Advice on Sponsoring Common Law Partner

[grfa02]

Hi there,

I am seeking some advice on sponsoring my girlfriend. First I’ll give you a little bit of background about us:

My girlfriend is Japanese. She was in Canada from May 2009 to February 2010 (9 months) and we cohabited for those 9 months, but we were in a relationship for only 6 of those 9 months).

From then till now, she has visited Canada twice, and I have visited Japan once for a total of 3 months which we were cohabiting.
This year, we decided to go to Australia for a working holiday visa and we were there from April 2012. We lived together in a few places (no lease agreement) until finally settling down at our current place in June 2012. There was no formal lease agreement since it was a sublet (however a “pre-dated” one could be drawn up if necessary).

With around 3 months left on our working holiday visa, we need to plan our next steps as soon as possible.

1. I’m pretty sure the answer to this is “yes” but I just want to confirm – does cohabiting outside of Canada count?

2. I read on some websites that in BC (where we're going to stay), you are considered common law after two years of cohabitation. Does this rule apply in our case? On the application website, it says a minimum of only one year of cohabitation is needed.

3. Is a signed lease agreement necessary to proof that we were cohabiting? For the first few places we stayed at, it’s not possible to get a “pre-dated” lease agreement because we’re not in touch with the people whom we’ve stayed with anymore as they’ve left the country. We may be able to dig up some letters addressed to us that went to the same address though, would this help?

4. For the past 9 months I've only worked for 4 for a comapny, and worked only part-time for the rest of the time for my web freelancing clients, as I am concentrating on a personal project currently (pre-revenue stage). In other words, when we start our application, I will have no income and there won't be a lot of income if they look in the past year either. Will this affect the sponsorship application?

Depending on what the answers to some of the above questions are, here are our plans:

Plan A. We extend our working holiday visa and stay for as long as we become eligible to be considered a common-law couple, then apply from Australia. We can stay for 6 months, and then go back to Canada together. She will be on a tourist visa so she can stay for 6 months, and if all goes well, our sponsorship application will be approved before the 6 months is over.

Plan B. We go back to Canada together after our working holiday visa expires and apply straight away, though she'll only be able to stay in Canada for 6 months. She'll go back to Japan and come back when the application gets approved.

Please let me know if there are any faults in my premises, and given our circumstances, when is the earliest we can apply for sponsorship. I’m pretty sure the initial 9 months we were cohabiting in Canada, as well as the time we cohabited during our visits don’t count for anything, but correct me if I’m wrong. Also, it would be great if we could get some advice on which of the proposed plans is more likely for us to reach our goal, and any suggestions on alternative plans are welcome as well.

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

 

[amikety]

1) Yes, it doesn't matter where you live as long as you are living together

2) Federal rules apply to Federal Spousal Immigration. It's 12 continuous months.

3) As long you are both on it, yes. You will need some other proof you lived together if you don't have a lease. Letters addressed to both of you at that address will help. Also, if you had any other roommates, if they will sign a notarized letter saying you lived together, it would help as well.

4) You don't have to meet a income requirement, but if you have little or no income, you'll need to prove Immigration with a plan of how you will support your wife. As the sponsor, you will have to sign an undertaking promising to support your wife for three years (no social assistance). If your wife can work, you can show this as well plus your income. You can also include your business plan if you're striking it out on your own - just so Immigration knows you have a plan.

Plan A - never make plans based on what you think the processing time will be. Sometimes it does take longer... sometimes the VO misplaces an application.

Plan B - depending on how you apply, she can remain in Canada with you. Actually, she can stay either way as long as she renews her status. Six months is the default time, but if she's visa exempt, you can ask for a VR for her at the border/airport. A Visitor's Record/VR can be good for up to two years. If you do this, provide proof you're married and planning to file for PR. (A receipt for paying the fees is a great idea.) I've been in Canada as a visitor for 17 months and never had to leave. Just make sure she stays in status. Also, if you apply "inland" while she's on a legal visitor's status, she allowed to stay regardless until a decision is made. It's called "Implied Status." It only applies in certain situations - only with Inland sponsorship, not Outland.

Long story short, she doesn't necessarily have to leave Canada unless she needs to work and can't find a job in Canada. She can't work as a visitor, but she's allowed to seek work that will allow her to obtain a work permit.

Finally, if you weren't cohabiting continously the time doesn't count. Short vacations are okay apart (she goes to Japan to visit family for a week or two). Months apart don't count. Plus, you have to have been in a relationship for the time to count. (And trust me, Immigration will ask when you started the relationship and if dates don't match, they will notice.)

You need to decide if you want to apply Inland or Outland as well. I recommend you read the stickied thread by Leon in Family Class Immigration and then search "Inland versus Outland" in the search bar on the top right of the screen. You can also search for "Visa exempt visitor" to get a better perspective than just mine