003. What I did read from the Archives, is that the man differnce from Common Law and Sponsorship is that Common Law partners have to prove that they can soport themselves, and from reading here, they also have to prove their relationship is "bona par." or however you say it, that and Common law can only appile outland. So from what I'm seeing is that it's easier if you're married.

My Case:

My fiance and I don't wish to be married in such a short time, and so we are considering applying under the common law sponsorship, but since you are only allowed 6 months to stay in Canada, we are at a dilemma. We really want to have a grand wedding with everyone from our high school and all our friends and family. We feel that if we got married with the short amount of time it would seem we just got married for immigration and just wouldn't feel right, since it's not what we imagined our wedding to be like, with few people, and none of our close friends.

My fiance I and went to high school together from when he stayed in the US [he is born Canadian], we had classes together and lived in the same gated community walking distance from each other and would often spend time together walking up and down the road that I lived on. We graduated together and went to prom together, now I am living with him for the amount of time that I can stay with him. We are both 19 years old, I am self employed as a digital commissioned artist that works online [making about +$400 a month], I will have a little over $1000 in my bank account by next week. He also works at local retail store [making about $1000-$1400 a month plus commission] and might even get a part time acting gig [about $10-$23 an hour], which is his dream. We are both in Calgary Alberta.
We would really like to know our options, I've already applied for the FBI background check and sent it off around the 2nd week of Feb. I'll be receiving it sometime after my visitor status is up in May, I had it sent back home in the US, stated on the application.

Neither of us have our drivers license or own a car, we both live with his parents, so if that makes a difference let me know. We also do not have any bills with our name on it, and I don't own a credit card. He does however it is in his name only. Mind you we are both 19 years of age and had just finished high school. He has only been working it his job for almost 6 months, he came back to Canada from the Us after we had graduated together around June 8th. He started working sometime in Setp.

Thank you for your time, I really appreciate your help.

[j2m]

Rafflone: This is a very good point. I used a GREAT immigration lawyer in Calgary. He used to be a Immigration officer and now is an attorney. I asked him what I should say when I was crossing. He told me to always tell them the truth. Well... the truth was that I was living in Canada while my PR application was being processed. So every time I crossed, while by PR was in process (which was about 15 times in that 1 1/2 years, by air & car) that is exactly what I did. I told the IO that I live in Canada, and that my intention was to stay in Canada until my PR was finalized. It always worked for me. But there are others on this forum that have had issues from telling the IO they are living here...
The reality of my situation was that. I did not have a home, job or "ties" in the states. I actually lived in Canada.

[RobsLuv]

The difference is this: when you are entering Canada, are you an eligible PR applicant?  When you're applying to extend your six months' status, are you an eligible PR applicant?  j2m's situation is much different than yours will be because s/he was an eligible PR applicant - s/he had a PR application in process.  You will be trying to manage a year of getting yourself to be eligible - and that's not the same thing.  You have to understand that what you are trying to do is not actually allowed - that's why, when you ask how can one apply for common-law sponsorship when it requires that you live together for at least one year, and a foreign national is only allowed to stay in Canada as a visitor for up to six months . . . you run up against a road-block.  It's because one can't.  That's why they limit your stay to six months - so that you cannot just come to Canada and be able to stay here for long enough to be eligible to be sponsored!  

When you enter Canada as a visitor, you tell them that you intend to return home at the end of your authorized stay - which is less than six months.  That's the only reason they let you in.  If you were to say that you were coming in with the intention of staying for a year to qualify as a common-law partner, they would turn you around.  So, if you stay beyond those six months in order to establish a common-law partnership so that you are eligible to be sponsored for permanent status, then you have misrepresented yourself and you've contravened the Act.  Do you realize that you will have to prove that you have co-habitated for at least one continuous year when you finally submit your application?  How will you do that when it means you'll have to document that half of your qualification period was spent in Canada illegally?  The other part of it is this: what will you do after you finally establish your common-law qualification - you will have at least another year of waiting before your PR will be finalized.  How will you stay together during that time?  Will you continue to stay in Canada illegally?  If you make the mistake of applying "inland" for permanent status, you'll be looking at an even longer processing time - probably a couple of years before you even get first stage approval because your application will be transferred to a local office for processing because of your illegal status.  If you apply outland, with your application being processed through Buffalo, and they see that you have cohabitated in Canada without legal status, you're likely to be called to come to Buffalo for an interview to ascertain whether you actually qualify as a common-law partner.  They may decide you don't - and then, with them knowing that you stayed illegally, how will you have any hope of being allowed to re-enter Canada after your interview?  In fact, they could exclude you from Canada for up to two years for contravening the Act - or even ban you.  And if they do that - even if it was decided that you qualified as a common-law partner, or even if you got married, your PR application is dead because you wouldn't be able to "land" when it's finalized because you wouldn't be allowed back into Canada until your exclusion order is satisfied.  

The Family Class processing manual says this: "CIC decided that it no longer wanted to be in the business of assessing future relationships or the intention of two individuals to establish and maintain a (qualifying) relationship.  Thus, there is no fiancé(e) category in the IRPA and Regulations.  If they intend to apply as spouses, Canadians and their foreign national fiancé(e)s are expected to be married before the immigration process takes place, i.e., the foreign national must be married to the Canadian sponsor and apply to immigrate as a married spouse."  If you and your fiance intend to marry, then do yourselves a favour and get married before you get involved in this immigration process.  While it's perfectly understandable that you want to wait until you can have your grand wedding, that fits within the "normal" North American mindset . . . that you can live together for awhile before marriage to make sure it's what you want, or to allow you time to get established and buy a house, or save up for your grand wedding.  But you guys are not in a "normal" relationship - because you have a third party involved in your relationship: Immigration Canada.  It may not seem like Canada and the US are different countries, but they are - and you put your future at risk when you expect to have the kind of relationship that most other couples take for granted.  

The "common-law partnership" qualification is for couples who have already established themselves as c/l partners - because they have lived together somewhere else before coming to Canada, or because the foreign national has lived in Canada with a temporary status permit like a work permit or a study permit that allowed them to stay for up to a year, and they lived together during that time.  However, trying to go into this figuring out how you will manage to live together for long enough to qualify as a common-law partner is looked upon by CIC as no different than your worry that "if we got married with the short amount of time it would seem we just got married for immigration and just wouldn't feel right".  From CIC's standpoint, what you're trying to do will look no different to them than that - that you just lived together for a year for immigration purposes.  At least if you marry, you establish your legal right to be sponsored - and then you have to back that up with proofs of your "genuine" relationship, so they know the marriage was not just about getting into Canada.  (This proof is required of c/l partnerships also, in addition to the proof that you have actually established a common-law partnership by having co-habitated for at least one continuous year.)  

What I usually tell people in your situation is this: you can't have it both ways.  The only way that you can qualify to be sponsored for permanent status in the spouse or common-law partner category - when you have no other way to be in Canada except as a visitor - is to get married.  If you have to do that at City Hall, and have your "grand wedding" later on, then so be it.  Having been there I can honestly tell you - it is not worth it to put your relationship under the stress of 1) living as a "visitor" for more than a year in your partner's country, 2) worrying about whether or not you'll be able to make the qualification that allows you to be sponsored, and then waiting out the sponsorship process for up to another year after, 3) being without healthcare and worrying what happens if you get sick or injured, 4) living without the ability to establish credit or make a life for yourself, and without the ability to work if you need more than that $400/mo you're making online, 5) being stuck in Canada, unable to go home to see your family without being afraid that you won't be allowed to come back and then everything you've worked towards is shot.  That's the reality of the life you set yourselves up for over something that seems so simple: being able to live together for a year in a country where you are not allowed to have status for that long.  Do yourselves a favour: if you're not ready to get married, then don't put yourselves in the immigration process.  If having your "grand wedding" with all your family and friends is that important, then figure out how to visit one another often in the meantime - but maintain your life at home until you're actually ready to take the leap into married life.  Immigration Canada takes that commitment very seriously, because they take affording you permanent status in their country very seriously, too - and they require sponsors to make a serious commitment to provide support for you (and repay their government if you collect social assistance) whether you stay together or not.  They don't make this process easy - on purpose, so go into it being able to put your best foot forward so you don't find yourselves caught up in a nightmare that keeps you in limbo for years.    

[cobra]

I agree with Robsluv. I'm fairly new to this forum and have yet to apply for PR so can't really give any advice. But what I will say is, myself and my fiance initially wanted the 'grand wedding' with family and friends but then we realised, being away from each other is hard enough and getting married (in our view) shouldn't be about everyone else it should be about the two people that are making the commitment, so we decided to have a very small wedding of only 12 people (on april 19th ), luckily my immediate family are flying to canada with me to be there for the wedding and we are planning on having a celebration/party whatever you want to call it, maybe next summer for the rest of our family and friends to celebrate with us.
I understand you wanting a wedding which you dreamed of, I was the same, but then after thinking it through the most important thing was being with my future husband. Its obviously your decision what you do, but like robsluv said you can't have it both ways.
I wish you luck in whatever you decide

[rafflone]

I agree with him, all I want in life is a family, it doesn't matter where I'm at as long as I'm with him and we are happy. Which the word "happy" seems to be harder to grasp with each aging year.

Thank you so much, I'll be sure to show this to my soon to be husband. I hope this will convince him. We both stress out so much. and I hope that when immigration sees our report, they will judge it with good heart...

[waitingintz]

I agree with what's been said - I only want to point out (I didn't see it in Robsluv's thorough response) that you made some incorrect statements in your initial post:

1. Spousal and Common-law applications are the same in that in both the sponsor is exempt from the minimum income requirements.  However, in both, the sponsor does have to submit the finanical documentation and demonstrate that they will be capable of supporting the partner for 3 years.

2. Spousal and Common-law applications can both be either inland or outland.

3. Whether you are married our common-law you still have the exact same requirements to prove your relationship. The only difference between applying as a married couple of a common-law couple is that common-law couples have to prove they've been living together for one year while married couples have to submit a marraige certificate. Both couples still have to prove that their relationship is genuine and long-term.  You would still have to submit all the same evidence: communication with eachother, relationship with each-other's families, activities together, travel together, gifts to each other etc.

This forum is a great source of information but you need to go onto the immigration canada website and read through all the guides carefully.  What you are trying to do right now is find a loophole because as Robsluv stated, the immigration class really doesn't currently apply to you. Permanent Resident application is a serious, time consuming a costly process. 

One more thing for you to consider... cohabitating for one year does not have to be in the same city.  If you are serious about doing this and you do not want to get married yet (and I absolutely would not encourage anyone to rush into marraige for immigration) then you can consider living 6 months in canada together and 6 months in the US.  As long as you don't overstay you should be okay.  You just need to make sure you have lots of documentation that you are living toghether (lease in both names - even if it's an agreement with your parents, etc). You may not be able to spend the whole application process together but applying through buffalo usually only takes a few months and a few months apart should be an easy sacrifice for PR visa and spending the rest of your lives together.  You need to be realistic about this process... it's not easy and we all have had to make compromises.

And whatever you decide, don't ruin your future chances by overstaying your visa in Canada... it WILL come back to haunt you.