Common law vs marriage

[myersjosh17]

Hello everyone.

My partner and I have been facing a challenging dilemma now for some time. We were wondering if it would be best to get married before I (the sponsor) travel back to Canada for work. However, the country we are in (Cambodia) takes some time to process documents for marriage and I leave on June 28th for work.

What we are wondering is should we rush it and pay a bunch of money to have it expedited? We are really worried that it will be harder for her to join me in Canada if we are just common law partners. I think we have a decent amount of evidence but it may be harder to prove we have lived together since her family owns the house we stay in and any payments I made for power and such were mostly in cash. We do have evidence such as photos together, trip receipts, letters from friends and family, e-transfers (after I finally got a Cambodian bank account), and some other things we could use.

What do you all think? Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

 

[armoured]

My partner and I have been facing a challenging dilemma now for some time. We were wondering if it would be best to get married before I (the sponsor) travel back to Canada for work. However, the country we are in (Cambodia) takes some time to process documents for marriage and I leave on June 28th for work.

What we are wondering is should we rush it and pay a bunch of money to have it expedited? We are really worried that it will be harder for her to join me in Canada if we are just common law partners. I think we have a decent amount of evidence but it may be harder to prove we have lived together since her family owns the house we stay in and any payments I made for power and such were mostly in cash. We do have evidence such as photos together, trip receipts, letters from friends and family, e-transfers (after I finally got a Cambodian bank account), and some other things we could use.

What do you all think? Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

Only you can decide but personal opinion only: in your case, get married before applying and departing. Reasons I think this:
-your evidence is perhaps decent for genuine relationship, but sounds quite weak in establishing precisely that you have been living together in a joint household and when that began. They will want to see concrete, contemporary (at the time it happened) evidence that you began living together and continued doing so. So you run the real risk of it not being clear and/or being rejected on the basis that common household was not proven. (Even cases where couples were clearly living together run into issues sometimes with demonstrating when they began living together - and without that, IRCC can doubt whether the 12 months was met, and they DO reject applications for not clearly being 12 months or more - even a few days less than 12 months is grounds for rejection).
-likewise under covid, your spouse would need evidence of marriage or common law to travel to Canada (if/when she gets TRV for example) under the immediate family exemption. Same issue as above but even harder - because no-one could tell you in advance if eg airlines or anyone else would accept the evidence.
-in both cases, the marriage certificate is strong and usually not-challenged evidence of ... marriage. Unless there is some extraordinary legal issue, it will be accepted by most everyone. It does not in itself prove 'genuine relationship' but all of the rest of your evidence sounds normal for evidence of that. In this case you will not be attempting to prove that you meet the legal test of marriage/common-law, but just the bona fides of the relationship.

Again, personal opinion only (and based only on what you've shared here): your case seems like a clearcut one where getting legally married is far preferable to risking issues later with common-law.

(Side note - don't know Cambodian customs or your situation but do prepare to show the marriage ceremony and photos etc - even if more limited than 'traditional' - and explain briefly why if eg some family members could not attend etc. Covid and your imminent departure for work are reasons for such)

 

[myersjosh17]

Yes I see. This unfortunately is very worrying information since I think the time squeeze will be too much to fit into the short time I have left (1 month). This is because I need to obtain documents such as my single status, background check, and possibly some other documents needed. These will take time and money to obtain and then things need to be processed on this side. This is just a super challenging situation and it is very hard to hear that. I am worried about having to spend all this money to do it fast and then it falling through or something.

 

[armoured]

Yes I see. This unfortunately is very worrying information since I think the time squeeze will be too much to fit into the short time I have left (1 month). This is because I need to obtain documents such as my single status, background check, and possibly some other documents needed. These will take time and money to obtain and then things need to be processed on this side. This is just a super challenging situation and it is very hard to hear that. I am worried about having to spend all this money to do it fast and then it falling through or something.

Well, again, just one opinion and I don't know your full story, just what you've put.

Obviously if your spouse has a TRV to Canada, getting married there is a possibility, or possibly other jurisdictions where the preps are less onerous.

 

[myersjosh17]

Ok, thank you once again armoured you always give great detailed responses. Does hiring a lawyer increase the chances of having you application accepted? Do they help come up with proof of cohabitation and such?

Do letters from neighbors help in this situation?

 

[armoured]

Ok, thank you once again armoured you always give great detailed responses. Does hiring a lawyer increase the chances of having you application accepted? Do they help come up with proof of cohabitation and such?

Do letters from neighbors help in this situation?

-There really aren't any significant 'legal' questions here. In my view not necessary. The good ones might help by preparing detailed and correctly, and they might be better placed to ensure you've included everything you can - but they can't come up with evidence that's not there, and many are frankly not any more careful than serious applicants. Up to you. But again - there really aren't any legal questions they can help you with (that I can see). If you do use one - you're still responsible for everything you sign, and they are not signing for you.

-Sure, letters from neighbours and family etc can help - but only up to a point. That's why I emphasized concrete and contemporary evidence - evidence that's not just 'so and so said' but third-party evidence that's about something (like a lease, or utility bills, or etc etc), and something from the time it refers to and not just "yeah I remember they moved in last January." Again personal opinion - what you're referring to sounds frankly weak, but only you can decide.

It's possible that all the 'little' evidence adds up to a convincing picture - but also possible it won't. I'm emphasizing in the context that (as for most applicants) you probably would prefer it to go smoothly the first time and lower the risk of complications/refusals. ie I can't say it won't be enough for IRCC to accept, but I don't think you'd like to find out the hard way that it isn't.