Hello everyone,
I have an urgent (literally life or death - though not mine), possibly very-hard-to-answer question that needs answering.
Some background:
My partner and I are currently awaiting response from the Ottawa visa office on our application. We applied for me to sponsor him as a common-law spouse. We both reside in Hawaii, United States at this time. I have already been approved as a sponsor, so we are just waiting for them to get to our application in the final round of review (assuming everything goes well), now. We are about 5 months in on the waiting time (from when they received our package as per tracking).
On to the dilemma:
My mother has been fighting breast cancer for a long time now, and I have found out very recently that she is now quickly failing. I must return ASAP, for at least a month, even if just to be there for emotional support (both for myself, and her...).
Due to these extremely unfortunate circumstances, we are urgently looking into obtaining a Civil Union certificate. Our main reason for doing so is so that our employer can recognize us as Domestic Partners (as, sadly, us claiming as such and/or providing bills/etc. as proof is apparently not enough by state law) so that my partner can come with me to say goodbye to my mother (and who we consider to be his mother-in-law) for the last time. State law allows him unpaid leave for 4 weeks (just like me), but only if it is a "parent" (in-laws included). However, we need to be in a recognized relationship status for them to be considered a parent, and common-law isn't recognized here. We have exhausted our options and marriage has little appeal to us, so civil union is a next best bet.
Now, why would I ask all of you about this? Because I worry it will affect our application, or that I will have to send them information detailing a change in relationship status. Civil union is only recognized in three states here, though, and does not have all of the rights of marriage. This means that if we travel anywhere else in the country as spouses or attempt to even think of gaining the same federal benefits (filing joint taxes, etc.), we'd be rejected. In most cases, civil union - even though it requires paperwork and a fee - is the equivalent of common-law marriage.
Would this be considered a change in relationship status to Canada, even though the rights are very much the same as common-law? If so, if we eventually wanted to get married in Canada, could we not do so since we had a Civil Union in a completely different country that was only valid in one state!?
Thank you so much for reading, and any assistance granted.
I have an urgent (literally life or death - though not mine), possibly very-hard-to-answer question that needs answering.
Some background:
My partner and I are currently awaiting response from the Ottawa visa office on our application. We applied for me to sponsor him as a common-law spouse. We both reside in Hawaii, United States at this time. I have already been approved as a sponsor, so we are just waiting for them to get to our application in the final round of review (assuming everything goes well), now. We are about 5 months in on the waiting time (from when they received our package as per tracking).
On to the dilemma:
My mother has been fighting breast cancer for a long time now, and I have found out very recently that she is now quickly failing. I must return ASAP, for at least a month, even if just to be there for emotional support (both for myself, and her...).
Due to these extremely unfortunate circumstances, we are urgently looking into obtaining a Civil Union certificate. Our main reason for doing so is so that our employer can recognize us as Domestic Partners (as, sadly, us claiming as such and/or providing bills/etc. as proof is apparently not enough by state law) so that my partner can come with me to say goodbye to my mother (and who we consider to be his mother-in-law) for the last time. State law allows him unpaid leave for 4 weeks (just like me), but only if it is a "parent" (in-laws included). However, we need to be in a recognized relationship status for them to be considered a parent, and common-law isn't recognized here. We have exhausted our options and marriage has little appeal to us, so civil union is a next best bet.
Now, why would I ask all of you about this? Because I worry it will affect our application, or that I will have to send them information detailing a change in relationship status. Civil union is only recognized in three states here, though, and does not have all of the rights of marriage. This means that if we travel anywhere else in the country as spouses or attempt to even think of gaining the same federal benefits (filing joint taxes, etc.), we'd be rejected. In most cases, civil union - even though it requires paperwork and a fee - is the equivalent of common-law marriage.
Would this be considered a change in relationship status to Canada, even though the rights are very much the same as common-law? If so, if we eventually wanted to get married in Canada, could we not do so since we had a Civil Union in a completely different country that was only valid in one state!?
Thank you so much for reading, and any assistance granted.