overwhelmed- establish common law relationship (US)

[pey91]

hi! so I would really love some advice on the best way to go about making the move to be with my boyfriend. I will probably seem very naive as I am just diving in to the research.

My boyfriend is a canadian citizen living in BC and i'm an american living in the US. we are 23 & 24 years old and have spent years visiting eachother back and forth many times. the longest I stayed in canada was over 2 months (probably irrelevant sorry) anyway, I suppose my plan is to take advantage of americans being able to live in canada for 6 months with only a passport and move in with him for 12 months. after the 12 months we will apply to have him sponsor me as a common law relationship.

Is this a good idea for my situation? In the 12 months that i'm living there how can I prepare for the application? I am so nervous that I will not have enough proof.. or maybe they will deny us for the mere fact that nothing is really keeping us from getting married. I grow anxious every day I am not with him and I just want to be prepared.

I would really appreciate some advice maybe from some people who are currently going through this.

 

[Ponga]

You will find the process relatively simple, since you are an American.

You do not have to provide a reason why you choose to [eventually] apply as a common-law couple, rather than getting married. It's a non-issue with CIC. It IS an issue, if you were to stay in the U.S. and submitted a conjugal partner application.

The next time you enter Canada, when you plan to stay for at least 12 months:

See if you can be added to your boyfriend's lease or rental agreement ASAP. This would be a huge piece of evidence after you do establish the common-law requirement!

Have yourself added to his bank account (or open a joint account). Scotia Bank and TD Bank allow a visitor to have an account.

About 1 month before your visitor status expires, simply apply (online) to extend your status, citing that you are trying to establish common-law so that you can then apply for PR sponsorship. You should request a 1 year extension.

As soon as you have the required 1 year together, submit an OUTLAND application! There's no reason for an American (with legal status) to submit an Inland application. You can in fact submit an Outland application while you are `visiting' your partner in Canada. Most Americans are getting through the entire process in less than 6 months (after submitting the application), compared to the ~2 year process of an Inland application!

Remember...even if you are able to eventually meet the 1 year condition of cohabiting, you are still not legally `living' in Canada...you are still just a visitor.

 

[pey91]

thank you so much for your response, this is immensely helpful. huge relief to have this all layed out for me. is being denied under these circumstances and category common or is it fairly easy to get accepted?

thank you again :-*

 

[MilesAway]

It's generally quite easy for US citizens, provided you meet the criteria (either married or common-law), and have provided proof.

 

[Rob_TO]

Just a few notes:
1. Never ever ever ever tell CBSA when crossing the border that your purpose for entering Canada is to "live" or "move" here. Until you get official PR status you are a VISITOR, and need to act like one with CIC. So you should have luggage suitable for a visitor (i.e. not driving in a Uhaul truck full of your furniture). You will need to keep this in mind each and every time you cross the border during the time qualifying for common-law, and after that while your outland PR app is processing.
2. When your initial 6 months status is almost up (assuming you get 6 months) you will need to send a request for extension to CIC. Typically it's quite easy to get approved for another 6 or 12 months, and this can be done online while staying in Canada.

 

[pey91]

perfect thank you. will applying for the first 6 months be necessary? I was kind of under the impression that if i explain my intentions when crossing the border that they would allot me the 6 months there.

 

[Rob_TO]

perfect thank you. will applying for the first 6 months be necessary? I was kind of under the impression that if i explain my intentions when crossing the border that they would allot me the 6 months there.

You should get 6 months upon entry. It's after that initial 6 months is almost up that you need to apply for the extension, or leave Canada and return again to refresh your status here.

Again just be very careful in the wording you use when you "explain your intentions" to CBSA. I would advise to have a suitable amount in your bank account to show you can support yourself without working. Also prepare that CBSA may go through your phone text messages and personal belongings, so try not to have farewell notes or letters or anything else that could show you are leaving the US permanently.

 

[pey91]

is it ok to say that I am visiting to establish a common law relationship or should I strictly say i'm just visiting? when crossing the border before I remember needing to prove that I had obligation to return to the states. sorry for all the questions! not sure how to deal with those people. Also I plan on flying and my boyfriend who has flown to me said that they are a lot less intense. every crossing by car has been totally intimidating and scary. thank you for your help

 

[Ponga]

is it ok to say that I am visiting to establish a common law relationship or should I strictly say i'm just visiting? when crossing the border before I remember needing to prove that I had obligation to return to the states. sorry for all the questions! not sure how to deal with those people. Also I plan on flying and my boyfriend who has flown to me said that they are a lot less intense. every crossing by car has been totally intimidating and scary. thank you for your help

Fly with a round trip ticket (fully refundable of course) so that you can show that you are `planning' to return home on [whatever date]. It won't be a problem if your `plans' happen to change, right?

 

[missmatalini]

is it ok to say that I am visiting to establish a common law relationship or should I strictly say i'm just visiting? when crossing the border before I remember needing to prove that I had obligation to return to the states. sorry for all the questions! not sure how to deal with those people. Also I plan on flying and my boyfriend who has flown to me said that they are a lot less intense. every crossing by car has been totally intimidating and scary. thank you for your help

I wouldn't recommend this but I managed to get through without a return ticket home back in 2013. . . . They asked when I planned on going home or if I was going to and I told them I'd need to be home for the start of the college semester (which wasn't a lie. . . if I went back I was going to be enrolled) I also had a really awesome boss that wrote me an employment letter and kept me employed until after I called and told them I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. . . .

I literally got rid of just about all of my belongings and crossed into Canada with one suitcase.

And I've found that all of my land crossings were MUCH easier than going through customs in the airport.

 

[fruitball4u]

American here!

Have you considered working as a nanny? If you like kids, you may be able to find a job in his city (especially if it's a larger city) working as a live-out nanny, which is what I did.

I visited some nanny websites (I used nannyservices.ca but you can search for "canada nanny" and find a bunch of other sites) and found a family that was willing to apply for my labour market opinion (now called a labour market assessment, I believe).

I was hired as a temporary foreign worker, with my permit good for two years. We are now in the process of filling out my application and getting ready to send it in!

I know that now TFW permits can only be for a year, but that would still be enough time to fulfill your requirement. The nice thing is that if you apply for your residency right before your permit expires, it will give you implied status in Canada, meaning that you can continue working for the same employer (and legally live in the country) until a decision is made on your PR application.

The biggest difference between applying inland or outland (aside from the length of time it takes to process) is that if you apply inland, you are eligible to apply for an open work permit (which allows you to work for any employer in any position) after stage one of your application is approved (which according to the CIC website takes 15 months as of today). However, when applying inland you are not allowed to appeal your application if it is denied for some reason, so you must be entirely sure that everything is sent in correctly and with sufficient proof of your relationship.

Phew. Anyway, if you have more questions, let me know, I'm happy to help out as best as I can!

 

[BeShoo]

is it ok to say that I am visiting to establish a common law relationship or should I strictly say i'm just visiting? when crossing the border before I remember needing to prove that I had obligation to return to the states.

You do still have to prove that you have ties to the States and that you will return there at the end of your visit. My boyfriend came to Canada to visit me long-term with no job in the U.S. and no address except his father's place (where he hadn't been living for a few years). We had most of the application filled out and had gathered some evidence that we were already in a long-distance long-term conjugal relationship, but we hadn't paid the fee yet to apply for PR and the agent gave us a hard time for 20-30 minutes, which seemed like forever.

We had told the officer on the road that he was coming for 6 months, but I think that instantly raised red flags. He was given a 3-month "Visitor Record" and we applied for an extension when that was almost expired. We ended up getting several extensions before we finally had the application ready to send away. The officer told us, "You're doing everything in the wrong order," since we hadn't yet paid the fee for a permanent residence application. If he had just been coming to visit for a few days or a week, he would have most likely been given 6 months automatically, as he did when he came for Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving visit was also a hassle. They took him aside and asked all kinds of questions at the airport, partly because he was bringing two sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. You are definitely not allowed to bring root crops across the border. After many questions about what was our relationship and how we met, etc., followed by a phone call to me asking the same questions as I was arriving in the airport parking lot to pick him up, they stamped his passport, wrote a date of six months later, and let him go.

 

[rhcohen2014]

You do still have to prove that you have ties to the States and that you will return there at the end of your visit. My boyfriend came to Canada to visit me long-term with no job in the U.S. and no address except his father's place (where he hadn't been living for a few years). We had most of the application filled out and had gathered some evidence that we were already in a long-distance long-term conjugal relationship, but we hadn't paid the fee yet to apply for PR and the agent gave us a hard time for 20-30 minutes, which seemed like forever.

We had told the officer on the road that he was coming for 6 months, but I think that instantly raised red flags. He was given a 3-month "Visitor Record" and we applied for an extension when that was almost expired. We ended up getting several extensions before we finally had the application ready to send away. The officer told us, "You're doing everything in the wrong order," since we hadn't yet paid the fee for a permanent residence application. If he had just been coming to visit for a few days or a week, he would have most likely been given 6 months automatically, as he did when he came for Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving visit was also a hassle. They took him aside and asked all kinds of questions at the airport, partly because he was bringing two sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. You are definitely not allowed to bring root crops across the border. After many questions about what was our relationship and how we met, etc., followed by a phone call to me asking the same questions as I was arriving in the airport parking lot to pick him up, they stamped his passport, wrote a date of six months later, and let him go.

it sounds like it's not so much of them giving him a hassle, but more of the fact that he is now "flagged" and it should be assumed he's ALWAYS going to be pulled into secondary and needs to always be able to prove ties to the US now that he's in that system. generally, if you're pulled into secondary, it takes quite a while before they stop pulling you in (if they do at all). It's more about them doing their job, verfiying his ties to his home country, and making sure he's following the rules. i was pulled into secondary every time i crossed for 1.5 years after i was flagged.

 

[brucem]

Its interesting how different agents deal with the same situation differently. On one of the recent Border Security Canada episodes a couple tunred up at the airport newly engaged (fiancee was a Korean citizen). He had prepped her with what to say at the border but as she had farewell cards in her luggage their story was rumbled as she was intending to stay with a view to applying for PR once married. She had told the CBSA agent that she was not moving permanently. Even though they had clearly lied to the CBSA agent they were admitted with the 6 months and advised to apply for an extension at the end of it. In fact it was all a bit jokey in the end when they were found out. He told her she should have been up front about it from the start!