I have a question that I can't seem to find a clear answer to: I just received my nomination certificate for PNP and am ready to move on to my PR application. My nomination is through the Ph.D. stream and I have been studying and now working full-time in Canada (with a PGWP) for several years. My partner, who I live with, is a Canadian citizen but is in no way involved in my application or never has been in any previous ones (he isn't sponsoring, providing funds or anything). We don't really share finances, we even have separate leash agreements for the house we live in and definitely don't have any official documentation to "prove" we are common-law and have zero need to get any official documentation otherwise. We are officially considered common-law and submit tax information etc. to CRA as common-law partners because we have been living together for a while. Do I have to go through the extra work of providing documentation related to my common-law relationship even though my application status or qualifications for PR are not related to or dependent on my partner in any way?
How to declare a Canadian common-law partner for PR application as PNP nominee
- Thread starter elsiivon
- Start date
Hi,
You can't be considered a Common-Law-Partner(CLP) officially if the relationship isn't documented properly and can't be justified by producing relevant documents. As such, Documentary evidence of 1-2 years is compulsory for this type of relationship if you wish to claim yourself as a CLP.
Otherwise, proceed randomly if you can't prove it.
Okay, so if I know I can't meet the IRCC's standard for CLP and I don't need it for my application to be successful, is it better to apply with "single" status or check "common law" and just not provide any documentation to prove it? I'm assuming IRCC might not ultimately care either way since my partner is a Canadian citizen, not in any way part of my application, and there is no chance I would try to sponsor him in the future obviously. I just don't want to be in a situation where IRCC could think I am intentionally misleading them by not declaring my relationship status honestly and accurately. I definitely don't consider myself single so it feels disingenuous to say so and by CRA standards (which is basically just 1 year of living together) I am considered common-law. Basically, I'm just trying to figure out which box I should tick and whether I need to include my partner in my family information...