Girlfriend applies for a student permit, i'd like to join as a CL partner, but..

[thomz]

Hello everyone,

I apologize in advance if the matter has already been covered in a previous thread but after research I found no situation exactly comparable to mine (ours).

I am a French citizen living and working in Vietnam for three years. My girlfriend is Vietnamese. We are together for more than two years.

She just got admitted to an excellent MBA program in British Columbia, starting next September. So she's currently filling her student visa application.

I would like to go with her as her "common law partner" and get an open work permit. I myself have a MBA and a pretty good professional record in spite of my young age (I am 27).

Three points remain unclear and the help of someone knowledgeable would be absolutely invaluable.

May I ask,

1/ Do I need to fill a separate application for the open work permit? Or will I be "automatically" granted one as my girlfriend gets her student visa + common law partner declaration? If I understood correctly, I have to prepare a regular work permit application and state "open work permit related to ms. xxx's student visa application" and submit this at the same time she submits her own application?

2/ In the common-law partner declaration, I notice the "commissioner of oaths" signature. Who could this be? Can we leave this blank? In Vietnam there's no such thing as "commissioner of oaths".

3/ We have none of the documents required to prove our relationship (joint bank accounts, etc). However, we have many other materials (photos of us, photos of her and my family, plane tickets, email/telephone messages since 2009, confirmation by employer that we are a couple - her and I work in the same company). Will these be enough to prove that our relationship is genuine?

In advance, thanks a million for your help.

Sincerely,

Thomz.

 

[scylla]

Common law means you have lived together for at least one year. Have you lived together for a minimum of one full year and do you have evidence to support this (e.g. joint lease, joint bills, letters sent to the same address)?

 

[thomz]

No we don't. The apartment and all the bills are under my name. Nothing can prove that we've been living together.

Best I can get, a letter from my landlord saying that we live together - but nothing "official".

 

[scylla]

No we don't. The apartment and all the bills are under my name. Nothing can prove that we've been living together.

OK - so that's your challenge. CIC doesn't care how long you've been a couple or what proof you have that you are a couple (this just means you're seriously dating - it doesn't prove common law). They need to see proof that you have physically lived together for a minimum of one full year. The living together for one full year is the bit that is critical to proving common law. You're going to have to really look through your documents to see what you can dig up to prove you have been living together long enough to meet common law. Do you have any bank statements showing both of your names that were sent to that address? If you've thrown everything out - can the bank generate a new copy? Anything from your workplace? Would your landlord be willing to sign an affidavit confirming that you both live there and for how long? Would family/friends be willing to do the same? Can you show that both of you deposit your pay into the same joint account which then has money taken out to pay the rent?

Hope this helps at least somewhat.

 

[thomz]

Thank you Scylla. The only thing I can do is to get the affidavit from the landlord. Nobody at my workplace can tell if yes or no we've been living together - and we have no joint bank account, nothing, but perhaps we can run to open one tomorrow, I'll give a try.

Any idea about my other questions? Thanks again, very much.

 

[scylla]

I'm not sure that opening a joint bank account now will be of much help in proving common law. If the joint bank account was already a year old - then it would definitely be evidence because it could support the date you began living together and show a shared address. However if you're only opening it now, I'm not sure how helpful that's going to be.

If all you have is the affidavit from the landlord, that's frankly pretty slim on evidence. However I supposed you can always try and throw in all of the other evidence that supports your ongoing relationship. Maybe it will work. (I would definitely have a plan B in mind in case it doesn't.)

Hopefully others on this forum can answer your first two questions. I haven't been through the process and am not familiar enough with the paperwork to comment.

 

[HBK]

Hello everyone,

I apologize in advance if the matter has already been covered in a previous thread but after research I found no situation exactly comparable to mine (ours).

I am a French citizen living and working in Vietnam for three years. My girlfriend is Vietnamese. We are together for more than two years.

She just got admitted to an excellent MBA program in British Columbia, starting next September. So she's currently filling her student visa application.

I would like to go with her as her "common law partner" and get an open work permit. I myself have a MBA and a pretty good professional record in spite of my young age (I am 27).

Three points remain unclear and the help of someone knowledgeable would be absolutely invaluable.

May I ask,

1/ Do I need to fill a separate application for the open work permit? Or will I be "automatically" granted one as my girlfriend gets her student visa + common law partner declaration? If I understood correctly, I have to prepare a regular work permit application and state "open work permit related to ms. xxx's student visa application" and submit this at the same time she submits her own application?

If you are able to prove common-law-partner then at the same time of your girlfriend's study permit application you will have to apply for seprate TRV and after approval of it, you can apply for opean work permit at case processing center virgville,Alberta.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work-spouse.asp


2/ In the common-law partner declaration, I notice the "commissioner of oaths" signature. Who could this be? Can we leave this blank? In Vietnam there's no such thing as "commissioner of oaths".

3/ We have none of the documents required to prove our relationship (joint bank accounts, etc). However, we have many other materials (photos of us, photos of her and my family, plane tickets, email/telephone messages since 2009, confirmation by employer that we are a couple - her and I work in the same company). Will these be enough to prove that our relationship is genuine?

In advance, thanks a million for your help.

Sincerely,

Thomz.

 

[rayani]

You are a French citizen, so you do not require to file TRV application. You only require to apply for work permit as accompanying common law partner.

If you do not have required documents to prove your relationship for at least one year, it will not be possible to apply for open work permit as accompanying CL.

I believe you can use a Notary Public instead of Commissioner of Oath in Vietnam.

One option can be that you enter Canada with your CL partner because of your French nationality. Once in Canada you can find a job with an employer who is willing to help you with work permit.