Are we common law or not?

[Vancity1]

I have been living with my Thai GF in Bangkok for 2 years, dated 4, and have a 2.5 year old baby.

I am now coming back to Canada alone as my Thailand visa run days are over (tired of them) and I need to get back to legitimate work.

I want to bring her and the baby (who is 100% Canadian citizen FYI) with me as soon as possible as I want him to start proper Canadian schooling.

I was told as I will be in Canada starting in 2 weeks, and she will be here in Thailand, we are NOT common law now. Which seems stupid! Last 2-4 years and a kid mean nothing?! Can anyone help clarify? I need to know for visa application.

 

[Rob_TO]

I have been living with my Thai GF in Bangkok for 2 years, dated 4, and have a 2.5 year old baby.

I am now coming back to Canada alone as my Thailand visa run days are over (tired of them) and I need to get back to legitimate work.

I want to bring her and the baby (who is 100% Canadian citizen FYI) with me as soon as possible as I want him to start proper Canadian schooling.

I was told as I will be in Canada starting in 2 weeks, and she will be here in Thailand, we are NOT common law now. Which seems stupid! Last 2-4 years and a kid mean nothing?! Can anyone help clarify? I need to know for visa application.

As soon as you lived together for 12 continuous months, you were officially common-law for Canadian immigration purposes. So you can apply to sponsor her for PR as your common-law partner, whether you're living in Canada or Thailand.

It doesn't matter if you move to Canada yourself, since you are still common-law. Hopefully you have the evidence to prove cohabitation.

See here: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/resources/manuals/op/op02-eng.pdf
5.36. How can someone in Canada sponsor a common-law partner from outside Canada when the definition says “is cohabiting”?
After the one year period of cohabitation has been established, the partners may live apart for periods of time without legally breaking the cohabitation

 

[Vancity1]

Awesome. Thank you! We don’t have a lot of paper work, but we do have pics, and the kid of course, and I think a rental agreement maybe.... I’ll figure that part out. But in Thailand, you don’t really do “joint bills”, etc. It’s a lot less formal here.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Awesome. Thank you! We don’t have a lot of paper work, but we do have pics, and the kid of course, and I think a rental agreement maybe.... I’ll figure that part out. But in Thailand, you don’t really do “joint bills”, etc. It’s a lot less formal here.

Pictures and the kid are not common-law proofs. You need actual proofs that both of you were cohabiting at the same address for at least a year.