Hey everyone,
My girlfriend and I are planning to apply for inland spousal sponsorship as common-law partners in about 2 months. We have a pretty good idea of what to do by doing our own research, but thought it couldn't hurt to ask here to make sure we aren't missing or misunderstanding anything.
Details
- We have known each other since 2014 (online), first met in person January 2017 and been in a relationship ever since.
- I am a German citizen and have been living in Canada since September 2017 as a worker through the IEC Work & Travel / Working Holiday program.
- Worked some of the time, now out of work as work permit will expire this September. Girlfriend has been supporting me financially lately.
- We have lived together since September 2017, shared finances, bills, documented everything, family knows me well, my family has visited us here, ect...
- We are not married and don't plan on marrying any time soon. Simply because we don't care much for marriage at this point and don't want to just do it for immigration purposes.
- As my work permit and my temporary residency as a worker expire in September, I have to leave Canada exactly the day before we are officially common-law, which makes the timing a bit awkard.
Our Plan
1. Apply to have my status switched (extended?) from "worker" to "visitor", so I can stay a little longer and give us time to apply for common-law sponsorship.
2. Wait until we officially qualify as common-law in September and gather everything for our application.
3. Apply for inland common-law sponsorship in late September / early October.
4. Apply for a new open work permit, so I can go back to work asap and have legal status to stay here in Canada.
Questions
1. What time should we apply for the status to be switched/extended to visitor? 30 days in advance is recommended, but would it make sense to wait until a week in advance to get a longer period of implied status? And should we mention that we plan to apply for sponsorship and an OWP soon ect.?
2. Since I will apply for a work permit soon after the visitor extension, how long should I say my "stay" will be on the visitor extension forms?
3. I have read that the open work permit and sponsorship applications should be filed together. There's even a checkmark for that on the checklist. Does that imply we actually put them in the same envelope or just sent them off separately, but at the same time? And if they're in the same envelope, what about forms like IMM 5409e, which is required in both application? Would we still include 2 copies of that one, right?
4. Do photos, texts, chat logs, and other proof of our relationship need to be notarized or verified as real in some way? Or can we just have it all printed, label photos on the back like they ask, and include it in the application?
5. In our checklist the form "Additional Family Information (IMM 5406)" and the "Schedule A" form have to be filled out by all of my family members 18+ who are not canadian PR/citizens. In the definitions of the basic/complete guides it states "family members" refers only to me, my common-law partner and our children (we have none). So that means my family in Germany (parents and siblings) who aren't planning to move here don't have to fill any of this out, right? Just me, since I'm the only non-canadian PR/citizen applying?
6. Whenever forms say "Provide date at which you got married or entered into the common-law relationship", in our case it would be the date exactly 1 year after we started living together, correct? So the day we officially are considered common-law?
My girlfriend and I are planning to apply for inland spousal sponsorship as common-law partners in about 2 months. We have a pretty good idea of what to do by doing our own research, but thought it couldn't hurt to ask here to make sure we aren't missing or misunderstanding anything.
Details
- We have known each other since 2014 (online), first met in person January 2017 and been in a relationship ever since.
- I am a German citizen and have been living in Canada since September 2017 as a worker through the IEC Work & Travel / Working Holiday program.
- Worked some of the time, now out of work as work permit will expire this September. Girlfriend has been supporting me financially lately.
- We have lived together since September 2017, shared finances, bills, documented everything, family knows me well, my family has visited us here, ect...
- We are not married and don't plan on marrying any time soon. Simply because we don't care much for marriage at this point and don't want to just do it for immigration purposes.
- As my work permit and my temporary residency as a worker expire in September, I have to leave Canada exactly the day before we are officially common-law, which makes the timing a bit awkard.
Our Plan
1. Apply to have my status switched (extended?) from "worker" to "visitor", so I can stay a little longer and give us time to apply for common-law sponsorship.
2. Wait until we officially qualify as common-law in September and gather everything for our application.
3. Apply for inland common-law sponsorship in late September / early October.
4. Apply for a new open work permit, so I can go back to work asap and have legal status to stay here in Canada.
Questions
1. What time should we apply for the status to be switched/extended to visitor? 30 days in advance is recommended, but would it make sense to wait until a week in advance to get a longer period of implied status? And should we mention that we plan to apply for sponsorship and an OWP soon ect.?
2. Since I will apply for a work permit soon after the visitor extension, how long should I say my "stay" will be on the visitor extension forms?
3. I have read that the open work permit and sponsorship applications should be filed together. There's even a checkmark for that on the checklist. Does that imply we actually put them in the same envelope or just sent them off separately, but at the same time? And if they're in the same envelope, what about forms like IMM 5409e, which is required in both application? Would we still include 2 copies of that one, right?
4. Do photos, texts, chat logs, and other proof of our relationship need to be notarized or verified as real in some way? Or can we just have it all printed, label photos on the back like they ask, and include it in the application?
5. In our checklist the form "Additional Family Information (IMM 5406)" and the "Schedule A" form have to be filled out by all of my family members 18+ who are not canadian PR/citizens. In the definitions of the basic/complete guides it states "family members" refers only to me, my common-law partner and our children (we have none). So that means my family in Germany (parents and siblings) who aren't planning to move here don't have to fill any of this out, right? Just me, since I'm the only non-canadian PR/citizen applying?
6. Whenever forms say "Provide date at which you got married or entered into the common-law relationship", in our case it would be the date exactly 1 year after we started living together, correct? So the day we officially are considered common-law?
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