Do we qualify as Common law? Please Help!

[itscoezy]

-I moved to Mexico April.30th,2011 and have been living here since. I'm wondering if we would be considered common law on April.30th.2012..

-My SO applied for a 3 weeks visitors visa in Aug 2011 to accompany home to Canada. He was denied.
-I went by myself the following month and stayed in Canada for 49 days.
-Half the time I spent visiting family, the other half was for business as I work for a Canadian company from Mexico.

We still talked everyday on the phone/skype etc during this time. If he had of been approved, we would have only been away from eachother for 28 days..

Do we still qualify according to CIC? or how should we address this on our application?

Should we include skype/phone records during the time I was away and also a copy of his denial for the visitors visa to come with me?

Thanks!

 

[scylla]

In my opinion being away from each other for more than a month and a half within the year is too long. I would wait an extra 49 days before applying just to be safe.

Just my two cents - others may feel differently.

 

[CharlieD10]

I agree with scylla, err on the side of caution and wait until the 49 days have passed to ensure that you covered the period you were separated, since you are going to apply as soon as you qualify.

 

[itscoezy]

But if they want to be technical, it's 12 months continuous living together with short absences...which would mean, we would need to wait until November in order to apply again. Even if we wait an extra 49 days, I still have to say that we were apart for 49 in the year.

sigh I wish immigration was more black and white sometimes.

Am I understanding the question correctly.. it's IMM5490 question 27 (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5490E.PDF)
Give dates of periods of cohabitation.

I don't know if this means to list my visits to canada or not there? It wasn't like I packed up my belongings and moved back to canada for 49 days, I was still "living" in mexico during this time, all of my stuff was here, it was my home... we were still living together. I wasn't cohabitating with anyone else?

thoughts:S

 

[CharlieD10]

Not sure why you would need to wait until Nov to re-apply?

You started living together Apr 30, 2011. As at Apr 30, 2012, you have 365 days passed with 49 of those apart consecutively. Had those 49 days been non-consecutive absences scattered throughout the 365, I would have said you could probably still apply as at Apr 30, 2012.

However, as those 49 days were consecutively apart within the 365, you essentially only have 10.5 months right now, not 12 months, even though you didn't reside with anyone else during the period you were apart and all your things were still in Mexico. 6 weeks consecutively apart is simply too big a shortfall for CIC to ignore when they add up the periods of your cohabitation, hence my agreement that you should wait until at least mid-June before you submit the application.

You are applying with the absolute minimum qualification, I don't think waiting 6 weeks more to be sure you don't have to go through the following:

1) Wait 75 days for it to be processed only for them to decide you do not qualify
2) Wait another 21 days or more for it to come back to you
3) Send it back in because you now qualify unquestionably.

 

[canadianwoman]

If the 6 weeks is too big a break for CIC, then just staying together for another 6 weeks won't help. If they consider that to have 'broken' the 1 year cohabitation, she will have to stay together with him for one year from November 2011, which is when she got back from her 6-week stay in Canada.