Sponsoring my Partner

[daunda]

Hello,

I'm preparing the application for my conjugal (or common-law?) partner and her two dependent children. I'm a Canadian citizen living in Canada, commuting to Taiwan every month to work. She and her children are Chilean citizens.

So far, I've found that the information provided in CIC's website is pretty straight forward. However, I do have some questions I'd be grateful if anyone could answer.

1. I've read other threads which say that the only reasons conjugal partner applications may succeed are if we can prove an immigration or legal barrier in getting married. But in CIC's website it says I can sponsor her if "there is a significant degree of attachment between the two of you, implying not just a physical relationship but a mutually interdependent relationship, and you’ve been in a genuine (real) relationship for at least 12 months where marriage or cohabitation (living together) hasn’t been possible because of barriers such as sexual orientation, religious faith, etc." It is not specified if those 12 months must be the last 12 months before applying. In our case, all four of us cohabited together in a marriage-like relationship for 5 years in Chile until mid 2016 when I moved abroad due to work. Since then, we've maintained a long distance relationship with visits in between. It would seem I could sponsor her as a common-law partner instead of as a conjugal partner even though we didn't cohabit together the past year, correct?

2. Somewhat on the same topic, would it be taken strangely that we haven't married even though we cohabited for so long? I'm an atheist, she is a Catholic. But it goes beyond religious beliefs, which they aren't even asked in any of the forms. We've just always felt that marriage hasn't been necessary for the commitment we have to each other and to the children. Naturally, we do intend and would like to take our relationship a step further at some point, but it's been put further down our wish list now that we are not cohabiting together and are unable to enjoy the stability we had when we were.

3. I've had some difficulty answering questions on my residency. I work as an airline pilot and I commute every month from Canada to Taiwan, to work from there, so I reside in both countries. IMM1344 asks for my mailing and residential address. I ended up writing the Canadian one for mailing and the Taiwanese for residency. I want to keep the Canadian for mailing for faster mailing in case they send documents. But I also thought I should specify my Taiwanese address. Should I just specify my Canadian in both to avoid confusions? Further down it asks if I am a Canadian citizen living exclusively outside of Canada. I answered No. Even further down on the same page, it asks if I reside in Canada and in no other country. I answered No. So I believe this might confuse them as it the answers contradict each other. I do plan to provide an explanation on this along with a copy of my contract which explains it is a commuting one. This is a non-Canadian company I work for, by the way. What are your thoughts on this issue and how do you think it would be the best way to present it?

I believe these are it for now. I appreciate the valuable information others have shared on other threads, thank you.

 

[starnaenae]

Common law is fine as long as you can prove your cohabitation. Conjugal will be refused as there are no immigration barriers stopping you from being together. You live in canada put your address in canada only. Letters of explanation would work

 

[Rob_TO]

1 - You do not qualify as conjugal, so don't even attempt it. There are no legal or immigration barriers to becoming common-law or married, so for this reason alone a conjugal app would fail.

Since you've previously cohabited 5 consecutive years, you are legally common-law even though since then you no longer live together. However, you will need to show proof/evidence for at least 12 consecutive months of those 5 years, to be accepted as common-law. Do you have things like joint lease/rental agreements, joint financial or utility accounts, shared bills, mail going to same address, etc etc?

2 - As long as you're common-law, they will not care at all if you're married or not. This is a personal choice.

3 - Since you have a permanent address in Canada I would just put only your Canadian address as your primary residential address, and that you travel constantly for work purposes. You would be a Canadian living in Canada. Doing as you indicated with a Taiwan residential address, will indeed contradict yourself and could lead to long delays while they try to figure it out.

I assume you've been filing Canadian income tax forms all these years also? Hopefully you also changed your tax status with CRA to married, effective back in the year you got married.

 

[daunda]

Thank you for your answers.

1. I was in doubt if we qualified as conjugal partners as it is a little vague when it says "...because of barriers such as sexual orientation, religious faith, etc". It says etc. so there is no specific list and I thought I read somewhere that work could be considered too as a reason. We are unable to cohabit together anymore because I work and live in countries where she doesn't have the right to reside. In any case, it seems that applying as common-law partners would make a stronger case, specially if we cohabited together for far more than 12 months. We will apply as such then.

2. We don't have shared bills of that time, as the arrangement was that she took care of rent and bills while I took care of the purchase of home consuming products and furniture, groceries and shopping, trips and recreational activities, etc. However, I believe in one rental agreement I signed as a guarantor. We are looking for that document. What I also do have is several bank transfer statements from my account to hers, done periodically during this time. I've read that remittances are accepted but, given the fact that, at least the Canadian definition of a remittance, is a transfer from a Canadian bank account to an account abroad, I'm not sure these serve to support our relationship and cohabitation. These statements were all made within Chilean accounts, from mine to hers, as I said. I would also have to translate them I suppose?

3. I'm clear on this one now, thanks.

Can you please elaborate further on married status with CRA? We haven't gotten married so my status is probably single. Also, we've completed all the required forms included in the package for common-law partner sponsorship, meaning IMM1344 and IMM5532 for myself, and IMM0008, IMM5406, and IMM5669 for herself. These plus the IMM5589 checklist, the country specific required documents as well as all the supporting data. So far I haven't seen an income tax requirement. I am not sponsoring parents or grandparents in case you are talking about the 3-year income tax requirement, by the way. Thank you.

 

[spousalsponsee]

Can you please elaborate further on married status with CRA? We haven't gotten married so my status is probably single. Also, we've completed all the required forms included in the package for common-law partner sponsorship, meaning IMM1344 and IMM5532 for myself, and IMM0008, IMM5406, and IMM5669 for herself. These plus the IMM5589 checklist, the country specific required documents as well as all the supporting data. So far I haven't seen an income tax requirement. I am not sponsoring parents or grandparents in case you are talking about the 3-year income tax requirement, by the way. Thank you.

The Canadian Federal Government has a single unified definition of common law marriage: Living together in a marriage-like relationship for at least 12 months.

The tax requirement is that you have to include your latest Notice of Assessment (Option C printout?) - there's no minimum income, but you do have to show you can support your partner without being on welfare.

If you are telling one arm of the Canadian Federal Government (IRCC) that you have been a common law couple for five years, and enclose proof that you've been telling another arm of the Canadian Federal Government (CRA) that you have been single, then you will potentially simultaneously be approved for immigration, and then informed that you're being sought for tax fraud.

You should adjust your status with CRA to common law union, and re-file your taxes since then to take account of that.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you for your answers.

1. I was in doubt if we qualified as conjugal partners as it is a little vague when it says "...because of barriers such as sexual orientation, religious faith, etc". It says etc. so there is no specific list and I thought I read somewhere that work could be considered too as a reason. We are unable to cohabit together anymore because I work and live in countries where she doesn't have the right to reside. In any case, it seems that applying as common-law partners would make a stronger case, specially if we cohabited together for far more than 12 months. We will apply as such then.

No, work reasons most definitely do NOT count as a reason for conjugal. You don't even remotely qualify for conjugal, so as of now your ONLY option is common-law.

2. We don't have shared bills of that time, as the arrangement was that she took care of rent and bills while I took care of the purchase of home consuming products and furniture, groceries and shopping, trips and recreational activities, etc. However, I believe in one rental agreement I signed as a guarantor. We are looking for that document. What I also do have is several bank transfer statements from my account to hers, done periodically during this time. I've read that remittances are accepted but, given the fact that, at least the Canadian definition of a remittance, is a transfer from a Canadian bank account to an account abroad, I'm not sure these serve to support our relationship and cohabitation. These statements were all made within Chilean accounts, from mine to hers, as I said. I would also have to translate them I suppose?

The relationship part should be no problem. It's the proving 12 months cohabitation that could be as issue. So whatever rental agreements, bank statements, shared accounts, etc that show both your names with a common address, will all help. The bank account statements you mention will only help with cohabitation proof, if they show both of you had the same common address on each of your accounts.

And yes any proofs you submit for cohabitation should be translated to english or french, or the visa officer may not understand what they are.

Can you please elaborate further on married status with CRA? We haven't gotten married so my status is probably single. Also, we've completed all the required forms included in the package for common-law partner sponsorship, meaning IMM1344 and IMM5532 for myself, and IMM0008, IMM5406, and IMM5669 for herself. These plus the IMM5589 checklist, the country specific required documents as well as all the supporting data. So far I haven't seen an income tax requirement. I am not sponsoring parents or grandparents in case you are talking about the 3-year income tax requirement, by the way. Thank you.

Sorry I meant common-law. Once you reached 12 months cohabitation, you should have changed your marital status with CRA to common-law. You are NOT single. It's not important if you were a non-resident so weren't doing income tax returns. However when you returned to Canada and started doing taxes again, you should have notified CRA of the change in marital status. Since there is probably not any change to your tax returns whether your single or common-law, it's probably not a big issue but is still good to do to follow the rules, and in case IRCC sees "single" status on your taxes it could raise a question.

And yes, your last years tax return is a requirement for spousal sponsorship. This is listed under Sponsor supporting documents. See here Part B, Question 5: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5533E.pdf

 

[daunda]

Thank you for your quick answers and the common-law definition. I have more questions than answers now, sorry.

I will certainly change my status with CRA to common-law then. Is it as easy as going to an office and inform this?

Now, where in the common-law partner sponsorship package is the Notice of Assessment asked to be included? It only asks for it in case I work in Canada. Same with the Proof of Income Option C. I commute to and work in Taiwan and naturally I'd be providing a copy of my job contract, salary statements, and an explanation, as requested under the "If you are not working in Canada" option.

I stopped filing income tax when I moved to Chile to work in 2010. Naturally, I've been filing income tax in Chile all these years. And now that I work in Taiwan, I am also getting tax deducted from my salary and I'll be filing for the first time around mid next year. I'm aware there is a convention between Canada and Chile and an agreement between Canada and Taiwan, to avoid double taxation. But I'm not sure if this would supersede the fact that I didn't file income tax these past years in Canada, should it be a requirement for common-law partner sponsorship which still, I haven't seen it is as I am not working in Canada.

So since mid this year, I can say I started to reside in Canada again. I opened a bank account and also reactivated my SIN which was dormant. My next step is going to a CRA office, as I want to see how will my tax situation be with Canada as I work for a non-Canadian company and my salary gets wired transferred every month from abroad, with taxes already deducted as previously mentioned. As strange as it may sound, I want to pay taxes so I can access all the benefits, such as BC's first home buyers program, for example.

Remember I'm sponsoring a common-law partner, not a spouse. So the correct form would be 5589 and not 5533. In any case, Question 5 is the same on both and the only last's year tax requirement I see is in the "If you are working in Canada" option. Again, remember I work abroad. Thank you.

 

[spousalsponsee]

I will certainly change my status with CRA to common-law then. Is it as easy as going to an office and inform this?

Even easier, you can do it online. This was what my partner did, and told IRCC he'd done so, even though the last tax return available was filed before we did that, so it was still marked as single (we applied after a single year, though).

Remember I'm sponsoring a common-law partner, not a spouse. So the correct form would be 5589 and not 5533. In any case, Question 5 is the same on both and the only last's year tax requirement I see is in the "If you are working in Canada" option. Again, remember I work abroad. Thank you.

Forms changed in Dec, and this is one that's very different now - when we did it 10 months ago, my common law partner working outside of Canada still had to include his last Canadian tax return - so at this point, I'll have to shrug, I'm afraid.

 

[Rob_TO]

I will certainly change my status with CRA to common-law then. Is it as easy as going to an office and inform this?

Very easy, can simply call them, do it online, or fill in a form and mail. All options here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-ag...our-marital-status-canada-revenue-agency.html

Remember I'm sponsoring a common-law partner, not a spouse. So the correct form would be 5589 and not 5533. In any case, Question 5 is the same on both and the only last's year tax requirement I see is in the "If you are working in Canada" option. Again, remember I work abroad. Thank you.

Since you are residing in Canada while working for a foreign employer, a visa officer will most likely expect to see a CRA tax return regardless what the checklist indicates.
Since you were not a tax resident in 2016 so a 2016 return won't be available, you should explain this in a separate note.