Common Law Application

[Masonb6888]

Hi All!

(I bolded my main questions.)

so I've posted in here a couple times. It's getting close to the date that my boyfriend and I are going to be applying for common law. I'm from the Us he's Canadian born.
My question this time is-
1. Is it an issue that my boyfriend and I started dating back in july of 2015. BUT my visa didn't start till october and we're saying I moved here in Dec. (I came to visit before december, but december is when we started living under the same roof.)
We're also sending in>>>>>

We're saving all our receipts from anything we buy together.
we have a joint bank account.
A lease with out names on it.
were saving all of our texts messages.
Phone calls highlighted from our phone company.
facebook messages back and fourth.
We created a facebook page and invited everyone who knows us to post pictures they have of us, and post memories or stores about it. in addition to also asking them for a personally typed, signed, and dated testimony.
Tons of pictures printed out as well. (we have a ton, his family does a lot of family outings and we went to multiple weddings, and just tons of pictures)

2. Is there anything else I might need?
3. My boyfriend keeps telling me that if anything goes wrong. We'll just get married, but if I'm denied entry on my common law. I don't think we can do that can we?


4. *Also, Can we submit photos and things on USB memory cards? or SD cards? or does everything need to be printed? and are the approval times still 5 weeks- 4 months?

THANK YOU!!!
I appreciate it!
This site gives me so much closure!

 

[CDNPR2014]

1. no this is not an issue. if you are applying for commonlaw, the most important thing is to be able to prove commonlaw status which means you have been cohabitating for 12+ consecutive months. they are not going to care about the other dates really.

2. i'm sure others will advise on commonlaw application best practices. your boyfriend needs to make sure he has changed his cra status to commonlaw when it goes into effect.

3. you won't necessarily be denied entry if your commonlaw application isn't approved. an application rejection means you were not approved for pr status, not entry into the country. technically, you will probably still be able to enter as a visitor assuming cbsa allows it or remain as a visitor if your status is valid. if you get married after being rejected as commonlaw, a new application isn't necessarily rejected. it may be scrutinized a bit more and may trigger an interview. if you explain in the new application you did not qualify for commonlaw, so you opted to get married, and you can prove the validity of your relationship, then it probably is not going to be a problem. us citizens have a lower threshold for approval, and if the ONLY reason for the rejection was because of commonlaw status, then it's not going to negatively affect a new application.

4. the instructions in the application are quite clear about this. photos must be submitted as photos, either printed separately or grouped together on regular printer paper.

4a. yes, us applications are still being approved in 4-5ish months. it is not guaranteed this will continue long term, though it's pretty likely it will.

 

[Masonb6888]

So going off of your answer for Number 2. Does he need to that BEFORE the application? do we have to wait till the next tax season? or can we just go and change that online? Because we do have to wait till December 10th to make those changes since that's 12 months on the dot.
Our banking info says common law. Our banker just said he'd do it for us since we talked to him about it.
Cause this past tax season we didn't state common law since we weren't. So do we just state we're common law on this coming tax session?

 

[CDNPR2014]

So going off of your answer for Number 2. Does he need to that BEFORE the application? do we have to wait till the next tax season? or can we just go and change that online? Because we do have to wait till December 10th to make those changes since that's 12 months on the dot.
Our banking info says common law. Our banker just said he'd do it for us since we talked to him about it.
Cause this past tax season we didn't state common law since we weren't. So do we just state we're common law on this coming tax session?

i think it's recommended to do it before next tax season. he can change it himself online and he can submit a print out in the application. i'd imagine he has to wait until you are officially commonlaw to do this. also, he may want to wait to request his option c until you become commonlaw to avoid issue. others with commonlaw experience will confirm.

 

[Masonb6888]

i think it's recommended to do it before next tax season. he can change it himself online and he can submit a print out in the application. i'd imagine he has to wait until you are officially commonlaw to do this. also, he may want to wait to request his option c until you become commonlaw to avoid issue. others with commonlaw experience will confirm.

His option C? what does that mean and what does it do?

 

[CDNPR2014]

His option C? what does that mean and what does it do?

unless something has changed, the option c is a required document on the sponsor checklist. perhaps the required document has been changed to a notice of assessments instead? i would recommend carefully reading the sponsor's checklist. a specific form from the CRA is required for the sponsor to submit. this will show CIC he has not filed bankruptcy or has received welfare.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

His option C? what does that mean and what does it do?

An Option C is a CRA document. However, that is an old requirement. IRCC has now updated the requirement to an online printout of an NOA from the sponsor's CRA account.

He can change his CRA status after Dec 10th and print out the page showing his new status, along with his last NOA.

 

[CDNPR2014]

An Option C is a CRA document. However, that is an old requirement. IRCC has now updated the requirement to an online printout of an NOA from the sponsor's CRA account.

my mistake, thanks for the clarification.

 

[Masonb6888]

An Option C is a CRA document. However, that is an old requirement. IRCC has now updated the requirement to an online printout of an NOA from the sponsor's CRA account.

He can change his CRA status after Dec 10th and print out the page showing his new status, along with his last NOA.

Okay. So it's just as simple as changing it online, printing out the new info, and submitting it with the package.
So I also need to change my IRCC to common law and submit it. Do I need to change my US IRS one too?

 

[CDNPR2014]

Okay. So it's just as simple as changing it online, printing out the new info, and submitting it with the package.
So I also need to change my IRCC to common law and submit it. Do I need to change my US IRS one too?

if you are a resident for tax purposes in canada and file taxes, then yes you change your status with the CRA (not the IRCC - i'm pretty sure they are the immigraiton agency).

i will defer to others about the US side. my gut is saying the US has different rules for commonlaw (ie: it takes more than 1 year to qualify) and changing your status with the IRS and/or submitting your spouse's info to them is just opening up a can of tax related worms...

 

[Masonb6888]

if you are a resident for tax purposes in canada and file taxes, then yes you change your status with the CRA (not the IRCC - i'm pretty sure they are the immigraiton agency).

i will defer to others about the US side. my gut is saying the US has different rules for commonlaw (ie: it takes more than 1 year to qualify) and changing your status with the IRS and/or submitting your spouse's info to them is just opening up a can of tax related worms...

Sorry, so much is going through my head. Between school, work, and this. I'm a little stressed when it comes to prep for this. Didn't even think of the legalities of US common law which is like 5-7 years from what I remember.
Any other general tips anyone can lend me? Anything helps!!