A friend of mine applied to bring his “girlfriend” to Canada as common law but it was denied due to lack of proof the relationship was marriage like (all they have is a couple trips he took to see her and a bunch of text messages). They have a 10-year-old child together but have never really lived together for more than a few weeks. If he goes over and marries her now can he reapply for spousal sonsorship or is it likely they will get denied again?
Common law denied can he marry and reapply?
- Thread starter Bethlock
- Start date
If they've never lived together, then that would be why they got denied. In order to be eligible as common-law, they have to have cohabitated for a full calendar year. They are not common-law if they have not lived together.
They can get married and reapply, but if their only proof of relationship is text messages, they might have problems: they'll still be required to submit evidence of relationship such as pictures, money transfers, evidence of gifts etc. etc.
It's not impossible, people certainly can and do get sponsored without having all the evidence they ask for, but even if they're married they'll likely need more than just texts.
Yes he can do so. If he is shown as father on the birth certificate, they shouldn't (in principle) have that much trouble. 'Common law' is a strict legal test of having resided together 12 months or more, a test which they did not meet. Once married, they meet the legal test, and should ahve enough proof of relationship otherwise.
Having a child together doesn’t guarantee approval. Given they have only spent a few weeks together at a time and the child is 10 that isn’t very strong proof of relationship. Normally people sponsor partner and children when the child is much younger if they are in a relationship. Not saying it is impossible but given the age of the child and lack of sponsorship earlier that doesn’t make the application stronger.
I did not say it guaranteed approval. Please do not waste everyone's time on contradictions of things-that-were-not-said.
Not having much trouble may be the case with a much younger child with frequent visits but realistically with a 10 year old child there will certainly more questions about the relationship and why they have not sponsored earlier. Just want to paint a realistic picture of hurdles they will face.
Fine. But please do not misstate what others have said. I did not say "guaranteed approval." Then your response was "does not guarantee approval," implying I did.
This isn't complicated. Don't respond to others' posts with misrepresentations.