Common Law and engaged

[toussaint]

Hello,

My common law partner and I are currently putting together an application for sponsorship, and are nearly finished compiling all of the necessary materials for the application. One small bit of concern, however, is that we are recently engaged. We absolutely qualify as common law partners, and by the time our application goes in, we will have been together for 2.5 years, living together for 1.5 of those years, with plenty of shared property, responsibility, and travels together. I had thought that sharing the fact that we are engaged (with no definitive date yet as to when the ceremony will be held) would be a plus to our application, as it demonstrates the strength and commitment of our relationship and its intended permanence- however, I have also heard from others that we shouldn't mention this fact, as our application may get shelved until we are actually married.

This seems ridiculous to me... I know that CIC does not offer any sort of sponsorship for fiances, but what if we are both engaged AND common law? Throughout our application, we refer to one another as our common law partner, and we have ample evidence to prove our status as such. Does being engaged negate the ability to apply as common law partners? ???

Thanks,
T

 

[scylla]

You can still apply as common law. Being engaged doesn't negate this. Feel free to refer to each other as fiances in the application.

 

[Ponga]

I'd suggest referring to each other as common-law partners, simply because the engagement means nothing to CIC at this point.

Also, if you submit your application before you have lived together as a common-law couple for 2 full years (~ 18 months is your current plan), you will likely have Condition 51 on your CoPR...which simply means that you will need to continue cohabiting for 2 years beyond the date that you (or your partner) become a PR.

No biggie, right?

 

[toussaint]

Well... as we intend to continue to cohabitate for the duration of our lives, no, it's no biggie at all.

So long as engagement means nothing to CIC, rather than a red flag to CIC, then I think we'll both sleep a bit better tonight haha.

 

[kitchie]

My marriage has been annulled and it would take about 6 months to annotate the decision with the statistics office.
I plan to remarry after the said annotation. Do you think VO would allow my fiance to be included in my application?

 

[Rob_TO]

My marriage has been annulled and it would take about 6 months to annotate the decision with the statistics office.
I plan to remarry after the said annotation. Do you think VO would allow my fiance to be included in my application?

If you are not married or common-law at the time you submit the application, you will be rejected. There is no fiance class.
So if not common-law then wait for your divorce to finalize, get married, then apply.

 

[kitchie]

If you are not married or common-law at the time you submit the application, you will be rejected. There is no fiance class.
So if not common-law then wait for your divorce to finalize, get married, then apply.

But do i need to inform the vo about my plan of getting married so as not to ban me from sponsoring him once we get married?

 

[Rob_TO]

But do i need to inform the vo about my plan of getting married so as not to ban me from sponsoring him once we get married?

Ah I see, you are applying through FSW already, and wondering about including your partner.

If you are not legally married, nor legally common-law, then you can't include your partner in your application. When FSW is finally approved and still you have not married or become common-law to her, then you would proceed to land as a PR also without including her. When you got married, you could then sponsor her under family class. There is no fiancee category, so CIC would not expect a fiancee to be included in any application.

However if at anytime before you land as a PR you become married or common-law, then you MUST include her in the application. To not do so in this case, would ban her forever from being sponsored by you.

Also if you say you have an annulment, but the paperwork or legal process is not yet complete, then perhaps you are still legally married? If so (and even if separated) you would need to indicate your current legal wife in your FSW application (though of course she is not being included for PR). I'm not sure the specifics behind the annulment process and when things become official.

 

[kitchie]

Ah I see, you are applying through FSW already, and wondering about including your partner.

If you are not legally married, nor legally common-law, then you can't include your partner in your application. When FSW is finally approved and still you have not married or become common-law to her, then you would proceed to land as a PR also without including her. When you got married, you could then sponsor her under family class. There is no fiancee category, so CIC would not expect a fiancee to be included in any application.

However if at anytime before you land as a PR you become married or common-law, then you MUST include her in the application. To not do so in this case, would ban her forever from being sponsored by you.

Also if you say you have an annulment, but the paperwork or legal process is not yet complete, then perhaps you are still legally married? If so (and even if separated) you would need to indicate your current legal wife in your FSW application (though of course she is not being included for PR). I'm not sure the specifics behind the annulment process and when things become official.

My status in my application is legally separated, I declared my ex-spouse as the annulment was not yet approved that time. There has already been a decision granting the annulment, therefore, I can now remarry. However, for me to be able to remarry, the annulment needs to be annotated as a requirement for marriage which would took about 6 months to process.

The moment the annotation is done, we will re-marry so I don't know whether it will happen before my PR status is granted.

 

[Ponga]

My status in my application is legally separated, I declared my ex-spouse as the annulment was not yet approved that time. There has already been a decision granting the annulment, therefore, I can now remarry. However, for me to be able to remarry, the annulment needs to be annotated as a requirement for marriage which would took about 6 months to process.

The moment the annotation is done, we will re-marry so I don't know whether it will happen before my PR status is granted.

As Rob_TO pointed out, you would need to add her to your PR application if you marry before becoming a PR. For that very reason, it might be better for you to get married after you have your PR and then sponsor her as your spouse, since adding her to your application would delay your PR.

 

[kitchie]

As Rob_TO pointed out, you would need to add her to your PR application if you marry before becoming a PR. For that very reason, it might be better for you to get married after you have your PR and then sponsor her as your spouse, since adding her to your application would delay your PR.

Thanks. Just a clarification, so not declaring her in my application now won't be an issue if we will get married after landing? I won't be accused of misrepresentation? Thanks

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks. Just a clarification, so not declaring her in my application now won't be an issue if we will get married after landing? I won't be accused of misrepresentation? Thanks

No, as long as you get married after landing as PR you will be fine. AND as long as you don't live together for 12 months to become common-law before you land.

 

[kitchie]

No, as long as you get married after landing as PR you will be fine. AND as long as you don't live together for 12 months to become common-law before you land.

Thank you so much Rob and Ponga.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thank you so much Rob and Ponga.

Also should note, even if you have your FSW application in progress as single/separated, you are certainly able to get married once your annulment paperwork completes. It doesn't matter if your FSW app is still processing. All you would need to do in this case is inform your visa office about your new spouse, she will need to do medical and police checks and complete the CIC forms, and she will then be added into your FSW application as a dependent. So in the end you will both get PR together.

If you wait to land as single before getting married, then you will need to go through the entire PR process again to sponsor her under family class.

 

[kitchie]

Also should note, even if you have your FSW application in progress as single/separated, you are certainly able to get married once your annulment paperwork completes. It doesn't matter if your FSW app is still processing. All you would need to do in this case is inform your visa office about your new spouse, she will need to do medical and police checks and complete the CIC forms, and she will then be added into your FSW application as a dependent. So in the end you will both get PR together.

If you wait to land as single before getting married, then you will need to go through the entire PR process again to sponsor her under family class.

Thanks again Rob.