Common Law - 1 Year Question

[kmcg]

My partner and I are considering sponsorship but we are unsure whether we would qualify as having 1 year living together. We lived together from August 2017 - June 2018 but then my partner had to move to another Canadian city for an internship as a part of the requirement for a post-graduate diploma. The internship was set to end at the end of August 2018 and she planned to move back then. However, she was then offered a one year contract with the same company and later a full-time permanent position so she decided it was best to stay. I finished my degree and then planned to move with her and arrived in January 2019. We have technically been living together since January but both of our names are on the lease which started September 2019.

Is it possible that we would be considered to have one 1 year living together even though there was a gap in between? We definitely stayed in a committed relationship the whole time and made plans to be together again as soon as possible.

Another question. When we lived together from August 2017-June 2018, we lived in a two bedroom apartment with one other roommate. My name and our other roommate's name was on the lease but my partner's name was not on the lease. Our landlord did not know that she was living there with us. My partner does have mail that was addressed to her there so she has proof that she lived there. Would this be a problem? I think we could prove that we both lived there with the lease (for me) and official mail (for her) but I'm not sure if it would be an issue that we technically violated the lease by not having her name on it. We could also ask family/friends to verify in letters that they know we both lived at that address.

Hoping someone has had experience with these kinds of questions before. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

My partner and I are considering sponsorship but we are unsure whether we would qualify as having 1 year living together. We lived together from August 2017 - June 2018 but then my partner had to move to another Canadian city for an internship as a part of the requirement for a post-graduate diploma. The internship was set to end at the end of August 2018 and she planned to move back then. However, she was then offered a one year contract with the same company and later a full-time permanent position so she decided it was best to stay. I finished my degree and then planned to move with her and arrived in January 2019. We have technically been living together since January but both of our names are on the lease which started September 2019.

Is it possible that we would be considered to have one 1 year living together even though there was a gap in between? We definitely stayed in a committed relationship the whole time and made plans to be together again as soon as possible.

Another question. When we lived together from August 2017-June 2018, we lived in a two bedroom apartment with one other roommate. My name and our other roommate's name was on the lease but my partner's name was not on the lease. Our landlord did not know that she was living there with us. My partner does have mail that was addressed to her there so she has proof that she lived there. Would this be a problem? I think we could prove that we both lived there with the lease (for me) and official mail (for her) but I'm not sure if it would be an issue that we technically violated the lease by not having her name on it. We could also ask family/friends to verify in letters that they know we both lived at that address.

Hoping someone has had experience with these kinds of questions before. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

No, you aren't common-law. You need one continuous year of cohabitation. The time from Aug 2017 to June 2018 cannot be used. You need to start the 1 year clock from when you resumed cohabiting in Jan 2019.

 

[kmcg]

Would we be able to start from September 2019 since we have a lease with both our names on it since then?

 

[k.h.p.]

Do you have mail or proof to demonstrate you lived together from January 2019 to September 2019?

 

[kmcg]

Sorry I meant - Would be able to say we have lived together since September 2018? We have our names on the lease but I think that might be the only thing proving I "lived" here since September. I changed all of my official addresses starting January 2019 when I arrived to stay. I visited for a brief period (3 weeks in November). We have plenty of proof of our relationship (photos, chat logs, letters from family/friends, sentimental things, plane/event tickets, etc).

 

[zardoz]

Would we be able to start from September 2019 since we have a lease with both our names on it since then?

Sorry I meant - Would be able to say we have lived together since September 2018? We have our names on the lease but I think that might be the only thing proving I "lived" here since September. I changed all of my official addresses starting January 2019 when I arrived to stay. I visited for a brief period (3 weeks in November). We have plenty of proof of our relationship (photos, chat logs, letters from family/friends, sentimental things, plane/event tickets, etc).

Were you "cohabiting"? That is, physically living continuously under the same roof, at the same time? If not, no.

 

[kmcg]

Thanks everyone for your input! We are just trying to find some way to make it work. She took the positions with the hope that she would be able to get 1 year work experience in order to apply for express entry before her PGWP expires but she is 6 days short

 

[scylla]

My partner and I are considering sponsorship but we are unsure whether we would qualify as having 1 year living together. We lived together from August 2017 - June 2018 but then my partner had to move to another Canadian city for an internship as a part of the requirement for a post-graduate diploma. The internship was set to end at the end of August 2018 and she planned to move back then. However, she was then offered a one year contract with the same company and later a full-time permanent position so she decided it was best to stay. I finished my degree and then planned to move with her and arrived in January 2019. We have technically been living together since January but both of our names are on the lease which started September 2019.

Is it possible that we would be considered to have one 1 year living together even though there was a gap in between? We definitely stayed in a committed relationship the whole time and made plans to be together again as soon as possible.

Another question. When we lived together from August 2017-June 2018, we lived in a two bedroom apartment with one other roommate. My name and our other roommate's name was on the lease but my partner's name was not on the lease. Our landlord did not know that she was living there with us. My partner does have mail that was addressed to her there so she has proof that she lived there. Would this be a problem? I think we could prove that we both lived there with the lease (for me) and official mail (for her) but I'm not sure if it would be an issue that we technically violated the lease by not having her name on it. We could also ask family/friends to verify in letters that they know we both lived at that address.

Hoping someone has had experience with these kinds of questions before. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

You are not common law at this time since you haven't met the requirement of living together for one year continuously. You will need to wait until January 2020. You cannot start counting from September 2018 since you weren't actually living togehter. You can start countring from January 2019. You need to avoid claiming you were living together as of September 2019. You weren't. And you don't want to risk a misrepresentation finding.

 

[scylla]

Thanks everyone for your input! We are just trying to find some way to make it work. She took the positions with the hope that she would be able to get 1 year work experience in order to apply for express entry before her PGWP expires but she is 6 days short

How many points does she have under EE? Note that you need to have 450+ points right now to have a chance of being selected.

 

[kmcg]

How many points does she have under EE? Note that you need to have 450+ points right now to have a chance of being selected.

I believe she has about 460 points? I'm not sure exactly but she won't be able to apply through EE anyway since she technically does not have 1 year of work experience.

 

[scylla]

I believe she has about 460 points? I'm not sure exactly but she won't be able to apply through EE anyway since she technically does not have 1 year of work experience.

460 points is good. But yes - she needs to have at least one year of full time work experience to qualify.