Any trouble bringing partner as "visitor" when I (PR) move back to Canada?

[purplemapleleaf]

Hi there,

My partner and I, both US citizens, met in Canada as students. I became a permanent resident of Canada in 2012 but then we decided to move back to the States the following year. We have been gone for two years now and we are considering moving back to Canada permanently this summer.

If we do that, though, my main question is will we be able to move back up simultaneously? I intend to sponsor him as an outland applicant ASAP once I am back in the country, so I suppose he will be a visitor until he is approved. This is all right for him since he is planning on studying online through an American university during that time. But will they stop him at the border and tell him he can't bring his stuff and move in with me right away? Or is it fine with them if I straight up tell them that he will live with me as a visitor until he gets his PR? Will we be able to share a lease and give Canada as a permanent address?

Bonus question: We are engaged but won't be married by the time we move back, so I figured I would sponsor him as a common-law partner. We have been living together as a couple for nearly seven years and have leases, chat logs, pictures, etc. to prove it. Will that be pretty straightforward for them to accept, or is it tricky to prove common-law? And if we got married while waiting for the application to go through, would it screw anything up?

Thanks very much for your help!

 

[Alurra71]

Um, you got your PR status in 2012 but didn't declare him as a common law spouse and you've been living with him, in your own words, for 7 years?

You're going to have an entirely different set of problems to worry about.....

He's now been excluded FOREVER from family class. He'll have to immigrate another way to Canada. You should have put him as your common law spouse before you landed as a PR in 2012.

 

[keesio]

Alurra's comment is very important. Did you disclose to CIC that you were in a common-law relationship with him when you became a PR in 2012???

 

[purplemapleleaf]

I applied as single when I got my PR since at the time I considered him to be a boyfriend rather than a common-law spouse. Can I consider our "common-law" relationship to have begun within the last two years?

 

[zardoz]

I applied as single when I got my PR since at the time I considered him to be a boyfriend rather than a common-law spouse. Can I consider our "common-law" relationship to have begun within the last two years?

It doesn't matter what you consider, it's what CIC will consider. The evidence that you earlier quoted as proof of your 7 year relationship will provide CIC with enough reason to invoke 117(9)(d). Time to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer, as even your PR status may be subject to revocation due to misrepresentation.

 

[purplemapleleaf]

Actually, another thing is that we got engaged in March 2014, which is when I considered him to become my "fiance/partner" rather than my "boyfriend." Does that help? Could I show CIC the announcement of our engagement as proof of our common-law status from that point specifically?

 

[zardoz]

Actually, another thing is that we got engaged in March 2014, which is when I considered him to become my "fiance/partner" rather than my "boyfriend." Does that help? Could I show CIC the announcement of our engagement as proof of our common-law status from that point specifically?

Engagement has no legal status, and is therefore irrelevant. Your common-law status is based on cohabitation for a minimum of 12 consecutive months. You appear to have achieved this status before you landed as a PR.

 

[purplemapleleaf]

All right, I will contact a lawyer. :-[ Thank you for your help.

 

[scylla]

All right, I will contact a lawyer. :-[ Thank you for your help.

The rules around these situations are extremely black and white. If you lived together a year or more before you became a PR, then you committed misrepresentation in your PR application by failing to declare your common law partner in your application. As others have explained, this means you can never sponsor your partner for PR and your own PR status could also be in jeopardy for the misrepresentation.

I would honestly forget about the lawyer (a lawyer can't fix the above) and focus on exploring how your partner can immigrate to Canada independently (e.g. as a skilled worker through the Express Entry program).

Good luck - hope something works out.

 

[purplemapleleaf]

If he has a way to immigrate independently (he might have a good shot at skilled worker as a graduate of a Canadian university), will it bring up a red flag when he lists me as a family member on his application? Or will it not matter since there wouldn't be a sponsorship involved?

 

[zardoz]

If he has a way to immigrate independently (he might have a good shot at skilled worker as a graduate of a Canadian university), will it bring up a red flag when he lists me as a family member on his application? Or will it not matter since there wouldn't be a sponsorship involved?

The only real benefit of seeing a lawyer would be to get a "legal opinion" on whether you have in fact committed misrepresentation due to your status at the time of landing. We have only your previous description to work with, and it's possible that you, for some undisclosed reason, may not have acquired common-law status at that time. I think it unlikely however... A lawyer will not fix your problem if in fact you did qualify

Yes, it will raise a red flag. However, if there was no resulting misapplication of the IRPA, it's possible that they would let it slide. If, on the other hand, your relationship would have caused your PR application to be rejected, watch out.....

 

[Rob_TO]

As others have mentioned, your partner is banned forever to be sponsored by you under family class since you didn't declare him as your common-law partner. Being common-law or not is is not a choice, it is a fact based legal status based on living together for 12 months. Once you've cohabited for 12 consecutive months with a partner, you are automatically common-law whether you want to or not.

So if you've truly lived together 12 months before you landed as single, then there is no way to sponsor him. If you will be talking to a lawyer be VERY cautious if the lawyer tells you that you should submit a family class app and would have a good chance of winning an appeal. Any lawyer who says this is just looking to make money off you, as appealing this CIC rule has a next to zero chance of success, and also brings to their attention your own misrepresentation (even if unintentional) and puts your own PR in jeopardy. There are many bad lawyers out there so be careful.

There are only 2 options that your partner can use to get PR status:
1. Have him immigrate independently. He would disclose you on the PR app as a common-law partner, but I have never heard of a case of a PR being investigated in this case when the applicant is attempting to immigrate independently.
2. You can renounce your own PR status, and then apply from scratch to get PR all over again, but this time listing him as your common-law partner. This should only be attempted if he has no chance to immigrate independently, and if you are confident you could be approved for PR again under one of the existing programs.

Or is it fine with them if I straight up tell them that he will live with me as a visitor until he gets his PR?

For this question, it's fine for your partner to come to Canada with you as a US citizen VISITOR. However when talking to CBSA when crossing the border, he must look and act like a visitor. So that means bring luggage that a visitor would bring (so no uhaul truck full of his stuff), and make sure he never uses words like "moving to" or "living in" Canada. He needs to convince CBSA he will be leaving after his status expires (usually 6 months) so if possible he should bring proofs of any ties to the US and showing funds suitable to support himself so CBSA does not think he will try to work illegally. Of course once in Canada, it's perfectly fine to then apply to extend visitor status indefinitely.